Black Diamond City Jan Peterson Recorded As Presented to The
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Black Diamond City Jan Peterson Recorded as presented to the Nanaimo Historical Society on October 10, 2002 Transcribed by Dalys Barney, Vancouver Island University Library on June 12, 2020 Pamela Mar Nanaimo Historical Society. Thursday, October 10, 2002, at the society's regular meeting. Introducing author Jan Peterson, who has written a book on the first 50 years of Nanaimo which will be published shortly. [recording stops and restarts] Daphne Paterson Can you hear me? Anyway, to introduce one of our own, the author of the most recent book on Nanaimo, Jan Peterson. Jan is an import from Scotland to Ontario in 1957, and she moved to the Alberni Valley with Ray and their children in 1972. There she worked as a reporter for the Alberni Valley Times and is the author of four books on the history of Port Alberni and the area. One of them, you may remember, is on Cathedral Grove. Two of her books received awards from the B.C. Historical Federation. The Petersons retired here in Nanaimo six years ago. And after four years of meticulous research, her first work on Nanaimo will be launched…next month? Jan Peterson This month. Daphne Paterson This month! Jan Peterson November 20th. Daphne Paterson November 20th. As a note for all of us here, to me it's significant that Jan has made extensive use of the records now held by the Nanaimo Community Archives. And, to me, it upholds our belief in the value of the archival material in this community as being very well grounded. For those of you who are new here, it was the Nanaimo Historical Society who initiated the Nanaimo Community Archives. And we just spoke about the Heritage Summit, it was to the Heritage Summit that we took the proposal. So, one can also make good use of the Heritage Summit for good causes. Anyway, would you please welcome Jan Peterson, the author of Black Diamond City: Nanaimo in the Victorian Era. [applause] [recording stops and restarts] Jan Peterson ...and a glass of water. Before I begin, I would like to thank a number of people that have been very helpful in my research. I don't know if I'm going to get a chance to do this in the future, so I wanted to do it here before the society. I wanted to thank Christine and her merry band of volunteers at the Nanaimo Community Archives because I couldn't have done this without them. They were absolutely wonderful. I remember when I began my research at the archives, they were over in the museum. And I don't know if any of you have ever been there, but it's one, two, three flights up. And I think the first day I was there, I almost collapsed by the time I got to the top floor. And it took me about four days to recover. And then I thought, "Oh, I'm never going to be able to do this!" But, I've got that little stubborn streak in me, and I went back and, anyway, we managed it. I had to rest between floors and made it there. But the archives were totally unbelievable, because there was only two electrical plugs, and I was using a little, portable computer. And the other, one of the plugs on the wall was the computer for the archives. The other plug that was available was in the roof. So every time I went, Christine had to jump up on the table and plug me in! So it became quite an exercise in trying to get this done. And I must say, the new community archives is just wonderful. And it's on the ground floor, it's easily accessible. And it's just a joy to see people from around the world come into the archives and being appreciative of all the work that is done there. It's just unbelievable. It's really great. When I booked this, when Jill asked me to do this talk, I think it was last January, and we kind of hoped that the book might be ready by now. And I'm sorry to say, it's not going to be ready until November 20th. So, I hope you all bear with me and come out and support it then. Oh, I also have to thank Peggy Nicholls. Peggy has done an absolutely remarkable job on the lives of the Princess Royal pioneers and newcomers. And she has done a marvelous job. And I really commend her for her work. And, of course, to all the members of this society who have contributed to the archives. As you can see, I'm a real booster for the archives. Anyway, there's another couple of things that I would like to say to you tonight too. When I submitted my manuscript to the publisher last November, I think it was, the history went right up to 1900. And we continued editing right through June, July, and August. And then about two weeks ago, he informed me that he was only going to do a portion of the book, and that the other part of the book would be published next year. So, we have taken the history up to 1886, when the train arrives. So the other portion will be included in the other part of the research I've done for my next book, which is going to be called The Hub City. I'm trying to do a trilogy. So the next one will go up to about, probably after the First World War, maybe the flu epidemic, and maybe up to 1920. So, I've got my work cut out for me in the next few months. And another thing happened today. I got a call telling me that the British Columbia Archives would not allow me to use any of the photographs from the archives. And this is a real blow, because Robert Dunsmuir, James Douglas, any picture you see in any of the books are by BC Archives. And so they said, "Absolutely not." They will not allow it to be used. What happened is the publishing community in British Columbia has been in ongoing battle with the British Columbia Archives. The authors themselves can submit requests for photographs, and they pay a fee for each of the photographs. Now, it turns out that what the British Columbia Archives want to do, they want to charge each of the publishers extra money for the use of their photographs. So, they're getting a double whammy. They're getting it from the authors and then they're getting it from the publishers. If the publisher does more than 5,000 copies, then the BC Archives wants a chunk of it. So the publishers are saying, "No way." The archives are saying, "No way." So, I'll have to find other sources. And it's two weeks before we go into press. So, anyway, we'll manage. 07:20 Tonight, I'd like to take you back to 1852. One of the real treasures that happened during my research was the discovery of the Joseph William McKay journal. It is absolutely incredible. And we just uncovered it about a year ago. So, I have been researching this book for about four years, so I was able to include a portion of the journal in the book. And his diary begins: "Tuesday, August 24, 1852, 9 p.m. - Received written instructions from James Douglas to proceed to Nanaimo and take charge of the coal mine there and advised to sell the coal to any vessel calling for $10 a ton. Thursday, August 26, 1852 - Landed near the principal coal seam, traded large mats, some salmon, and potatoes. Friday, August 27 - Commenced building hut. Saturday, August 26 [28] - Traded salmon and potatoes, also 300 feet of cedar plank. Finished log hut. September 3 - After a tedious passage of seven days from Fort Rupert, the Muirs and McGregors and the blacksmith Camille Raymond arrived on the Cadboro. Their first order of business was to make a pig sty, then land four pigs and one sheep from the ship." The first farm animals had arrived in Nanaimo. It's amazing. The first shipment of coal, of 480 barrels of coal, was made on September 9th. The Snuneymuxw had mined and loaded the coal, 20 barrels for two-and-a-half point Hudson's Bay Company blankets and some other goods. And so begins the history of Nanaimo as we know it today. That was 150 years ago. Why are we not celebrating this? The Joseph William McKay journal, uncovered just last year, recorded the day-to-day struggle during the first few years of establishing the coal mining village of Nanaimo. McKay wrote of how the miners bartered with the Natives for food, how they trained the oxen for logging, and the importance of the salt spring at Millstone River. Salt was very important in the early days for preserving the game and the fish. The journal also shed new light on the Christmas Hill murder. This was the trial of the two young Natives, one from Nanaimo, the other from Cowichan, who were accused of killing the Hudson's Bay Company shepherd Peter Brown and their subsequent hanging at Gallows Point. Their trial aboard the Beaver on January 17, 1853 was the first trial by judge and jury under English law. In Douglas' words: "The two Indians now in custody were brought to trial and found guilty of willful murder by a jury composed of the officers present.