Volume 36, No. 1 BRITISH COLUMBIA Winter 2002/2003 $5.00 HISTORICAL NEWS ISSN 1195-8294 Journal of the British Columbia Historical Federation

Indo-Canadians in BC’s Lumber Industry

The Nahwitti and the Strikers at Fort Rupert: 1850

Mr. Sam Henry of Nakusp

How Golden Got Its Museum

Why Was it Called Castlegar?

Zeballos: 50 Years and More

Included: Courtesy Rheta Skea Information and Above: Hotel keeper John Hector and his wife, Augusta Nilsson and their two subscription form for daughters. Oldest daughter, Ruth Victoria, married James Skea and did some the 2003 conference teaching in Ruskin and Langley. The youngest, Jean Louise, taught at Cache Creek, then trained as a secretary and worked for Finning Tractor in Vancouver. in Prince George. See Ronald Greene’s “Token History” column starting on page 36. Our Web site is hosted by Selkirk College in Castlegar, BC

British Columbia Historical News British Columbia Historical Federation Journal of the PO Box 5254, Station B., Victoria BC V8R 6N4 British Columbia Historical Federation Under the Distinguished Patronage of Her Honour Published Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. The Honourable Iona Campagnolo. PC, CM, OBC Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia Editor: Fred Braches PO Box 130 Honorary President: Helen B. Akrigg, Whonnock BC, V2W 1V9 Phone 604.462.8942 Officers [email protected] President: Wayne Desrochers Book Review Editor: 13346 57th Avenue, Surrey BC V3X 2W8 Anne Yandle Phone 604. 599.4206 Fax. 604.507.4202 [email protected] 3450 West 20th Avenue First Vice President: Jacqueline Gresko Vancouver BC, V6S 1E4 5931 Sandpiper Court, Richmond BC V7E 3P8 Phone 604.733.6484 Phone 604.274.4383 [email protected] [email protected] Second Vice President: Roy J.V. Pallant Subscription Secretary: 1541 Merlynn Crescent, North Vancouver BC V7J 2X9 Joel Vinge Phone 604.986.8969 [email protected] 561 Woodland Drive Secretary: Ron Hyde Cranbrook BC V1C 6V2 #20 12880 Railway Ave., Richmond BC V7E 6G2 Phone/Fax 250.489.2490 Phone: 604.277.2627 Fax 604.277.2657 [email protected] [email protected] Recording Secretary: Gordon Miller 1126 Morell Circle, Nanaimo BC V9R 6K6 Publishing Committee: Phone 250.756.7071 [email protected] Tony Farr Treasurer: Ron Greene 125 Castle Cross Road, PO Box 1351, Victoria BC V8W 2W7 Salt Spring Island BC V8K 2G1 Phone 250. 598.1835 Fax 250.598.5539 [email protected] Phone 250.537.1123 Past President: Ron Welwood Copy editing: Helmi Braches 1806 Ridgewood Road, Nelson BC V1L 6G9 Proof reading: Tony Farr Phone 250.825.4743 [email protected] Layout and Production: Fred Braches Editor: Fred Braches Web master: Christopher Garrish PO Box 130, Whonnock BC V2W 1V9 Phone 604.462.8942 [email protected] Subscription $15.00 per year Member at Large: Melva Dwyer For mailing outside Canada add $10.00 2976 McBride Ave., Surrey BC V4A 3G6 Please send correspondence regarding Phone/Fax 604.535.3041 subscriptions to the subscription secretary in Member at Large: Arnold Ranneris Cranbrook. 1898 Quamichan Street, Victoria BC V8S 2B9 Some back issues of the journal are Phone 250. 598.3035 [email protected] available—ask the editor in Whonnock. Committees Single copies of recent issues are for sale at: Arrow Lakes Historical Society, Nakusp BC Archivist: Margaret Stoneberg Book Warehouse, Granville St. Vancouver BC Box 687, Princeton BC V0X 1W0, Phone 250.295.3362 Books and Company, Prince George BC Membership Secretary: Terry Simpson Gibson Coast Books, Gibsons BC 193 Bird Sanctuary, Nanaimo BC V9R 6G8 Galiano Museum Phone 250.754.5697 [email protected] Gray Creek Store, Gray Creek BC Historical Trails and Markers: John Spittle Royal Museum Shop, Victoria BC 1241 Mount Crown Road, North Vancouver BC V7R 1R9 This publication is indexed in the CBCA, published by Phone 604.988.4565 [email protected] Micromedia. W. Kaye Lamb Essay Scholarships Committee: Robert Griffin ISSN 1195-8294 107 Regina Ave., Victoria BC V8Z 1J4 Production Mail Registration Number 1245716 Publications Mail Registration No. 09835 Phone 250.475.0418 [email protected] Member of the British Columbia Association of Magazine Publications Assistance: Nancy Stuart-Stubbs Publishers 2651 York Avenue, Vancouver BC V6K 1E6 The British Columbia Heritage Trust has pro- Phone 604.738.5132 [email protected] vided financial assistance to this project to support Writing Competition—Lieutenant-Governor’s Award: conservation of our heritage resources, gain further Helmi Braches knowledge and increase public understanding of the PO Box 130, Whonnock BC V2W 1V9 complete history of British Columbia. Phone 604.462.8942 [email protected]

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IT’S A GREAT JOB 2 Pulling Lumber: Indo-Canadians in the British Being the editor of this journal has Columbia Forest Industry, 1900–1998 been a great experience. I would have by Richard A. Rajala liked to continue doing this for many more years, but I must move on, and we 14 Negotiations for Control and Unlikely Partnerships: need a new editor. Fort Rupert, 1849–1851 So what are we looking for in a by Marki Sellers successor? The future editor should of 24 Edward Mahon and the Naming of Castlegar course be interested in BC history— by Greg Nesteroff should be a reader, a researcher, writer, or author. Previous editing experience 26 Mr. Sam Henry could help, but is in no way necessary. by Rosemarie Parent One learns quickly on the job. Some 28 The Building of the Golden Museum word processing skills would be an by P.L. Miller asset. On the other hand, layout and typesetting of the journal do not have to be done by the editor. I prefer to do 30 BOOK REVIEWS it myself, but another volunteer or the 36 TOKEN HISTORY by Ronald Greene printers could take over this part of the The Grand Hotel of Nakusp production. 39 REPORTS Essential are sustained dedication and a Dedication of a Chinese Monument in Prince George by Lily Chow lot of energy and enthusiasm. This is a The Zeballos Story by Walter Guppy long-term and time-consuming Post-1901 Census Release Moves One Step Closer To Reality by Brenda Smith commitment. An editor spends many Fort Langley: Outpost of Empire by Morag Maclachlan days communicating with contributors, Songs of the Nisga’a: A Wonderful Piece of BC History by Ron Hyde preparing the manuscripts for 42 STEAMBOAT ROUND THE BEND by Ted Affleck publication, and overseeing the The Port Douglas–Lillooet Route to the Cariboo journal’s final production. Council entrusts the publication to the 43 ARCHIVES AND A RCHIVISTS editor. It is the editor who creates the Greater Vernon Museum and Archives by Linda Wills journal, sets its standards, and decides 44 WEB SITE FORAYS by Christopher Garrish its contents. The editor needs imagination, judgment, vision, and the 45 NEWS AND NOTES courage to make decisions. 46 FEDERATION NEWS Yes, this is a challenging task and it is 47 INDEX V OLUME 35 also a fascinating, rewarding, and unique learning experience. Surely there is someone out there capable “Any country worthy of a future should be interested in its past.” and eager to take over. Please help us W. Kaye Lamb, 1937 find that person. the editor

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 1 Pulling Lumber: Indo-Canadians in the British Columbia Forest Industry, 1900–1998 Richard A. Rajala

Richard Rajala teaches HE connection between East Indians and The establishment of a trans-Pacific steamship history at the Univer- British Columbia’s forest industry is a service from Hong Kong to Vancouver by the sity of Victoria and the constant thread in the history of this Canadian Pacific Railway in 1891 created the College of the Rockies, T important Canadian ethnic group. East Indians opportunity for immigration to Canada, where and writes mainly on began arriving in the early twentieth century, just an economic boom would generate a rising de- social and environ- mental history of the as the industry ascended to a position of domi- mand for labourers willing to endure the rigours West Coast forest nance in the provincial economy. Subjected to of work in a range of resource industries. Most industry. This essay was discrimination in both the workplace and public accounts date the birth of Indian awareness of written for the Cana- affairs that drew inspiration from a rising tide of Canada as a destination from 1897, when a Sikh dian Museum of anti-Asian sentiment, the pioneers of East Indian British Army regiment travelled across the coun- Civilization in support immigration established a foothold as labourers try after attending Queen Victoria’s Diamond of its BC history in sawmills. Taking on the least attractive, most Jubilee in London. Received warmly by white exhibits, and appears arduous tasks, they forged a reputation for hard Canadians who did not perceive any immediate here with the permis- work that provided a measure of security in an threat of immigration from India, the soldiers sion of that institution. 1 Sarjeet Singh Jagpal, economy marked by boom-and-bust cycles. Vic- reported favourably on the employment prospects 3 Becoming Canadian: timized by a political culture that depicted Asians and climate of British Columbia. Pioneer Sikhs in Their Own as the source of a host of social and economic CPR passenger agents also played a part in Words (Madeira Park: problems, denied citizenship rights, and cut off generating interest in Canada as a possible desti- Harbour Publishing, 1994), p15. from their families by immigration restrictions, nation for Indian immigrants. Agitation from 2 Hugh Johnston, The East East Indians found in the lumber industry a foun- British Columbia trade unions concerned over Indians in Canada dation for survival. Not until 1947 did they make labour market competition had been responsible (Ottawa: Canadian the transition to Indo-Canadians, finally achiev- for the introduction of a head tax on Chinese Historical Association, 1984), pp 1-5. ing voting rights essential to citizenship. immigrants as early as 1885. The original tax of 3 Donald H. Avery, Until recently, almost all Indian immigrants to $50 was doubled in 1900, then raised to a pro- Reluctant Host: Canada’s Canada originated in the Punjab region of north- hibitive $500 in 1903, prompting the CPR to Response to Immigrant ern India. Most were Sikhs. Their religion dispatch agents to Indian and Japanese ports in Workers, 1896-1994 (Toronto: McClelland & founded about five centuries ago became an ef- an effort to stimulate traffic on its faltering Pa- Stewart, 1995), p 10; Jean ficient military force when confronted with per- cific route. Mackenzie King would later cite CPR Barman, The West Beyond secution by the Moghuls. Drawing unity from propaganda as the principal factor in Indian im- the West: A History of the Khalsa, which required that males wear a head migration as a rationale for restricting their en- British Columbia (Toronto: University of covering over uncut hair, small comb, bangle, try. But the mere existence of the service, in con- Toronto Press, 1991), p ceremonial sword, and breeches, the Sikhs ruled junction with “push” factors in India and Aus- 135; Sonia Manak, “The the Punjab until Britain seized power in the mid- tralia’s closed-door policy, made the arrival of East Sikh Immigrant nineteenth century.1 Indians on Canada’s Pacific coast inevitable.4 Experience,” BC Historical News 31:4 (Fall Under British rule the Punjab region under- Indian immigrants began to trickle into Brit- 1998), p 34. went a painful transition from a subsistence to a ish Columbia in 1903, and by the spring of 1905 4 Johnston, The East market-based agricultural economy. Rising land over four hundred had arrived. Some moved on Indians, p 6; Avery, values fostered heavy rural debt among Sikh fami- to the United States, but those that remained sent Reluctant Host, pp 47-48. 5 Emmaline Smillie, “An lies, prompting an exodus of young men seeking favourable reports back to relatives. Met with Historical Survey of employment during the 1870s. The initial wave curiosity rather than outright hostility because Indian Immigration of migrants ventured to Hong Kong, Singapore, of their small numbers, fewer than three hun- Within the Empire,” Canadian Historical and Malaya, some journeying as far as Australia dred Sikhs resided in the province during the Review 4 (Sept. 1923), p until 1901 legislation barred further entry there. spring of 1906. Encouraged by the opportunity 221; Norman Service in the British Indian Army provided yet of wage labour in the sawmills of Victoria and Buchignani and Doreen another option for those pushed off the land.2 the Lower Mainland, the number of arrivals in- M. Indra with Ram creased to almost 5,000 in 1907 and 1908. Most >>>

2 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 Glenbow Archives NA-303-252 Archives Glenbow had no intention of staying, hoping instead to the most sophisticated mills, but once the lum- Above: Sikhs on arrival at send savings back to assist their families in paying ber emerged from the plant human labour per- Vancouver. off mortgaged land holdings. Having borrowed formed much of the stacking and shifting around the cost of passage from friends and relatives, most the yard.6 arrived destitute and unable to speak English, a Between 1900 and 1913 revenues from for- Srivastiva, Continuous 5 Journey: A Social History of willingness to work their only asset. estry increased from $136,000 to over $2 mil- South Asians in Canada By this time the forest industry had ascended lion, and capital from American and eastern Ca- (Toronto: McClelland & to the peak of the province’s economic hierar- nadian sources fuelled a boom that drew over Stewart, 1985), p 18. 6 chy, surpassing mining and the salmon fishery. 17,000 men of various nationalities and races into C.J. Taylor, The Heritage of the British Columbia Forest The Lower Mainland and southern Vancouver the industry. White labour predominated in the Industry: A Guide for Island were the primary coastal lumbering cen- logging camps, although Japanese crews partici- Planning, Selection and tres, linked by rail to booming Prairie markets or pated in supplying cedar bolts for shingle mills. Interpretation of Sites by steamship to Pacific Rim destinations. Al- Mounting anti-Asian sentiment prompted the (Ottawa: Environment Canada, 1987), pp 36-37, though the scale of logging and milling opera- provincial government to prohibit the employ- 48, 53; Gordon Hak, tions varied widely, the largest had taken on a ment of Japanese or Chinese workers on its Spe- Turning Trees into Dollars: highly mechanized, mass production character. cial Timber Licences in 1906, although enforce- The British Columbia In the woods, steam donkeys “yarded” logs with Coastal Lumber Industry, ment lagged until protests in 1911 produced 1858-1913 (Toronto: steel cables to railways, which carried logs to tide- stricter regulation. In the mills, where the vast University of Toronto water for towing to the mills. There, electrically majority of the East Indians were destined to find Press, 2000), pp 116-32; or steam-driven circular saws and band saws cut employment, perhaps 35 percent of the workforce On logging see Richard the logs into cants. Moving chains carried these A. Rajala, Clearcutting the was Chinese in 1891. Japanese workers grew more Pacific Rain Forest: to edgers and trimmers for sawing into the ap- numerous in the 1890s, most relegated along with Production, Science and propriate dimensions. The rough lumber might the Chinese to unskilled labouring jobs. White Regulation (Vancouver: then be piled in the yard, or run through planers workers occupied the most highly skilled posi- UBC Press, 1998). 7 G.W. Taylor, Timber: to produce a smooth finish prior to stacking in tions, as machine operators, engineers, and tally- History of the Forest large sheds. By 1900 powered conveyors had men.7 Industry in B.C. eliminated some of the manual handling inside Notes continue >>>

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 3 (Vancouver: J.J. Douglas, The curtailment of Chinese immigration pro- fessions.10 1975), p 98; Taylor The vided immediate opportunity for the pioneer East Free for the moment from federal discrimina- Heritage, pp 92-93; Hak, Turning Trees into Dollars, Indians in the sawmills of the Lower Mainland tion, Sikhs faced increasing resentment that au- pp 138, 150-53. and Victoria. In Vancouver, the mills along False tumn as worsening economic conditions made 8 “New Westminster, B.C. Creek became the centre of Sikh participation. Asian labourers an easy scapegoat for mounting and District,” Labour The giant Fraser Mills plant in New Westminster unemployment. Vancouver’s Asiatic Exclusion Gazette 6 (Feb. 1906), p 869 [hereafter LG]; Allen attracted a group that numbered about ten in League drew workers and prominent citizens Seager, “Workers, Class, 1906 but increased rapidly over the next few years. together in defence of a white British Columbia. and Industrial Conflict in By 1907 Vancouver’s population of 70,000 in- Perhaps inspired by an incident in Bellingham New Westminster, 1900- cluded 750 East Indians, 4,500 Chinese, and 1,800 that saw white sawmill workers drive East Indian 1930,” in Workers, Capital, and the State in British Japanese. These minorities made up 14 percent labourers from that town, a meeting of the Ex- Columbia: Selected Papers of New Westminster’s residents in 1913. A 1908 clusion League two days later erupted into a race eds. Rennie Warburton estimate put the total number of workers in ma- riot that swept through Chinese and Japanese areas and David Coburn jor Vancouver sawmills at 2,443, divided among of Vancouver.11 (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1988), p 120; Jagpal, 1,067 whites, 802 Japanese, 399 Chinese, and 175 Although the city’s East Indians escaped the Becoming Canadian, p 58; East Indians.8 mob’s wrath, Ottawa moved quickly to curtail Hak, Turning Trees into The East Indian pioneers confronted a vola- further immigration from India. An inquiry Dollars, p 155. 9 W. Peter Ward, White tile atmosphere as concern mounted among headed by Deputy Minister of Labour Macken- Canada Forever: Popular whites about the perceived threat Asians posed zie King first attributed the bulk of Indian im- Attitudes and Public Policy to British Columbia’s status as a “white man’s migration to the activities of the steamship agents, Toward Orientals in British country.” A fear of economic competition un- and urged restrictions to calm race relations in Columbia (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s derlay much of the hostility, buttressed by a the Pacific province. Rather than impose a head University Press, 1978), deeply-ingrained sense of racial superiority. Al- tax, a measure British officials feared might spark pp 108-9; Patricia E. though numerically insignificant, East Indians protest in its colony, the Laurier administration Roy, “British Columbia’s came in for a disproportionate share of suspicion adopted two Orders-in-Council in January 1908 Fear of Asians; 1900- 1950,” Histoire Sociale/ because of their distinctive appearance, high- that achieved the desired end without making Social History 13 (May lighted by the traditional Sikh turban and beard, specific reference to East Indians. The first re- 1980), pp 161-72. poor housing conditions, and a popular concep- quired all immigrants to travel from their coun- 10 Buchignani and Indra, tion of India as a land of poverty-stricken peas- try of citizenship by “continuous journey,” an Continuous Journey, pp 8- 21; “Notes,” LG 7(Nov. ant masses. Within a short time of their arrival, impossibility for Sikhs since no such service ex- 1906), p 539; Manak, many British Columbians viewed them as the isted between the ports of India and Canada. The “The Sikh,” p 35. least desirable of the Asian immigrants.9 second required all Asians arriving in Canada from 11 For a recent treatment of As early as August 1906 the Vancouver and countries without “special arrangements” to have the Vancouver riot see 12 Patricia E. Roy, A White Victoria Trades and Labour Councils protested $200 in their possession. Man’s Province: British the unrestricted entry of “Hindoo” workers, and East Indian immigration came to a virtual halt Columbia Politicians and the press depicted Sikhs as “alien, foreign, dis- under the federal restrictions, effectively isolat- Chinese and Japanese eased, and immoral.” Vancouver, provincial, and ing the pioneers who had arrived between 1904 Immigrants, 1858-1914 (Vancouver: UBC Press, federal officials responded by exerting pressure and 1908. Only 118 managed to secure entry 1989), pp 185-226. on both the CPR and the Indian government to over the next twelve years. An East Indian popu- 12 “Chinese and Indian curtail their entry. India’s membership in the lation of roughly 5,000 in 1909 dwindled to only Immigration to British Empire made Ottawa reluctant to take 2,342 within two years. Four hundred and ninety Canada—Report of Inquiry Under heavy-handed action, but the provincial govern- of these men lived in Vancouver, another eighty- Commission by the ment, free of the constraints imposed by diplo- five in Victoria, with most of the remainder scat- Deputy Minister of matic considerations, took immediate steps to tered throughout the lumbering centres along Labour,” LG 9 (Sept. limit East Indian citizenship rights. Legislation the east coast of Vancouver Island and the Fraser 1908), pp 297-301; Avery, Reluctant Host, pp 50-52; passed in the spring of 1907 disenfranchised all Valley. Less than fifty East Indian residents of Buchignani and Indra, “natives of India not of Anglo-Saxon parents.” Canada lived outside of British Columbia. By Stricken from the provincial voters’ list, East In- 1921 departures to India or the United States dians were automatically deprived of the vote in brought the total down to about a thousand, an federal elections. Subsequent provincial action overwhelmingly male population that immigra- prohibited them from employment on public tion restrictions had separated from families in works, from purchasing Crown timber rights, and India. Although protests and court challenges from entering the legal and pharmaceutical pro- persuaded federal officials to allow some wives

4 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 BC Archives Archives BC D-09392 and children into Canada after 1912, few were East Indians struck in response to the contrac- Above: Sooke. Kapoor able to surmount the obstacles.13 tor’s failure to pay their wages. Asian workers were Lumber Company. Isolated, politically powerless, and relegated to also subject to extortion from supervisors who unskilled labour in the sawmills, the pioneers demanded that they pay for their jobs. Three fore- closed ranks. Keeping largely to themselves within men were fired from the Royal City Mills on both the job site and the wider community, they False Creek in 1908 for receiving monthly “trib- developed a tightly knit network of mutual sup- ute” from Japanese and East Indian workers.14 port based on work and religion. At the mills, East Indian millworkers entered a labour proc- most laboured pulling, piling, and moving lum- ess fragmented sharply along racial lines. They ber, arduous tasks that demanded physical strength. would be defined as unskilled, deserving of lower In Vancouver, New Westminster, Abbotsford, Vic- wages than whites who refused to accept occu- toria, Comox, the Cowichan Valley, and other pations designated as “Asian jobs.” Employers lumbering centres they constituted an essential capitalized on labour segmentation in their mills, justifying the discriminatory wage structure on component of the sawmill labour force, quickly Continuous Journey, pp acquiring a reputation as hard-working, reliable, the grounds of lower Asian standards of living. 23-26. inexpensive employees. An early-twentieth-cen- Fully exposed to the shifting tides of a volatile 13 Buchignani and Indra, tury Victoria mill owner described them as “en- staples economy, Asians were frequently the first Continuous Journey, pp 39-42. ergetic workers with a keen desire to learn.” An- to suffer wage cuts or be fired when business 14 Rajani Kanta Das, other used similar terms; his East Indian employ- dropped off. When markets slumped in late 1907, Hindustani Workers on the ees were “steady workers, attentive to their work for example, the B.C. Lumber and Shingle Manu- Pacific Coast (Berlin: … and quick to learn.” At some plants Sikh la- facturers’ Association slashed the wages of Walter de Gruyter, 1923), p 44; LG (March 1909), bour contractors emerged. Such arrangements Orientals while maintaining those of white em- p 1009; Timberman 9 15 encouraged exploitation, evident in a March 1909 ployees. (Aug. 1908), p 49. incident at Fraser Mills when about a hundred Race remained a fundamental divide in Brit- 15 “Our British Columbia Letter,” Pacific Lumber

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 5 Trade Journal 13 (Oct. ish Columbia sawmills well into the twentieth pany, operator of the largest plant in the prov- 1907), p 30 [hereafter century, a source of unity among whites that ince, announced its intention in 1909 to hire PLTJ]; Hindustani Workers, p 49; Hak, Turning Trees erected a barrier to class cohesion. As early as French Canadian workers to take the place of its into Dollars, p 158. 1886 strikes occurred on the principle of Asian Asian employees at Fraser Mills. The firm estab- 16 Hak, Turning Trees into exclusion, despite the fact that white mill work- lished the community of Maillardville to house Dollars, p 157. ers benefited from their presence. “The lower the new arrivals, and by early 1910 had report- 17 Gillian Creese, “Exclusion of Solidarity? wages paid to Asians,” Gordon Hak explains, “ena- edly discharged 150 East Indian and Chinese Vancouver Workers bled skilled white workers to retain their jobs in workers.19 Confront the ‘Oriental a competitive environment and sustained their When the industry slumped in 1913 the Small- Problem,’” BC Studies 80 wages at a higher level than would otherwise have Bucklin Lumber Company of New Westminster (Winter 1988), pp 32-33; 16 “Vancouver Trades and been possible.” dismissed 90 Sikh “pilers and shifters” in an ef- Labour Council Nevertheless, the fear of cheap labour compe- fort to create an all-white labour force. That sum- Proceedings,” Western tition in association with racist attitudes that de- mer, with Vancouver mills closing due to a lack Wage-Earner 2 (May picted Asians as inferior and unassimilable proved of orders, trade unionists worried that the un- 1910), p 5; “Editorial Notes,” Ibid, 2 (Oct. durable in the labour movement. In 1910 the employed “Orientals and Hindus” would drift 1910), p 12; LG 12 (Dec. Vancouver Trades and Labour Council urged leg- into other sectors of the economy. “In as much 1911), p 600; “The islation to abolish the employment of Oriental as they work for practically nothing and board Hindoo Question,” B.C. Federationist, 20 Jan. 1912, labour in British Columbia’s lumber, mining, and themselves, even the present standard of wages p 4 [hereafter BCF]. fishing industries. The organization’s journal fre- will likely receive another jolt,” predicted the B.C. 18 “The Race Question,” quently deplored the “hordes of Asiatics” work- Federationist.20 BCF, 8 August 1913, p 2; ing in Vancouver area sawmills. East Indians drew Without the ties of family life, Sikh mill work- “How the ‘White BC,’ Election Slogan Works specific attention in 1912 when the change in ers adopted a strategy of geographic mobility both Out in Practice,” BCF, 22 immigration regulations permitted the entry of as a matter of survival and a means of securing June 1912, p 3; a few wives and children. “The fate of Canada as better pay and conditions. Information concern- Buchignani and Indra, a white man’s country is in the balance,” one ing job opportunities and wages flowed freely Continuous Journey, p 42. 19 “Lumbering,” LG 6 unionist warned. “The great question of whether throughout the tightly knit community. Some (May 1906), p 1184; this country of ours is to be the heritage of our Sikhs ventured as far as the Kootenays, finding Western Lumberman 9 children or the heritage of the yellow and black work in the mills at Golden. Others travelled up (Mar. 1912), p 26 races must be decided now, once and for all.”17 the coast to Ocean Falls, where a small commu- [hereafter WL]; “British Columbia,” Timberman 11 Only a minority within British Columbia’s nity emerged in conjunction with the Pacific (Jan. 1910), p 32. labour movement spoke up for inclusion prior Mills pulp and paper operation. 20 “News From British to the First World War. The revolutionary Indus- Wherever Sikhs gathered in sufficient num- Columbia,” PLTJ 18 (Jan. trial Workers of the World translated organizing bers, temples were established as centres of reli- 1913), p 21; “Unemployed Problem literature into Punjabi, and a 1913 B.C. gious and social life. The Khalsa Diwan Society, Demanding Attention of Federationist editorial acknowledged that while organized in Vancouver in 1907 to deal with re- Municipalities,” BCF, 18 the notion of “organizing or mixing” with Asians ligious matters, undertook construction of Brit- July 1913, p 1. was repugnant to many, they too belonged to the ish Columbia’s first Sikh temple, or Gurdwara, 21 Mahinder Singh Dhillon, A History Book “wage slave class.” The more pervasive perspec- the following year. Victoria’s Sikh community of the Sikhs in Canada and tive condemned Asians for undercutting white followed in 1910. The Canadian Western Lum- California (Vancouver: wages and lowering working class living stand- ber Company, which never succeeded in ending Shromani Akali Dal ards.18 its reliance on Asians, built a temple for Sikh Association of Canada, 1981), p 256; Jagpal, White sawmill owners shared the prevailing workers at Fraser Mills around this time. Sikh Becoming Canadian, p 52. view of Asians as undesirable, though essential to millworkers at Abbotsford purchased lumber from profitable operation. Operators did not employ area plants for a Gurdwara completed in 1911. “Hindoos” out of choice, the Western Lumberman Ocean Falls, Nanaimo, and Golden also had a claimed, but in response to a shortage of white sufficient concentration of East Indian residents mill workers. Nevertheless, some did attempt to to warrant the building of temples. Beyond their eliminate the Asians from time to time. In 1906 purely religious function, the Gurdwaras typi- the Victoria Lumber and Manufacturing Com- cally provided kitchens for communal meals, tem- pany at Chemainus declared that its Chinese porary lodging for those in need, and a vital gath- workers would be displaced in favor of white ering place for East Indians.21 labour, considered to be “cheaper than Chinese The Khalsa Diwan Society and local Gurdwaras in the end.” The Canadian Western Lumber Com- also served as centres of Sikh political organiza-

6 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 BC Archives Archives BC D-04655 tion, an aspect of growing importance as events in May 1914 when the Komagata Maru arrived at Above: Sawmill crew and unfolded during the prelude to the First World Vancouver harbour with 376 Sikhs on board. With inspector. War. As a provincial recession deepened in 1913, Vancouver still reeling from high unemployment, British Columbia’s East Indian community had the mayor presided at a mass meeting that de- apparent cause to rejoice that November when manded federal action to prevent their landing. Supreme Court Justice Hunter struck down both Ottawa supported this position, having already the “continuous journey” regulation and the $200 renewed the Order-in-Council on 31 March. But entry requirement on purely technical grounds. when immigration officials issued deportation Over the previous year several Indian immigrants orders the Sikhs seized the ship on 18 July. Three had taken advantage of a recently established days later the newly acquired naval cruiser Rain- 22 “Unemployment in steamship service between Indian ports and Vic- bow arrived from Esquimalt and anchored beside Western Canada— toria, only to be detained for deportation upon the Komagata Maru. The Indians agreed to return Immigration of Artisans arrival. Hunter’s ruling on their cases appeared to Hong Kong, and thousands of Vancouverites and Labourers at British to resolve the issue, and in consequence throw lined the shores as the Rainbow escorted the In- Columbia Ports Prohibited by Order-in- open the doors to unrestricted entry, but once dian ship out of the harbour on 23 July. “Meant Council,” LG 14 (Jan. again appeals from the province prompted im- to be a symbol of unity for the Empire,” notes 1914), pp 820-21; Avery, mediate action by authorities in Ottawa. Citing Joan Jensen, “the new Canadian navy was thus Reluctant Host, p 54; “overcrowding of the labour market in Western first used to prevent the landing of British sub- Smillie, “An Historical 23 Survey,” p 222. Canada,” Robert Borden’s Conservative govern- jects in the Empire.” 23 Joan M. Jensen, Passage ment adopted an Order-in-Council forbidding The Komagata Maru incident further eroded from India: Asian Indian the entry of any “immigrants of the artisan and the pioneers’ faith in their adopted home, prompt- Immigrants in North labouring classes” at west coast ports. Although ing many to return to India or move on to the America (New Haven: Yale University Press, the measure again made no mention of East In- United States. But for some of those that re- 1988), pp 130-37; dians, its intent was to replace the barrier removed mained, the years between the First World War “Vancouver,” LG 15 by Hunter’s decision.22 and the early 1920s brought new entrepreneurial (July 1919), p 45; “Hindu The Borden government’s involvement with opportunities. Beginning in 1914, groups of East Immigration to British Columbia,” LG 15 (Aug. East Indian immigration took a more serious turn Indians with kinship or village ties began pool- 1915), pp 268-72.

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 7 24 K.K. Prassad, The ing resources to lease or purchase small sawmills diverse community later named Paldi, after Mayo’s Historical Development of in the Fraser Valley. Typically the partners laboured village in India. The plant went into production East Indian Economic Activities in British in the mills alongside their Sikh employees, hir- in late 1917, supplied by a two-mile logging rail- Columbia, 1900-1945 ing additional Chinese and Japanese workers and way and an assortment of steam donkeys. Mayo (Institute of Asian sharing whatever profits their enterprises gener- built a temple for his Sikh employees in 1919, Research, University of ated. Mayo Singh would take this route to be- and by the early 1920s the settlement had be- British Columbia, 1983), pp 32-33; Joan Mayo, come British Columbia’s most prominent East come a “neat looking mill village” consisting of Paldi Remembered: 50 Years Indian lumberman. A worker at the Fernridge East Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and white sections. in the Life of a Vancouver Lumber Company in Rosedale when that mill Nearby at Hillcrest, Carleton Stone operated a Island Logging Town (The failed in 1912, three years later he joined with sawmill that gained a reputation among Sikhs as Author, 1997), pp 1-4. 25 WL 14 (Mar. 1917), p thirty-five other ex-employees to purchase the a reliable place of employment. In 1935 Stone 24; Mayo, Paldi operation.24 built a Gurdwara for his Sikh workers, and Remembered, p 24. When their newly titled Cheam Lumber Hillcrest became the site of a substantial East In- 26 Richard Rajala, The Company exhausted the plant’s timber supply in dian settlement. Mayo and Kapoor gradually Legacy and the Challenge: A Century of the Forest 1917, Mayo’s syndicate took over the Marcum bought out the other Paldi shareholders during Industry at Cowichan Lake Lumber Company near New Westminster. “Still the decade, operating the enterprise as equal part- (Lake Cowichan another coast mill has been taken over by ners and establishing the Kapoor Lumber Com- Heritage Advisory 26 Committee, 1993), p 31; Hindoos,” observed the Western Lumberman. When pany near Sooke on the same basis. Mayo, Paldi Remembered, that operation neared the end of its timber sup- Mayo and Kapoor would eventually go their p 37; WL 14 (Oct. 1917), ply Mayo located new private reserves in the separate ways, the former gaining renown for his p 54; Jagpal, Becoming Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Belt between philanthropy until his death in 1955. By this time Canadian, pp 67-77. Duncan and Lake Cowichan. Kapoor Singh, then his operations included mills at McKay Lake and homesteading in Ontario, came west to join the Summit, several logging operations, and a new Below: Fraser Mills. partners as a bookkeeper during this period.25 mill under construction at Nanaimo that his sons Canadian Western Lumber Under the management of Mayo and Kapoor, went on to manage. Kapoor later established a Co. Ltd. the syndicate established a sawmill and ethnically large sawmill at Barnet, employing a multiracial BC Archives B-08359 Archives BC

8 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 workforce there and at the Cowichan Valley log- a half-hearted acceptance of family unification 27 Canada Lumberman 75 ging operations that supplied the plant. East In- that permitted the entry of 144 adult women (Apr. 1955), p 82; John F.T. Saywell, Kaatza: The dians engaged in logging for both companies, a and 188 children. The age and gender imbalance Chronicles of Cowichan rarity during a period when occupational segre- remained, however, and by 1930 fewer than two Lake (Cowichan Lake gation along racial lines prevailed. At Paldi Sikhs hundred East Indian families resided in Canada.30 District Centennial worked in the most highly skilled positions, as At the workplace, relations between Asians and Committee, 1967), pp 138-39; “Kapoor high riggers and hooktenders, illustrating the whites remained strained. Although labour short- Emphasizes extent to which East Indian ownership provided ages and inflation promoted working class mili- Standardization,” Truck opportunity at the very apex of the logging la- tancy during the First World War, and the BC Logger (Sept. 1949), p 14; bour force.27 Federation of Labour launched an organizing Mayo, Paldi Remembered, pp 45, 53. East Indian syndicates established a number of drive among loggers and lumber workers late in 28 Prassad, The Historical enterprises during the same period that gave rise 1918, the extent of racial tolerance among the Development, p 33; Das, to the Mayo-Kapoor partnership, including the new Lumber Workers Industrial Union is diffi- Hindustani Workers, p 27; Tansor Lumber Company at Duncan, the East- cult to assess. The organization included some “Hindus Now Operating Five British Columbia ern Lumber Company at Ladysmith, the Virginia Chinese, Japanese, and East Indian members dur- Mills,” WL 14 (Apr. Lumber Company at Coombs, and the Bharat ing its brief post-war challenge to the control 1917), p 31. Lumber Company in Vancouver. By 1922 Sikhs exerted by employers, before withering away 29 Murindar Singh, Canadian Sikhs: History, operated seven logging camps, two shingle mills, during the early 1920s in the face of recession, Religion, and Culture of and six lumber companies in British Columbia, mounting unemployment, and a determined Sikhs in North America as well as over twenty farms. “Our Hindu fel- open-shop drive. But even at the height of the (Ottawa: Canadian Sikhs’ low-subjects of his Majesty King George, having organizing drive race remained a barrier to unity. Studies Institute, 1994), p 93; Jagpal, Becoming served ... in menial capacities while getting an When the American Federation of Labour’s Canadian, pp 58-59; insight into the lumber industry, are now mani- United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners Buchignani and Indra, festing a most disturbing tendency to compete pressed for a wage increase at Victoria mills in Continuous Journey, p 78. with their former employers,” noted an industry 1919, the demands included replacement of Asian 30 Buchignani and Indra, 28 31 Continuous Journey, pp organ. workers with returned soldiers. 71-74. The wood-fuel business, a logical outgrowth As racial divisions overwhelmed class cohe- 31 Creese, “Exclusion or of participation in lumbering, offered another sion in the early 1920s, the provincial labour Solidarity,” pp 38-40; outlet for East Indian entrepreneurialism. A few movement embraced the traditional policy of Seager, “Workers, Class,” p 123; “Will Negotiate of the pioneers embarked on such ventures as Asian exclusion. Mill owners countered the grow- Instead of Striking,” WL early as 1908, purchasing scrap wood from mills ing chorus of demands for the eviction of East 16 (May 1919), p 41. and transporting it to homes in horse-drawn carts. Indian, Chinese, and Japanese workers with two 32 “Fire Orientals From Investment in motorized trucks followed, with arguments. Not only could they not survive in Mills is Remedy,” WL 16 (June 1919), p 40, WL 16 family-based enterprises later becoming promi- the marketplace paying the white wage rate (June 1919), pp 16, 33; nent in the delivery of sawdust when the devel- throughout their plants, the Asians were confined WL 16 (Dec. 1919), p opment of conversion units for stoves and fur- to jobs that Caucasians “would not care to han- 36. 33 naces permitted home heating with this inex- dle.” By mid-1919 a Repatriation League had “White and Oriental Labour,” Pacific Coast pensive fuel. By 1927, 21 East Indian dealerships come into existence to pressure employers into Lumberman 4 (Aug. serviced the Lower Mainland, and perhaps 60 substituting veterans for Asians, with some ap- 1920), pp 27-28; “The existed throughout the province. Most of these parent success. The Port Haney Sawmill dis- Hindu and the Jap,” WL owner-operators conducted business with a sin- charged a number of Asians that June, and by 19 (Mar. 1922), p 74. gle truck, but larger fleets emerged over time. year’s end the Vancouver Trades and Labour Sohan Brothers of Burnaby became the major Council boasted that the League had achieved a player, owning thirty vehicles. Only the availability substantial reduction in Asian sawmill employ- of cleaner, cheaper fuel alternatives during the ment.32 1950s curtailed Sikh involvement in the field.29 While adamant that whites far outnumbered For the vast majority who remained wage la- Asians in their plants, employers continued to bourers, the 1920s brought a certain stability. No assert that the latter were essential to their com- longer sojourners, but effectively isolated from petitive survival. “No white man likes to employ the society that offered little in the way of ac- a brown one instead of his own kind,” declared ceptance, the Sikhs focused on carving out an the Western Lumberman, but in the final analysis existence. Some 400 new arrivals cleared the the question was one of productivity. “If a white immigration hurdle during the decade, thanks to man will not produce as much as he demands as a wage and a brown man will, why, the brown BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 9 34 “Would Eliminate man is going to get the work.” White workers wooden structure, two or three men sharing each Orientals,” WL 19 (July should befriend their bosses, put forth an honest of the cramped rooms that ran along each side of 1922), p 35; “B.C. Mills to Oust Orientals,” Pulp effort, and soon there would be “no room or place a narrow hallway. A meeting room at one end of and Paper Magazine of for the Hindu or Jap.”33 the building provided a place for socializing, but Canada 20 (10 Aug. As British Columbia’s economy continued to living conditions were spartan at best. Rajani 1922), p 686; “The spiral into the post-First-World-War recession, Kanta Das found conditions at Paldi superior to Oriental Question,” WL 19 (Dec. 1922), pp 22- racial tensions escalated. Chinese, East Indians, those at other mills, where men slept in drafty, 23; “Exclusion of and whites found common cause in a 1925 Vic- low-ceilinged “shacks” and moisture crept up the Orientals Sought by B.C. toria sawmill strike, but provincial politicians took walls from ground that rains frequently turned Legislature,” LG 22 (Dec. centre stage in a concerted campaign to under- into a muddy quagmire. Alternatively, men might 1922), p 125. 35 “Oriental Employees in mine Asian employment. Attorney General Alex pool resources to rent a lodging house near the British Columbia,” LG Manson made a 1922 appeal to lumber, shingle, mill. In either case, they saved money to send 24 (Dec. 1924), p 1024; and pulp and paper manufacturers to oust their back to families in India by operating communal “Unemployment and Asian workers. Later that year the legislature kitchens or cookhouses, each man contributing Oriental Labour,” LG 25 (Jan. 1925), p 25; passed a unanimous resolution asking Ottawa to an equal share of his earnings to purchase food “Oriental Population of “completely prohibit Asian immigration into and pay the wages of older men who prepared British Columbia,” LG Canada,” following up with another requesting the meals. Such “dining clubs” operated on a 27 (Apr. 1927), pp 399- 400; Veronica Strong- amendment of the British North America Act to democratic basis, the members taking turns as- Boag, “Society in the bar Asian ownership or employment in the prov- suming the responsibility for buying provisions Twentieth Century,” in ince’s forest, mining, fishing, and agricultural in- and collecting monthly dues.36 The Pacific Province: A dustries.34 The mills operated on ten-hour shifts, six days History of British Columbia ed. Hugh J.M. Johnston Ottawa responded by closing the door to im- a week, and according to one survey East Indian (Vancouver: Douglas & migration from China in 1923, and by 1925 the wages ranged from 26 cents to 75 cents an hour McIntyre, 1996), p 276; province was able to report a marked decrease in during the early 1920s. Whites might earn up to Rajala, The Legacy and the the Oriental component of the labour force to $1.00 an hour. When Das toured British Colum- Challenge, p 26; Taylor, The Heritage, pp 164-65. 12 percent from the 1918 level of 20 percent. bia mills at this time he observed that workers of 36 Das, Hindustani Workers, Still, Asiatic employment in lumbering stood at all races dressed similarly, according to the norm pp 68-72; Johnston, The almost 22 percent in 1924. East Indians, who had for the various occupations. He encountered East Indians, p 8; Jagpal, made up almost 5 percent of the lumber indus- many Sikhs who had cut their hair and discarded Becoming Canadian, pp 57-62. try’s employees in 1919, comprised 2.42 percent the turban in favour of hats, and Jagpal contends 37 Das, Hindustani Workers, of the 1925 total. An estimated 1,103 East Indi- that the pioneers exerted considerable pressure p 68; Johnston, The East ans resided in the province by that date, their on younger Sikhs to conform to western dress Indians, p 8; Jagpal, population dwarfed by 25,216 Chinese and and hair styles. Still, Johnston estimates that just Becoming Canadian, pp 57-62. 19,455 Japanese. Booming domestic and foreign over half of the men retained their traditional 38 Buchignani and Indra, demand brought the value of production in the turbans and beards.37 Continuous Journey, pp provincial forest industry from under $50 mil- British Columbia’s marginalized East Indian 88-90. lion to $87 million in the years between 1923 community experienced great hardship in 1930 39 Prassad, The Historical Development, pp 45-46; and 1929, and two years later Asians comprised when lumber and paper markets collapsed under Barman, The West Beyond 7.3 percent of British Columbia’s population. But the weight of the Great Depression. Plant clo- The West, p 102; Loggers, while prosperity during the latter 1920s may have sures and wage cuts over the next three years re- Wives and Sawmill encouraged some moderation, anti-Asian senti- inforced hostility toward Asians. T.D. Pattullo’s Workers: Memories From the Cowichan Valley ment remained strong. When threatened with new Liberal administration responded to the eco- (Malaspina University minimum wage legislation in 1926, a measure nomic crisis by instituting a range of reformist College, nd), p 33. mill owners perceived as a threat to Asian em- legislation in 1934, including a minimum wage ployment, they pledged to voluntarily reduce their law. But the measure included an exemption for dependence on these workers by 25 percent each 25 percent of the workers in sawmills, typically year over the next five years.35 Asians who remained confined to the lower ranks The beleaguered Sikh minority withstood the of the occupational hierarchy.38 storms of the 1920s, most now resigned to a role Although forest product demand began to pick as “bunkhouse men.” At mill sites racial segrega- up around this time, the Depression “only wors- tion dictated the arrangement of accommoda- ened already harsh conditions” for Asian work- tions, each group occupying separate bunkhouses. ers. The downturn in lumbering prompted East The typical East Indian bunkhouse was a long Indians to take up seasonal agricultural work,

10 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 BC Archives Archives NA-07923 BC general labouring, or various forms of self-em- Indian workers made common cause against the Above: Lumber piles, ployment. Some returned to India, but those who Canadian Western Lumber Company to force Cameron Mills, Victoria. hung on survived by relying on the strategies wage concessions after a strike of two months developed over preceding decades. Able to live duration.40 frugally in groups, to rely on the Gurdwara for The woodworkers’ union made little headway support, and to move quickly when opportunity in the sawmills for the next few years, perhaps in beckoned, the Sikhs weathered the Depression part because of resistance to Asian membership. with little or no dependence on the “dole.” Karm But the initiation of an organizing drive in Lower 40 Jeanne Myers, “Class and Manak began working with his father at Hillcrest Mainland mills in 1936 targeted racial divisions Community in the Fraser Mills Strike, 1931,” in in 1929, went back to India for two or three years that allowed employers to play Asians and whites Workers, Capital, and the when the Depression hit, returning in 1933 to off against each other. To this end the union made State in British Columbia: take work in a Vancouver mill for 10 cents an a point of exposing the exploitation of minori- Selected Papers eds. hour. Within a couple of years he had elevated ties, drawing attention to an East Indian Rennie Warburton and David Coburn his hourly rate to 15 cents, before accepting a greenchain foreman for the Mohawk Lumber (Vancouver: UBC Press, job back at Hillcrest at 25 cents an hour.39 Company at New Westminster who forced the 1988), pp 141-160. The emergence of allies in the struggle for single countrymen under his authority to live at 41 “Commence Drive to political equality brightened an otherwise dis- the boarding house he owned. Operations that Build Union in Local Mills,” B.C. Lumber mal decade. Established in 1932, the Coopera- continued to practise wage discrimination also Worker, 18 Apr. 1936, p 1 tive Commonwealth Federation threw its sup- came under attack. The union cited the Mayo [hereafter BCLW]; “Men port behind Asian voting rights. So too, eventu- Lumber Company and Hillcrest Lumber Com- Forced to Live in Home of Foreman,” BCLW, 13 ally, would the International Woodworkers of pany near Duncan as two of the worst offenders June 1936, p 4; America. Wage cutting by employers during the because of the large number of Asians employed “Elimination of Tyee is early 1930s provided the opportunity for a re- by those firms.41 Problem in Mills,” birth of industrial unionism, beginning with the The IWA’s membership stood at only 1,564 BCLW, 13 June 1936, p 8; “Evade Wage Law on Fraser Mills strike of 1931. There, English Cana- when the Second World War erupted, a conflict Lower Island,” BCLW, 11 dian, French Canadian, Japanese, Chinese, and East that created a decisive shift in the balance of power July 1936, p 10.

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 11 42 Jagpal, Becoming in the camps and mills. Booming markets, war years. Mayo Singh and Kapoor Singh were Canadian, pp 142-44; enlistments, and the internment of the Japanese among the prominent leaders of the voting rights Rajala, The Legacy and the Challenge, p 102. in 1942 created a labour scarcity that drove wages campaign that finally secured the franchise for 43 “East Indians Get Equal upward and generated a more favourable atmos- East Indians in 1947. Other signs of integration Pay Granted,” BCLW, 25 phere for industrial unionism. IWA fortunes im- emerged in the immediate postwar years. In 1949, Jan. 1943, p 2; “Youbou proved as organizers such as Darshan Sangha held two years after India and Pakistan gained inde- Orientals Demand Equal Pay for Equal Work,” meetings and distributed literature throughout pendence, Indian Prime Minister Nehru and his BCLW, 8 Mar. 1943, p 3; the coastal region. Appointed to organize East daughter Indira Ghandi visited Vancouver, an “All Orientals Join IWA, Indian mill workers, Sangha began going from event that drew Sikhs from around the province. Equal Pay Established,” mill to mill during the early 1940s, working to East Indians encountered less systematic discrimi- BCLW, 1 Nov. 1943, p 5; “Union Gains at Fraser overcome the very real fear that union member- nation in their everyday lives after the war; res- Mills,” BCLW, 8 Feb. ship would bring immediate dismissal. Once suc- taurants, beer parlours, and movie houses that 1943, p 6; “IWA cessful in recruiting a small group of supporters once routinely refused them entry increasingly Demands Improved who would continue rallying support among East accepted their patronage. The timber town of Lake Sanitary Conditions,” BCLW, 12 July 1943, p 3; Indians in the plant, Sangha moved on. This ap- Cowichan named a young East Indian woman “Local 118 at Victoria proach began paying dividends in 1942 at its “Lady of the Lake” in 1950, a gesture of ac- Elects Officers,” BCLW, Cowichan Lake, a centre of union solidarity. East ceptance unlikely in British Columbia before the 10 Jan. 1943, p 3; Vir 44 Inder Jit Kaur Padda, Indian crews at the Hillcrest Lumber Company, Second World War. “The East Indian now situated at Mesachie Lake, and Industrial Most Sikh males continued to find employ- Community Research — Timber Mills at Youbou contributed their sup- ment in sawmills after the war. According to one Cowichan Valley,” port to unanimous votes in favour of IWA mem- 1946 estimate over five hundred of 555 wage (Unpublished Report, Royal British Columbia bership that summer. Workers at the giant Victo- workers were engaged in lumbering or wood Museum, 1980), p 17; ria Lumber and Manufacturing Company mill manufacturing. Greenchain labour provided the For a very revealing at Chemainus also voted overwhelmingly to af- most significant occupational sector, thanks in part account of one Sikh’s filiate with the IWA.42 to the presence of East Indian contractors in many experience as an IWA official see Tara Singh The following spring changes to the province’s mills. Workers stood on each side of a long plat- Bains and Hugh labour code provided for government recogni- form that extended from the mill, pulling boards Johnston, The Four tion of unions in the event of such votes, and the off moving chains and piling them according to Quarters of the Night: The IWA scored another important victory by ob- grade on wooden blocks for removal by motor- Life-Journey of an Emigrant Sikh (Montreal: McGill- taining a Regional War Labour Board ruling at ized carriers. “It didn’t matter if you were edu- Queen’s University Press, Fraser Mills confirming the principle of equal cated or not,” recalls Darshan Sangha, “if you were 1995). pay for Asian workers. Evidence of the benefits Hindustani you would be working on the 44 “Votes for B.C.’s of union membership fostered support among greenchain.” Evenings in the bunkhouse might Minorities IWA Demand,” BCLW, 4 Nov. Asians. By late 1943 the entire contingent of 63 be spent listening to music played on traditional 1946, p 2; Jagpal, East Indian workers at Youbou had joined the instruments such as the Harmonium. Organized Becoming Canadian, pp IWA, following confirmation of the “equal pay recreation included a volleyball league involving 146-47; Buchignani and for equal work” decision. The union also pro- teams comprised of Vancouver Island sawmill Indra, Continuous Journey, p 99. tested the miserable bunkhouse conditions en- workers. Annual three-day religious festivals called 45 Buchignani and Indra, dured by East Indian and Chinese workers at Jor Mallas provided another opportunity for Sikhs Continuous Journey, p 98; Fraser Mills and other plants, contrasting these to gather. Held at various temples, the events fea- Pradda, “The East Indian with new housing facilities at Youbou. That tured athletic events such as soccer, wrestling, and Community,” p 17, 23; 45 Jagpal, Becoming Canadian, bunkhouse, built at union insistence, featured Kabudhi, a traditional game of the Punjab. p 90, 121; Mayo, Paldi steam heat, spring beds, and two-man rooms. By Union rules assisted East Indian demands for Remembered, pp 70-71. 1946 the IWA was British Columbia’s largest la- dignity and equal opportunity, but gains at the bour union, thanks in part to the support of East workplace did not come without struggle. Tara Indian members and activists who served their Singh Bains secured employment with a Punjabi locals in a range of official capacities.43 contractor in Nanaimo in 1953, working the Aside from its role in securing a measure of night shift. Bains and his fellow greenchain work- workplace equality, the IWA provided East Indi- ers lived in an old house owned by the contrac- ans with their first institutional opportunity to tor, paying $50 a month for rent, “enough for an participate in the dominant culture. Moreover, excellent house at the time.” Although union the union threw its support behind East Indian members, the crew endured exploitation at the efforts to gain equal citizenship rights during the contractor’s hands until Bains secured each man’s pledge to strike in support of a demand for the

12 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 hiring of another piler. The greenchain workers competition that produced racial confrontations 46 Bains and Johnston, The eventually achieved their goal, and Bains went in Quesnel, Prince George, and Fort St. James Four Quarters, pp 61-66. 47 Bains and Johnston, The on to become a vice-president of the IWA sub- during the 1970s. British Columbia’s East Indian Four Quarters, pp 67-81. local.46 population became more diverse as it grew. About 48 Buchignani and Indra, Charges of Communist affiliation stalled his a thousand Hindus had immigrated to the prov- Continuous Journey, pp union career, and by 1956 Bains was working on ince by 1971, along with a small group of Paki- 105-107; Johnston, The East Indians, p 11. 49 the greenchain at MacMillan Bloedel’s Somass stani Moslems. 49 Buchignani and Indra, Division sawmill at Port Alberni. He progressed Sawmill work remained the largest single Continuous Journey, pp to the planer chain, passed the lumber grader’s source of Sikh employment in British Columbia 210-12; Johnston, The exam, and ascended to this position, “a job that into the 1980s. Roughly 2,000 worked in the East Indians, pp 13-14; John Norris, Strangers East Indians didn’t usually get.” A market slump Vancouver-area mills during the early 1980s, per- Entertained: A History of sent Bains back to the greenchain, and he had to haps 60 percent of the adult male population. Ethnic Groups in British overcome a foreman’s discrimination in order to James Chadney cites “relative accessibility and Columbia (Vancouver: regain his grader’s status. He went on to play a historical precedence” as the two most impor- British Columbia Centennial Committee, prominent role in the small Sikh community at tant factors in this ongoing relationship. Mill work 1971), pp 235-36. Port Alberni until his departure in 1960.47 continues to be considered a low-status occupa- 50 James Chadney, The Entrepreneurial activity in the post-war pe- tion, more open to immigrants than other less Sikhs of Vancouver (New York: AMS Press, 1984), riod reflected the traditional dominance of the demanding avenues of employment. Pulling lum- pp 44-48; The Barker 17 wood industries. The 335 East Indian-owned ber “needs strength and is hard work” wrote IWA (Oct. 1975), p 7. businesses in British Columbia in 1946 included plant chairman Dilbag Singh Johal in explaining 51 Lumberworker 63 (Mar. 130 fuel merchants, 29 sawmill owners, and ten the concentration of East Indians on the 1998), p 11. logging operators. The population remained small greenchain in his Lower Mainland mill in 1975. because of the continued existence of immigra- Tradition also played a part in directing East In- tion restrictions, and tied to the west coast. Of dians to the mills. “It was sort of expected of the 2,148 East Indian residents of Canada in 1951, me,” said one of Chadney’s informants. “My dad, 1,937 made British Columbia their home. The my older brother, and one of my uncles all worked demographic picture began to change that year, in the mills.”50 however, when Canada dismantled the immigra- Over the past two decades mill moderniza- tion ban erected in 1908. Pressure from India, tion, timber shortages, and environmental pres- coupled with a need to grant token recognition sures have effected a drastic reduction in forest of the newly independent countries of South Asia, industry employment in British Columbia. Many prompted Ottawa to establish a quota system that mills have disappeared, and in the remainder permitted the annual entry of 150 Indians, one greenchains have been replaced by automatic hundred Pakistanis, and fifty Ceylonese. Canada sorters. The membership of IWA Local 217, cen- boosted the Indian quota to three hundred in tred in the sawmills along False Creek, Burrard 1957, bringing British Columbia’s South Asian Inlet, and the Fraser River, dropped from about population to 4,526 in 1961, the highest since 7,000 in the early 1970s to 2,200 in 1998. the 1908 restrictions.48 Cowichan Lake, once the site of three large mills Over the same decade the imposition of higher that provided East Indians with employment, now occupational criteria resulted in the arrival of faces closure of the only remaining plant at more South Asian professional, managerial, and Youbou. An understanding of how this process technical workers who sought employment in of deindustrialization has affected East Indian urban centres across Canada, a process of disper- employment awaits further research. It is beyond sal that continued during the 1960s and 1970s. question, however, that the history of neither The end of the quota system in 1962 resulted in British Columbia lumbering nor the province’s a tremendous surge of Asian immigration, bring- East Indian population can be adequately under- ing the total across Canada to 67,860 in 1971. stood without reference to the relationship be- By that date 30,920 South Asians resided in On- tween the two.51 For East Indian immigrants the tario, exceeding British Columbia’s level by over wood industries have provided both a point of twelve thousand. Despite their qualifications, entry and a path of upward mobility, a source of many educated Sikhs were destined for unskilled permanence that discrimination and hostility or semi-skilled labour in British Columbia’s mills, could obstruct but not close.
however, sparking some resentment over job

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 13 Negotiations for Control and Unlikely Partnerships: Fort Rupert, 1849-1851 by Marki Sellers

Marki Sellers is a social For this paper Marki Sellers was rewarded with the W. The Nahwitti incident of 1850 and the events activist and SFU history Kaye Lamb Essay Scholarship for 2001/2002. at Fort Rupert are important to the early history student. She lives in The paper was recommended by Dr. Paige Raibmon of of British Columbia. They represent the first co- East Vancouver. Simon Fraser University. lonial use of military force against an Aboriginal community on Vancouver Island, and the first Cathy Chapin N THE summer of 1850 three English sailors Lakewood University collectively organized job action in the colony. Thunder Bay were killed, apparently by Natives, near Fort The handful of historians who have studied the Rupert on Vancouver Island. The sailors had I events of 1850 have tended to focus on either recently deserted from the Hudson’s Bay Com- the job action and desertion of the miners at the pany (HBC) ship Norman Morison, and were on fort, or else on the death of the deserting sailors board the barque England heading for California. and the military action taken against the Nahwitti. The murder of the three sailors aroused the fear As a result, the scholarship on these events has of the non-Native settlers of the new colony and been unnaturally divided into a discourse on the resulted in the use of military force against the Kwakwaka’wakw or on the white labourers. This Nahwitti Kwakwaka’wakw, amongst whom the essay looks at the multiple relationships between murderers were suspected to originate.1 1 The Nahwitti are a the Native and non-Native population, and be- That same summer, a strike was underway at Kwak’wala-speaking tween these two sets of events. Fort Rupert. White miners at the fort were un- group of the The job action and desertion of the fort min- Kwakwaka’wakw nation. dertaking job action against the HBC, in protest ers, the death of the three sailors, and the mili- In the early 1800s the of poor conditions and treatment by officers. Af- Nahwitti were actually tary action taken against the Nahwitti all hap- ter the leaders of the strike were imprisoned in three different pened within the context of larger relationships the bastion and the miners were threatened with communities living at the and events: they were connected to a struggle for extreme northern tip of sword and pistol, they and their families collec- power and control. The Nahwitti, the Kwagiulth,2 what is known as tively deserted the fort. Securing passage on the Vancouver Island. These the fort’s miners, the officers of the HBC, and barque England, they fled Fort Rupert for the communities, from west to the new colonial government were each involved east, were: the Yutlinuk, gold fields of California. the Nakomgilisala, and the Tlatlasikwala. In the late 1800s the three communities consolidated, becoming the Nahwitti. During the first half of the nineteenth century the term Nahwitti, variously spelled, was often used by whites to refer to the Tlatlasikwala. The Nahwitti incident occurred in Tlatlasikwala territory, along the northeastern tip of Vancouver Island. Robert Galois, Kwakwaka’wakw Settlements, 1775-1920: A Geographical Analysis and Gazetteer (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1994).

Right: Fort Rupert. 1898 BC Archives Archives HP-06083 BC

14 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 Left: View of Hudson’s Bay Company Fort Rupert. ca. 1880.

2 The Kwagiulth are the community of Kwakwaka’wakw living at Fort Rupert. After the fort was built in 1849 the Kwagiulth merged their communities into a single village at the fort. The Kwagiulth and the BC Archives Archives G-05811 BC Nahwitti had a history of conflict with each other. in a negotiation over control of resources and tracts to provide coal to steamships on the North- 3 The HBC purchased, for labour. In addition, the Nahwitti and Kwagiulth west Coast.8 example, 3,000 salmon to Kwakwaka’wakw, the Company, and the colo- The Hudson’s Bay Company and its officers fertilize the garden, and other fresh meat for the nial government were in a struggle over the own- never expected that their right to own and mine workers. See Andrew ership of land. Yet the events of 1850 were also the land would be contested by the Kwagiulth. Muir, Private Diary, about a partnership between members of the After HBC employee Duncan Finlayson’s infor- Commencing 9 Aboriginal population and the white immigrants mation-gathering visit in 1835 the Kwagiulth November 1848 to 5 August 1850, BC Archives. at Fort Rupert. Both the fort officers and the realized that Europeans were interested in the 29 October 1849. miners of the fort needed the Kwakwaka’wakw coal. Quick to seize this new economic oppor- 4 Eric Newsome, The Coal to survive. The fort required the permission of tunity, the Kwagiulth began to surface-mine the Coast: The History of Coal the Kwagiulth to access the land and coal, and coal themselves and sell it to European ships vis- Mining in BC – 1835- 3 9 1900, (Victoria: Orca needed their country produce to survive. The iting the area. The establishment of the fort at Book Publishers, 1989); miners required the help of the Nahwitti to desert Beaver Harbour and the arrival of the miners John Sebastian Helmcken, the fort and depended on their continued sup- threatened the Kwagiulth’s control of the land The Reminiscences of Doctor port once they left the fort. and the coal and the Kwagiulth’s new market. John Sebastian Helmcken. Dorothy B. Smith, ed. The conflict at Fort Rupert began with its They reorganized their villages into a single win- (Vancouver: UBC Press, very establishment in 1849 at Beaver Harbour. ter village near the fort to take advantage of trade, 1975); Patricia M. The HBC’s presence in the area was sharply fo- but they did not recognize the HBC’s claim to Johnson, “Fort Rupert,” cused on taking ownership over the coal. Al- the land. From the onset of the Hudson’s Bay The Beaver (1972): 4-15. 5 Galois Settlements; though the fort did engage in collecting furs from Company’s interest in the coal at Beaver Har- Helmcken Reminiscences; Aboriginal traders in exchange for Company bour, the Kwagiulth had asserted their right to and others. goods, the primary purpose of the fort was to mine the coal, and their Native right of owner- 6 Margaret A. Ormsby, secure and mine the known coal deposits in the ship. Finlayson reported in 1836 that the introduction to H. Bowsfield, Ed. Fort Victoria 4 area. In 1835 the HBC learned of the coal de- Kwakwaka’wakw would not permit the Com- Letters, 1846-1851, vol. 32 posits from Native informants. 5 Following this, pany “to work the coals as they were valuable to (Winnipeg: Hudson’s Bay the Company made plans to mine the coal and them, but that they would labour in the mine Record Society, 1979) xxxviii. sell it to the emerging steamship industry. They themselves and sell to us the produce of their 7 James Douglas, in Fort 10 hoped that by establishing a formidable presence exertions.” They made it clear to officers and Victoria Letters; Helmcken in Beaver Harbour they would be able to trans- servants of the Company that they themselves Reminiscences; Johnson fer control of the coal from the local Kwagiulth controlled and owned the coal. “Fort Rupert;” and others. Kwakwaka’wakw, as well as protect it from Ameri- After the fort was established, the HBC hired 8 For example, the HBC 6 can interests. Following the construction of the Kwagiulths to mine the surface deposits. This negotiated a contract to fort, the HBC hired the local Kwagiulth to mine action initially suppressed the conflict between provide one thousand tons the surface coal, and sent to England for experi- the Kwagiulths and the HBC. While the fort of coal to an American mail delivery steamship. enced miners to work the underground depos- waited for the arrival of the experienced miners See Douglas Fort Victoria its.7 The HBC then negotiated a series of con- from England, Kwagiulth labour became the pri- Letters.

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 15 9 David Lewis, Yesterday’s mary means of mining the coal. Although the them for it’.”17 That night Kwagiulth people stole Promises: A History of the HBC was under the impression that they now items from the workplace of the miners. Andrew District of Port Hardy, (Victoria, British owned the coal, it is unlikely that the Kwagiulth Muir wrote “how could we be thought to stand Columbia: Robinson saw it that way. The surface coal being mined was and work our work…their annoyances by day Press, 1978). not within the fort itself, but two or three miles and their thieving depredations by night.”18 10 Quoted in Galois away. Furthermore, the HBC had not restricted Clearly the Kwagiulth did not mean them to Settlements, 201. 11 Quoted in Galois access to the deposits by, for example, erecting a “stand and work their work.” The Kwagiulth re- Settlements, 201, emphasis fence. The coal still belonged to the sisted the economic threat posed by the miners, added; Ormsby, Kwakwaka’wakw, and it was being mined by their and attempted to control their own labour and introduction, Fort Victoria labour. The HBC was paying the Kwagiulth for their land. Letters, viii. 12 Lynne Bowen, the “produce of their exertions” at a rate of a 2 ½ In 1850, the Kwagiulth did not have to try “Independent Colliers at point blanket for every two tons.11 In effect, the very hard to disrupt production by the Fort Fort Rupert: Labour Kwagiulth had negotiated their relationship with Rupert miners. Spending months searching for Unrest on the West Coast, the Company. The Company could sell the coal a good coal seam and sinking a mine shaft (work 1849,” The Beaver (1989): 25-31; Johnson “Fort to steamships in the area, but the coal belonged they were not skilled at and did not have the Rupert”; Mark Leier, to the Kwagiulth. The Company was paying them proper tools for), the fort miners had had little Lecture at SFU, 19 for a product, not their labour. opportunity to mine coal,19 and felt they had been February 2002; and others. 13 Bowen “Independent The arrival of a new labour force from Eng- misled by the Company. They were unhappy with Colliers”; Lynne Bowen, land again threatened Kwagiulth control at Bea- their working and living conditions and the treat- Three Dollar Dreams, ver Harbour and reopened the conflict. In the ment they received from the HBC officers at the (Lantzville: Oolichan fall of 1849, eight Scottish miners arrived, with fort.20 The miners soon began to protest their Books, 1987); Leier, Lecture at SFU, 19 their families, from England to begin work on conditions, engaging in a labour slowdown and a 12 February 2002. the sub-surface coal deposits. The miners had strike, which further increased the Company’s de- 14 Andrew Muir, Private come to Fort Rupert expecting to dig coal in an pendence on the Kwagiulth mining.21 Although Diary, 88-89. established coal pit,13 but instead they were re- the Hudson’s Bay Company had anticipated that 15 Michael Muir, “Reminiscences,” as quired to look for a good coal seam and sink the the miners would produce tens of thousands of researched for H. H. mine shaft themselves. As the new HBC miners tons of coal for the Company to sell, with the Bancroft in BC Sketches, began to work outside the fort, sinking a coal general difficulty of work, the strike, and punish- BC Archives, 14. shaft, they encountered resistance from the ments for their job action, the Scottish miners’ 16 Galois Settlements, 201. 17 Fort Rupert Journal Kwagiulth. Andrew Muir, one of the Scottish labour produced almost none. James Douglas quoted in Galois miners who had arrived from England, com- wrote in July of 1850 that the miners had “not Settlements, 201. Galois’ plained in his diary of being: yet discovered a workable seam, nor turned out a square brackets. single bushel of coal since their arrival, all the 18 Andrew Muir Private away from the Fort with our work and no Diary, 16 and 17 April protection … and several times the Fort hav- coal we have hitherto sold being the produce of 1850: 91-92. ing rows with the Indians and us working at a Indian labour.”22 While the miners fought to con- 19 Leier, Lecture at SFU, 19 distance from the Fort without any protection trol the conditions of their labour, the Kwagiulth February 2002; Bowen whatsoever the Indians has come down and miners had continued to mine the surface coal Three Dollar Dreams. threatened to shoot us.14 20 Muir Private Diary; Bowen and sell it to the Company, even providing their Three Dollar Dreams; Leier Another miner, Muir’s younger brother, later labour to load the coal onto ships.23 In effect, the “Lecture”; Newsome Coal reported he was also concerned “for there was Kwakwaka’wakw labourers were the miners at Coast. not a large enough force of protection. The Indi- Fort Rupert. The strength of their position as 21 Bowen Three Dollar Dreams; Newsome Coal ans surrounded the mouth of the shaft, protest- miners, and the pressure they were able to exert Coast; Leier, Lecture at ing that they would kill all below unless com- against the fort’s already unproductive mining SFU, 19 February 2002; pensation was given them for their land rights.”15 efforts, led the HBC to negotiate a treaty with Douglas in Fort Victoria As their threats were directed towards the coal the Kwagiulth.24 But this was not the end of con- Letters; Helmcken Reminiscences. pit and the new miners, it is likely that these flict for the fort. 22 Douglas Fort Victoria Kwagiulth were resisting the theft of their prop- In June of 1850, while the miners were still on Letters, 3 July 1850: 104. erty. strike and gaining the support of the other fort 23 Douglas Fort Victoria In April 1850 some of the chiefs at Beaver workers, the barque England arrived to take on Letters, 104-105. “The U.S. Propeller Massachusetts Harbour took their concerns about the theft of coal for its journey to California. Stowed on board called at Fort Rupert on their property directly to the Company.16 They the England were four sailors who had deserted the 18th Ultmo. for coal. demanded the HBC stop “enclosing ‘more of from the HBC ship Norman Morison while at Fort She was sent to the Indian their lands as … [the Company] had not paid Victoria. The sailors were attempting to reach

16 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 California where the gold rush was underway. The Miners with Mr. Muir [Andrew Muir] at diggings about 20 miles Probably having heard news of the riches to be their head, came to me in a body this morning south of Fort Rupert with and said they would all leave this place in 10 Mr. Beardmore who dug gained in California, or of the higher wages paid and sent 235 tons of coal days if they could not get a settlement, their to sailors on American ships, the deserters had on board in the space of left the restrictive conditions of work on the HBC intention being as they told me, to go to Fort 12 days….” The miners Victoria to see the Governor and after the set- ship and were heading for what they hoped was were on strike when the tlement was come to, they had made up their Massachusetts and the 25 a better life. Not all of them would make it. minds to work no more for the Company.31 England arrived to take on When the barque England arrived at Fort coal. Both boats received The miners’ threat of desertion threatened the Rupert, the miners had been on strike almost coal from the fort, coal Hudson’s Bay Company’s economic interest in continuously for three months, since early April. gathered by Natives. Fort Rupert. The HBC still imagined that coal Johnson “Fort Rupert.” In addition to their demands for better food and 24 production at Beaver Harbour could lead to lu- Galois Settlements 201. working conditions, the miners requested pro- Blenkinsop made a treaty crative profits. The Company hoped the fort tection from the Kwagiulth while they were with the Kwagiulth in would become a major supply centre for coal on working.26 The continued pressure from the 1850; the following year the west coast of North America,32 but the de- another treaty was signed Kwagiulth over the issues of land and resource sertion of workers was a threat to the fort’s exist- between the Kwagiulth control had made an impact. The miners were and the HBC. ence. With only forty men inside the fort and 25 looking for a resolution to their complaints and In the period between three thousand Kwagiulths without, the officers had appealed to both the HBC and the Gover- 1846 and 1851 many men feared that desertions would leave the fort “weak deserted the HBC’s nor of the colony in hopes of getting satisfac- and almost defenceless” against a Native attack.33 service to participate in tion.27 the gold rush in California In an effort to stop workers from deserting, the With the arrival of the England a new solution or for the higher wages officers spoke to Kwagiulth chiefs living near the presented itself. There was no wharf at Beaver offered in the United fort and asked them “not to sell them [the work- States. For example, the Harbour, so the Kwagiulth loaded coal onto ships ers] any canoes, or to take them away” from the HBC signed three-, five- from their canoes.28 While their ship was loading, or seven-year contracts fort.34 In addition, to prevent escapes, the Com- the sailors from the England visited the fort and with its employees. HBC pany guarded the gates more closely. On the eight- sailors were paid £4 per conveyed to the miners tales “of the riches of eenth of June however, pulling off the first in a month, or else £17 a year. California and the gold fields.”29 These stories, series of desertions, four employees from the fort Sailors working for combined with the general unrest among the American companies were managed to slip away.35 workers, led them to become “peevish” and “in- paid $100 to $140 (in At risk of losing their control over the fort American dollars) per subordinate.”30 Strengthened by the new alter- and the coal, the HBC officers took action to month. This was native, Andrew Muir and the other miners con- maintain their power at Fort Rupert. They un- considerably more than fronted HBC officer Blenkinsop about their in- what HBC sailors were derstood that any escape from the fort would tentions to leave the fort. Blenkinsop wrote: paid. James Douglas wrote likely hinge upon the cooperation of the many times of the “extravagance” of this American wage. 26 Barry M. Gough, Gunboat Frontier: British Maritime Authority and Northwest Coast Indians, 1846-90, (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1984); Bowen Three Dollar Dreams. 27 The miners had sent a letter to Governor Blanshard listing their complaints and asking for redress. The Governor responded in June by appointing John Sebastian Helmcken as magistrate to hear their complaints.

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Left: Canoe at Fort Rupert. BC Archives Archives H-05523 BC

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 17 28 Helmcken Reminiscences. Kwakwaka’wakw population at and around the ors’ location in the harbour because Kwagiulth Johnson “Fort Rupert”. fort. On the day of the first desertions, Blenkinsop informers told Blenkinsop that they had seen Patricia Johnson reported 45 that Natives carried the offered a reward of ten blankets for each man “white men upon the beach of [the] island.” coal out to the ships. returned.36 The officers attempted to prevent a After reporting the location of the men to the 29 Helmcken Reminiscences, worker–Native alliance by securing the assurance fort, the Kwagiulth then went at night into the 308. of the Kwagiulth chiefs that no aid would be camp of the sailors and stole a paddle to present 30 Ibid. 31 Douglas Fort Victoria provided to the deserting workers. Although the as evidence to the fort officers. Already nervous Letters, 103. Letter to Kwagiulth chiefs promised not to sell the work- about being apprehended, and likely wary about Barclay 3 July 1850, ers any canoes or to take them away they did not their unfamiliar surroundings, the theft of the containing part of a letter promise to prevent deserters from escaping.37 paddle while they were sleeping may have height- from Blenkinsop. 32 Ormsby, introduction, Even as the chiefs agreed to cooperate with the ened their fear further. A few days following this Fort Victoria Letters. officers, forging a partnership of sorts, they con- incident Captain Brown reported to Helmcken 33 Helmcken Reminiscences, tinued working in their own interests. It seems that the sailors “had been seen by Indians and 308. likely that the Kwagiulth agreed to cooperate with thinking they would be apprehended had taken 34 Ibid. 35 Muir Private Diary. These the officers because they valued the economic a canoe and gone up the straits to await the ships four deserters sailed away benefits of the fort and their roles as intermedi- coming.”46 They had fled in the direction of the that day on the aries in the trade.38 It is also likely that the de- Nahwitti. Massachusetts, a boat that had arrived to take on serters did not leave the area unnoticed by the On the evening of the second of July, nine coal from the fort. three thousand Kwagiulth surrounding the fort. days after delivering their ultimatum to 36 Muir Private Diary, 18 While not assisting them, perhaps because the Blenkinsop, the miners of Fort Rupert deserted.47 June 1850: 116-117. miners were a threat to Kwagiulth interests, the John MacGregor, John Smith, Andrew Muir, 37 Helmcken Reminiscences, 308. In his account, Kwagiulth also did not attempt to turn them in. Archibald Muir, Robert Muir and John Muir, Jr. Helmcken reports on Into the midst of this tension caused by a strug- escaped the fort and made their way in a canoe what the chiefs agreed to. gle over the land, the coal, and labour arrived the to Nahwitti territory. John MacGregor and John 38 Cole Harris, The HBC steamer Beaver. Reaching Fort Rupert on Smith both left their wives behind. When Resettlement of British Columbia: Essays on 27 June 1850, the Beaver’s mission was two-fold. Helmcken discovered the miners were missing Colonialism and First, the captain of the Beaver was searching for he immediately suspected that they would at- Geographical Change, the four sailors who had deserted from the Nor- tempt to find passage on the barque England still (Vancouver: UBC Press, man Morison at Fort Victoria and were rumoured in Beaver Harbour. He wrote to Captain Brown 1997) Harris suggests that 39 Natives who had an to be on board the barque England. Second, it on the third of July that “it is supposed that these interest in the fort would, carried correspondence for the fort, including a men whom you are well acquainted with, are in an attempt at “currying letter from Governor Blanshard appointing Dr. now hiding upon the coast waiting the arrival of favour and presents from Helmcken as magistrate at the fort.40 Shortly af- your vessel to obtain passage to California,” and officers at the forts,” often cooperated with forts by ter the Beaver entered the harbour, someone on threatened charges if he took “deserters from this bringing deserters back. board the steamer came to the barque England service.”48 (Harris Resettlement, 45). and warned the deserters that “they were about Captain Brown responded to the letter on the Galois, in Settlements, to be apprehended.”41 Three of the deserters, afraid sixth of July, declaring that he did not know the argues that the Kwagiulth valued their role as of being arrested, then slipped overboard and fled miners, and that he did not knowingly have them intermediaries in the trade in a canoe.42 on board his vessel.49 He then invited Helmcken at the fort and took Though they initially camped on an island in to search his vessel that afternoon, as he was ready actions to secure this role. the harbour, receiving food and communication to depart Beaver Harbour. 39 Gough Gunboat Frontier; Helmcken Reminiscences. from other sailors, they apparently became scared The miners were not only receiving help from 40 Helmcken Reminiscences. by the interest of the Kwagiulth and fled their the barque England, they had also forged an alli- 41 Capt. Brown of the hideout.43 Helmcken wrote : ance with the Nahwitti that allowed them to es- England, quoted in John cape the fort. Camped across from a Nahwitti Sebastian Helmcken, A day or two afterwards I told Capt. Brown “Vancouver Island Courts [of the England] and the carpenter to get these village, awaiting the arrival of the England as she – Magistrate Court – Fort men on board … [as they] were no longer sailed north, around the tip of Vancouver Island, Rupert” BC Archives: 17 wanted….He promised to do so. I have no the miners received aid and kindness from the July report to Blanshard. doubt that these men were afterwards supplied 42 Nahwitti. The miners waited seven days before Gough Gunboat Frontier; with victuals by the ship’s crew; but possibly Helmcken Reminiscences; the England passed Shushartie Bay and they were did not trust the declaration that they were no Helmcken “Magistrate able to board her. During that time Andrew Muir longer wanted.44 Court”. visited the Nahwitti village, where he was seen 43 Helmcken “Magistrate The officers at the fort were aware of the sail- on the ninth of July by Linecous, an interpreter

18 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 BC Archives Archives H-05533 BC at the fort.50 He reported that Muir “told him all miners with more than just communication, Above: Fort Rupert . the miners were safe and encamped opposite kindness, and a safe place to stay while waiting Sucharti; that the Newittees were kind to them; for the England. In his inquiry about the wives of Court”; Helmcken 51 that they would not return to the fort.” Simi- John Smith and John MacGregor, left behind at Reminiscences. larly, Charles Beardmore, the fort clerk, reported Fort Rupert, Muir was attempting to find out 44 Helmcken Reminiscences, having seen the miners during a visit to the 310. more than their general condition. The women 45 Nahwitti village in July.52 Nancy, a Nahwitti chief, Helmcken “Magistrate were to seek passage on the barque England for Court” 7. gave Beardmore a letter he was to deliver for themselves, and to meet up with their husbands 46 Ibid. Andrew Muir. The letter, addressed to the sec- as the ship moved through Nahwitti territory.54 47 Muir Private Diary; ond mate of the barque England, clearly shows Denied their request for “permission to leave for Helmcken “Magistrate Court”; and others. that the miners were receiving help from the California on the Barque England,” the women 48 Helmcken letter to Nahwitti. Muir wrote: deserted the fort and made their own way on Captain Brown, quoted in Dear Bill: “Oh but your lang o coming” here board the England.55 “Magistrate Court,” 3 July we are knocking about always expecting you, In order to get on the ship, or to avoid detec- 1850. 49 Captain Brown letter to but have not yet been so fortunate, last night tion once on board, the women needed the Helmcken, quoted in Nancy came to us and informed us that Dr. Nahwitti’s help. Helmcken was making regular “Magistrate Court,” 2 July was on board on the scent so we are under his visits to the ship looking for deserters from the 1850. 50 [Chief Nancy’s] care at present, he knows all fort. On the afternoon that the women boarded Helmcken Reminiscences. about our whereabouts, he [Helmcken] is so 51 Ibid 313; Helmcken the ship, Helmcken had been on board for over dull the Dr. I hope you will get quit of that “Magistrate Court,” 9 July plague you have on board before you come twenty-four hours and he had given no indica- 1850. 56 52 Ibid 318; Helmcken this length. Our provisions are at an end nearly. tion that he was about to leave. In order to pre- vent the discovery of the women on board the “Magistrate Court,” 13 Send back word with Nancy giving your ad- July 1850. vice and inform the mate and Captain too. I England, the Nahwitti created a diversion that 53 Muir quoted in have directed to you as Nancy is most familiar caused Helmcken to leave the ship.57 A group of Helmcken “Magistrate with you, we have heard various reports about Nahwitti arrived with a message for the doctor, Court,” 17 July 1850. 54 the women, let us know will you. This is sad reporting that “some women had been killed by Helmcken does not knocking about but that is nothing if we can realize this but his report a tree falling at the coal field and others were reveals it. make a good termination of the affair.53 wounded.”58 Helmcken left immediately to “see 55 Helmcken “Magistrate Chief Nancy and the Nahwitti helped the whether any assistance could be rendered the un-

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 19 Court.” The women left fortunates and to remain at the fort in case any by escorting to the ship a disturbance might arise from this untoward acci- woman who was 59 authorized to leave, and dent.” The actions of the Nahwitti allowed the simply did not return to women to remain undetected and to therefore the fort. meet up with their husbands when the England 56 Helmcken “Magistrate passed through Nahwitti territory at Shushartie Court.” 57 Ibid. Bay. Reflecting on the incident a few days later, 58 Helmcken “Magistrate Helmcken wrote: Court,” 7 July 1850. This report it is now said was a mere 59 Ibid, 7 July 1850. 60 Ibid, 16 July 1850. subterfuge…the report of the people being 61 Ibid. killed at the coal field…turned out to be only 62 Ibid. one or two wounded by a tree falling during a 63 Ibid. gale at night. The tree had been partly cut Marki Sellers 64 Helmcken Reminiscences. through and a fire lighted against it, and the 65 Ibid. Indians sleeping close by when it fell.60 the location of the sailors’ bodies, had the sailors’ 66 Helmcken “Magistrate Court,” 16 July 1850. It is unclear whether the tree was intention- clothes, and later offered compensation to the 67 Ibid, 8 July 1850. ally felled or if it was simply a fortuitous event, fort for their murder, it is likely that the Nahwitti 68 Helmcken “Magistrate which the Nahwitti were able to use to their were indeed responsible for the men’s deaths.69 Court,” 13 July 1850. This The most likely chain of events is that some of is the initial report given advantage. In either case the effect was the same. by Beardmore on 13 July. The passage of the women was secured through the Nahwitti killed the sailors in an act of self- Just over a month later he the cooperation of the Nahwitti. defence and a desire to maintain status. Linecous, retracts this story, saying it But the Nahwitti relationship with HBC em- who was sent out by the fort to discover who was false, and gives had murdered the men, reported that “the another version of the ployees was not purely cooperative. At the same events. time as the doctor received a message about the Newitte people had supplied them [the sailors] 69 Helmcken Reminiscences; accident at the fort, Chief Nancy, also on board with food but not receiving any present, they Helmcken “Magistrate the ship, received a message that caused him to endeavoured to rob them of some clothes, which Court.” 61 70 also immediately leave the ship. Nancy was told the men resisted, the Indians then shot them and Helmcken “Magistrate 70 Court,” 9 July 1850. that “his wife or some relation was sick.”62 Specu- also stabbed.” In the report that suggested that 71 Beardmore, quoted in lating about the message later, Helmcken reported northern invaders had committed the murder, Helmcken “Magistrate that this message was also “subterfuge in order to the Nahwitti stated that the northerners had ap- Court,” 13 July 1850. 72 get him [Nancy] and all the Newitties out of the proached the sailors and invited them into their Ibid. 71 73Beardmore, quoted in vessel.”63 He later suspected that Nancy was ac- canoe. The sailors became aggressive, “took an Helmcken Reminiscences, tually receiving, or about to receive, a message axe [and] flourished it in the air” and “took up a 318. This is Beardmore’s about the deaths of the three sailors who had big stone, pitched it into the canoe and smashed corrected statement, given 64 it.”72 A third report stated that: 20 August, to Helmcken. deserted from the Norman Morison. 74 Helmcken reported that The sailors had paddled north into Nahwitti some Newittees had been out hunting. On territory, likely hoping to reconnect with the their return they fell in with a canoe contain- barque England as it left Beaver Harbour. They ing three white men. Wishing to show them got as far as twenty-five miles from the fort, and w[h]ere the six other (miners) deserters were, one or two miles from where the miners were they approached. The white men took to land, the Newittees followed. One of the white men camped, before they were killed.65 There are many brandished an axe in a threatening manner … different versions of what happened to the sail- whilst another took a big stone, flung it at and ors. The Kwagiulth, who disliked the Nahwitti smashed the Indians’ canoe. The Newittees be- and “look[ed] upon them as dogs,” were quick to came infuriated, fired, killed one, the others report that “the Newitty’s committed the mur- took to the bush, were followed, shot and der.”66 Upon being questioned by fort employ- stabbed likewise, and then stripped and hidden ees, the Nahwitti professed their innocence and in hollow trees; one man sunk in the ocean.73 “declared the [Kwagiulth] report to be false.”67 Given the similarity of these three reports, and The Nahwitti may also have made a report that the aid the Nahwitti had given the miners, it is claimed that northern invaders, the “Hyders or possible to reconstruct a likely combination of Sabessa men had committed the murder.”68 How- facts. ever, as a fourth report was given testifying to Within each of these reports lies evidence of the Nahwitti’s guilt, and as the Nahwitti knew self-defence. In all of the accounts, the sailors are

20 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 reported as having acted in a threatening manner toward their killers. When this in- formation is com- bined with evidence about the Nahwitti’s friendliness towards whites and their part- nership with the min- ers, another version of the events seems likely.74 For example: Some of the Nahwitti came upon the sailors and attempted to help them find the miners, who were within one or two miles of the sail- ors’ location. The sail- ors, frightened of the BC Archives A-04349 Archives BC Nahwitti, and of being caught, paddled to a nearby island to escape. The may have aided the miners in an attempt to hurt Above: Remains of Fort Nahwitti followed and attempted to communi- the fort, and therefore, damage the Kwagiulth’s Rupert in 1929. Opposite cate with them. The sailors then became aggres- power. The act may have been motivated by a page recent photo at the sive, threatened the Nahwitti with an axe, and desire to protest against their loss of power and same site. threw a rock at a canoe, destroying it. The control in the trade with Europeans. Nahwitti became angry and attempted to de- This inter-group rivalry between the fend their bodies and their honour. They killed Kwagiulth and the Nahwitti also influenced the he could “hardly believe the three sailors, drowning one in the water, and Kwagiulth’s actions during the conflict of 1850. the Newittes committed the murder, because they took the clothing from the men before leaving. The Kwagiulth were quick to assert that the [had] always been very This version accounts for the deaths of the sail- Nahwitti had committed the murder.78 civil to the whites, are a ors, suggests an explanation for the Nahwitti Helmcken, aware of the conflict between the very small tribe and must possessing the sailors’ clothing, and provides a mo- Nahwitti and the Kwagiulth, placed little faith in have known these men, because so many had been tivation for the Nahwitti killing the sailors. their report. He wrote: “they cannot know ex- on board Capt. Brown’s Just as the Nahwitti had a motivation for kill- cepting from report. Our Indians [the Kwagiulths] vessel coming through the ing the sailors, they also had a motivation for forg- look upon them as dogs and I think are jealous straits here and whilst ing a partnership with the miners and helping of them, so that little dependence can be placed lying in harbour. Moreover it is to their 79 them to escape the fort. The Nahwitti and the upon their evidence.” Following the reports, by interest to keep friends Kwagiulth had a history of rivalry.75 The estab- the Kwagiulth and fort employees, of the with the whites and also lishment of Fort Rupert in Kwagiulth territory Nahwitti’s guilt, the Kwagiulth volunteered to they have hitherto been 76 80 afraid to offend them. If further intensified this competition, and the wage war on the Nahwitti for the fort. they murdered these men Nahwitti’s efforts to help the miners desert the Helmcken stated that “the Quockaulds why should they not have fort may have been motivated by their rivalry [Kwagiulth] ask daily whether they shall go and treated the miners in the with the Kwagiulth. For the first thirty years of fight the Newittes for us.”81 The Kwagiulth seem same manner? They were living close by.” Helmcken the nineteenth century, “Newitty,” located in to have attempted to use the incident to further “Magistrate Court,” July Shushartie Bay Nahwitti territory, had been a their struggle with the Nahwitti for status, power 16th, 1850. primary fur trade centre on Vancouver Island.77 and control. 75 Galois Settlements. 76 Ibid. As long as the trading centre had been within [They] offered, almost importuned us to allow 77 Ibid, 28. Nahwitti territory they had been able to control them to go and make war upon the the trade to some extent, and may have seen their Newittees….They were told the white men relative status and wealth increase. Upset at their would revenge themselves ere long in their own way, but the warriors could not under- loss as the primary trading centre, the Nahwitti Notes continue >>>

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 21 78 Helmcken “Magistrate stand why we should wait, as they were quite to arrest the murderers or take chiefs as hostages Court,” 16 July 1850. ready and eager for the fray….82 79 and, if that did not work, to attack and burn the Ibid. 92 80 Helmcken The Kwagiulth were clearly opportunistic in camp. When the armed boats arrived, however, Reminiscences,313. the death of the sailors and more interested in they found the Nahwitti village deserted.93 The 81 Helmcken “Magistrate attacking their rivals than in helping the white commander of the boats then ordered the village Court,” 16 July 1850. men of the fort seek their kind of justice. burned.94 Of the destruction Blanshard wrote: 82 Helmcken Reminiscences, 313. Although the officers at the fort had assured “the Indians decamped with the greatest part of 83 Helmcken “Magistrate the Kwagiulth that they would revenge them- their property, the remainder was burnt with the Court.” selves in their own way, in truth the conditions houses.”95 The Daedalus then returned south.96 84 Helmcken “Magistrate Governor Blanshard, convinced that the murder- Court,” 16 July 1850. at the fort prohibited them from acting. The of- 85 Ibid. ficers offered a reward for the surrender of the ers would not be surrendered without the use of 86 Gough Gunboat Frontier. murderers, but did not take immediate action more force, and believing the Company and the 87 Gough Gunboat Frontier; against the Nahwitti whom they suspected.83 In settlers to be in danger, determined he would Helmcken Reminiscences; return to Fort Rupert with another military and others. a letter to Governor Blanshard Helmcken ex- 97 88 Gough Gunboat Frontier. plained: “we cannot go to war, because the dis- ship. The HBC and fur traders tance is great and our men too few to protect the In July of 1851, almost one year after the death had used such force before Fort and fight also, even if they were willing so of the sailors, HMS Daphne arrived at Fort to impose their will upon 84 98 Aboriginal people on the to do.” The HBC’s lack of control over workers Rupert. Armed boats, containing “sixty sailors 99 Northwest Coast, or to within the fort weakened their relationship with and marines” were sent out from the Daphne. punish Natives. For a Natives outside the fort. In an appeal for help Since the destruction of their village in the fall discussion of the use of from Governor Blanshard, Helmcken wrote that of 1850 the Nahwitti had relocated to a stronger force by the HBC in New 100 Caledonia see Cole Harris, if we make no demonstration the Indians will defensive position. When the boats arrived, the The Resettlement of British lose all respect for us and make an attack upon Nahwitti attempted to defend themselves. A gun Columbia. On the subject our fort….The Indians well know the disaf- battle broke out and at least two Nahwitti were of vengeance and fected state of this fort and what with this and killed and three injured.101 According to reports, punishment by fur traders their riches have become saucy and probably against Natives see John the Nahwitti then fled into the woods around should any disturbance arise with them they Phillip Reid, “Principles of their village. The men from the Daphne burned Vengeance: Fur Trappers, would attack us, the Indians being 3,000 in their village and destroyed their property. Fol- number and our men between 30 and 40 it is Indians, and Retaliation for lowing these attacks the Nahwitti communicated Homicide in the not very difficult to imagine who would gain Transboundary North the victory.85 to officers at the fort that they would surrender American West,” Western the murderers. A short time later some of the These comments captured the attention of the Historical Quarterly (1993): Nahwitti arrived at the fort with the bodies of governor, and led him to request aid from a mili- 21-43. three men reported to be the killers. With the 89 Helmcken Reminiscences, tary ship.86 surrender of the murderers, the Nahwitti inci- 320. In October of 1850 the English corvette, HMS 90 Ibid 321. dent ended. 91 Daedalus, arrived at Fort Rupert with the Gov- Ibid; Gough Gunboat Even while the Nahwitti villages were being ernor on board.87 The voyage was supposed to Frontier, 43. destroyed by white men, the Nahwitti maintained 92 Gough Gunboat Frontier, be one of “inspection and inquiry” but it be- a level of control. In the confrontation over the 43. came the first use of military force by the colo- 93 Gough Gunboat Frontier ; deaths of the sailors, the power of the Nahwitti nial government against an Aboriginal commu- Helmcken Reminiscences; can be seen, not in their ability to win the battle, nity on Vancouver Island.88 Before force was used and others. but manifest in their actions.102 When Helmcken 94 Gough Gunboat Frontier, to capture the murderers, Helmcken approached approached the Nahwitti and demanded the sur- 43. the Nahwitti village with the fort interpreter, 95 Quoted in Gough render of the murderers, the Nahwitti offered constable, and six Natives, to demand the sur- Gunboat Frontier, 43. their own solution to the conflict: the payment 96 render of the murderers. He reported that “the Helmcken Reminiscences, in blankets for the dead men. The practice of of- 321. chiefs said they could not, but were willing to 97 fering blankets as compensation for a wrong was Gough Gunboat Frontier. pay the value of the murdered men in blankets, 98 Helmcken Reminiscences; a common practice amongst Northwest Coast furs or any goods, according to their (Indian) cus- Gough Gunboat Frontier. Aboriginal peoples. Helmcken wrote: 99 Gough Gunboat Frontier, 44. tom.”89 Unwilling to accept this offer, the white 100 Helmcken Reminiscences; men “determined to send armed boats to seize it shows too how quarrels were settled Indian fashion by payment of damages. The Indian Gough Gunboat Frontier; the murderers.”90 Galois Settlements. idea of law – and indeed it is their law – of 101 Helmcken Reminiscences, A few days later “three armed boats from the payment applies even to persons killed….This 91 322. Daedalus” were sent to Nahwitti. Their goal was Indian law was often acted on at Fort Rupert

22 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 and suited very well – none other would – or could – have been put in force.103 Their offer of com- pensation rejected, it is probable that the Nahwitti recognized that military force would be used against their village. Helmcken, when refusing their of- fer of the blankets, had told the Nahwitti that “as they had refused peaceably to surrender the murderers force would have to be used and perhaps many would thereby suf- fer.”104 In an act to pro- tect their lives, and the A-04349 Archives BC belongings they could salvage, the Nahwitti fled their village before the interesting history emerges, a history that is not Above: John Muir family military attack, leaving the white men a deserted unnaturally divided along lines of ethnicity. In and friends at Sooke BC. village to burn. When the Nahwitti rebuilt their the negotiations between the Company, the village they chose a location that could be better Kwagiulth, the Nahwitti, and the miners, inno- defended.105 Finally, when the second attack de- vative and creative resistance often won out. The stroyed their village and property, and resulted in 102 Bruce Stadfeld, Kwagiulth used direct action to stop the miners Manifestations of Power: the deaths of two Nahwitti, the Nahwitti ex- and the Company from stealing their coal. They Native Response to pressed their power within their own commu- successfully negotiated payment for their land, Settlement in Nineteenth nity by surrendering the murderers. By captur- and won their demand for payment for the “pro- Century British ing and killing the murderers the Nahwitti, as 108 Columbia, (Burnaby: MA duce of their exertions.” The Nahwitti forged Thesis, Simon Fraser much as was possible, ended the conflict on their an alliance with the deserting miners, allowing University, 1993). own terms. They also ensured that the captured them to undermine the strength of the fort and 103 Helmcken Reminiscences, murderers were men they were willing to give therefore to strike at the wealth and status of their 142-143. 104 up.106 Upon surrender of the murderers to the Ibid 320. enemy. The miners engaged in work slowdowns 105 Galois Settlements. fort, the Nahwitti claimed the reward offered for and a strike. They eventually formed a partner- 106 It is unclear from the their capture.107 ship with the Nahwitti that allowed them and historical record whether The events at Beaver Harbour in 1850 are im- their families to escape to California. Although the men surrendered were portant to the early history of British Columbia. indeed the killers. the Company, and the colonial government, used Helmcken notes that at They present a snapshot of power dynamics in the coercive measures against these groups, the min- least one of the men was new colony, and in doing so dispel old myths. Nei- ers, Kwagiulth, and Nahwitti were able to main- suspected to be a slave of ther the colonial government nor the Hudson’s tain their agency, often getting the better of the the Nahwitti. He wrote: Bay Company held the balance of power at Fort
“it is said one with light HBC. coloured hair escaped, and Rupert. Instead, the Kwakwaka’wakw maintained that a slave was killed and their dominance and the white settlers were sub- substituted for him and ject to a larger struggle for power between the used in his place.” Kwagiulth and the Nahwitti. Although the HBC Helmcken Reminiscences, 323. and the colony had some influence, they were 107 Helmcken Reminiscences, forced to engage in a struggle for control and 323. It is not clear ownership with the Kwakwaka’wakw people. whether the reward was It is in this struggle for power that the most actually paid them. 108 Galois Settlements, 201.

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 23 Edward Mahon and the Naming of Castlegar By Greg Nesteroff

OW Rawmarsh, Yorkshire, England, the sixth son of 1 did Castlegar, BC, get its name? This From a family history Sir William Mahon, an Anglican minister.2 Edward provided by Lady simple question has been asked for dec- Suzanne Mahon via Hades without a satisfactory answer, and studied the ministry and the law, but found nei- Marolyn Mahon, 15 until recently it didn’t appear there ever would ther to his liking. As the rules of inheritance dic- April 2002. tated that the eldest son was to receive the family 2 be one. But thanks to some Internet sleuthing The Laughing Bridge: A property, Edward and his brothers Gilbert and Personal History of the and a couple of century-old documents, the mys- Capilano Suspension tery has finally been solved: the name comes from John came to Canada to make their fortune in Bridge, Eleanore the Irish ancestral home of the original townsite mining and real estate. They owned several claims Dempster, 1988, 46. in the Slocan and Nelson mining divisions, in- 3 owner, Edward Mahon. BC Minister of Mines cluding the Snowstorm, the Pacific, and most prof- reports, 1893, 1896, Castlegar is today a thriving city on Highway 3 1897. 3 at the confluence of the Kootenay and Co- itably, the Vancouver group. 4 Nelson Miner, 29 August lumbia rivers, with a population of about 7,500. In August 1891, Edward purchased a ranch that 1891. McCleary, a It has a forest-based economy, with a pulp mill would become Castlegar. He paid Albert seasoned Kootenay McCleary about $3,000 for 320 acres.4 Edward’s prospector, pre-empted and saw mill, and due to its central location it is the acreage in May 1888, also home to the regional airport and college. purchase proved to be a wise investment, for and operated a ferry Castlegar, Ahascragh, County Galway, is a stately within five years a smelter would be established across the Columbia to manor erected around 1815 by Sir Ross Mahon— at nearby Trail, and a railway located up the Co- Sproat’s Landing prior to the establishment of the third home of that name on the same prop- lumbia to the landing of Robson West. Prompted regular steamboat erty. The earlier incarnations were built in 1696 perhaps by the forthcoming railway develop- service. and 1720 respectively by Sir Ross’s great-grand- ments, Mahon decided in May 1897 to have a 5 Nelson Miner, 22 May father, Captain Bryan Mahon, an officer in Lord townsite surveyed on his property. 1897. 1 6 Townsite survey, 15 Clanricarde’s army. The Nelson Miner reported: “A new town is to November 1897, held by The name Castlegar—or Castlegare, as it was be established at the terminus of the northern the City of Castlegar. also spelled—is believed to be derived from the extension of the Columbia & Western railway, Gaelic “Caislean Gearr,” meaning “short castle,” on the west bank of the Columbia river and op- posite Robson. The site is better known as the Below: Castlegar, although the present home does not resemble a McCleary ranch, a tract of land admirably situ- Ahascragh, County castle. There are actually five places called Castlegar Galway, is a stately manor in Ireland. The largest is also in County Galway, ated for the building of a town. The new burg 5 erected around 1815 by and does boast the remains of a medieval castle, has not yet been named.” Sir Ross Mahon—the allowing speculation that it may have played some The townsite of Castlegar was laid out by pro- third home of that name on role in the naming of the house at Ahascragh. vincial land surveyor Henry B. Smith on 15 No- the same property. Edward Mahon was born in 1862 at vember 1897 and the plan deposited at Rossland the following year.6 However, Mahon quickly sold out to Fritz Augustus Heinze, the Montana mining magnate who built the aforementioned railway and smelter. In a letter written at Sandon on 12 October 1897, Mahon noted: “We closed with Heinze re: Castlegar townsite.”7 This is the only reference to the town in his surviving correspondence. In February 1898 the Canadian Pacific Rail- way acquired a sweeping number of the assets owned by Heinze, including the smelter and rail- way. The Castlegar townsite was presumably part of this purchase. Castlegar remained dormant until 1902, when a railway bridge was completed across the Co- lumbia, whereupon it became a pivotal junction

24 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 not mean rock in Gaelic.10 Left: Edward Mahon on • That “Castle” was for the Castle Rock, but the steps of Castlegar, “gar” was after Algar Johnson, an early settler, Ahascragh. sometimes nicknamed “Gar.”11 Eventually it was also suggested that Castlegar might have been named for a place in Ireland, although it was usually assumed the namesake was the larger community in Galway. Meanwhile, Edward Mahon co-founded a land company that held the majority of lots in what became the City of North Vancouver. For many years he also owned and promoted the Capilano suspension bridge. He was active politically and socially until his death on 18 June 1937 at age 75. Castlegar, Ahascragh, remained in the Mahon family until 1969. It has since changed hands a few times, but remains in good repair and was featured in Country Life magazine. Some of this information, including the fact Mahon named Castlegar, appeared in The Laugh- ing Bridge: A Personal History of the Capilano Sus- pension Bridge, by Eleanore Dempster (1988)— 7 Letter from Edward Mahon to J.W. but no one from Castlegar seemed to realize it. McFarland, 15 October In February 2002, Phil Markin, the city’s direc- point for railway traffic moving between Nelson, 1897, provided by Bryan tor of development services, looked at the origi- and Marolyn Mahon. Trail-Rossland, and the Boundary. By this time, 8 nal townsite survey, which listed Edward Mahon Letter from W.J. Farmer however, Mahon had left the area, and his earlier to James White, 29 as owner. He did an Internet search, found refer- involvement was evidently forgotten. When James August 1905, printed in ences to Dempster’s book, and the mystery be- Canoma, July 1978, 7-8. White of the Geographic Survey of Canada in- 9 gan unravelling. Edward’s son Bryan still lives near “Castlegar celebrates its quired in 1905 about the origin of Castlegar’s Seattle, and confirmed that his father named 40th anniversary,” Trail name, the response from postmaster William J. Daily Times, 29 August Castlegar. However, when he and his wife Farmer introduced the first of several conflicting 1942. Marolyn passed through the city several years ago 10 “There’s history behind theories: and inquired about the name, they were given their names,” Cominco The place called Castlegar was called into ex- one of the rival theories. Magazine, August 1944/ istence some two years ago by the CPR, who 11 Pioneer Days of Nakusp & There is nothing in Castlegar to remember made a junction here, previous to which time, Arrow Lakes, Kate Edward Mahon by (although there is a Mahon Johnson, 1952, 132-33. there was no settlement. From what I can gather, 12 Street and Mahon Park in North Vancouver), and “New city now officially the name originated from some building which until recently he would have been unfamiliar to named Castlegar,” was erected at the time of railway construction, Castlegar News, 31 all but the most knowledgeable local historians. resembling in some way the structure called Castle January 1974. Of 999 Hopefully some belated recognition is forthcom- votes cast, 825 were for Garden, where emigrants land in New York; any- ing to the city’s forgotten founder. Castlegar. way, I fear from an historical point of view, 13 In any event, despite the fact no one knew “Change name you Castlegar is far too new to interest anyone.8 break chain, this thread the true origin of Castlegar’s name, residents were Subsequently, three other theories emerged: in history—keep loath to change it. When the twin towns of Castlegar,” Castlegar • That two homesick CPR engineers, Sullivan Castlegar and Kinnaird amalgamated in 1974, News, 28 February 1974. and Murphy named a water tank Castlebar, after voters were given the chance to re-christen the the capital of County Mayo, Ireland. A mapping new municipality, but an overwhelming number 9 error somehow changed it to Castlegar. wished to leave it as Castlegar.12 One letter writer • That “castle”referred to a prominent rock for- to the local newspaper said: “Its roots are too deep Thanks to Ted Affleck, mation overlooking the Columbia River, and to be disturbed. Its achievements too numerous Eleanore Dempster, “gar” was Gaelic for “rock.” However, gar does to be forgotten. Castlegar it should remain by Marolyn and Bryan virtue of seniority and distinction.”13
Mahon, and Phil Markin.

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 25 Mr. Sam Henry by Rosemarie Parent

This article was put together from archival Henry bought the Genelle house in material, including taped interviews, in the 1911 and moved it off the mill land to archives of the Arrow Lakes Historical Society. the farm. It is still in use on the Spicer Their publication Port of Nakusp was also property. Barns and outbuildings were used for the text. erected to accommodate the men work- In the late 1800s, the Slocan and ing the farm. Some were housed in a Lardeau areas were filled with people of large frame building, sitting near the many nationalities, but there were few Nakusp Trading Store on Bay Street. As Chinese. Because the Chinese were many as twenty Chinese men were em- known to work for lower wages, the ployed at times. They were a familiar sight miners, afraid of losing their own em- as they trotted off in a group to the boats ployment opportunities, made them un- early in the morning, each with two welcome. baskets of vegetables hung from a pole Although Nakusp offered little incen- over their shoulders. tive for Asians to settle, there were a few In the eyes of the non-Chinese resi- who took advantage of the more open- dents Henry had a complicated matri- Enid Shelling recalled in an interview minded climate that existed in the town. monial life. As a wealthy man, it was a an episode from when she was a young One of the most prominent to come to common Chinese practice to have many girl on a trip to town with her father, Nakusp was Sam Henry, whose name wives. Many believed Henry had left sev- Fred Wensley. On the brisk fall day in was listed in the 1895 BC Directory as eral wives back in China, but no one 1912, as they travelled by horse-and- having a laundry business on Bay Street. knew for certain. He did have two wives buggy they could hear a pounding as The next time we hear of Sam Henry is who lived in Nakusp. His first wife was they neared the main street. At the cor- in 1897, when he had the vision to es- Yip Shee, a large woman who was al- ner of Broadway, they saw the most unu- tablish a market garden to supply the ways known as “Big Mrs. Sam.” She was sual procession taking place. Making steamers. Near his laundry was a plot of a very demanding and controlling their way down the street men were rais- land made up of black soil well suited to woman. A son was born to her named ing large sticks above their knees and small gardening. Spring-fed, this land Gee, which meant George, in honour then pounding the sand along the road produced bounteous crops of vegetables, of George Jordan, a prominent Nakusp as they marched along. With them was a which were gratefully picked up by the citizen, whom the family greatly re- group of women with white sacks cov- new boats on the Arrow Lakes. This was spected. ering their heads, giving them, in Enid only a small farm and Henry had his eye In 1909, Henry took a trip back to Shelling’s eyes, a grotesque appearance. on a huge parcel of land lying east of his China and returned with a young wife, The town band began to play the present location. He was sure it was the Jung Shee, who became known as Ying. mournful piece, Dead March in Saul, best land on the Arrow Lakes. When she had a son named Willie, the when a dignitary from the Asian party By 1904, Henry finally managed to little fellow was taken immediately from instructed the band to play livelier mu- purchase this land in two lots—one of her by Big Mrs. Sam, who acted as if the sic. They then switched to Wolverine 72 acres and an adjoining one of 89 acres. baby was hers. Poor Ying was never able March and The Girl I Left Behind Me. Also spring-fed, this beautiful earth could to mother her own child. Enid’s father smiled as the band changed produce vegetables at record rates. It was When Henry died, Big Mrs. Sam took tunes, and finally realized the significance low-lying land that produced internal charge and sent Ying out to work as a of the parade. Henry must have died. heat, allowing plants to be sown early in housemaid in many homes around Fred lived on a farm and didn’t come to the year. This is where the Spicer family Nakusp. Another young girl, whose town often, so he had not heard the is now, opposite the marina in Nakusp. name was Faun, lived with the family. news. Interestingly, although Chinese were not She was thought to be Henry’s daugh- A Chinese band from Revelstoke was allowed to own property, records show, ter, but no one interviewed was sure who also contributing to the event with the even after the new land act was written her mother was. Most thought her clanging of cymbals and the rattling of in 1908, that Henry did own this prop- mother was one of the wives in China, sticks, which was presumably an attempt erty. rather than Big Mrs. Sam. to scare off evil spirits. The Buesnel

26 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 brothers’ wagon bore the casket while There he lay in state until the proper whole chicken were brought and left Henry was guarded by a lively group of time for reburial was reached, thus en- there, which caused distress to the un- men who were throwing hundreds of suring his safety and protection from evil dertaker who did not want to attract ani- tiny perforated pieces of paper in the air. forces. mals to the parlour. But this, according This was thought by Enid Shelling to It was an ancient custom for Chinese to the undertaker’s son, continued for be another device to keep the devil forces to be buried in the homeland so that two years until the body was buried. It from getting to Henry because the devil the bones could be worshipped by the is custom that the food is not left at the forces had to go through each hole. Oth- relatives. They believe that the spirit lived casket, but is brought back home. ers familiar with Chinese custom say that on with the remains. In 1927, a group Henry had proven to be a fine busi- the tiny perforated pieces of papers rep- of Chinese citizens in Toronto were busy nessman during times when the Chi- resent money for the wandering spirits raising funds to ship the remains of four nese were not allowed much latitude in of other deceased. hundred deceased Chinese back to this area. For years he supplied many resi- The procession, which was impres- China. Henry’s remains were also to be dents and the paddlewheelers of the Ar- sively long, included many Chinese dig- returned at that time. However, there was row Lakes with fine vegetables and he nitaries from Vancouver. A large group a problem. Crowell, the undertaker, had was a much respected member of the of town residents had joined them out filled Henry with so much formaldehyde community. of respect for the influential man. The that his body refused to decay. Seven It wasn’t until 1922, ten years after parade snaked up some of the side streets years later they tried again, but when they Henry died, that Clem and Phil Buesnel and then back to Broadway. Upon reach- dug him up, Henry was still in pristine bought the main section of the estate ing the cemetery, the whole Chinese shape. They tried a third time, but finally property to set up a fine dairy farm, contingent, except the horses and wag- gave up and shipped him back to China named “Bay View Dairy.” By this time ons, brought Henry back, walking back- as they found him. much of the land had been sold for wards. The whole sequence had been a Crowell found out that another cus- houses, especially along Nelson charade, a mock funeral to convince the tom the relatives insisted on was the tak- Avenue.
devil that Henry was in the Nakusp cem- ing of food to the deceased. Nuts and Oposite page: Yip Shee (Mrs. Sam Henry) etery. In fact, he ended up in the local dried fruit were left around the casket. A and her son. funeral parlour owned by Joe Crowell. few days later, other foods including a Below: Mr. Sam Henry and family.

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 27 The Building of the Golden Museum by P.L. Miller

Written on 23 March 1981. solid brick outhouse. What to do? foundation for $7,382. My job wasn’t made Y family and I arrived in Golden My first year as president was a busy one, any easier by the fact that some members in July 1968, at a time when the doing my homework and seeking various had grandiose ideas of a library-and-museum Mtown looked a mess—a sewer line alternatives. One of these was the old Ro- complex, to be subsidized by federal, pro- for the town was being installed, sidewalks man Catholic Church we could purchase for vincial, or municipal grants. My feelers in were being constructed, main town roads $5,000. However, the building was much too this direction were squelched rather were being paved. Nor was the situation old—the exterior walls were bulging out- promptly— no money from these sources helped by a rock crusher plant operating on ward and the floor was rotten. To revamp it would be available for several years—and in top of the hill, spewing dust for miles around to be suitable as a museum would have taken the meantime people in Golden wanted to the countryside. I thought with considerable far more money than we had. Another alter- know what we were doing with their 10,000 misgivings of the home I had left in the West native was the old police station and Edgar’s dollars—and where was the museum? Kootenays, but was mature enough The situation came to a head to realize that these were growing at the general annual meeting, pains in the life of a town, that March 1971. My position was things had to seem bad before they that we should forget the li- could be better. brary-museum complex as be- A few months after our arrival ing too uncertain and too far my wife, a most gregarious type, ran in the future. After all, we had into a member of the recently very few artifacts at the time to formed Golden and District His- install in a lordly building. torical Society, Mrs. Chris Schiesser, However, we could go ahead and lo and behold, the Society had and build a Steiner Arch mu- a new member. Two members, in seum on the donated Elk prop- fact, since she had signed up for a erty, hopefully raising more family membership; and it wasn’t money as we went along to long before I had my arm twisted keep our head above the water. to attend the monthly meetings. I Prior to the meeting, my was reluctant for two reasons: I did grapevine told me that, a mem- Courtesy Naomi Miller not know the group, nor did I have Above: The Golden Museum at opening day, 1 June 1974. ber was bringing two aldermen any knowledge of their purpose and to help squash my suggestion, intentions. and was I interested in having However, I finally broke down and at- residence behind the Court House. This the mayor there as a neutral arbitrator? Of tended my first meeting in November 1969 looked promising until the Deputy Minister course I was interested, and this was the first and also the ones in January and February, of Public Works put a kibosh on it by saying time I met Walter Zazulak, a very good man and then the Annual Meeting in March. And nyet. The third alternative was a CPR fuel who was to become a close personal friend, at the last meeting I received quite a jolt—I tank behind the CPR station. However we and would be of great help to the society in was elected to be one of the Directors and had first to clean the tank and then transport later years. wound up as president! it to our location—which we didn’t have at Anyway, the final vote was 38 to 2 in fa- With this development, my feeling was the time—and in view of welding costs plus vour of my suggestion. I was also re-elected not one of elation but could more accurately a small inside area, this offer from the CPR for another year. be described as panic. I still knew very little was declined. It would be pleasant to say that everything about the group and about the town, and I investigated other possibilities. The Elks was sunshine and roses after the meeting. It here they wanted to build a museum, and I were willing to donate five adjoining lots (at wasn’t. The opposing member took the re- was right on the firing line. the site of the present museum) and I sults as a personal affront, and did not attend The Society had held a “walkathon” from breathed a lot easier now that we had a pos- any more meetings after this. This is a pity, as Parson to Golden in the spring of 1969, and sible site for whatever structure would even- this member was very intelligent and very had collected a shade over $10,000, this sum tually be built. I think I wrote to every build- capable, and the group could certainly have to be a first step in the construction of a lo- ing construction firm in Western Canada, used the talents of this person. And it’s al- cal museum. But in 1970 construction prices giving approximate desired dimensions and ways sad when someone cuts off their nose were already rising by leaps and bounds, and requesting costs. Most of the price quotes to spite their face. I had sufficient construction and cost-esti- were just plain out of reach, but one did look At this point-another person entered the mating experience to realize that with this promising—a 40 ft. by 50 ft. Steiner Arch picture—Mr. Uwe Soerensen. To Mr. sum one would be fortunate to build a good, building, which could be erected on our Soerensen belongs most of the credit for the

28 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 She was then succeeded by Mrs. Ethel King, and it was under Ethel’s presidency that con- struction was finalized and the museum put into operation. I had remained as a director all this time so I could remain in control of the cost aspects of the construction and have the necessary authority to deal with outside groups and agencies. But I believed then, as I do now, that there should be a two-year limit on executive tenure in any group or club, as nothing kills a group more quickly than hav- ing the same people continuously occupy- ing the same executive positions for years on end. The Museum was officially opened to the public on 1 June 1974. The opening was per- formed by Mayor Walter Zazulak, with Bill Wenman and Cecil Parson assisting in the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Music was pro- vided by the Golden Secondary School Band

Courtesy Naomi Miller under John Mutter. The guest speaker was Above: Opening day at the Golden Museum: Guest John Kyte, Provincial Museum advisor stands John Kyte, the Provincial Museums Advisor, with Peter Miller, Andy Spowart, Ellen Cameron, Uwe Sorenson, and Naomi Miller. Bandmaster and among the honoured guests at the ban- John Mutter with Students and Mayor Zazullak at the microphone. quet that evening, were Edgar Dunning of radio fame and James Chabot, the MLA for actual construction of the museum. I did the needed labour. In both, the construction was Columbia River. All in all it was a very satis- groundwork, designed the interior layout, supervised by Uwe Soerensen while I looked factory day—a fitting conclusion to a job well and looked after the costs, but without Uwe’s after the paperwork and the payroll. The first done thanks to the efforts of many, many peo- knowledge of carpentry and his leadership grant completed most of the interior design ple. Along with Society members many lo- as foreman of construction, results would have work, together with wiring and plumbing. cal volunteer non-members gave freely of been less satisfying, much more costly, and The second one put the finishing touches to their time and labour, including a group of would no doubt have taken much, much the interior but was mostly devoted to cabi- Pakistanis which Mr. Virk brought over to longer. After our trials and tribulations to- net. These cabinets incidentally, were designed help us pour cement. gether, Uwe too I have come to regard as by my wife. Eventually everything was Was it all worth it? Yes. Could it be done good personal friend. painted and ready for operation. again? I doubt it. Most of the artifacts came The footings were poured by Historical There was only one sour note during the from the collections of Mr. Bill Wenman and Society members in June of 1971, and the LIP construction. During the winter of Mr. Cecil Parson, but many valuable pieces Steiner Arch shell was erected shortly there- 1972–1973, an employee, a recent arrival in were donated by other local people such as after. Then followed a hiatus of several Canada, turned out to be a good talker but a souvenirs of the Swiss Guides. About this time months—we were running out of money. All poor worker. He started coming late and leav- the price of antiques started to rise out of sorts of expedients were resorted to in order ing early, and was agitating for more pay. This sight, and I doubt very much if the same to raise more cash. During the winter 1971– the Society could not afford; all we could number of- artifacts would be donated today 1972 we rented the building to Evans Prod- give were the official LIP rates. Things got to as were done at the time. And some of the ucts for a storage space. There was another such a point that Mr. Soerensen fired him. artifacts are literally priceless—they cannot minor walkathon, winter-skatethons, auc- He wouldn’t accept this: “You can’t fire me. be replaced. The total final material cost of tions of donated gifts that were not artifacts This is a government job!” Anyway, I went the museum was just under $23,000, includ- or antiques, donations from service clubs, plus over to the site and with great difficulty con- ing heating, plumbing, and the display cabi- sales of Historical Society publications such vinced this gentleman that he was fired. He nets. What could one do with that amount as Kinbasket. Eventually the floor of the mu- was so hostile he almost took a swing at me. today? seum was poured in November of 1972. Now, Nor did he stop there. He went home and The Town of Golden should be proud of only the innards had to be installed, plus wir- wrote letters all over the country: to Vancou- their-museum. Visitors from Texas to Ger- ing and plumbing. ver and Ottawa, cursing the project and the many have been favourably impressed. And We were fortunate to get two Local Ini- people who were running it. For his efforts it was built entirely by local effort—it is all tiatives Program (LIP) construction grants to this fellow came very close to being deported. paid for. Your children and grandchildren will help us out. One was in the winter of 1972- He escaped this fate by leaving town very not have to pay taxes for decades in order to 1973 and the other was in the winter of 1973- shortly after. pay for it.
1974. Neither covered major material costs, After my two years as president, Mrs. but they both covered the cost of some badly Margaret Olson took over the chair for a year.

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 29 Book Reviews Books for review and book reviews should be sent to: Anne Yandle, Book Review Editor BC Historical News, 3450 West 20th Avenue, Vancouver BC V6S 1E4

Robert A. Campbell Sit Down and Drink Your Beer: all patrons were expected to “drink Sit Down and Drink Your Beer: moderately and maintain appropriate Regulating Vancouver’s Beer Parlours, Regulating Vancouver’s Beer Parlours, comportment.” To make certain they did so, 1925–1954, 1925–1954 “Parlour workers and operators were charged reviewed by Ian Kennedy. Robert A. Campbell. with much of the regulatory enforcement.” Terrence Cole and Elemer E. Rasmusen Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001. After visiting a beer parlour in 1949, Banking on Alaska: The Story of the 183 pp. Illus. $50 hardcover; $19.95 British journalist Noel Monk commented, National Bank of Alaska, paperback. “Canada is a tremendous, virile country and reviewed by Donald Steele. REVIEWED BY IAN KENNEDY. I know from personal experience that your Cliff Armstrong When asked for his key to effective fighting men can match the finest in the Sternwheelers on the Skeena, speechmaking, Tommy Douglas, the late world. Yet you’ve apparently let yourselves reviewed by Ted Affleck. Premier of Saskatchewan—an orator be legislated into a state of adolescence when Trail City Archives. supreme—replied: “First tell them what you it comes to the use of alcohol.” The Historical Portraits of Trail, intend saying; tell them; then tell them what partitioned and segregated drinking reviewed by Alice Glanville. you’ve just said!” establishments continued to flourish unabated from 1925 until 1954 when the Liquor John Adams In his well researched and academic study, Robert A. Campbell, a history instructor at Control Board finally allowed middle-class Old Square-Toes and His Lady: The Life “cocktail lounges” in selected hotels. of James and Amelia Douglas, Capilano College, follows Douglas’ advice to Campbell came to Vancouver from reviewed by Dave Parker. the letter by outlining his own thesis in his introduction, expanding on it in each of his California in 1976 to do a master’s degree at Richard Thomas Wright five body chapters, and then reiterating it as UBC. Fascinated with what made Canada Overlanders, a conclusion. Following the same pattern in different from his birthplace, he struck on reviewed by Phyllis Reeve. each chapter leaves the reader in no doubt of BC’s liquor policies as a point at which to Peter Corley Smith Campbell’s contention: the working man’s begin his study of the differences. His first Pilots to Presidents: British Columbia beer parlours of Vancouver and the liquor work, Demon Rum and Easy Money, explored AviationPioneers and Leaders, 1930– policy of the province of British Columbia the BC government’s role in the liquor 1960, together created “a prism through which to business, and Sit Down and Drink Your Beer is reviewed by Robert W. Allen. view society.” The University of Toronto Press supposedly a closer examination of why the provincial government viewed the Betty O’Keefe and Ian Macdonald in 2001 published this study of BC’s consumption of alcohol as a sin. One problem Merchant Prince: The Story of paternalistic and restrictive liquor policy and for readers is that the book lays out no real Alexander Duncan McRae, the resultant beer parlours, the first title in a background to the years before 1925. There reviewed by Phyllis Reeve. series called “Studies in Gender and History.” Considered fifty years later, that prism does might be many reasons for seeing a not reflect a pretty picture. relationship between alcohol and sin, but this Before Prohibition in 1917 Vancouver volume does not really point them out. One boasted 69 stand-up bars, which served every reason might have been that only two “czars,” kind of liquor and boasted entertainment and as the newspapers liked to call them, headed gambling. With the end of Prohibition in and controlled the Liquor Control Board 1921, beer parlours replaced those old saloons (LCB) from 1932 until 1969, William F. and almost exclusively admitted white Kennedy and Lt. Col. Donald McGugan. heterosexual working-class patrons to sit and Another reason might have been a class drink nothing but beer in a sterile, problem, of the power group facing the entertainment-free environment. Blacks, growth of socialist thought. Dave Barrett’s Natives, or anyone who “looked or acted like New Democratic Party lowered the drinking an Indian,” Asians, or mixed-race couples age to 19 and introduced neighbourhood could not buy a drink, nor, of course, could pubs, pleasanter places that served food, minors—at that time anyone under the age promoted entertainment and provided of 21. Gays and lesbians were not welcomed something other than beer to drink. When in these “canteens” and women in general such liberalizing did not cause the sky to fall, could only enter through doors marked and with the world coming to visit Expo in “Ladies” or “Ladies and Escorts.” Once inside, 1986, Bill Bennett’s Social Credit

30 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 Government allowed drink to be served on them back in their proper place.” An Anchorage, changing from a territorial to a Sunday even without food. More recently interesting solution, that probably wouldn’t national charter, which placed the bank in a some Vancouver drinking establishments are work today. more competitive position in the state. On 3 seeking permission to open 24 hours a day. January 1959, Alaska officially joined the Reviewer Ian Kennedy co-authored two guide Will the sky now fall? Union and became the 49th state, and the books to BC’s neighbourhood pubs. The book’s catchy title hints at a lighter National Bank of Alaska became the largest treatment of the topic but through relying bank in the largest state. The year of the almost exclusively on LCB files and reports, Prudhoe Bay oil discovery,1968, and the and thirteen pages worth of bibliographic Banking on Alaska; the story of the Trans Alaska pipeline were also milestones materials, and by sticking firmly to his National Bank of Alaska in the development of Alaska and the bank. academic roots, Campbell fails to really flesh Terrence Cole and Elmer E. Rasmuson. Volume two is subtitled “Elmer’s out the atmosphere and personality of the Fairbanks: University of Alaska, 2000. Memoirs” and contains anecdotes and classic beer parlour. For example, that lonely Two volumes. Illus. US $25 paperback vignettes covering more than 90 years for man sitting alone at his terry-towelled island Elmer E. Rasmuson. This volume tells a lot REVIEWED BY DONALD STEELE. of isolation in a vast beer hall with two about the Rasmuson family, their recreation, mandatory beers in front of him. What The first volume relates to the history of and the early days of the bank. About one lonelier sight? Remember the domestic the National Bank of Alaska and the second third of this book is taken up with disputes, the harsh words often overheard on records events and stories largely taken from biographical material for some 62 a Friday night when a wife entered the beer Elmer Rasmuson’s memories of his personalities who were prominent in Alaska parlour to claim the housekeeping money? childhood and his role as a businessman and or associated with the bank. And, who permitted such establishments to leader in Alaska. Both volumes are beautifully Many of the stories in volume two show act as banks by setting up wickets right there presented, using quality paper, with many the involvement of Alaskan bankers in local, near the bar for cashing pay cheques and thus historic photographs and documents to state and federal politics. In Canada this enabling men to spend that house-keeping illustrate the stories. would have been not only unusual but money? What about student drinking at the In volume one, Terrence Cole, Professor impossible under rules established for Fraser Arms or the Georgia? What of “red- of History at the University of Alaska has Canadian bank officers. In any event, the eye”—tomato juice and beer—, Canada’s compiled a comprehensive record of the Alaskan bankers played important roles in the contribution to drink mixology? Where are history of the bank from 1916, the history of State and accomplished much for the the bar-room brawls, the horribly cut faces Alaska, and the life stories of the personalities communities in which they served, as well as from the broken beer glasses used as weapons? involved. He particularly documents the life for their bank. Where the local characters? Where the tall of Andrew Stevenson, the first president and Although the two volumes are a long read, tales? For a book with such a catchy title, I Edward A. Rasmuson, who assumed control I enjoyed the work despite the considerable longed for more than the dry academic of the bank on 13 July 1918 and was later detail the authors have provided about the approach that really failed to cover the reason succeeded by his son Elmer E. Rasmuson. bank and times of the Bank of Alaska 1916– for accepting Prohibition in the first instance, In reading this book, as a retired Canadian 1950 and the National Bank of Alaska 1950– one that skimmed over the later plebiscites, banker, I was impressed with the excellent 2000. the problems of rum-running and explanation and rational defining of the Reviewer Donald Steele is a retired banker, living bootlegging, the power of the beer barons differences between the American banking in West Vancouver. and hotel owner, and the world of individuals system and that of Canada. Branch banking like Rev. A.E. Cooke who preached against as employed in Canada and seen as a strength, liquor sales of any kind. was perceived in Alaska as just the opposite Sternwheelers on the Skeena and was resisted for many years. One interesting and amusing diversion Cliff Armstrong. relates that two minors were arrested in a Strangely enough, the history of the National Bank of Alaska and that of British Prince Rupert: Skeena River Heritage Trust, beer parlour in 1932, were duly fined the 2001. (Half Moon Communications, 5288 maximum $300 or three months in jail. Columbia are to some degree entwined. At one point the largest account held by the 8th Ave. East, Prince Rupert, BC V8J 2M9) Neither the boys nor their parents could pay; 48 pp. Illus. $16.95 paperback. one was supporting his widowed mother. The Bank of Alaska was a mining operation near Attorney-General reduced the fine to $50, Atlin BC—the Engineer Mine. The building REVIEWED BY T ED A FFLECK. but the boys still could not pay. The Attorney- of the Canol Pipeline from Norman Wells, A new book on the shallow-draught General then remitted the fine on the in the Yukon Territory, was another important steamboat is always welcome. Full credit has agreement that, under police supervision, the project in which the Bank of Alaska was yet to be granted this versatile economic boys would be spanked by their parents “in involved through its office in Skagway. The invasion craft which did so much to get the place provided by Nature”. As a expenditure of the American Government business rolling in so many parts of the newspaper put it: “The spanking was meant was some $270 million, with much of it spent interior of British Columbia during the late not to hurt them but to humiliate them for in Canada, and for them, one of the costliest nineteenth century and the early part of the prematurely overstepping the boundary from blunders of the war. twentieth. Cliff Armstrong has carried out youth to manhood. Spanking, an In November 1950 the Bank of Alaska some diligent research and has provided a uncomfortable symbol of childhood, put became the National Bank of Alaska in lucid chronology of the hectic days of

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 31 steamboating on what is generally conceded Hospital Foundation, 1997, stand out among villages and campsites in the vicinity of Trail, to be British Columbia’s most wicked other works touching on this subject. (3) An but give no information regarding their navigable river. Steamboat buffs in particular alphabetical list of the Skeena River fleet has interaction with the newcomers. will be grateful for the wealth of detail on been included, providing some detailed As in many other areas, gold was the lure the activities of the various vessels in the information on each steamboat, but the that drew explorers to the Kootenays. A trade Skeena River fleet not heretofore readily author has failed to set out consistently for route had to be established through the area, available in print. The author has also had each the registration number, the dimensions and in the early days water was the first means the perspicacity to key his narrative to the of the hull and tonnage (carrying capacity) of establishing such a route. With limited underlying economic forces that drove men of the vessel as well as the dimensions of the success, David Thompson and John Work to build these sternwheelers and to work cylinders (the major component of the attempted to follow the Pend D’Oreille to them on such treacherous waters. Steamboat reciprocating engines powering a sternwheeler). the Columbia. Then in 1859, John Sulllivan skippers after all did not challenge the ruthless Names of steamboats tend to have been of the Palliser Expedition became the first Skeena River just for the hell of it. The book duplicated throughout the Northwest, but white man to traverse the Kootenay Pass to is also informative on what was to be found disclosure of a unique registration number Kootenay Lake near Creston. This was the at the downstream terminus of Port Simpson assigned each vessel diminishes the chances route later followed by Edgar Dewdney in and the terminus of Hazelton 320 kilometres of confusing one vessel with another. Hull the construction of the Dewdney Trail, from upstream, as well as what was to be dimensions and tonnage provide quick which Trail later took its name. encountered in the nature of wayside information on the scale of the vessel, while Trail Creek Landing (now Trail) on the settlements and navigation hazards between cylinder dimensions are the most salient item Columbia became the merchandise depot for the two ports. Maps and diagrams are relevant, in estimating a vessel’s potential speed and Rossland. In 1895, the Trail Creek townsite and the book contains an abundance of ability to negotiate rapid water. Such data was established on land owned by Colonel illustrations not only of the steamboats in the can now be readily “lifted” from a couple of Eugene Topping and Frank Hanna, thereby Skeena River fleet, but also of the riverside this critics’ own steamboat publications. No laying the foundation for Trail. Rapid growth settlements (some now long vanished), of the one has a copyright on facts. Omitted from in the next few years led to the incorporation features of the terrain, and of artifacts from Armstrong’s list, incidentally, is the Str. of the City of Trail on 4 June 1901, with the steamboat days. Essington, the Skeena River snag boat that Colonel Topping acclaimed as the first mayor. Sternwheelers on the Skeena, a happy ended its days as a beachside restaurant under The new council presided over the building outcome of co-operation among such Vancouver’s Burrard Bridge. of streets, bridges, hotels, hospitals, and regional groups as the Skeena River Heritage Notwithstanding any defects, steamboat schools. The street names, Spokane, Helena, Trust, the Community Futures Development enthusiasts will definitely want to own this Portland, reflect Trail’s connection with Corp, the Anglican Diocese of Caledonia, the book. Others who have succumbed to the American mining interests. The first bridge Museum of Northern British Columbia, and lure of the Lower Skeena Valley will also across the Columbia was built in 1912 to Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives, treasure the work. replace the ferry built in1898 by Fritz Heinz. has definite merit. The City of Trail was taking shape. Reviewer Ted Affleck’s most recent publication is I wish I could express unalloyed Heinz was able to strike a land deal with A Century of Paddlewheelers in the Pacific enthusiasm for the work, but I am irked by Topping and by 1896 a small copper smelter Northwest, the Yukon and Alaska. 2000. what I consider to be three marked flaws had been established on the land above the which diminish its stature: (1) No index Columbia River. In 1898 Heinz sold the appears for this work, which deals in Historical Portraits of Trail smelter and railway to the CPR. The smelter considerable detail with events extending was a success and the future looked bright. Trail: Trail City Archives, 2001. (first published back more than two decades prior to the In 1932 a 10-million-dollar construction 1980). 125 pp. Illus. $22.50 paperback. Firtst World War. The absence of footnotes I program was initiated to build a fertilizer can forgive in a work for popular REVIEWED BY A LICE GLANVILLE plant in Warfield to use the smelter by- consumption, but the absence of an index This revised edition, published to product sulphuric acid. The Company impairs its general utility. (2) It would have commemorate the 100th anniversary of the contributed to the war effort in the 1940s been generous of the author to provide a incorporation of the City of Trail, provides a when it agreed to produce heavy water for bibliography to guide the reader to further good introduction to the history of a vibrant the US Manhattan Research project, reading on his subject. A number of community. Trail is one of the best known operating from 1943 to 1955. In the book, interesting previous publications have dealt cities in the interior and has been one of the we witness the enormous growth of a tiny with steamboating on the Skeena River. The most prosperous throughout its long history. smelter in 1896 to the largest lead-zinc booklet Steamboat Days on the Skeena River, The well-chosen pictures with detailed smelter in the world in the 1940s. To this day published in 1960 by old-timer Wiggs captions, along with the limited text, present no picture of Trail seems complete without a O’Neill contains a number of vivid accounts a general history from the city’s beginnings smelter looking down on the town. of steamboating, some of them first hand; to the present day. Trail had some of the features of a R.G. Large, The Skeena, River of Destiny, The very brief reference to the nomadic company town with a company store, a Vancouver, Mitchell Press, 1957, and Norma Lakes Indians is timely with the recent company union, and a company farm that V. Bennett, ed., Pioneer Legacy: Chronicles of interest in this group, which has been declared supported the company’s contention that a the Lower Skeena River, Terrace, Dr. Lee officially extinct. The writers mention the successful farm operation was possible close

32 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 to a smelter. In this town of smelter workers important—it can add a more human aspect Overlanders only two pictures in the book give some to the history. While much has been written indication of the role of the unions. Ginger about James Douglas, adding personal detail Richard Thomas Wright. Goodwin led a strike in 1917 for the and including the story of Amelia and their Williams Lake, Winter Quarters Press, 2000. enforcement of an eight-hour work day. The family gives a new and very appealing 316 pp. Illus., maps. $27.95 paperback. strike was broken and Goodwin fled to perspective. It enriches it. (Winter Quarters Press, Box 15, Miocene, Vancouver Island where he was eventually In reading John Adams’s book you come Williams Lake, BC V2G 2P3) shot. In 1918 the short-lived Mine Mill to understand something of the hardship of REVIEWED BY PHYLLIS REEVE Union was replaced by a company union, life in the fur trade, and that of the families: Subtitled on the cover, though not on the and we see CM&S General Manager S.G. long, often dangerous travel, extended title page, “The Epic Cross-Canada Treks for Blaylock meeting with the “company union.” separations, loneliness, isolation, and, on Gold, 1858-1862”, this book first appeared in In 1968 this union merged with the United occasion, privation. The character of James, 1985 as “Overlanders; 1858 Gold”. Richard Steel Workers of America. some of which confirms earlier impressions, Thomas Wright has collected additional The pictures of hospital, schools, and sports comes through clearly as where Douglas’s information, corrected errors and facilities throughout the years show a constant innate curiosity surfaced. He was an inadequacies, and raised some new questions. progression. The many recreation facilities inveterate explorer, an investigator of oddities, He makes it clear that this new edition is not laid the foundation for future success in the minutiae, and trivia, and had a fascination to be regarded as definitive, but as a work in field of sports. Sports, always encouraged by with detail that bordered on a mania. For progress and a continuing quest. the CM&S (later named Cominco), has instance, when he was at Red River, he set In both waves of the Cariboo rush, in 1858 played a significant role in the life of Trail out to visit, measure, and document the and 1862, most gold-seekers journeyed by sea people. In hockey they were winners of the governor’s house, to map the garden and to from San Francisco and Seattle to Victoria and Allan Cup, in curling they were the first in sketch a machine he saw there for tying up thence to the Fraser River. But three hundred BC to win the Brier and in baseball their peas, and probably drove people nuts doing and fifty contrary souls from eastern North Little League garnered five Canadian it. There are other insights as well, such as America chose to travel by land. In so doing championships. the fact that he always, even when travelling, they took the first grudging, trudging steps No history of Trail would be complete took along a pillow with a tartan—probably towards binding together a something, perhaps without mention of the Italians and their Douglas Tartan—pillowcase. a country, which could become “Canada.” settlement of the Gulch. The first immigrant, Douglas’ devotion to his family, and Some of them knew they were doing this. Isaco Georgette, came in 1897. The book especially to his wife, is apparent throughout John Jessop, a school teacher from Whitby, doesn’t deal specifically with their many the book. The character of Amelia comes Canada West, appointed himself an agent for contributions, but the Italian names under through as well, the impression being one of imperialism, “intending to go to British the captions do indicate the extensive great courage and devotion to James and her Columbia through British Territory, and by participation of this group throughout the family. Her native heritage, while a source of keeping a daily journal contribute something century. great pride to her, was the source of her towards the opening up of a route on British The selective use of photos and text has loneliness at times: racial prejudice was soil, between the eastern and western colonies resulted in an easy-to-read and interesting common. of the empire.” But Jessop’s expedition presentation. The book does not have an The author balances his account by disintegrated by the time it reached Fort Garry, index, but it does contain a fairly adequate recounting occasions when other less laudable where he found himself waiting for an table of contents. This concise history, without aspects of Douglas’ character came to the fore. American group whose purpose was “to the detail found in Elsie Turnbull’s histories One such incident mentioned was when establish a route linking Minnesota and the of Trail, but with its well researched text and Douglas first encountered his new son-in- North West in such a permanent commercial many historic photographs, is a worthwhile law, Charles Good—this was shortly after that fashion as to make US absorption of the Red addition to the collection of local history. worthy’s elopement with Alice. Straight to River settlement inevitable.” Reviewer Alice Glanville is co-author of Life and the point, Douglas “knocked him down”. Like many others, Jessop railed against the Times of Grand Forks, 1997. Perhaps he can’t be blamed too much for monopolistic rule of the Hudson’s Bay that one. Some did like Sir James, however, Company. Company agents, in turn, resented and one of these, Arthur Thomas Bushby, the unannounced arrival of too many Old Square-Toes and His Lady: The referred to him as a “Jolly Brick”. dishevelled Overlanders expecting room and Life of James and Amelia Douglas One of the most interesting parts of the board at HBC posts, although some posts, John Adams. book deals with Douglas’ retirement and his especially Linklater’s on the Kootenay River, Victoria: Horsdal and Schubart, 2001. “Grand Tour.” Adams has used Douglas’ travel provided life-saving haven. 243 pp. Illus., maps. $18.95 paperback. journals to full advantage, and this record of Wright focuses on how the Overlanders his thoughts during this period of his life is REVIEWED BY DAVE PARKER. did it, how they crossed the continent, setting fascinating. out in trains and stagecoaches, and when those All too often the personal story of In short, Old Square Toes and His Lady reached the end of their lines, resorting to influential people in our history tends to be should be in every BC history library. various carts and trains of carts, rafts, canoes, overwhelmed in the recording and retelling “bull boats,” and other exotic contraptions, of events. Redressing the balance is Dave Parker is Esquimalt’s Municipal Archivist. and pitifully inadequate footgear.

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 33 They followed, more or less, two routes the early years of the twentieth century, more ‘p’ politics” and the “capital ‘P’ politics” of north of the forty-ninth parallel. The young men from Huntingdon, including four forming and trying to keep an airline “in the northern water route followed various rivers of my uncles, travelled west to homestead and air.”Some of these people include “The and crossed the Rocky Mountains via the open small businesses. Minister of Everything”, C.D. Howe, the Peace River. The other route led from Fort Wright’s Epilogue gives capsule life-stories arrogant politician who helped establish Trans Garry to Fort Edmonton, then crossed the of the Overlanders. Not surprisingly, the Canada Airlines, the forerunner of Air Canada Athabasca River to the Columbia River biographies reveal much restlessness, with and the quirky Jim Spilsbury with his HBC posts. The parties met, crisscrossed, moves back and forth across the continent awkward looking Stranraers and other divided, and regrouped. In Wright’s words: and up and down the west coast. Many second-hand aircraft forming Queen “These small leapfrogging, overlapping eventually settled as citizens of the new Charlotte Airlines. Others include the parties of young men probed the plains and communities. handsome Grant McConachie who became mountains for paths and passes like the fingers From time to time the reader, like the president of Canadian Pacific Airlines and of a hand.” Overlanders, loses track. Fortunately, several Russ Baker who appears to have exaggerated Such a setting had to witness hair-raising appendices and lists point us back to the trail. some of his stories but helped establish scenes of hardship, privation, and desperation, Some stories lack endings. Wright offers to Canadian Pacific Airlines. Hermann Peterson, caused as much by ignorance and fear as by provide access to more information than he the last of the real bush pilots; Margaret climate and terrain. The Aboriginal could include within the book, and continues Rutledge, one of the first women in inhabitants guided and rescued Overlander to search for new data. commercial flying; and Nina Morrison and groups, leaving with a horse or two as Richard Wright has made the history of Eleanore Moore, two of the first stewardesses, unauthorized bonus when they lost patience the Cariboo his career and his obsession. A are among others also mentioned. with the foolhardy adventurers, but cheating recent Victoria Times-Colonist carried a Peter Corley-Smith has done an incredible them no more frequently than did the white photograph of him holding an autoharp, with amount of research as is evidenced by the guides and traders. Rumoured “Indian wars” his wife Cathryn Wellner wielding a fiddle, list in the acknowledgements of the people proved to be most often between rival Native publicizing a performance, “Halfway to and institutions that assisted him. His nations. Horsefly,” and a CD and book, Rough but endnotes and bibliography are also quite Sometimes travellers lost their momentum Honest Miner. lengthy. All of this background work has for the goldfields once they had crossed the allowed him to give us the real history of the Reviewer Phyllis Reeve lives on Gabriola mountains and survived a winter; then they people involved and to eliminate some of Island and still has cousins in Huntingdon, made as quickly as possible for the the myths. Quebec. Washington coast or Victoria, finding jobs to The book is well laid out chronologically pay their way to the Cariboo, or back home. and contains many excellent photographs that One of the few groups to remain tightly Pilots to Presidents; British give us an excellent view of life of years gone together to the journey’s end came from the Columbia Aviation Pioneers and by. There are numerous maps that are also Canada East village of Huntingdon, which Leaders, 1930-1960 well done and well laid out. They make the is on the Chateauguay River, not, as Wright Peter Corley-Smith stories that much easier to follow. has it, “on the eastern bank of the Victoria BC: Sono Nis Press, 2001 I read this book in my spare time over a St.Lawrence.” These nineteen anglophone $29.95 paperback. period of three months and found that I could Quebecers elected a leader, James Wattie, pick it up after not having read it for a week experienced in the California mines, and REVIEWED BY ROBERT W. A LLEN, BCLS, CLS or two or three and carry on without fear of formed a hometown joint-stock company to This is the second book I have reviewed losing track of where I was. For anyone meet costs. They set out by train to the on aviation in British Columbia and both interested in aviation history or the general Mississippi, then by steamship and stagecoach have provided an excellent insight into this history of British Columbia in this important to the real beginning of the trek. The interesting portion of BC history. era of growth, I would recommend obtaining Huntingdon group joined up with other Until about 1930, most of the flying from a copy of the book. “hometown parties”, as many as 150 men place to place was done on a contract basis Reviewer Robert W. Allen lives in Sechelt, BC travelling under the leadership of Thomas with bush pilots. Through the Depression McMicking, a merchant from Queenston, of the thirties, through the Second World War, Canada West. and on to the prosperous 1950s, the need for Quo Vadis BC Archives? At least fourteen of the nineteen reached flights from city to city was becoming more BC Archives and the Royal BC Museum will the Cariboo mines. Back in Huntingdon, the important and this brought about the birth take steps to merge as part of a new Crown news of their modest success inspired others, of Canada’s first big four airlines: Trans Trust. Financial stability is the key element among them my great-grandfather, to try Canada Airlines, Pacific Western Airlines, behind this transformation. It seems a their luck wherever in the world gold was Queen Charlotte Airlines, and Canadian deplorable development for all seriously beckoning. But the real influence of the Pacific Airlines. interested in BC history. Money-making Overlanders came over the next several This book is the story of the transition ventures, popular history, artifacts, and generations. They had made the connection from bush pilots to those major airlines as entertainment will no doubt take priority between east and west, and begun the dream well as the colourful people behind the over archival matters. of a railway and a big sprawling country. In stories. Corley-Smith delves into the “small —the editor

34 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 Merchant Prince; the Story of After the war, he turned his enormous energy to politics. Disgusted with all existing Alexander Duncan McRae parties—a common BC attitude—he formed More Books Betty O’Keefe and Ian Macdonald. a new Provincial Party. Later he returned to Books listed here may be reviewed at a later date. For Surrey, BC: Heritage House, 2001. the Conservative Party, was active federally further information please consult Book Review Editor 240 pp. Illus. $18.95 paperback. and in due course became a Senator. Anne Yandle. REVIEWED BY PHYLLIS REEVE In their later years, McRae and Blaunche We know Alexander Duncan McRae as spent more and more time at Eaglecrest, their Bella Coola Man: The Life of a First Nations the Man who Built Hycroft, arguably the estate on Vancouver Island. Blaunche’s funeral Elder. Clayton Mack. Madeira Park, most beautiful house in Vancouver, now ten in 1942 was the family’s final function at Harbour Publishing, 2002. (first years short of its centennial and still as Hycroft. Officially “sold” to the nation for published in 1994) $24.95 paperback. graciously hospitable as ever. This book tells one dollar, the house became an annex to Earth Elder Stories. Alexander Wolfe. us the rest of his story: how he became a the Shaughnessy Military Hospital. McRae Calgary, Fifth House, 2002. $12.95 man who could imagine Hycroft and afford died in 1946. paperback. to build it, and how he contributed to the After the Veterans no longer needed the Great Political Cartoons, 1915-1945. economics, politics, and character of his house, it languished until 1962, when it once Charles and Cynthia Hou. Vancouver, province and nation. again became the fulfilment of a dream. With Moody’s Lookout Press, 2002.$39.95. Born in 1874 on a farm in Ekfrid County, much negotiation and effort, the University (3378 West 39th Ave., Vancouver, V6N Ontario, McRae followed his older cousin, Women’s Club of Vancouver was able to 3A2) paperback. acquire Hycroft, and restore it to its intended Andrew Davidson, into successful business Heavy Horses: An Illustrated History of the ventures in Minnesota. In 1902, McRae and comfortable glory, a place of action and hospitality, with a role in the community. Draft Horse. Grant MacEwan. Calgary, Davidson turned their attention back to Fifth House, 2001. $21.95 paperback. Canada, becoming agents for all the lands When I worked on a history of the Club acquired by the Canadian Northern Railway in the early 1980s, I spent many hours among The Heritage of Salt Spring Island: A Map from Manitoba to British Columbia: the archives, then occupying the space which of Treasures. Island Pathways, Salt farmland, townsites, and city lots, as well as had housed McRae’s wine cellar, strategically Spring Island, 2002. $5.00 infrastructure and buildings for larger centres. situated between the ballroom and the 20- paperback.(Island Pathways, PO Box Blessed by the Midas touch, McRae was foot bar. Our mandate being the story of the 684, Ganges, BC V8K 2W3) ready by 1907 to move on to the primary Club, we had to leave the McRaes as The Journey: the Overlanders’ Quest for industries of British Columbia. By 1914 he important minor characters. I am delighted Gold. Bill Gallaher. Victoria, Horsdal & was president of the Anacortes Lumber and to see this book restoring the balance. Schubart, 2002. $17.95 paperback. Box Company, vice-president of Columbia But with all the facts before us, we find Launching History: The Saga of Burrard River Lumber Company Ltd., vice-president McRae elusive. As the authors point out with Dry Dock. Francis Mansbridge. Madeira of Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Ltd., and regret, he left few personal papers, letters or Park, Harbour Publishing, 2002. $39.95 president of Wallace Fisheries. journals. His genius for organization and hardcover. management outshone characteristics which In a fascinating chapter, O’Keefe and Our Equine Friends: Stories of Horses in might have enlivened his biography. One tries Macdonald discuss the establishment of the History. Grant MacEwan. Calgary, Fifth without much success to warm to the McRae French Canadian settlement at Maillardville, House, 2002. $21.95 paperback. a gleam of light in a dark spot of history, the who, as he mourned his cousin and close Scandal: 130 years of Damnable Deeds in exclusion of Oriental labour. They do not associate Andrew Davidson, remembered “the Canada’s Lotus Land. William Rayner. gloss over the infamy, but neither do they thrill he felt during those train trips across Surrey, Heritage House, 2001. $19.95 attempt deep analysis; this is the way it was. the prairies, each car filled with millionaires paperback. Hycroft has a chapter to itself, besides a ready to purchase land in the Canadian role in all subsequent chapters. McRae saw territory, or the pride he and Davidson shared A Touch of Strange: Amazing Tales of the it built to fit his dream of a home for himself, in developing the biggest forest products Coast. Dick Hammond. Madeira Park, his American wife Blaunche and their three company on the continent and making it Harbour Publishing, 2002. $24.95 daughters, and also as the perfect setting for profitable.” paperback. welcoming guests. He and his architect While recognizing McRae’s role in the Voyages of Hope: The Saga of the Bride- (probably Thomas Hooper) achieved a work province’s development, perhaps we had ships. Peter Johnson. Victoria, Horsdal of art. The family moved into the house in better continue to think of him as the Man and Schubart, 2002. $17.95 paperback. who Built Hycroft. 1911, and the parties began - including the Where the River Runs: stories of the legendary masquerade balls. Reviewed Phyllis Reeve, formerly a frequenter Saskatchewan and the People Drawn to By the time he was 40, in 1914, McRae of Hycroft, now lives on Gabriola Island. its Shores. Victor Carl Friesen. Calgary; began moving his attention from money- Fifth House, 2001. $21.95 paperback. making to public service. During the first The Yukon Relief Expedition and the World War, he dedicated his business skills to Journal of Carl Johan Sakariassen. Ed. his work as overseas director of supplies and V.R. Rausch. Fairbanks, University of transport for the Canadian Armed Forces. Alaska Press, 2002. $55 paperback.

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 35 Token History by Ronald Greene

The Grand Hotel of Nakusp

HE token showing the words “John Hec- Right: John Hector, hotel owner. tor” and “Grand Hotel” is brass, round, T25 mm in diameter. It was brought to my attention in September 2001. It was previ- ously unknown. The denomination, 12½ cents, pointed to the west, and to a date probably be- fore 1910. A quick check of hotels in British Columbia named “Grand Hotel” showed that there were Grand Hotels in Creston, Nakusp, Nanaimo, Nelson, and Vancouver. There was a John Hec- tor listed as a hotel proprietor in Vancouver and Nakusp. Since Nakusp was not known to have any early tokens I checked out the Vancouver entries first. There I found that John Hector was the proprietor of the Clarence Hotel from his first listing in 1907 until he retired in 1912. He was not shown with any involvement in the Grand Hotel in Vancouver. My attention then shifted to Nakusp. The Arrow Lakes Historical Society has published a series of large format histories, which are very good and detailed, but Nakusp’s history can be elusive as there were long periods in which there were no local news- Courtesy Rheta Skea papers and no city directories. While these his- tories mentioned much about the Grand Hotel tance conversation. The Grand Hotel did not there was no mention of John Hector being in- mean anything to her, but she otherwise knew volved in it. I homed in on the period of 1901 quite a bit about her grandfather, and she prom- 1 Kootenay Mail, 7 February to 1906, the years that John Hector was listed as ised to look through her photographs so that I 1906. a hotel keeper in the various directories, but might obtain a photograph of John Hector. 2 Vancouver Daily Province, 16 without a specific hotel associated with his name. When I managed to meet Ms. Skea in person, May 1932. Some years in this period, but not every year, 3 Census of Canada 1901, she produced to my delight a photograph of microfilm T6430, gives the Revelstoke newspapers had a monthly col- the Grand Hotel, with an inscription on the his date of birth as 24 umn that reported on Nakusp events. The first back referring to John Hector owning it until September 1849, his confirmation that our John Hector ran the 1906. So here is the story of John Hector and entry to Canada 1888, Grand Hotel came after a couple of hours of and his naturalization as the Grand Hotel. 1896. going through the Revelstoke newspapers when John Hector was born in southern Sweden 4 Milt Parent, The Port of I came across a small mention, which read: “At on 23 May 1863. He came to Canada in 18883 Nakusp, Volume 2, Arrow a meeting of the License Commissioners for and worked for the CPR According to his Lakes Historical Society, Revelstoke riding, on Wednesday, a transfer of Introduction. granddaughter, Ms. Skea, his family name was 5 GR0055, (Provincial license was granted from John Hector for the Larson, but there were so many Larsons work- 1 Police Letters Inward), Grand hotel, Nakusp.” ing for the railway they were told that, if they Box 37 Report of 17 2 I also found an obituary for John Hector, wished, they could change their names to avoid June 1905. which showed that he was the John Hector who 6 Milt Parent, The Port of confusion. The name, John Hector, was selected, Nakusp, Volume 2, Arrow was in Nakusp and later operated the Clarence and Ms. Skea wondered if he took the name Lakes Historical Society, Hotel in Vancouver. I was able to contact a from James Hector, the member of the Palliser 43. granddaughter, Rheta Skea, and had a long-dis-

36 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 Courtesy Rheta Skea

Expedition that had explored the Canadian prai- to steamer, and therefore a good spot to settle. Above: “Hotel Grand” in Nakusp during James ries. By 1890 he was in British Columbia. The name is the white man’s pronunciation of McNeil’s tenure. In the early years of railroading in the the Indian name for the site. By 1892 Tref Nault Kootenays the CPR built short railways along was building a log hotel, which he called the the north-south oriented valleys to the Kootenay Prospect House, and Hugh Madden, in part- 7 British Columbia, and Arrow lakes and used steamers to transport nership with William Cowan of Revelstoke, was building his hotel, called the Nakusp House. A Marriage Registration goods and passengers along the lakes to meet 95-09-163143, microfilm with rail connections at another point on the second log hotel, the Columbia House, followed B11386 8 lake where the tracks resumed. Building tracks suit. The area was surveyed by 1893 and two Kootenay Mail, 1 May blocks of land were granted to the CPR in ex- 1897. along the lakes called for a greater investment 9 Kootenay Mail, 21 and it was cheaper and quicker to put steam- change for their commitment to build a railway October 1899. Selkirk 4 boats into operation. Successful mining de- from Nakusp to Three Forks (near Sandon). was a short lived name for pended upon the ability to get the ore to smelt- One report mentions that eight hundred men Thompson’s Landing near were working on the construction of the rail- Arrowhead at the head of ers, and the railways depended upon the mines Arrow Lake. According to to provide enough revenue-producing ore. It was way and two hundred more were expected the surviving licence the opening of a number of recently discovered shortly. This population figure quickly dropped records (GR0093 or mines in the Kootenays in the late 1880s and after the railway was completed and in 1900 the GR0055) no licence was number was hovering around three hundred. The issued to anyone named early 1890s that brought the railways. By 1891 Roman, for the year some settlers had picked the area on the east census for 1901 gave the population as 223, and 1900. As the meeting was side of the Upper Arrow Lake that was to be- the chief constable for the area gave the popu- adjourned until 25 5 come Nakusp as a likely transfer point from rail lation in 1905 as 350. October without a

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 37 decision on the transfer, John Hector came to Nakusp about this time held a liquor licence for the Clarence Hotel in and there is no mention and was working as the bartender at the Pros- Vancouver from 1906. He sold the hotel and of a decision in the next issue of the Kootenay Mail pect House in 1894. Some heavy drinking led retired in 1912, passing away 15 May 1931. or in its rival Revelstoke to several fights, one resulting in John Hector The ownership history of the Grand Hotel, Herald, it may not have receiving an ugly stab wound in his left shoul- after John Hector sold it, is somewhat convo- been allowed. The der,6 presumably while he was trying to break luted.13 In January 1907 Harry LaBrash mar- Henderson’s B.C. 14 Directory for 1900-1901 up the fight. On 6 May 1895 John Hector mar- ried a widow named Adran Antoya, who had does not mention ried Augusta Nillson, also a native of Sweden, six daughters. Michael Antoya had been killed Roman, Hector, or the who had come to Nakusp in 1893. Their mar- in an accident in 1903 at Rosebery15 where they Riverside Hotel in riage registration shows Hector as a hotel had leased the Rosebery Hotel. The oldest Thompson’s Landing. 7 10 Kootenay Mail, 20 June keeper. The couple were to have two daugh- Antoya daughter, Addie, had eloped with the 1902. Notice of a special ters: the first, Ruth Victoria Sophia, was born in station agent at Rosebery, Michael McCarthy. meeting of the Board of Nakusp in 1896, and the second, Jean Louise, He bought the Grand Hotel from John Hector. License Commissioners was born in Vancouver in 1906. Addie ran the hotel, commuting to Rosebery … “July 7th, 1902, to consider application and By 1897 Hector was the proprietor of the to be with her husband whenever she could. transfer from Thos Abriel Columbia House, but he was also involved with But Michael McCarthy was transferred to Chalk to John Hector, Hotel Louis Sherrin as hotelkeepers in Burton City, a River, Ontario, where he died in an accident at Grande, [sic] Nakusp.” 8 Since the board had met partnership that broke up 26 April 1897. An- work. Addie was devastated and felt she couldn’t only a week earlier the other liquor licence transfer was applied for in carry on managing the Grand Hotel, so her transfer must have taken October 1899, for the Riverside Hotel in Sel- mother and step-father, Harry LaBrash, took place just that week. kirk, to transfer to N.P. Roman and John Hec- over. The couple managed it for some years, then, 11 Kootenay Mail, 23 9 December 1905. tor. Whether this transfer went through is un- by 1910 leased it to Haig & Dougal. In late 1910, 12 Kootenay Mail, 27 January known, but Hector was operating the Colum- Jack and Agnes Thew took it over and managed 1906. bia House in Nakusp and was issued a liquor to tone down the rough nature that the hotel 13 This narrative of the licence for 1900. had acquired over years when Addie had run it. subsequent ownership is based on details from The Not long after Nakusp Hotel had opened in Then a Frank Hughes took it over in 1913. Port of Nakusp. 1892 the partnership between Hugh Madden Meanwhile Harry LaBrash lost thousands of 14 British Columbia and William Cowan broke up, and the name of dollars in a trust company failure16 and took the Marriage Registration the hotel was changed to Madden House. How- Grand Hotel back. In May 1919, another of 07-09-178300, microfilm B11388 ever, within a year Madden had left for Beaton, Adran Antoya’s daughters, Lila, married Hughes’ 15 This according to The Port another up-and-coming settlement, and sold son, also named Frank,17 and he assumed the of Nakusp, but a list of Madden House to J. McGeary, who added James management. Eastman and Swanson were the licences written up 31 McNeil as a partner. By 1897 McNeil was the proprietors in 1925. Harry LaBrash was killed December 1904 (GR0055, Box 37, File sole proprietor of the hotel and had made ma- by lightning in July 1925 while contracting on Bi-Bg) mentions M. jor improvements to it. With all the Victorian the Queen’s Bay to Ainsworth link of the Kaslo Antoya held a licence for gingerbread trimming it was a very handsome to Nelson road.18 Just over a month later, on the the Rosebery Hotel until building. McNeil felt the name, Madden House, morning of 2 September 1925 a fire started in 1 September 1904. The 1905 B.C. Directory still just didn’t do the hotel justice and changed the the cellar of the Grand Hotel and quickly burned lists Michael Antoya as a name to the Grand Hotel. In 1899 Tom Abriel through the thirty-year-old structure. The fire hotel keeper at Rosebery. took over the Grand Hotel and ran it until mid brigade worked valiantly, but while not able to 16 Possibly the Dominion 1902 when John Hector took it over.10 save the Grand Hotel, managed to prevent the Trust Company, which 19 collapsed in October The 12½ cent Grand Hotel token, with the fire from spreading to nearby buildings. It was 1914. name of John Hector on it, must have been is- a total loss, but there was no loss of life.
17 British Columbia sued between 1902 and 1905, as in December Marriage Registration the hotel was sold again, with the transfer tak- 19-09-201804, microfilm 11 B11380. Elizabeth Antoya ing effect in January 1906. “Mr & Mrs John and Frank Frederick Hector, and daughter Ruth left for Vancouver Hughes were the names during January 1906.”12 The imminent birth of entered. The marriage their second child, which took place in April took place in Vancouver. 18 Arrow Lakes News, 31 1906, or the need for better educational oppor- July 1925. tunities for Ruth, may well have influenced the 19 Arrow Lakes News, 4 decision to move to Vancouver. The Vancouver September 1925. City Licence Registers show that John Hector

38 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 Reports

Dedication of a Chinese Monument in Prince George N 4 August 2002, at the Prince George municipal Ocemetery, a dedication cer- emony was held of a monument hon- ouring the contributions of Chinese Canadians to the city of Prince George and surrounding areas. The monument is the result of a joint venture between the City of Prince George and the Chinese Heritage Preservation Com- mittee. Supporters for this project in- clude the Chinese Freemasons; the Chow Steve Chinese Benevolent Association, Chee Above: In the background the monument still covered with a cloth. Cutting the ribbon are from left Duck Tong; the Chinese Student and to right Don Basserman, acting mayor; Lily Chow, chairperson of the Prince George Canada- Professional Association; Prince China Friendship Association; and Li Yaunming, Chinese consul general. The text to the right is George Canada–China Friendship As- part of the inscriptions on the monument and reads in translation: “Their deeds stay on although sociation; multicultural organizations, they have bid farewell to the future generations. Their spirit remains forever after saying farewell to and many individuals and businesses this abundant world.” in town. quarters; and members from various The Zeballos Story The symbols on the monument re- chapters of the Chinese Freemasons. veal the identity of Chinese Canadi- Representatives from the City of EBALLOS, on the west coast of Van- ans: maple leaf representing Canada Prince George and both the provin- couver Island, is celebrating its th and bamboo leaf, China. The dragon cial and federal governments offered Z50 anniversary as an incorpo- images and the stone lions indicate the congratulations and good wishes to the rated municipality but Zeballos has a Chinese culture. The monument marks Chinese Heritage Preservation Com- history dating back much further, prob- the legacy of Chinese forefathers and mittee. Lion dance troupes from Ed- ably to 1791, when the Spaniards estab- the memory of many Chinese Cana- monton and Vancouver came to ven- lished a colony at Nootka. It is on record dians in this region. From the earliest erate the event. To wrap up the day, that a quantity of gold was shipped to years Chinese Canadians contributed the Prince George Chinese Freema- Spain from Friendly Cove and it prob- to the development of the community sons and the Chinese Benevolent As- ably came from the Zeballos River since by operating much needed restaurants, sociation hosted a dinner for all the there is no other known source of gold laundries, and grocery stores. In 1919 VIPs and guests. In honour of the un- in the area. The town and the inlet where over five hundred Chinese labourers veiling of the monument the Two Riv- it is situated were named Cevallos by the came to the city to build the Pacific ers Gallery held an exhibition of Chi- explorer Malaspina after one of his of- Grand Trunk Railway in the region. nese art and crafts, which consistedof ficers, Lieutenant Ciriaco Cevallos. In later years Chinese Canadians of a selection of paintings, scrolls, and The valley of the Zeballos River was different walks of life settled in Prince kites on loan from the Chinese Con- just one of many remote river valleys at George. sulate in Vancouver. The Fraser–Fort the heads of inlets along the outer coast At this historical event many out- George Regional Museum displayed of Vancouver Island, almost unknown of-town guests came to help the Chi- photographs and items of early Chi- and unexplored until near the end of the nese community celebrate, including nese Canadians in Prince George. nineteenth century when the first surge of prospecting activity took place along the Chinese Consul General, Li —Lily Chow Yuanming and his delegation; Chuck the coast. The iron deposits at the head Chang, President of the Chinese Free- of the valley were probably discovered masons of Canada, National Head- at that time. Some of the first to pros-

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 39 pect this area were Scandinavian settlers grade ore shipped to the smelter proved ing a ghost town and it was logging op- from Quatsino. These people had come the worth of the prospects and attracted erations that built the road connection from places such as Minnesota and North investment, first from business people in to the outside world. A lot of credit must Dakota, to settle at the northern end of Victoria to construct a road and mecha- go to the people who had faith in the Vancouver Island anticipating that big nize the mining operations, and then future of the community and had it in- things would happen there. Earlier it had from mining companies to construct corporated as a municipality in 1952. been proposed that the trans-continen- mills and expand the operations. Later, the iron mine gave the economy tal railway would come onto Vancouver Conwest Exploration Company of To- of the area another boost but this opera- Island across Seymour Narrows and ter- ronto purchased 25% interest in the Pri- tion was short-lived, running out of ore minate on the north end of the Island, vateer mine and financed the construc- and closing in 1969. However, with an the nearest shipping point to the Ori- tion of a mill, concentrator, and gold established community and harbour fa- ent. Even though this proposal had been recovery plant. Other operations fol- cilities, Zeballos is here to stay and there scuttled it was still being promoted to lowed and, within a couple of years, six is still “gold in them thar hills”. attract settlers in the 1890s. When these mills were operating in the valley, includ- —Walter Guppy developments didn’t ma- ing Spud Valley, Mount Cathy Chapin terialize, the duped settlers Lakewood University Zeballos, Central Zeballos, Thunder Bay Post-1901 Census Release cast around for other op- White Star, and CD or Rey portunities, including Oro. Nearly 400 men were Moves One Step Closer To prospecting for mineral employed on thirty proper- Reality deposits. Except for small ties in prospecting, develop- N February 2002, at the Quebec quantities of placer gold ment work, and production. City conference of Provincial and recovered from the river, The peak production year Territorial Historical Societies the first recorded gold was 1940 when over sev- I (PATHS), organized by Canada’s Na- production from Zeballos enty-thousand ounces of tional History Society and Historica, was in 1929. Two tons of gold were produced from delegates from thirteen historical socie- high-grade ore was shipped to Tacoma seven mines at Zeballos but two years ties, including the British Columbia Smelter that year from the Tagore pros- later production dwindled as all but the Historical Federation, unanimously pect, owned by the partnership of Privateer and Spud Valley mines were passed a resolution with regard to access Malberg and Nordstrom. closed by wartime shortages of man- to historic census data ending with the It was the Depression that brought power and essential supplies. These two words “…Consequently, the PATHS others to the area. When fish prices col- remaining operations shut down also by Quebec propose to ask the federal gov- lapsed, a few individuals built shacks at the fall of 1942. The Privateer and Cen- ernment to take all legislative and regu- the beach and set about to eke out an tral Zeballos mines opened again in 1946 latory measures possible to allow the existence trapping and prospecting for but, with the price of gold pegged and National Archivist to grant public ac- gold. Between 1932 and 1935, a group other costs rising, were soon shut down cess to censuses, 92 years after the col- led by Andrew and John Donaldson as being uneconomical to operate. lection of data, and proposes that the manhandled 47 tons of ore down to tide- During this period, from the mid-thir- PATHS, their members and their sister water from the White Star property on ties to the outbreak of war, Zeballos had affiliations send their deputies and sena- Spud Valley Creek. They used a canoe mushroomed from a few shacks to a tors a petition letter to that effect.” on the river part way and backpacked town with a population of about a thou- As one of tens of thousands of Ca- the remaining distance, slashing out a trail sand people. It had two hotels with beer nadians researching family history, you and falling trees for foot logs across side parlours, a liquor store, a school, a hos- will be interested to learn that the Lib- creeks. Shipped to Tacoma Smelter on pital, and a house of prostitution. The eral government has announced plans to the Princess Maquinna, the sacked ore resident police constable was supported introduce legislation in Parliament this yielded 650 ounces of gold with by- by a patrol vessel that made frequent calls, fall to allow researchers access to post- product silver and base metals. The suc- and religious services, if required, were 1901 historic census records. Bills sup- cess of the operation attracted others and provided by missionaries who travelled porting release, introduced in the last Par- even higher grade ore was found at the up and down the coast from their mis- liament by Senator Milne and MP nearby Privateer where Raymond Pitre sion at Esperanza. Prior to a hospital Calder, were extinguished when Parlia- and his brother-in-law Herb Kevis from being established at Zeballos, these peo- ment prorogued this fall. Port Alberni had a crew working on a ple also provided medical services for the The controversy surrounding release half share-half wage basis. area. of this historic treasure trove is detailed Returns from spectacularly high- Logging saved Zeballos from becom-

40 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 in my article “Trapped in Amber or maritime fur trade, and fur trade per- Placed on the Pyre: Will researchers Ever sonalities. In the late afternoon guests See Original Post–1901 Canada Census chose to tour the fort or visit the cem- Data?” (BC Historical News 34:4). On the etery at St. George’s Anglican church Global Gazette Web site, you can also where a number of former Hudson’s Bay review the four-year campaign for re- Company employees are buried. Pre- lease conducted by the Post-1901 Cen- pared by Sto:lo caterers, a banquet of sus Project. Despite the precedent of full barbequed salmon and bannock with release at 92 years from the date of col- suitable accompaniments brought an end lection, Statistics Canada still refuses to to an interesting and informative day. The transfer custody of later primary data to second day was devoted to concerns the National Archives. about research and interpretation at fur In February 2002, on behalf of eleven trade posts and information about de- plaintiffs from across Canada, Calgary scendants of people employed in the lawyer Lois Sparling applied for a judi- trade. Jean Cole, a direct descendant of cial review of Statistics Canada’s deci- Archibald McDonald, who was in charge sion to withhold post-1901 census of Fort Langley from 1828 till 1833, was schedules. The application is ongoing, but available to sign copies of her latest book, only refers to immediate release of the This Blessed Wilderness, a collection of

1906 census, with the hope that a suc- McDonald’s letters. A tour of the site of Crosse John cessful outcome will set a precedent for the original fort brought a very success- Above: Jean Cole signing copies of her book full release of the 1911 and all subse- ful symposium to an end. Earlier con- This Blessed Wilderness, a collection of quent censuses. ferences have been held at Sidney on McDonald’s letters.at the Outpost of Empire It is up to all historians to inform our Vancouver Island and at Fort Vancouver, Conference held at Fort Langley in August. representatives in Parliament about the Washington. This cross border collabo- Jean Cole is a direct descendant of Archibald need for full release. See the Post-1901 ration has been beneficial to people on McDonald who was in charge of Fort Langley Census Parliamentary Scoreboard both sides of the 49th parallel interested from 1827 till 1833. in the fur trade period on the Pacific to determine whether your Member of slope. —Morag Maclachlan Parliament and Senator support full re- lease. Then write a letter advising each Songs of the Nisga’a: A Wonderful Piece of BC History of your interests in this important mat- OR half a century Quebec-born The National Library of Canada and the ter. Rhodes Scholar and ethnologist, Canadian Museum of Civilization have re- —Brenda L. Smith F Marius Barbeau, a champion for Ot- ceived some funding from the Department tawa’s National Museum, traveled extensively of Canadian Heritage to assist with preser- Fort Langley: through Canada with his 40-pound “port- vation, digitalization, and Web projects. The able” Edison machine and recorded many of Canadian Museum of Civilization has also Outpost of Empire our oldest songs and stories. Between 1914 received some funds to start digitizing the and 1930 he visited now-vanished villages NE hundred and seventy-five Marius Barbeau collections (which include years ago, in 1827, Fort Langley along the Skeena and Nass Rivers and the the Nisga’a wax cylinders), but these funds Edison wax cylinders on which he made his are for specific short-term projects. was established on the lower O recordings in Aboriginal villages of north- The BC Historical Federation is encour- Fraser. In 1839 a new fort was built two west British Columbia are an import part of aging associated member societies and other and one half miles upstream at the mouth the massive collection he assembled for the historical groups, as well as interested read- of the Salmon River and in 1958 the National Museum. ers to write to their local MP and Heritage process of preservation and reconstruc- Only a small fraction of the recordings Minister expressing their desire that a per- tion of that fort was begun. This historic has been transcribed into music or original manent commitment be made to continued site is now operated by Parks Canada, language because each playing eats into the funding for this historically important resto- and it was here that about fifty people wax surface of the cylinders affecting the ration project. gathered for a two-day Northwest Coast sound quality. Recently the National Library For further information please contact Ron Fur Trade Symposium in August. has purchased an “Archeophone” that in- Hyde, Secretary of the BCHF, #20-12880 stantly converts wax cylinders into digital data Railway Ave., Richmond, BC V7E 6G2 or e- Papers presented on the first day ex- which can be stored in computers and du- mail . plored Native perspectives, geographi- plicated on CDs for museums and re- cal connections, some aspects of the searchers.

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 41 Steamboat Round the Bend by Edward Affleck

The Port Douglas–Lillooet Route to the Cariboo

AVING conquered the lower Fraser River in 1858, the shallow-draft Hpaddlewheeler soon appeared on navigable bodies of water of any size on the route to the Cariboo goldfields. The paddlewheeler was infinitely more efficient as a carrier than a horse, and also was to be preferred to the horse and wagon since money did not have to be invested in wagon-

road construction. Furthermore, while the Productions. Work Art at Helga Martens, horse consumed fodder whether or not en- Above: Lady of the Lake. gaged in hauling, a boat would consume fuel only when working. satisfied and soon concluded to move pion, replaced her with the sidewheeler Seaton From 1859 to 1864 the Port Douglas– onward. So I loaded all my goods as in the same year. The completion in 1864 of Lillooet Route from the head of Harrison freight on Uriah Nelson’s pack train, the suspension bridge across the Fraser River Lake through the Lillooet-Anderson-Seton paying him 30 cents per pound de- above Spuzzum prompted the Fraser Can- Lakes portage system to Lillooet was a fa- livered in Lillooet and departed yon wagon road above Yale to become a more voured route to the Cariboo goldfields. One about April, 1859 for Lillooet. popular route to Lillooet and the Cariboo, of the many to travel this route in 1859 was so it seems unlikely that any steam-propelled the pioneer Victoria merchant and public The narrow mule trail leading up the boat was worked on the Port Douglas– accountant Frank Sylvester. Frank Sylvester, Lillooet River valley to Lillooet Lake was Lillooet system after 1866. born in New York City in 1836, travelled to not such as to recommend itself to Sylvester, It is unlikely that any of the Lillooet– San Francisco, presumably by stagecoach, at nor did the other portage trails between the Anderson–Seton Lake fleet would have cap- the age of twenty. On 11 July 1858 he em- various lakes take his fancy. Such accommo- tured prizes for design and construction. They barked for Victoria on the coastal steamer dation as existed did not whet his fancy ei- were small vessels built in the wilds, far from Pack and arrived in Esquimalt harbour on ther. Steam-powered vessels had not yet any of the up-to-date Vancouver Island saw- 17 July. After operating a store near Wharf reached any of Lillooet, Anderson, or Seton mills that enabled James Trahey to turn out and Bastion streets in Victoria in1858, lakes by the spring of 1859, so Sylvester took such fine work in his Victoria shipyard. What Sylvester elected to head for the gold dig- passage on these lakes in row boats, and con- this rustic fleet demonstrated, however, was gings and set up in merchandising. After five sidered some of the fares charged to be scan- the superiority of the shallow-draft steam- or six years of a nomadic merchandising life dalously high. Later in 1859, the portage roads driven paddlewheeler, fuelled by cordwood in the Cariboo, Sylvester re-established him- between the lakes were improved to wagon- cut on site, as a means of moving freight on self in Victoria. In the first decade of the twen- road standard, and in the following year, the frontier. There was never any move to tieth century, Sylvester gave a series of talks steam-powered vessels appeared on all three extend the portage wagon roads along any to Victoria history buffs about his experi- lakes. Sylvester acknowledged these improve- one of the lakes to replace the paddlewheeler ences on the trail. The transcripts of these ments to the trail but was not overly im- during the time that the Port Douglas– talks, on file in archival collections in the pressed with the steam-powered vessels. The Lillooet route to the Cariboo goldfields was University of Victoria Library, provide many first, the Marzelle, on Lillooet Lake, he de- in active use. Derelict remains of some of the interesting details of life on the trail to the scribes as “...a small clumsy side wheeler just vessels in this fleet can apparently still be Cariboo, and from the Sylvester file we draw able to get out on her way...” The Seton Lake found on site, a tempting lure for members the following comments on steamboating on sternwheeler Champion Sylvester describes as a ”…fair little boat,” while the Anderson Lake of the Underwater Archaeological Society of the Port Douglas–Lillooet Route:
sternwheeler Lady of the Lake he simply men- BC. ...I only remained [in Fort Langley] a tions by name, but since she appears to have few hours, just long enough to trans- worked without competition from a succes- fer our freight on to a small stern- sor steamboat, one hazards that she was a rea- For particulars on the steamers mentioned wheel steamer called the Maria, Capt. sonably successful vessel. Goulding & Com- consult Affleck’s A Century of Paddlewheelers J. R. Fleming, and left for Port pany, owners of the Marzelle, replaced her in the Pacific Northwest, the Yukon and Alaska. Douglas....I opened a store in Port with the sternwheeler Prince of Wales in 1863, Douglas, meeting with a fair success, while Taylor & Co., owners of the Cham- but the unrest was on me, I felt dis-

42 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 Archives and Archivists Editor Frances Gundry

Greater Vernon Museum houses....The Kalamalka Hotel keeps little information I had. Within two and Archives a large number, judging from the weeks, no less than four heir tracers were stink...of hogs running around the hot on the trail and were feeding me RADITIONALLY, archives have been premises. Hogs are allowed to run at enough information that I was able to described as “dry and dusty.” At large and are, as a matter of fact, a ne- dig up obituaries and wedding an- the Vernon archives, we try hard cessity as scavengers. T nouncements that mentioned relatives to dispel the familiar notion that archives At the time this letter was written, and where they lived. The estate must hold nothing but boring paper items full Vernon had been incorporated as a city have been big enough to make it worth of uninteresting facts. If you only knew for approximately two months. This col- their while to keep phoning here—one what fascinating information some of ourful glimpse of the past makes any of was from Ontario, one from Washing- those paper items hold. Let me tell you our present problems pale in compari- ton, and two were from California. I about some of them. son to those of 1893. never did hear if they finally located the A descendant of the Cameron family Not all our accessions are related to a relatives and what kind of a cut of the allowed us to photocopy a small diary century ago. A collection of school class estate they received, but the experience kept by Mary Cameron during a boat photos dating from 1945 to 1974 came revealed a whole new world to me of trip down Okanagan Lake in 1901. Mary in from a retired teacher’s estate. These the frantic lives these people lead in an and her uncle, W.F. Cameron, rowed from photos seem to be just a record of chil- all but unknown profession. Okanagan Landing to a point past dren’s faces, but deserve a second look. So, who was it that said archives are Peachland in seven days. She describes Until 1967, the photos are high-quality dry and dusty? Not here in Vernon. the dangers of skunks, rattlesnakes, and black-and-whites taken by local com- —Linda Wills mosquitoes, and frequently complains mercial photographers. After 1967, the about the hard beds. She had every right colour photographs, contracted out to Linda Wills is archivist of the Greater Vernon to complain as one night was spent sleep- National School Studios in Toronto, get Museum and Archives. At the BCHF conference ing on a wharf to avoid the snakes. Mary progressively grainier and faded. As far in Revelstoke she presented a very successful work- describes Kelowna as “not a very large as school photos are concerned, the good shop on the conservation of photographs at the Revelstoke conference, She agreed to repeat the place, with a sawmill, two or three nice old days really were the good old days. course prior to the conference in Prince George. stores, a druggist, and one doctor.” How- The subject matter might be misunder- ever, those stores provided the travellers stood as just rows of children until you Letter from a Reader with “steak, lemons, apples, peaches, really start to look at the details. Remem- Jacqueline Murray (Moilliet) writes from claret, and lime juice,” a change from the ber the braids, the Mary Jane shoes, the Calgary, AB: diet of fresh fish provided by Mr. plaid shirts and dresses, the suspenders I just happened to read a past issue of Cameron along the way. How many peo- of the 1940s? Contrast those with the British Columbia Historical News (33:4). My ple today would contemplate rowing “ironed” hair, the jeans, and the joggers grandmother was featured in this issue, from Vernon to Peachland? of the 1970s. These school photographs “Molly Moilliet of Aveley Ranch”. Thank For that matter, how would you like show thirty years of fashion history as you for printing Mrs. Dunford’s article. I would like to offer a small comment to return to the Vernon of March 1893, well as photographic history. described in a letter written by Judge about the cover picture. The cut line says Along with the preceding examples it is the operating room at Queen’s Hos- Spinks to the Attorney General of BC? of “colour” in the archives comes the pital at Rock Bay. Actually it is a picture He writes: story of a very unusual research request. from the St. Michael’s Hospital that re- …our water supply is from an irriga- Leighton Tripp Jr., son of Osberta and placed the VON Queen’s Hospital after it tion ditch that runs through the Leighton Tripp of Vernon, died as a re- burned in 1910, as noted in the article. town and which is fouled by animal sult of an earthquake in California. Al- My mother nursed at Rock Bay in 1940 and vegetable matter....Kitchen most immediately I had a phone call and we have the identical picture except refuse is almost universally carried to from a man who called himself an heir the operating table and furniture is of a the nearest vacant lot and there de- tracer. He was desperately trying to find much newer vintage. However the same posited and in some cases only light bulb fixture still hung over the ta- any relatives of Leighton Tripp’s because thrown through the windows. Gen- ble. I also forwarded this comment to Ms. eral rubbish is thrown onto the street. there was a large estate to be settled— Barbara Bell head of the Vancouver Li- Bed-room slops and kitchen water apparently Leighton owned property brary Special Collections Division which are just thrown outside the here and in California. I gave him what you credited as the source of the picture.

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 43 Web Site Forays by Christopher Garrish Where Shall We Meet?

NDISPENSABLE as the Internet has be There are a wide variety of co-opera- OKANAGAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY come for research, there is one basic tives profiled in the Galleria, ranging from The 2003 annual general meeting of the Okanagan Historical Society will be held in Ifeature that I always look for when vis- credit unions, agricultural, consumer, and Oliver on Sunday, 27 April 2003, sponsored by iting a Web site: content. In fact, when vis- ethnic to First Nations co-operatives. What the Oliver/Osoyoos Branch. For those arriving iting a site, I am more inclined to form an follows are just two of the links that caught on Saturday possible activities could be a impression based solely on content, rather my eye while I went through the pages. guided tour of the Osoyoos Desert Centre in the afternoon, an evening tour of the Jack than layout or accessibility, although these The history of the Sointula Co-op As- Newton Observatory on Anarchist Mountain, are very important considerations none- sociation is more than just that of a co- followed by a dinner. Cost will be moderate. If theless. operative, it is the story of a group of Uto- you want to know more call Lionel Dallas at I am still impressed by how much the pian Finns immigrating to an isolated com- 250.495.3341. E-mail , or Internet has changed the course and scope munity on Malcolm Island in 1905. Al- write him at PO Box 251, Osoyoos, BC, V0H 1V0. of historical study over the past ten years. though the Utopian community dis- When I first began taking college-level banded a few years later, the co-operative ARCHIVES ASSOCIATION OF BC For their annual conference and AGM the courses, the Internet was so inaccessible principles they supported were maintained AABC will meet in Nanaimo from 24 to 26 that few students had even logged on, let by the remaining members who started a April 2003. The theme of the conference will alone tried to conduct research through co-operatively run store in 1909. Over the be “From Paper to PDF: Preserving the History the Web. Now, as a recent Teacher’s Assist- years, the store became more than a mere Around Us.” . ant, I was required to place limits on the outlet for goods, it evolved into a “unify- PACIFIC NORTHWEST HISTORY CONFERENCE number of Internet sources my first year ing organization” where residents discussed The Washington State Historical Society, in history students could use. Otherwise there local issues, governance, and community conjunction with the Pacific Northwest Re- gional Conference of Phi Alpha Theta—will was a real risk that none of them would development (in many instances even turn- meet in Bellingham, WA, from 24 to 26 April become familiar with the University’s li- ing to the co-op for financial support of a 2003. The theme of the conference is “Histori- brary holdings. library, cemetery, etc.). The store is still in ans’ Tales and the Pacific Northwest.” Contact My first column covers the site of the operation today, making it one of the long- Mark Vessey for information at 360.586.0219 or e-mail . British Columbia Institute of Co-opera- est running consumer co-operatives in the tive Studies (BCICS), , with a particular em- Another interesting story is that of the conference will be held 1–3 May at the Liu phasis on their “Galleria.” Founded in 2000 Vancouver Island Organic Vegetable Co- Centre for the Study of Global Issues at the by Dr. Ian MacPherson, a Professor in the op. What I found particularly intriguing University of British Columbia. This interdisci- University of Victoria’s History Depart- about this story was the time frame. My plinary scholarly conference offers 24 ses- ment, BCICS’s aim is to understand how first inclination was to assume that this was sions as well as two visual plenary evenings. For the program and registration see the co-operative model functions within a current co-operative, established within or contact Jean Barman at different contexts, and how it can con- the last few years, most likely to take ad- or 604.822.5331. tribute to meeting economic and social vantage of the growing popularity of or- HISTORICAL FEDERATION OF BC needs. The Institute’s Web site is a wide- ganically grown produce. What I did not From 8 to 11 May, the University of Northern ranging affair with many sections that are know was that the co-op had been estab- BC and partnering institutions will host the of interest to historians. lished in 1954 when residents of Victoria annual conference and AGM of the Federa- One of the centrepieces of the Insti- purchased a Cowichan Valley farm in or- tion. The conference theme is “Work and So- ciety: Perspectives on Northern BC History.” tute’s Web presence is the Galleria project. der to have organic vegetables delivered Web site . The Galleria features information on grass- to their homes. Unfortunately, the co-op HERITAGE SOCIETY OF BC roots co-operatives in BC, the rationale lasted a short two years before folding, but The City of Richmond will host the annual behind their creation, and their function. it is a very early example of Community conference of the HSBC on 30 and 31 May The content has been broken down into Supported Agriculture (CSA) in BC. 2003. four easily navigable “tours:” region, theme, The Galleria site is full of similar sto- BC MUSEUMS MEET IN RENO, NEVADA sector, and timeline. Quick links, and drop- ries, too many for me to recount here, so I The 2003 conference of The Western Muse- down menus have been provided on every will leave it up to you to visit the site. I ums Association and the British Columbia page, allowing visitors to easily make their firmly believe that it will be time well Museums Association will be hosted by the
city of Reno, Nevada, where they will meet way through the site. spent. from 19 to 23 October.

44 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 News and Notes

MARGARET ORMSBY ESSAY PRIZE 2002 EVELYN SALISBURY SCHOLARSHIP 2002 HISTORICAL A TLAS OF CANADA There are two winners of the Margaret The Burnaby Historical Society is pleased In time for the festive season appeared Derek Ormsby Essay Prize this year. LiLynn Wan, to announce the 2002 recipient of the schol- Hayes’s latest book Historical Atlas of Canada: Okanagan University College, won the prize arship given by Drs. Violet and Blythe Ea- Canada’s History Illustrated with Original Maps for “Nkamaplix Okanagan Adoption of Ag- gles in honour of Evelyn Salisbury. Six ap- This is a fascinating full-colour atlas contain- riculture, 1877-1881” and Anne Doré, Uni- plications were received this year and the ing more than four-hundred maps of Canada versity College of the Fraser Valley, for her award, in the amount of $1,000 was given to ranging from the time of the Vikings to re- paper “Japanese Canadian Sport History in Katharine Rollwagen. cent history. Available in your favourite book- the Fraser Valley: Judo and Baseball in the Katharine is a senior undergraduate history stores. Interwar Years”. No nominations were re- student entering her fourth year of study at BRINGING CONSTANCE HOME… ceived this year from Cariboo or Malaspina the University of Victoria. Upon graduation In May 2003, a significant theatrical event —John Lutz she plans to pursue graduate studies at the will occur at the Jericho Arts Centre in Van- university with a special interest in the de- PROJECT TO UPDATE THE BRITISH CO- couver when Vital Spark Theatre and the velopment and decline of resource-based LUMBIA LOCAL HISTORIES BIBLIOGRAPHY United Players of Vancouver present, for the To update and expand the British Columbia company towns in BC. Margaret Matovich first time in Canada, a play by Constance Local Histories: a Bibliography I am seeking as- Secretary of the Burnaby Historical Society Lindsay Skinner. In 1911, Constance Lindsay sistance in identifying published local histo- Skinner was described by the Vancouver Prov- ries. The first edition of the Bibliography by OKANAGAN HISTORY ince as “Vancouver’s First Playwright.” Pro- th Linda L. Hale and Jean Barman was published Now available: Okanagan History, the 66 re- ductions of her work were mounted in ma- in 1991 and listed 1,044 local histories for port of the Okanagan Historical Society, jor US cities, including Los Angeles, Chi- 889 different communities in British Colum- edited by Dorothy Zoellner. The OHS has cago, and New York. She became so well bia. It appeared both in a loose-leaf format promoted the recording of histories of their known in the States that a major literary prize and as an online database. Assistance was re- valleys since 1925. Their yearly reports, con- was named after her. Yet she is completely ceived from the British Columbia Heritage taining a great variety of information, de- unknown here and her plays have never been Trust, British Columbia Library Association, serve wide attention in and outside the performed in Canada. and University of British Columbia Library. Okanagan. You’ll receive a copy of Okanagan It is thanks to historian Jean Barman that The main objective of my project is to update History by sending a cheque for $21 to the Skinner’s work will be seen in British Co- the Bibliography to include all local histories Okanagan Historical Society, PO Box 313, lumbia next May. Birthright is one of Skin- published since 1990 and to identify and add Vernon BC, V1T 6M3. On purchase you are ner’s most successful, and most controversial, any missing pre-1990 titles. In addition, I will registered as a member of the OHS for one plays. Deemed too daring for New York, begin adding the histories of churches and year. Let it be known that the editor of BC Birthright opened in Chicago in 1912. schools in British Columbia, which were ex- Historical News admires this annual publica- Birthright, adapted and directed by Joan Bryans, cluded from the first edition due to time con- tion. will run at the Jericho Arts Centre from 3-18 straints. IMPRESSIONS OF THE PAST May 2003. For further information on the All titles listed in the bibliography must be The Riondel & Area Historical Society is production see . published and accessible to the public in a li- publishing Impressions of the Past: The Early Jean Barman’s book on Skinner: Constance brary or archive. History of the Settlements of Crawford Bay, Gray Lindsay Skinner, Writing on the Frontier, is being Please send me information about local, Creek, Kootenay Bay, Pilot Bay and Riondel on published by the University of Toronto Press, church, and school histories that are not in- the East Shore of Kootenay Lake, British Co- October, 2002. cluded in the first edition of the British Co- lumbia. The book includes chapters on min- lumbia Local Histories: a Bibliography. You BOOK GUY ing, fruit ranching, logging, hunting, fishing “Howard Overend’s sophisticated, humble can check the printed edition in your local trapping, and transportation. It is authored library or search the online database on the memoir is important beyond the Peace River. by Susan Hulland and A. Terry Turner and is Book Guy is an unexpected joy to read,” Internet at: writes Alan Twigg in BC Bookworld. That is and graphics. The cost is $35 per copy plus just one of many published recommenda- Please contact me if you have any questions $10 for postage and handling within Canada. or require further information. Thank you for tions of Book Guy: A Librarian in the Peace, a Copies may be purchased from The Riondel book about the formation and growth of the your assistance. Brenda Peterson, Humanities & Area Historical Society, Box 201, Riondel & Social Sciences Division, Koerner Library, library service in the Peace River region. BC, V0B 2B0. Contact A. Terry Turner at e- Order the book, published by Horsdal & 1958 Main Mall, University of British Co- mail or phone lumbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, E-mail: Schubart directly from the author, Howard 250.225.3483. Publishing date is approxi- Overend, 2780 17th Street, N.E., Salmon Arm Telephone: mately 10 December 2002. 604.822.4959. —Brenda Peterson BC V1E 3X6 for $18.95 postpaid.

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 45 W. KAYE LAMB Federation News Essay Scholarships Deadline 15 May 2003 Prince George is the Attention! The British Columbia Historical Federation Place to be in 2003 Fred Braches has notified the British Co- awards two scholarships annually for essays lumbia Historical Federation Council that written by students at BC colleges or BE SURE to mark 8–11 May 2003 on your he will be resigning as editor of the British universities on a topic relating to British calendar to attend the conference in Prince Columbia Historical News and that his last Columbia history. One scholarship ($500) George. The theme of the conference is “Work is for an essay written by a student in a first- publication will be the Fall 2003 issue. and Society: Perspectives on Northern BC His- or second-year course; the other ($750) is The Federation is very appreciative of Fred’s tory.” The program offers participants a for an essay written by a student in a third- professional dedication to our flagship jour- unique look at BC’s industrial heritage and or fourth-year course. nal since his inaugural issue in the Spring of its economic, technological, social and cul- To apply for the scholarship, candidates 1999. We fully realize that any editor who must submit (1) a letter of application; (2) tural impact on communities in British Co- succeeds him has a very high standard to an essay of 1,500-3,000 words on a topic lumbia’s North. maintain with quarterly regularity, so we are relating to the history of British Columbia; Your hosts will be the University of North- grateful to him for giving the Federation (3) a letter of recommendation from the ern BC in partnership with educational in- sufficient notice to search for a suitable re- professor for whom the essay was written. stitutions and community organizations. placement. Applications should be submitted before The conference will offer tours and presen- The editor, appointed by the BCHF Coun- 15 May 2003 to: Robert Griffin, Chair BC tations focusing on events that and people cil, is an officer of the Federation and, there- Historical Federation Scholarship Commit- who have shaped the North. Included in the fore, is automatically a member of the coun- tee, PO Box 5254, Station B, Victoria, BC program are: a tour of former sawmill com- cil. According to the BCHF regulations the V8R 6N4. munities; a visit to the historic Carrier cem- editor (and, if necessary, a co-editor or assist- The winning essay submitted by a third- etery and church of the Lheidli T’enneh ant editor) “shall have the responsibility of or fourth-year student will be published in Nation; a walking tour of the downtown area; preparing each issue through the comple- BC Historical News. Other submissions may a slide show on urban planning history at tion of printing.” The editor may be assisted be published at the editor’s discretion. the Prince George public library; a tour of by a publishing committee. the North’s industrial and transportation ar- Do you know of anyone who may have the tifacts at the Prince George Railway and BC History required expertise to provide such a service Forestry Museum; and a culinary evening at to the Federation? Please let me know. Web Site Prize the College of New Caledonia. The British Columbia Historical Federa- A one-day book fair is also scheduled offer- R.J. (Ron) Welwood, Past-President British Columbia Historical Federation tion and David Mattison are jointly spon- ing publications from local vendors and book soring a yearly cash award of $250 to rec- publishers. The conference will conclude 1806 Ridgewood Road, Nelson, BC V1L 6J9 Ph.250.825.4743 E-mail: ognize Web sites that contribute to the un- with an Awards Banquet at UNBC. derstanding and appreciation of British Co- For more information contact: Prince George: Free lumbia’s past. The award honours individual Conference Chair, Ramona Rose c/o initiative in writing and presentation. Northern BC Archives, UNBC, 3333 Seminars Nominations for the BC History Web University Way, Prince George, BC V2N Thanks to a generous grant of Canada’s Na- Site Prize for 2003 must be made to the 4Z9 Phone: 250.960.6603; Fax: tional History Society the Federation is again British Columbia Historical Federation, 250.960.6610 in a position to offer two free seminars in Web Site Prize Committee, prior to 31 De- cember 2003. Web site creators and authors To book a table at the Book Fair contact conjunction with the conference in Prince may nominate their own sites. Ernie Kaesmodel, Book Fair Coordina- George. Linda Wills from Vernon agreed to Prize rules and the on-line nomination tor Ph: 250. 565.3444; repeat her very successful workshop on the form can be found on The British Co- conservation of photographs. The second lumbia History Web site: . Claudette Gouger, Hotel & Events Co- your museum, historic site, or archives. De- ordinator, UNBC, 250.960.6303, Fax tails will be published in the spring issue and Best Article Award 250.960.6330; Email on our Web site. —Melva Dwyer A CERTIFICATE OF MERIT and fifty dollars will be awarded annually to the author of the article, published in BC Historical News, MANUSCRIPTS submitted for publication in BC Historical News should be sent to that best enhances knowledge of British Co- the editor in Whonnock. Submissions should preferably not exceed 3,500 words. lumbia’s history and provides reading en- Submission by e-mail of the manuscript and illustrations is welcome. Otherwise joyment. Judging will be based on subject please send a hard copy and if possible a digital copy of the manuscript by ordinary development, writing skill, freshness of ma- mail. All illustrations should have a caption and source information. It is under- terial, and appeal to a general readership in- stood that manuscripts published in BC Historical News will also appear in any elec- terested in all aspects of BC history. tronic version of the journal.

46 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL NEWS INDEX Volume 35 No 1 to 4 Winter 2001/2000 to Fall 2002 by Melva Dwyer

* an article with illustrations LEPINE, AYLA. The St. Ann’s Academy Art Family History, edited by Brenda L. Smith. 35:1 Studio. 35:4 (2002): 15-17.* (2001/2002): 35; 35:2 (2002): 42; 35:3 (2002): AUTHORS LOWERY, TINA. The Needle Art of Kathleen 36. AFFLECK, EDWARD L. The Big Bend Gold O’Reilly. 35:4 (2002): 12-14.* MILLER, History Web Site Prize 2001, by Christopher Rush of 1865. 35:2 (2002):18-21.* NAOMI. Revelstoke 2002. 35:3 (2002): 39- Garrish. 35:3 (2002): 38.* —— Steamboat Round the Bend. 35:3 (2002): 42.* The Honourable Thomas Basil Humphreys: A 34-35.* NELLES, WAYNE. Promoting “Fairplay”, Controversial Contributor to Change in Early BOEHR, KIMBERLY. “Individual Acts of Friendship, and Fidelity Among Nations - BC Politics, by Jean (Foote) Humphreys. 35:3 Kindness” and Political Influence: Alice World Goodwill Day and the Peace Move- (2002): 9-15.* Parke’s Experience with the Vernon Women’s ment in British Columbia Schools During How Shall I Frame Myself? by Liberty Walton. Council. 35:2 (2002): 8-17.* the Interwar Years. 35:1 (2001/2002): 14-18.* 35:4 (2002): 26-37.* CLARE, GERRY. The South Peace Historical NICHOLS, WENDY. Pretty in Pink. 35:4 “Individual Acts of Kindness” and Political In- Society Archives: A Brief History. 35:2 (2002): (2002): 18-19.* fluence: Alice Parke’s Experience with the 39. NICOL, JANET MARY. Not Always Sweet: Vernon Women’s Council, by Kimberly CORRIVEAU, LILLIAN. Looking for Grass. The 1917 Vancouver Sugar Refinery Strike. Boehr. 35:2 (2002): 8-17.* 35:1 (2001/2002): 19-22.* 35:3 (2002): 2-5.* The Lardeau: A Country Bustling with Towns, CURRIE, CHRISTINE D. When the Flowers PARRISH, SANDRA. Museum at Campbell Ranches, and Mines, by [E.A. Haggan] 35:2 Talked. 35:4 (2002): 7-8.* River Archive Research Centre. 35:3 (2002): (2002): 22-25.* DUNAE, PATRICK. School Records and 33. Looking for Grass, by Lillian Corriveau. 35:1 Education Anniversaries. 35:1 (2001/2002): PLATTS, STEWART. Three Men in British (2001/2002): 19-22.* 23. Columbia: 1887. 35:3 (2002):16-19.* Museum at Campbell River Archive Research DUNFORD, MURIEL POULTON. The REIMER, CHAD. “Provincial in Name Only” Centre, by Sandra Parrish. 35:3 (2002): 33. Simpcw of the North Thompson. 35:3 The Great Birthday Debate of 1926 and the The Needle Art of Kathleen O’Reilly, by Tina (2002): 6-8.* Early Years of the British Columbia Historical Lowery. 35:4 (2002): 12-14.* EDWARDS, RACHEL. Unravelling the Past. Association. 35:1 (2001/2002): 2-7.* Not Always Sweet: The 1917 Vancouver Sugar 35:4 (2002): 20-22.* SHEA, TUSA. Beyond Recollection: The Early Refinery Strike, by Janet Mary Nicol. 35:3 GARRISH, CHRISTOPHER. History Web Art Education of Emily Carr. 35:4 (2002): 4- (2002): 2-5.* Site Prize 2001. 35:3 (2002): 38.* 6.* Pretty in Pink, by Wendy Nichols. 35:4 (2002): GREENE, RONALD. Token History: Herman SLIK, NATASHA. Yale’s Ecclesiastical Textiles. 18-19.* Koelkenbeck and the “K. Pool Room” of 35:4 (2002): 23-25.* Promoting “Fairplay”, Friendship and Fidelity Ashcroft, BC. 35:1 (2001/2002): 30-31.* SMITH, BRENDA L. Family History. 35:1 Among Nations - World Goodwill Day and ——— Token History: Humphreys & Pittock (2001/2002): 35; 35:2 (2002): 42; 35:3 (2002): the Peace Movement in British Columbia of Nelson, BC. 35:3 (2002): 20-21.* 36. Schools During the Interwar Years, by Wayne ——— Token History: W. Cowan, Revelstoke, STEVENSON, MARLA. Edith Helmcken’s Nelles. 35:1 (2001/2002): 14-18.* BC. 35:2 (2002): 28-29.* Hand-Painted Ceramics. 35:4(2002):9-11.* “Provincial in Name Only” The Great Birthday GUNDRY, FRANCES, editor. Archives and SZYCHTER, GWEN. Web Site Forays. Debate of 1926 and the Early Years of the Archivists. 35:1 (2001/2002): 23; 35:2 (2002): 35:1(2001/2002):37;35:2(2002):38; British Columbia Historical Association, by 39; 35:3 (2002): 33. 35:3(2002):37. Chad Reimer. 35:1 (2001/2002): 2-7.* [HAGGAN, E.A.] The Lardeau: A Country WALTON, LIBERTY. How Shall I Frame My- Revelstoke 2002, by Naomi Miller. 35:3 Bustling with Towns, Ranches, and Mines. self? 35:4 (2002): 26-37.* (2002): 39-42. 35:2 (2002): 22-25.* The St. Ann’s Academy Art Studio, by Ayla Lepine. 35:4 (2002): 15-17.* HARVEY, R.G. The Trek of the Huscrofts in TITLES 1891. 35:2 (2002)) 2-7.* School Records and Education Anniversaries. HUMPHREYS, JEAN (FOOTE). The Hon- Archives and Archivists, edited by Frances 35:1 (2002/2002): 23. ourable Thomas Basil Humphreys: A Contro- Gundry. 35:1 (2001/2002): 23; 35:2 (2002): The Simpcw of the North Thompson, by versial Contributor to Change in Early BC 39; 35:3 (2002): 33. Muriel Poulton Dunford. 35:3 (2002): 6-8.* Politics. 35:3 (2002): 9-15.* Beauty, Spirituality, and Practicability, by The South Peace Historical Society Archives: A IREDALE, JENNIFER. Beauty, Spirituality, Jennifer Iredale. 35:4 (2002): 2-3.* Brief History, by Gerry Clare. 35:2 (2002): 39. and Practicability. 35:4 (2002): 2-3.* Beyond Recollection: The Early Art Education Steamboat Round the Bend, by Edward L. KAY, TED. Transporting Bees by Stagecoach: of Emily Carr, by Tusa Shea. 35:4 (2002): 4- Affleck. 35:3 (2002): 34-35.* The Beginnings of the Honeybee Industry in 6.* Three Men in British Columbia: 1887, by BC. 35:2 (2002): 26-27.* The Big Bend Gold Rush of 1865, by Edward Stewart Platts. 35:3 (2002): 16-19.* KLAN, YVONNE. We Are Travelling Through L. Affleck. 35:2 (2002): 18-21.* Token History: Herman Koelkenbeck and the an Unknown Country. 35:1 (2001/2002): 8- Edith Helmcken’s Hand-Painted Ceramics, by “K. Pool Room” of Ashcroft, BC, by Ronald 13.* Marla Stevenson. 35:4 (2002): 9-11.* Greene. 35:1 (2001/2002): 30-31.*

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 47 Token History: Humphreys & Pittock of Nel- Stevenson, Maria. Edith Helmcken’s Hand- CERAMICS son, BC, by Ronald Greene. 35:3 (2002): 20- Painted Ceramics. 35:4 (2002): 9-11.* Stevenson, Marla. Edith Helmcken’s Hand- 21.* ASHCROFT Painted Ceramics. 35:4 (2002): 9-11.* Token History: W.Cowan, Revelstoke, BC, by Greene, Ronald. Token History: Herman CHARLESWORTH, HARRY Ronald Greene. 35:2 (2002): 28-29.* Koelkenbeck and the “K. Pool Room” of Nelles, Wayne. Promoting “Fairplay”, Friend- Transporting Bees by Stagecoach: The Begin- Ashcroft, BC. 35:1 (2001/2002): 30-31.* ship, and Fidelity Among Nations - World nings of the Honeybee Industry in BC, by B.C. 1887: A RAMBLE IN BRITISH CO- Goodwill Day and the Peace Movement in Ted Kay. 35:2 (2002): 26-27.* LUMBIA British Columbia Schools During the Inter- The Trek of the Huscrofts in 1891, by R.G. Platts, Stewart. Three Men in British Columbia: war Years. 35:1 (2001/2002): 14-18.* Harvey. 35:2 (2002): 2-7.* 1887. 35:3 (2002): 16-19.* CHINA PAINTING Unravelling the Past, by Rachel Edwards. 35:4 Stevenson, Marla. Edith Helmcken’s Hand- (2002): 20-22.* B.C. LEGISLATURE Painted Ceramics. 35:4 (2002): 9-11.* We Are Travelling Through an Unknown Humphreys, Jean (Foote). The Honourable Country, by Yvonne Klan. 35:1 (2001/2002): Thomas Basil Humphreys: A Controversial CHINESE -CANADIANS 8-13.* Contributor to Change in Early BC Politics. Humphreys, Jean (Foote). The Honourable Web Site Forays, by Gwen Szychter. 35:1 35:3 (2002): 9-15.* Thomas Basil Humphreys: A Controversial (2001/2002): 37; 35:2 (2002): 38; 35:3 (2002): BC SUGAR REFINERY Contributor to Change in the Early BC Leg- 37. Nicol, Janet Mary. Not Always Sweet: The 1917 islature. 35:3 (2002): 9-15.* When the Flowers Talked, by Christine D. Vancouver Sugar Refinery Strike. 35:3 Kay, Ted. Transporting Bees by Stagecoach: The Currie. 35:4 (2002): 7-8.* (2002): 2-5.* Beginnings of the Honeybee Industry in BC. Yale’s Ecclesiastical Textiles, by Natasha Slik. B.C.TEACHERS FEDERATION 35:2 (2002): 26-27.* 35:4 (2002): 23-25.* Nelles, Wayne. Promoting “Fairplay”, Fidelity, CHU CHUA and Friendship Among Nations - World Dunford, Muriel Poulton. The Simpcw of the Goodwill Day and the Peace Movement in North Thompson. 35:3 (2002): 6-8.* SUBJECTS British Columbia Schools During the Inter- CHURCH VESTMENTS war Years. 35:1 (2001/2002): 14-18.* ALL HALLOWS SCHOOL, YALE Edwards, Rachel. Unravelling the Past. 35:4 Edwards, Rachel. Unravelling the Past. 35:4 BAILLIE - GROHMAN, WILLIAM (2002): 20-22.* (2002): 20-22.* Slik, Natasha. Yale’s Ecclesias- ADOLPH Slik, Natasha. Yale’s Ecclesiasitical Textiles. 35:4 tical Textiles. 35:4 (2002): 23-25.* Harvey, R.G. Trek of the Huscrofts in 1891. (2002): 23-25.* 35:2 (2002): 2-7.* ARCHIVES CLINTON Clare, Gerry. The South Peace Historical Soci- BARBERS Greene, Ronald. Token History: Herman ety Archives: A Brief History. 35: 2 (2002): 39. Greene, Ronald. Token History: Herman Koelkenbeck and the “K. Pool Room” of Dunae, Patrick. School Records and Education Koelkenbeck and the “K. Pool Room” of Ashcroft, BC. 35:1 (2001/2002): 30-31.*. Anniversaries. 35:1 (2001/2002): 23. Ashcroft. 35:1 (2001/2002): 30-31.* CLUTTERBUCK, WALTER JOHN Gundry, Frances, ed. Archives and Archivists. BEEKEEPING Platts, Stewart. Three Men in British Columbia: 35:1 (2001/2002): 23; 35:2 (2002): 39: 35:3 Kay, Ted. Transporting Bees by Stagecoach: The 1887. 35:3 (2002): 16-19.* (2002): 33. Beginnings of the Honeybee Industry in BC COLONEL MOODY (STEAMBOAT) Parrish, Sandra. Museum at Campbell River 35:2 (2002): 26-27.* Affleck, Edward L. Steamboat Round Archive Research Centre. 35:3 (2002):33. BIG BEND AREA the Bend. 35:3 (2002):34-35.* ART AND ARTISTS Affleck, Edward L. The Big Bend Gold Rush of COLUMBIA RIVER Currie, Christine D. When the Flowers Talked. 1865. 35:2 (2002): 18-21.* Affleck, Edward L. The Big Bend Gold Rush of 35:4 (2002): 7-8.* BOOKS 1865. 35:2 (2002): 18-21.* Iredale, Jennifer. Beauty, Sprituality, and Currie, Christine D. When the Flowers Talked. Platts, Stewart. Three Men in British Columbia: Practibility. 35:4 (2002): 2-3.* 35:4 (2002): 7-8.* 1887. 35:3 (2002): 16-19.* Lepine, Ayla. The St. Ann’s Academy Art Studio. 35:4 (2002): 15-17.* BRITISH COLUMBIA - DESCRIPTION COMMUNITY - UNIVERSITY RE- Lowery, Tina. The Needle Art of Kathleen AND TRAVEL SEARCH ALLIANCE GRANT (CURA) O’Reilly. 35:4 (2002): 12-14.* Platts, Stewart. Three Men in British Columbia: Iredale, Jennifer. Beauty, Spiritiuality, and Prac- Shea, Tusa. Beyond Recollection: The Early Art 1887. 35:3 (2002): 16-19.* ticability. 35:4 (2002): 2-3.* Education of Emily Carr. 35:4 (2002): 4-6.* CAMERAS COMPETITIONS Stevenson, Maria. Edith Helmcken’s Hand- Walton, Liberty. How Shall I Frame Myself? Best Article Award Winner, Freeman Tovell. Painted Ceramics. 35:4 (2002): 9-11.* 35:4 (2002): 26-37.* 35:3 (2002): 37. ART, HISTORICAL, AND SCIENTIFIC AS- CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY Candidates for the 19th Competition for Writ- SOCIATION, VANCOUVER Greene, Ronald. Token History: W. Cowan, ers of BC History. 35:2 (2002): 43. Reimer, Chad. “Provincial in Name Only” The Revelstoke, BC. 35:2 (2002): 28-29.* Garrish, Christopher. History Web Site Prize Great Birthday Debate of 1926 and the Early Klan, Yvonne. We Are Travelling Through an 2001. 35:3 (2002): 38.* Years of the British Columbia Historical As- Unknown Country. 35:1 (2001/2002): 8-13.* Winners of the Competition for Writers. 35:3 sociation. 35:1 (2001/2002): 2-7.* Platts, Stewart. Three Men in British Columbia: (2002): 35. ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT 1887: 35:3 (2002): 16-19.* CONFECTIONERY STORES Iredale, Jennifer. Beauty, Spirituality, and Practi- CARR, EMILY Greene, Ronald. Token History: Humphreys & cability. 35:4 (2002): 2-3.* Shea, Tusa. Beyond Recollection: The Early Art Pittock of Nelson, BC. 35:3 (2002): 20-21. Lowery, Tina. The Needle Art of Kathleen Education of Emily Carr. 35:4 (2002): 4-6.* O’Reilly. 35:4 (2002): 12-14.*

48 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 CONFERENCES EPPARD FAMILY GOLD MINING BCHF Revelstoke Conference, 9-11 May, Corriveau, Lillian. Looking for Grass. 35:1 Affleck, Edward L. The Big Bend Gold Rush of 2002. 35:2 (2002): 17. (2001/2002): 19-22.* 1865. 35:2 (2002): 18-21.* Miller, Naomi. Revelstoke 2002. 35:3 (2002): ESTEVAN ———— Steamboat Round the Bend. 35:3 39-42.* Corriveau, Lillian. Looking for Grass. 35:1 (2002): 34-35.* Prince George 2003. 35:3 (2002): 44.* (2001/2002): 19-22.* [Haggan, E.A.] The Lardeau: A Country Bus- Scots Heritage Conference. 35:2 (2002): 41. tling with Towns, Ranches, and Mines. 35:2 EXPLORATION (2002): 22-25.* CORRESPONDENCE Klan, Yvonne. We Are Travelling Through an Klan, Yvonne. We Are Travelling Through an Unknown Country. 35:1 (2001/2002): 8-13.* GOVERNOR DOUGLAS (STEAMBOAT) Unknown Country. 35:1 (2001/2002): 8-13.* Platts, Stewart. Three Men in British Columbia: Affleck, Edward L. Steamboat Round the Bend. COWAN, WILLIAM 1887. 35:3 (2002): 16-18.* 35:3 (2002): 34-35.* Greene, Ronald. Token History: W. Cowan, FACTORIES GRANTS Revelstoke, BC. 35:2 (2002): 28-29.* Nicol, Janet Mary. Not Always Sweet: The 1917 Iredale, Jennifer. Beauty, Spirituality, and Practi- CRESTON Vancouver Sugar Refinery Strike. 35:3 cability. 35:4 (2002): 2-3.* Harvey, R.G. The Trek of the Huscrofts in (2002): 2-5.* GREAT DEPRESSION, 1929-1939 1891. 35:2 (2002): 2-7.* FARWELL, ARTHUR STANHOPE Corriveau, Lillian. Looking for Grass. 35:1 DE COSMOS, AMOR Greene, Ronald. Token History: W. Cowan, (2001/2002): 19-22.* Humphreys, Jean (Foote). The Honourable Revelstoke, BC. 35:2 (2002): 28-29.* HANINGTON, CHARLES F. Thomas Basil Humphrrys: A Controversial FASHION Klan, Yvonne. We Are Travelling Through an Contributor to Change in Early BC Politics. Nichols, Wendy. Pretty in Pink. 35:4 (2002): Unknown Country. 35:1 (2001/2002): 8-13.* 35:3 (2002): 9-15.* 18-19.* HELMCKEN, EDITH LOUISA see also DIARIES Walton, Liberty. How Shall I Frame Myself? HIGGINS, EDITH LOUISA Boehr, Kimberly. “Individual Acts of Kindness” 35:4 (2002): 26-37.* Stevenson, Marla. Edith Helmcken’s Hand- and Political Influence: Alice Parke’s Experi- FEDERATION NEWS Painted Ceramics. 35:4 (2002): 9-11.* ence with the Vernon Women’s Council. 35:2 35:1 (2001/2002): 36-38*; 35:2 (2002): 44*; HIGGINS, EDITH LOUISA (HELMCKEN) (2002): 8-17.* 35:3 (2002): 43*; 35:4 (2002): 44.* Currie, Christine D. When the Flowers Talked. DOG SLEDS FERGUSON,BC 35:4 (2002): 7-8.* Klan, Yvonne. We Are Travelling Through an [Haggan, E.A.] The Lardeau: A Country Bus- HONEYBEES Unknown Country. 35:1 (2001/2002): 8-13.* tling with Towns, Ranches, and Mines 35:2 Kay, Ted. Transporting Bees by Stagecoach: The DUCHESS (STEAMBOAT) (2002): 22-25.* Beginnings of the Honeybee Industry in BC. Platts, Stewart. Three Men in British FIRST NATIONS PEOPLES 35:2 (2002): 26-27.* Columbia: 1877. 35:3 (2002): 16-19.* Dunford, Muriel Poulton. The Simpcw of the HOSIE, JOHN DUNSMUIR, ROBERT North Thompson. 35:3 (2002): 6-8.* Reimer, Chad. “Provincial in Name Only” The Humphreys, Jean (Foote). The Honourable FLOWERS Great Birthday Debate of 1926 and the Early Thomas Basil Humphreys: A Controversial Currie, Christine D. When the Flowers Talked. Years of the British Columbia Historical As- Contributor to Change in the Early BC Leg- 35:4 (2002): 7-8.* sociation. 35:1 (2001/2002): 2-7.* islature. 35:3 (2002): 9-15.* FORT COLVILLE HOTELS EAST KOOTENAY AREA Affleck, Edward L. The Big Bend Gold Rush of Greene, Ronald. Token History:W. Cowan, Platts, Stewart. Three Men in British Columbia: 1865. 35:2 (2002): 18-21.* Revelstoke, BC. 35:2 (2002): 28-29.* 1887. 35:3 (2002): 16-19.* FORT GEORGE HOWAY, FREDERIC (JUDGE) EDUCATION Klan, Yvonne. We Are Travelling Through an Reimer, Chad. “Provincial in Name Only” The Dunae, Patrick. School Records and Unknown Country. 35:1 (2001/2002): 8-13.* Great Birthday Debate of 1926 and the Early Education Anniversaries. 35:1 (2001/2002): Years of the British Columbia Historical As- FORT KAMLOOPS 23; sociation. 35:1 (2001/2002): 2-7. Gundry, Frances, ed. Archives and Archivists. Dunford, Muriel Poulton. The Simpcw of the HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY 35:1 (2001/2002): 23. North Thompson. 35:3 (2002): 6-8.* Dunford, Muriel Poulton. The Simpcw of the Lepine, Ayla. The St. Ann’s Academy Art Studio. FORT ST. JAMES North Thompson. 35:3 (2002): 6-8.* 35:4 (2002): 15-17.* Klan, Yvonne. We Are Travelling Through an Nelles, Wayne. Promoting “Fairplay”, Friend- Unknown Country. 35:1: (2001/2002): 8- HUMPHREYS, THOMAS BASIL ship, and Fidelity Among Nations - World 13.* Humphreys, Jean (Foote). The Honourable Thomas Basil Humphreys: A Controversial Goodwill Day and the Peace Movement in FRASER RIVER Contributor to Change in Early BC Politics. British Columbia Schools During the Inter- Affleck, Edward L. Steamboat Round the Bend. 35:3 (2002): 9-15.* war Years. 35:1 (2001/2002): 14-18.* 35:3 (2002): 34-35.* Shea, Tusa. Beyond Recollection: The Early Art HUMPHREYS, THOMAS STANLEY FUR TRADING Education of Emily Carr. 35:4 (2002): 4-6.* Greene, Ronald. Token History: Humphreys & Dunford, Muriel Poulton. The Simpcw of the Pittock of Nelson, BC. 35:3 (2002): 20-21.* EMBROIDERY North Thompson. 35:3 (2002): 6-8.* Edwards, Rachel. Unravelling the Past. 35:4 HUSCROFT FAMILY GENEALOGY (2002): 20-22.* Harvey, R.G. The Trek of the Huscrofts in Greene, Ronald. Token History: Humphreys & Slik, Natasha. Yale’s Ecclesiastical Textiles. 35:4 1891. 35:2 (2002): 2-7.* (2002): 23-25.* Pittock of Nelson, BC. 35:3 (2002): 20-21. Smith, Brenda L., ed. Family History. 35:1 ILLUSTRATIONS, COVER (2001/2002): 35; 35:2 (2002): 42; 35:3 (2002): Jane (Fisher) Huscroft with Grandchild ca. 36. 1897. 35:2 (2002).

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 49 Kathleen O’Reilly, age 21, December, 1888. LEES, CARDIE and JAMES ARTHUR NEWSWORTHY 35:4 (2002). Platts, Stewart. Three Men in British Columbia: 35:1 (2001/2002): 29; 35:2 (2002): 35; 35:4 Tea Farming in British Columbia. 35:1 (2001/ 1887. 35:3 (2002): 16-19.* (2002): 42. 2002). LETTERS TO THE EDITOR NORTH THOMPSON AREA Two Women at a Picnic on Bowen Island for 35:1 (2001/2002): 33; 35:3 (2002): 32-33* Dunford, Muriel Poulton. The Simpcw of the BC Suger Refinery Employees. 35:3 (2002). MAPS North Thompson. 35:3 (2002): 6-8.* INDEX Affleck, Edward L. The Big Bend Gold Rush of NORTH WEST FUR TRADING COM- From 34:1 (winter 2000/2001) 34:4 (fall 1865. 35:2 (2002): 18-21.* PANY (2001) 35:1 (2001/2002): 39-43. Corriveau, Lillian. Looking for Grass. 35:1 Dunford, Muriel Poulton. The Simpcw of the INTERIOR SALISH (2001/2002): 19-22.* North Thompson. 35:3 (2002): 6-8.* Dunford, Muriel Poulton. The Simpcw of the Dunford, Muriel Poulton. The Simpcw of the OGILVIE, JOHN BUCHANAN North Thompson. 35:3 (2002): 6-8.* North Thompson. 35:3 (2002): 6-8.* DRUMMOND IRVING, WILLIAM [Haggan, E.A.]. The Lardeau: A Country Bus- Kay, Ted. Transporting Bees by Stagecoach: The Affleck, Edward L. Steamboat Round the Bend. tling with Towns, Ranches, and Mines. 35:2 Beginnings of the Honeybee Industry in BC. 35:3 (2002): 34-35.* (2002):22-25.* 35:2 (2002): 26-27.* Harvey, R.G. The Trek of the Huscrofts in JARVIS, E. OKANAGAN VALLEY 1891. 35:2 (2002): 2-7.* Klan, Yvonne. We Are Travelling Through an Corriveau, Lillian. Looking for Grass. 35:1 Klan, Yvonne. We Are Travelling Through an Unknown Country. 35:1 (2001/2002): 8-13.* (2001/2002): 19-22.* Unknown Country. 35:1 (2001/2002): 8-13.* JENSEN, UTAH Platts, Stewart. Three Men in British Columbia: O’REILLY, CHARLOTTE KATHLEEN Harvey, R.G. The Trek of the Huscrofts in 1887. 35:3 (2002): 16-19.* Lowery, Tina. The Needle Art of Kathleen 1891. 35:2 (2002): 2-7.* O’Reilly. 35:4 (2002): 12-14.* MARTIN, ARCHER Walton, Liberty. How Shall I Frame Myself? KOELKENBECK, HERMAN Reimer, Chad. “Provincial in Name Only” The 35:4 (2002): 26-37.* Greene, Ronald. Token History: Herman Great Birthday Debate of 1926 and the Early Koelkenbeck and the “K Pool Room” of Years of the British Columbia Historical As- OSITHE (SISTER) Ashcroft, BC. 35:1 (2001/2002): 30-31.* sociation. 35:1 (2001/2002): 2-7.* Lepine, Ayla. The St. Ann’s Academy Art Studio. 35:4 (2002): 15-17.* KOOTENAY MAIL, REVELSTOKE McKENZIE, GOODIE [Haggan, E.A.]. The Lardeau: A Country Bus- Nichols, Wendy. Pretty in Pink. 35:4 (2002): PARENT TEACHERS FEDERATION tling with Towns, Ranches, and Mines. 35:2 18-19.* Nelles, Wayne. Promoting “Fairplay”, Friend- (2002): 22-25.* ship, and Fidelity Among Nations - World NATIONAL COUNCIL OF WOMEN OF Goodwill Day and the Peace Movement in KOOTENAY RIVER CANADA British Columbia Schools During the Inter- Harvey, R.G. The Trek of the Huscrofts in Boehr, Kimberly. “Individual Acts of Kindness” war Years. 35:1 (2001/2002): 1’4-18/* 1891. 35:2 (2002): 2 -7.* and Political Influence: Alice Parke’s Experi- LABELLE, SOPHIE (SISTER) ence with the Vernon Women’s Council. 35:2 PARKES, ALICE Lepine, Ayla. The St. Ann’s Academy Art Studio. (2002): 8-17.* Boehr, Kimberly. “Individual Acts of Kindness” and Political Influence: Alice Parke’s Experi- 35:4 (2002): 15-17.* NATIVE SONS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA ence with the Vernon Women’s Council. 35:2 LABOUR UNIONS Reimer, Chad. “Provincial in Name Only” The (2002): 8-17.* Nicol, Janet Mary. Not Always Sweet: The 1917 Great Birthday Debate of 1926 and the Early Vancouver Sugar Refinery Strike. 35:3 Years of the British Columbia Historical As- PEACE MOVEMENT (2002): 2-5.* sociation. 35:1 (2001/2002): 2-7.* Nelles, Wayne. Promoting “Fairplay”, Friend- ship, and Fidelity Among Nations - World LADY ABERDEEN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF BRIT- Goodwill Day and the Peace Movement in Boehr, Kimberly. “Individual Acts of Kindness” ISH COLUMBIA, VICTORIA British Columbia Schools During the Inter- and Political Influence: Alice Parke’s Experi- Reimer, Chad. “Provincial in Name Only” The war Years. 35:1 (2001/2002): 14-18.* ence with the Vernon Women’s Council. 35:2 Great Birthday Debate of 1926 and the Early (2002): 8-17.* Years of the British Columbia Historical As- PHOTOGRAPHY LAMB, WILLIAM KAYE sociation. 35:1 (2001/2002): 2-7.* Walton, Liberty. How Shall I Frame Myself? 35:4 (2002): 26-37.* Reimer, Chad. “Provincial in Name Only” The NEEDLEWORK Great Birthday Debate of 1926 and the Early Edwards, Rachel. Unravelling the Past. 35:4 PITTOCK, JOHN WHISTANCE Years of the British Columbia Historical As- (2002): 20-22.* Greene, Ronald. Token History: Humphreys & sociation. 35:1 (2001/2002): 2-7. Lowery, Tina. The Needle Art of Kathleen Pittock of Nelson, BC. 35:3 (2002): 20-21.* LAND SURVEYORS O’Reilly. 35:4 (2002): 12-14.* POINT ELLICE HOUSE Klan, Yvonne. We Are Travelling Through an Slik, Natasha. Yale’s Ecclesiastical Textiles. 35:4 Walton, Liberty. How Shall I Frame Myself? Unknown Country. 35:1 (2001/2002): 8-13.* (2002): 23-25.* 35:4 (2002): 26-37.* THE LARDEAU NELSON POLITICS AND POLITICIANS [Haggan, E.A.]. The Lardeau: A Country Bus- [Haggan, E.A.]. The Lardeau: A Country Bus- Humphreys, Jean (Foote). The Honourable tling with Towns, Ranches, and Mines. 35:2 tling with Towns, Ranches, and Mines. 35:2 Thomas Basil Humphreys: A Controversial (2002): 22-25.* (2002): 22-25.* Contributor to Change in the Early BC Leg- LEAGUE OF NATIONS Greene, Ronald. Token History: Humphreys & islature. 35:3 (2002): 9-15.* Nelles, Wayne. Promoting “Fairplay”, Friend- Pittock of Nelson, BC. 35:3 (2002): 20-21.* POOLROOMS ship, and Fidelity Among Nations - World NEWS AND NOTES Greene, Ronald. Token History: Herman Goodwill Day and the Peace Movement in 35:1 (2001/2002): 34-35; 35:2 (2002): 40-42*; Koelkenbeck and the “K Pool Room” of British Columbia Schools During the Inter- 35:3 (2002): 29*; 35:4 (2002): 43. Ashcroft, BC. 35:1 (2001/2002): 30-31.* war Years. 35:1 (2001/2002): 14-17.*

50 BC HISTORICAL NEWS - VOL. 36 NO. 1 PORTRAITS THE SIMPCW TOKENS Walton, Liberty. How Shall I Frame Myself? Dunford, Muriel Poulton. The Simpcw of the Greene, Ronald. Token History: Herman 35:4 (2002): 26-37.* North Thompson. 35:3 (2002): 6-8.* Koelkenbeck and the “K Pool Room” of PROVINCIAL ARCHIVES OF BRITISH SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC Ashcroft, BC. 35:1 (2001/2002): 30-31.* COLUMBIA Dunford, Muriel Poulton. The Simpcw of the —— Token History: Humphreys & Pittock of Reimer, Chad. “Provincial in Name Only” The North Thompson. 35:3 (2002): 6-8.* Nelson, BC. 35:3 (2002): 20-21.* —— Token History: W. Cowan, Revelstoke, Great Birthday Debate of 1926 and the Early SOCIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS BC. 35:2 (2002): 28-29.* Years of the British Columbia Historical As- Boehr, Kimberly. “Individual Acts of Kindness” sociation. 35:1 (2001/2002): 2-7.* and Political Influence: Alice Parke’s Experi- TRAHY, JAMES W. QUESNEL ence with the Vernon Women’s Council. 35:2 Affleck, Edward L. Steamboat Round the Bend. Klan, Yvonne. We Are Travelling Through an (2002): 8-17.* 35:3 (2002): 34-35.* Unknown Country. 35:1 (2001/2002): 8-13.* Currie, Christine D. When the Flowers Talked. TREKS REPORTS 35:4 (2002): 7-8.* Corriveau, Lillian. Looking for Grass. 35:1 35:1 (2001/2002): 32-33*; 35:2 (2002): 36-38*; [Haggan, E.A.]. The Lardeau: A Country Bus- (2001/2002): 19-22.* 35:3 (2002): 30-31. tling with Towns, Ranches, and Mines. 35:2 Harvey, R.G. The Trek of the Huscrofts in (2002):22-25.* 1891. 35:2 (2002): 2-7.* REVELSTOKE Iredale, Jennifer. Beauty, Spirituality, and Greene, Ronald. Token History: W. Cowan, TROUT LAKE CITY Pracitcability. 35:4 (2002): 2-3.* Revelstoke, BC. 35:2 (2002): 28-29. [Haggan, E.A.]. The Lardeau: A Country Bus- Lowery, Tina. The Needle Art of Kathleen [Haggan, E.A.]. The Lardeau: A tling with Towns, Ranches, and Mines. 35:2 O’Reilly. 35:4 (2002): 12-14.* Country,Bustling with Towns, Ranches, and (2002): 22-25.* Nichols, Wendy. Pretty in Pink. 35:4 (2002): Mines. 35:2 (2002): 22-25.* TRUTCH, JOSEPH 18-19.* Humphreys, Jean (Foote). The Honourable ROGERS, BENJAMIN TINGLEY Stevenson, Maria. Edith Helmcken’s Hand- Thomas Basil Humphreys: A Controversial Nicol, Janet Mary. Not Always Sweet: The 1917 Painted Ceramics. 35:4 (2002): 9-11.* Contributor to Change in Early BC Politics. Vancouver Sugar Refinery Strike. 35:3 Walton, Liberty. How Shall I Frame Myself? 35:3 (2002): 9-15.* (2002): 2-5.* 35:4 (2002): 26-37.* VERNON SAGE, WALTER STAGECOACHES Boehr, Kimberly. “Individual Acts of Kindness” Reimer, Chad. “Provincial in Name Only” The Kay, Ted. Transporting Bees by Stagecoach: The and Political Influence: Alice Parke’s Experi- Great Birthday Debate of 1926 and the Early Beginnings of the Honeybee Industry in BC. ence with the Vernon Women’s Council. 35:2 Years of the British Columbia Historical As- 35:2 (2002): 26-27.* sociation. 35:1 (2001/2002): 2-7.* (2002): 8-17.* STERNWHEELERS VICTORIA ST. ANN’S ACADEMY, VICTORIA Affleck, Edward L. The Big Bend Gold Rush of Currie, Christine D. When the Flowers Talked. Lepine, Ayla. St. Ann’s Academy Art Studio. 1865. 35:2 (2002): 18-21.* 35:4 (2002): 7-8.* 35:4 (2002): 15-17.* —— Steamboat Round the Bend. 35:3 (2002): Lepine, Ayla. The St. Ann’s Academy Art Studio. ST. JOHN THE DIVINE, YALE 34-35.* 35:4 (2002): 15-17.* Edwards, Rachel. Unravelling the Past. 35:4 Platts, Stewart. Three Men in British Columbia: Lowery, Tina. The Needle Art of Kathleen (2002): 20-22.* 1887. 35:3 (2002): 16-19.* O’Reilly. 35:4 (2002): 12-14.* Slik, Natasha. Yale’s Ecclesiastical Textiles. 35:4 STRIKES Nichols, Wendy. Pretty in Pink. 35:4 (2002): (2002): 23-25.* Nicol, Janet Mary. Not Always Sweet: The 1917 18-19.* SCHOOLS Vancouver Sugar Refinery Strike. 35:3 Shea, Tusa. Beyond Recollection: The Early Art Dunae, Patrick. School Records and Education (2002): 2-5.* Education of Emily Carr. 35:4 (2002): 4-6.* Anniversaries. 35:1 (2001/2002):23. STUDIOS Stevenson, Maria. Edith Helmcken’s Hand- Gundry, Frances. Archives and Archivists. 35:1 Lepine, Ayla. The St. Ann’s Academy Art Studio. Painted Ceramics. 35:4 (2002): 9-11.* (2001/2002): 23. 35:4 (2002): 15-17.* Walton, Liberty. How Shall I Frame Myself? Lepine, Ayla. The St. Ann’s Academy Art Studio. SUGAR 35:4 (2002): 26-37.* 35:4 (2002): 15-17.* Nicol, Janet Mary. Not Always Sweet: The 1917 VICTORIA HOTEL, REVELSTOKE SCHWARTZ, WILHELM Vancouver Sugar Refinery Strike. 35:3 Greene, Ronald. Token History: W. Cowan, Kay, Ted. Transporting Bees by Stagecoach: The (2002): 2-5.* Revelstoke, BC. 35:2 (2002): 28-29.* Beginnings of the Honeybee Industry in BC. SYMBOLISM VICTORIA STEAM NAVIGATION COM- 35:2 (2002): 26-27.* Currie, Christine D. When the Flowers Talked. PANY SHEEP 35:4 (2002): 7-8.* Affleck, Edward L. Steamboat Round the Bend. Corriveau, Lillian. Looking for Grass. 35:1 TELEGRAPH TRAIL 35:3 (2002): 34-35.* (2001/2002): 19-22.* Klan, Yvonne. We Are Travelling Through an WALKEM, GEORGE SHIP BUILDING INDUSTRY Unknown Country. 35:1 (2001/2002): 8-13.* Humphreys, Jean (Foote). The Honourable Affleck, Edward L. Steamboat Round the Bend. TEXTILES Thomas Basil Humphreys: A Controversial 35:3 (2002): 34-35.* Edwards, Rachel. Unravelling the Past. 35:4 Contributor to Change in early BC Politics. SHUSWAP LAKE (2002): 20-22.* 35:3 (2002): 9-15.* Affleck, Edward L. The Big Bend Gold Rush of Slik, Natasha. Yale’s Ecclesiastical Textiles. 35:4 WEB SITES 1865. 35:2 (2002): 18-21.* (2002): 23-25.* Garrish, Christopher. History Web Site Prize SILVER MINING 2001. 35:3 (2002): 38.* [Haggan, E.A.]. The Lardeau: A Country Bus- Szychter, Gwen. Web Site Forays. 35:1 (2001/ tling with Towns, Ranches, and Mines. 35:2 2002): 37; 35:2 (2002): 38; 35:3 (2002): 37. (2002): 22-25.*

BC HISTORICAL NEWS - WINTER 2002/2003 51 WILLIS, S. J. CASTLE, COLIN. Lucky Alex: The Career of NOBBS, RUBY M. Revelstoke: Heritage and Nelles, Wayne. Promoting “Fairplay”, Friend- Group Captain A.M. Jardine, AFC, CD. Re- History. Reviewed by Edward L. Affleck. 35:2 ship, and Fidelity Among Nations - World viewed by Mike Higgs. 35:3 (2002): 23. (2002): 30. Goodwill Day and the Peace Movement in CAVANAUGH, CATHERINE A. and ———— Rail Tales from the Revelstoke Division. British Columbia RANDI E. WARNE, eds. Telling Tales: Essays Reviewed by Edward L. Affleck. 35:2 (2002): Schools During the Interwar Years. 35:1 (2001/ in Western Women’s History. Reviewed by Ellen 30-31. 2002): 14-18.* L Ramsay. 35:3 (2002): 23-24. PALMQUIST, PETER E. and THOMAS R. WITHROW, ADA LESLIE CHRISTENSEN, LISA. A Hiker’s Guide to the KAILBORN. Pioneer Photographers of the Far Shea, Tusa. Beyond Recollection: The Early Art Rocky Mountain Art of Lawren Harris. Re- West: A Biographical Dictionary 1840-1865. Re- Education of Emily Carr. 35:4 (2002): 4-6.* viewed by Melva J. Dwyer. 35:2 (2002): 34- viewed by David Mattison. 35:3 (2002): 24- WOMEN 35. 25. Boehr, Kimberly. “Individual Acts of Kindness” COCHRANE, JEAN. The One-Room School in PARENT, MILTON. Circle of Silver. Reviewed and Political Influence: Alice Parke’s Experi- Canada. Reviewed by Kirk Salloum. 35:3 by Naomi Miller. 35:3 (2002): 22. ence with the Vernon Women’s Council. 35:2 (2002): 27. PARR, JOY. Domestic Goods: The Material, the (2002): 8-17.* ELLIOTT, MARIE. Gold and Grand Dreams: Moral, and the Economic in Postwar Years. Re- Currie, Christine D. When the Flowers Talked. Cariboo East in the Early Years. Reviewed by viewed by Laurenda Daniells. 35:2 (2002): 31- 35:4 (2002): 7-8.* Leslie Kopas. 35:1 (2001/2002): 27. 33. Iredale, Jennifer. Beauty, Spirituality, and Practi- PATERSON, T.W. Capital Characters: A Celebra- cability. 35:4 (2002): 2-3.* GALLAHER, BILL. The Promise: Love, Loyalty, tion of Victorian Eccentrics. Reviewed by Arnold Lepine, Ayla. The St. Ann’s Academy Art Studio. and the Lure of Gold. The Story of “Cariboo” Ranneris. 35:2 (2002): 33. 35:4 (2002): 15-17.* Cameron. Reviewed by Branwen C. Lowey, Tina. The Needle Art of Kathleen Patenaude. 35:4 (2002): 41. PUHALLO, MIKE. Piled Higher and Deeper on O’Reilly. 35:4 (2002): 12-14.* HARRIS, JOHN. Tungsten John. Reviewed by the Cariboo Trail. Reviewed by Sheryl Salloum. Nichols, Wendy. Pretty in Pink. 35:4 (2002): George Newell. 35:1 (2001/2002): 28. 35:4 (2002): 41. 18-19.* HORNE, CONSTANCE. The Tenth Pupil. Re- QUEST LIBRARY, XYZ PRESS. Five Cana- Shea, Tusa. Beyond Recollection: The Early Art viewed by Pat Allejo. 35:3 (2002): 28. dian Historical Biographies. Reviewed by Education of Emily Carr. 35:4 (2002): 4-6.* Jacqueline Gresko. 35:2 (2002): 34. HUMPHREYS, DANDA. On the Street Where Stevenson, Maria. Edith Helmcken’s Hand- RAYBURN, ALAN. Naming Canada: Stories You Live, Vol. ll. Victoria’s Early Roads and Rail- Painted Ceramics. 35:4 (2002): 9-11.* About Canadian Place Names. Reviewed by Ian ways. Reviewed by George Newell. 35:1 Walton, Liberty. How Shall I Frame Myself? Walker. 35:1 (2001/2002): 29. (2001/2002): 24. 35:4 (2002): 26-37.* RINK, DEBORAH. Spirited Women: A History JUSTICE, CLIVE L. Mr. Menzie’s Garden WOODS, EMILY of Catholic Sisters in British Columbia. Re- Legacy: Plant Collecting on the Northwest Shea, Tusa. Beyond Recollection: The Early Art viewed by Jacqueline Gresko. 35:4 (2002): 38- Coast. Reviewed by Eric W. Groves. 35:1 Education of Emily Carr. 35:4 (2002): 4-6.* 39. (2001/2002): 26-27. WORLD GOODWILL DAY ASSOCIATION LAMBERT, BARBARA ANN. Chalkdust & ROBSON, JOHN. Captain Cook’s World: Maps OF B.C. Outhouses: West Coast Schools, 1893-1950. Re- of the Life and Voyages of Captain James Cook, Nelles, Wayne. Promoting “Fairplay”, Fidelity, viewed by Kirk Salloum. 35:1 (2001/2002): R.N. Reviewed by Bruce Ward. 35:1 (2001/ and Friendship Among Nations - World 27-28. 2002): 28-29. Goodwill Day and the Peace Movement in LANE, RICHARD J. Literature & Loss Bertrand: SMITH, DWIGHT L., ed. A Tour of Duty in the British Columbia Schools During the Inter- William Sinclair’s British Columbia. Reviewed Pacific Northwest. E.A. Porcher and HMS war Years. 35:1 (2001/2002): 14-18.* by Betty Keller. 35:4 (2002): 41-42. Sparrowhawk, 1865-1868. Reviewed by Barry YALE LEIER, MARK. Rebel Life: The Life and Times of M. Gough. 35:4 (2002): 39-40. Edwards, Rachel. Unravelling the Past. 35:4 Robert Gosden: Revolutionary, Mystic, Labour THIRKELL, FRED and BOB SCULLION. (2002): 20-22.* Spy. Reviewed by Duff Sutherland. 35:2 Vancouver and Beyond. Pictures and Stories from Slik, Natasha. Yale’s Ecclesiastical Textiles. 35:4 (2002): 35. the Postcard Era 1900-1914. Reviewed by (2002): 23-25.* McLAREN, T.A. and VICKIE JENSEN. Ships Sheryl Salloum. 35:2 (2002): 31. of Steel: A British Columbia Ship Builder’s Story. THORNTON, MILDRED VALLEY. Buffalo BOOK REVIEWS Reviewed by Robert Allen. 35:3 (2002): 26. People: Portraits of a Vanishing People. Reviewed AFFLECK, EDWARD L High Grade & Hot McNALLY, VINCENT J. The Lord’s Distant by Shirley Sutherland. 35:2 (2002): 31. Springs: A History of the Ainsworth Camp. Re- Vineyard. A History of the Oblates and the Catho- WALSH, ANN, ed. Beginnings: Stories of Cana- viewed by Ron Welwood. 35:2 (2002): 33. lic Community in British Columbia. Reviewed, da’s Past. Reviewed by Pat Ajello. 35:4 (2002): ANDERSON, FRANK W. Old Bill Miner Last by Kevin Beliveau. 35:1 (2001/2002): 25-26. 40-41. of the Famous Bandits. Reviewed by Arnold MINAKER, DENNIS. Gorge of Summers Gone: Ranneris. 35:3 (2002): 27. Victoria’s Inland Waterway. Reviewed by Arnold BENNET, NORMA V., comp. Pioneer Legacy Ranneris. 35:1 (2001/2002): 24-25. Chronicles of the Lower Skeena River. Volume II. MORITSUGU, FRANK. Teaching in Canadian Reviewed by George Newell. 35:1 (2001/ Exile. Reviewed by Naomi Miller. 35:4 2002): 24. (2002): 40. CARLSON, KEITH, et al. A Sto:lo Coast Salish NEUFELD, ANDREW and ANDREW Historical Atlas. Reviewed by Cole Harris. PARNABY. The Life and Times of an Industrial 35:3 (2002): 25-26. Union. Reviewed by George Brandak. 35:3 (2002): 26-27.

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