Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas Hours

The staff at the Revelstoke Museum & Archives extends a Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones.

We will be closed from December 25th until January 5th with the exception of Hogmanay of course!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Celebrate Hogmanay with us!

Our annual Scottish New Year's Open House will be held on:
Tuesday December 30
4pm-6pm
(Hogmanay Raffle will be drawn at 5:30pm)
The tradition of Hogmanay is believed to have been started as a Norse winter solstice celebration. There are many customs associated with Hogamany - join us on the 30th to learn more!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

50 Years of Preserving Our History

The Revelstoke Museum and Archives Association turned 50 years old on November 23, 2008. For an entire year, we will be celebrating this occasion with a series of special events and programs. Our kick-off for our Golden Anniversary celebrations will begin on Friday, November 28th at 7:00 pm during Moonlight Madness. Join us for cake and tea and special displays and presentations. And while you're there, check out our new Gift Shop.

When the Association was formed in the B.C. Centennial year of 1958, there was an awareness that, although the community was relatively young, the history was already starting to be forgotten. Thanks to the foresight of local citizens such as Ruby Nobbs, Dr. Hugh McKay, Estelle Dickey, George Laforme and others, much of our history has been preserved for future generations. The first museum was opened in 1963, in the basement of the former Health Unit building, and in 1974, the collection was moved into our current location, the 1926 Post Office building. Since then, our collection has grown to over 5,000 artifacts, over 5,000 photographs, and dozens of boxes of archival material. We invite you to come in and experience our rich and colourful history.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

All the News that's Fit to Print

This was the title of the last Brown Bag History presentation. We looked at the history of newspapers in Revelstoke. The first newspaper published in Revelstoke was The Kootenay Star, and it made its appearance on June 22, 1889. The museum has an original copy of the first edition and it is in remarkably good condition. We also have microfilm copies of most of the Revelstoke newspapers published between 1890 and 1964, as well as some hard copies of more recent newspapers, particularly the Revelstoke Herald of the 1970s and 1980s and the Revelstoke Unique from the 1990s.

My favourite local newspaper was the Observer, published between December of 1908 and August of 1909. The editor was E.A. Haggen, who also worked as a Mining Engineer, a Stock Broker, a Real Estate Agent, and an Insurance Agent. His ads for his other businesses were prominent throughout his paper, and some of the articles were also thinly-disguised advertising for himself. Haggen also used the paper to carry out some of his personal battles with other citizens, especially local lawyer George McCarter, and the local police commissioner and MLA. The paper thinly skirted the edges of libel, and sometimes crossed over the line, but it makes for entertaining reading.

The Observer published this rather lofty motto as its reason for being:
For the cause that lacks assistance;
For the wrong that needs resistance;
For the future in the distance;
And the good that we can do.

The first issue of the Observer featured a bit of local humour:
A Careful Man: “Have you noticed,” asked a neighbour, “that Mackenzie avenue sidewalks are laid so that there is a slant toward the curbstone? If you have not thought of it, there is a man in Revelstoke who has, and to save shoeleather he walks on different sides of the street on alternate days to make sure that his shoes will be worn off evenly.”

The newspapers are available for anyone looking for information from the past, or if you're just looking for an entertaining way to pass the time.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

FYI ~ The Revelstoke Museum & Archives is currently hosting the Free Spirit Conservation Tour - a travelling exhibit by the Royal BC Museum & BC Hydro. It will run until Saturday, October 24th at 2pm. Along with the exhibit, we are privilaged to have a guest curator share his knowledge with two free public lectures:

1.Dr. Ken Marr (botany curator) will be giving a free public lecture at the Community Centre Thursday, October 23rd entitled "Did Parts of Northern BC Miss the Last Ice Age?"

2.Dr. Ken Marr will be holding a flower pressing/identification demonstration Friday, October 24th at 10am at the Revelstoke Museum & Archives.

~ The Museum will be open to the public extended hours -

  • Wed, Oct 22nd 2:30pm-5:00pm
  • Thurs, Oct 23rd 2:30pm-8:30pm
  • Fri, Oct 24th, 9:00am-8:30pm
  • Sat, Oct 25th, 9am-2pm

Questions??? Give us a call - 250-837-3067

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Celebrate BC's past and help sustain its future.

The Free Spirit Conservation Tour is coming to Revelstoke Museum & Archives October 22 - 25, 2008

Open to the public:
Wed., Oct. 22: 2:30 pm to 5 pm
Thurs., Oct. 23: 2:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Fri., Oct. 24: 9:00 am to 8:30 pm
Sat., Oct. 25: 9:00 am to 2:00 pm
Admission: Adults: $4.00 Seniors $3.00 Children and youth (under 18) free

This one-of-a-kind travelling exhibition combines elements from Free Spirit: Stories of You, Me and BC, regional content, interpretive theatre, and a conservation theme into an interactive and educational experience that will appeal to adults and youth of all ages.

A Royal BC Museum and BC Hydro Project

Other Free Spirit Conservation Tour Events:

Did Parts of Northern BC Miss the Last Ice Age?
Learn about collecting plants in the alpine of northern British Columbia and what analyzing their DNA tells us about the last ice age.
Please join Botany Curator Dr. Ken Marr from the Royal BC Museum on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 7:00 pm at Revelstoke Community Centre. Free Admission.

Pressing Flowers & Plants, and Basic Plant Identification
http://www.freespiritbc.ca/conservationtour/Learn techniques for pressing plant materials, and identification of common B.C. plant families at a special workshop led by Botany Curator Dr. Ken Marr from the Royal B.C. Museum on Friday, October 24, 2008 at Revelstoke Museum & Archives, upstairs, at 10:00 am. Free Admission.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

"A Taste of Elegance" Cookbook

Our Heritage Cookbook, "A Taste of Elegance" is here at last! This was a special 50th Anniversary Project of Revelstoke Museum & Archives Association, and features over 500 recipes from past and present residents of Revelstoke. The cookbook also includes several heritage photographs and historic facts about Revelstoke. It will make a wonderful present! Copies are available at the Museum for $19.95. We have a limited number, so purchase yours soon! Call the Museum at 250-837-3067 to reserve your copy.

To celebrate our 50th Anniversary, we also embarked upon an endowment fund project. Our goal is to raise $10,000 before the end of December of this year. If we reach our goal, we will be eligible for matching funding through the Vancouver Foundation. If you wish to make a donation, please contact us, or simply send it to: Revelstoke Museum & Archives, P.O. Box 1908, Revelstoke, BC V0E 2S0.

We now have the opening date set for our Exhibit "Little But Not Forgotten - Revelstoke and the Boer War." It will open at 11:00 am on Saturday, October 11th. Everyone is welcome to attend this event. Jen Busch, curator for the exhibit, will present a short slide show on the amazing information she found on this topic.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

"Canada's Little War" - Our latest project!


So, all my little heritage explorers have headed back to school for the fall. This marks the end of our summer children’s program and the beginning of a new project for me!

In the spring, the museum was given a complete Boer War uniform that belonged to a young man who enlisted here in Revelstoke. Most would be surprised to learn that nearly fifty men enlisted for the Boer War in Revelstoke between 1900 and 1902. These men served in five separate units – the Canadian Mounted Rifles (2nd, 5th and 6th Regiments), Lord Strathcona’s Horse and the South African Constabulary. Two of these men never returned to Canada – they were killed in action.

Often called “Canada’s Little War,” the Boer War, although much smaller when compared to later wars, was the first time Canadians were sent overseas to represent the young nation of Canada. Many of these men went on to serve in the First World War as well.

The particular uniform that we’ve so generously been given belonged to Walter James Dunne of the South African Constabulary. Walter was a still just a boy, a mere seventeen, when he enlisted here on February 27, 1901. He served overseas for just under two years, during which time he was taken prisoner-of-war, stripped naked and left to find his way across the South African veldt.

Walter went on to become the first settler at Blind Bay where he successfully raised a family on his homestead. He served in the Vosges Mountains in France during World War One (in the Canadian Forestry Corps) and he joined the Pacific Coast Militia during World War Two. Walter died peacefully at in 1964. His daughter, Mrs. Phyllis Parkes still spends her summers on the original family property on the lake at Blind Bay. There, on Dunne Road, the cabins that Walter built in the 1920’s still stand, almost as a testament to the life of their creator.

The Boer War exhibit is set to open at the end of September. It will highlight the efforts and the sacrifices of the young men from this area who served in this “little” war. As the Dunne family lived in Revelstoke for numerous years, this exhibit will also provide some insight into their time here.

Stay tuned for the official opening date!

Thanks,
Jen Busch
-Research assistant

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

River of Light

Next Monday evening, September 8, the Museum will be hosting a talk entitled "River of Light: The Canadian Columbia before the Treaty" by William D. Layman

William Layman’s work for the past twenty-five years has focused on helping people remember the magnificence of the Columbia River prior to the enormous changes brought about by hydro-development. His award winning exhibit and book River of Memory: The Everlasting Columbia show a river bounding toward the sea with a character that places it as being one of the world’s great waterways.

In this presentation, Mr. Layman looks to the more recent past of the river’s ever flowing story. While touching upon earlier eras of the river’s history, greater attention will be paid to the Columbia as a partially developed river just prior to the signing and ratification of the Columbia River Treaty. Mr. Layman highlights this era by showing a recently discovered set of color slides taken in 1961 and 1962 that were photographed by Wenatchee fire chief T.A. Weaver whose aerial survey documented most all of the river. Over one hundred of these views show the Canadian Columbia as it was prior to Hugh Keenleyside, Revelstoke and Mica dams.

Mr. Layman has been working over the summer to rephotograph many of Weaver’s aerial views and to compare maps showing the old river channels with more recent maps that show the river’s present day boundaries. By placing current views alongside the old, it becomes possible to immediately see the dramatic impact of the great changes along the river, particularly in the places behind Revelstoke and Mica dams.

Mr. Layman holds a strong interest not only in the history of the river, but also in the current place the Columbia has in people’s lives and hearts. In his previous presentations up and down the Columbia, Layman has found that people along each section of river have special moments and places along the Columbia that carry very specific and important meanings to themselves, their friends and families. He reflects, “In speaking with people who traveled the old Big Bend Highway or who visited old Kinbasket Lake, I have been amazed at how people remember their trips so vividly. In another two generations, those who hold living memory of the river before the dams will have passed on.”

Time will be given to inviting members of the audience to share personal stories, memories and experiences of the river. Mr. Layman’s hope is that by gathering and listening to these stories, they will become folded into the greater narrative that documents changes along the river brought about by the river’s hydro developments as well as the Columbia River Treaty.

The talk will take place at Revelstoke Museum & Archives, 315 First Street West on Monday, September 8th at 7:30 pm. For more information, call the museum at 250-837-3067.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Chinese Legacies

Today was an exciting day at Revelstoke Museum and Archives as we had the official opening of our new exhibit: "Chinese Legacies - Revelstoke's Chinese Community." We were very pleased to have the Chinese Consul General present from Vancouver, as well as about 40 members of the Kwong family. The exhibit features several artifacts from the Kwong family, and they came from all over B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan to be present for the exhibit opening. The exhibit, as well as a parallel exhibit at the Revelstoke Railway Museum, on the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, will be in place for 2 years.

Railway Days - Revelstoke's Community Festival is on all week, and the museum is featuring several other events, including a Downtown Walking Tour, a Cemetery Tour, a slide show of local photographs, a Heritage Explorer Children's event, ending with an evening of Beer and Wings on Friday. For information on any of these events, send us an email at revelstokemuseum@telus.net

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Big Bend Gold Rush

My last Brown Bag Picnic talk was on the Big Bend Gold Rush. This gold rush, in 1865 and 1866, was less significant than the Cariboo and Yukon gold rushes, but it is estimated that there was more than 3,000,000 dollars worth of gold taken out of the area in that short period of time. The rush was centered on the tributaries of the Columbia River north of Revelstoke, notably Carnes Creek, Downie Creek, French Creek and the Goldstream River. Towns sprang up in the area, especially at the point where French Creek flowed into Goldstream. B.C. Surveyor and explorer Walter Moberly laid out a townsite at French Creek, and at one time there were up to 5,000 people living there. The town boasted hotels, general stores, barber shops, saloons (complete with dance hall girls) and everything else you'd expect in a wild west town. There was even a grand piano in one of the hotels, and a large pool table that eventually wound up in one of the early Revelstoke hotels.

The Big Bend was difficult to reach, but the two most travelled routes were over a rough trail from Seymour Arm on Shuswap Lake, and up the Columbia from the United States. Captain Leonard White began running the steamship SS 49 in April of 1866, bringing boatloads of people into the goldfields. Anyone travelling north on the SS 49 had to be able to pay full fare and have a year's worth of supplies, but the Captain would happily take any man out of the goldfields free of charge. Revelstoke Museum and Archives holds a unique artifact related to the SS 49. A tree blaze was found on the west bank of the Columbia just north of Revelstoke in the 1960s. It reads: "SS 49 delayed in consequence of high water, July 4, '66." The '66', of course, is 1866.

The Big Bend Gold Rush ended as quickly as it began, and by 1870, there were only a few hundred men left in the region. Call or visit Revelstoke Museum & Archives for more information on the rush.

Our next Brown Bag Picnic, on July 30 at noon, will be led by museum employee Jen Busch, and will focus on her current research on Revelstoke's involvement in the Boer War. We will soon be opening an exhibit on the Boer War, focused around the recent donation of the Boer War uniform of Walter Dunne, who enlisted in Revelstoke in 1901.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Brown Bag Picnic

The ever-popular "Brown Bag History" series at Revelstoke Museum & Archives will continue this summer as "Brown Bag Picnic." We will hold it in the Heritage Garden, weather permitting, beginning this Wednesday, July 2 at 12:15. The first topic will be "Downtown Revelstoke." I'll explain why the downtown is where it is now, instead of in the original location on Front Street, on the riverbank. The explanation includes a lawsuit between original townsite developer A.S. Farwell and the Canadian Pacific Railway. I'll also talk about some of the early businesses in the downtown, and the corduroy road on Mackenzie Avenue. And let's not forget the smelter at the end of Campbell Avenue, and the approximately 10 city blocks that eroded into the river.

Revelstoke's downtown has a very large concentration of late 1890s and early 1900s building, and I'll talk about the history of some of these buildings. Did you know that the Roxy theatre building was built in 1905 as Lawrence Hardware? The original facade was High Victorian style, and it was converted to an Art Deco style in 1938 when it opened as the Avolie Theatre. Did you know that the first Catholic church was built in 1893 at the corner of First and Mackenzie, where the Royal Bank is now? Legend has it that if you lifted a floorboard of the church you could see running water beneath.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Latest Museum News

I apologize for not posting for awhile. We've been very busy with events and programs. Last Saturday, we had the Grand Opening of our New Gift Shop. If you haven't seen it, you'd be surprised at the variety of items for sale here. I (Cathy English, Curator) was in Victoria for a meeting to plan for the Free Spirit Conservation Tour to be held here October 22 to 24 this fall. The Royal BC Museum and BC Hydro Power Smart are presenting a traveling version of the Free Spirit BC exhibit currently on at the Royal BC Museum. The exhibit will showcase BC's rich history of the past 150 years and more, and show us how to preserve the province for the next 150 years and more through careful use of our resources. Watch for more details as we get closer to the event.

I also led a Cemetery Walk this week. The next two are scheduled for July 10 and August 19 at 7 pm. There are many interesting people buried in the local cemetery, including Douglas Hector, son of Sir James Hector, who discovered the Kicking Horse Pass (James Hector is the one who got Kicked by the Horse!) There are victims of two unsolved murders in the cemetery - Jennie Kiobara, a prostitute who was murdered in 1905, and Frank Julian, who was supposedly murdered by the mafia in 1910.

This week, Service BC was celebrating the 150th anniversary of Government Agents in BC. My Brown Bag History talk on Wednesday focused on Government Agents from Revelstoke, then on Thursday, I led tours of the historic Revelstoke Court House.

I will be continuing Brown Bag History this summer as Brown Bag Picnic, and we will hold it outside in the Heritage Garden whenever weather allows. The sessions will be held on July 2, July 16, July 30, August 13, and August 27. I will repeat some of my previous talks, as voted on by the regular Brown Bag participants. The topics will include: World War I Internment Camp, Big Bend Gold Rush, Downtown Revelstoke, and Mount Begbie. Those sessions all got 4 or more votes. The fifth session will be one of the following topics: Disasters on the Columbia, Farming, or Unsolved Mysteries. Which one would you choose?

Friday, May 30, 2008

100 Years Ago Today

Here's what was happening in town on May 30, 1908, according to the Revelstoke Mail-Herald:

The City Council voted to raise the pay for municipal fire fighters to $2.00 an hour when they were engaged in actual firefighting.

A meeting took place to push for "moral reforms" in the city, including the strict enforcement of bylaws relating to the closing of saloons and bars on Sundays. They were also asking that all professional gamblers be turned out of the city.

"Mannings Candy Palace" had an ad suggesting that men would do well by giving Manning's candies to the women of their choice: "She's an odd girl who can eat Manning's candies without having some little feeling of gratitude for the donor. Of course you've got to fight your own love battles, young man, but our confections you'll find to be a strong ally in your wooing." Horace Manning later had a new candy factory and confectionery store built on Mackenzie Avenue. The store was bought by John Kwong about 50 years ago and is still home to Manning's Chinese Restaurant.

The S.S. Revelstoke steamboat left every Tuesday and Friday at 6 am for Downie Creek, returning the same day. Comfortable berths and good meals were available on board.

Tickets were available for the month of June for the roller skating rink. Gentlemen's tickets were $2.50 (for a month's pass); ladies $2.00 and children $1.50.

We had a Chamber of Commerce open house last evening to launch our gift shop, and were happy to welcome about 70 people. We'll be having a public open house on Saturday, June 14th. Drop in and see the exciting new gift shop.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Sturgeon in the Columbia

Here's another story from the Brown Bag History talk I'll be giving tomorrow, May 21st at 12:15 pm:

At the end of August in 1918, an employee from one of the mills was fishing, and thought that he had caught his line on a log. After an hour, he realized that it was probably a very large sturgeon, and went to look for help The two men worked until dark, then secured the line to a float in the log. The next morning, he came back with three other men. After a long struggle, they managed to get the sturgeon to the surface, and the original fisherman, Warren Andrews, shot the sturgeon with a rifle. The sturgeon nearly swamped the boat before they got him into shore. The sturgeon measured 8 feet, 3 inches and weighed 230 pounds. It was 3 feet, 6 inches in circumference. The newspaper reported: "Naturally, Mr. Andrews is proud of his remarkable feat, and besides holding the proud distinction of catching the largest fish in the interior of the province, is being sincerely thanked by many residents of Arrowhead and Revelstoke for the huge sturgeon steaks which he has generously distributed."

Don't forget, we're looking for recipes for our 50th Anniversary cookbook that we're producing this year. Whether it's a recipe for sturgeon steaks, or for your favourite dessert, or your grandmother's bread recipe, we'd love to include it.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Upcoming Events and Water Snakes

Join us at the museum on Saturday, May 24th from 2 to 4 pm for a seminar on "Basic Landscape Design and Water Wise Gardening" with Garden Expert Don Burnett from Byland's Nursery in Kelowna. Sign up by calling the museum at 837-3067. Cost is $16. The event will begin with a slide presentation, then we will move outside to the Heritage Garden for some hands-on advice.

We are gathering recipes for a community cookbook to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Revelstoke Museum & Archives Association. Anyone and everyone is invited to participate. We are especially hoping to find recipes from pioneer Revelstoke families. Send them to us at revelstokemuseum@telus.net before the middle of June.

We are in the process of expanding our Gift Shop. Stop in and see our new products.

I am working on my next Brown Bag History presentation for Wednesday, May 21st at 12:15 pm. My topic is "Curator's Favourite Stories," which means I can talk about whatever I want! One interesting story I found came from a letter to the editor of the Revelstoke Herald of August 31, 1901. The writer was complaining about a nasty surprise he received from the water tap one day: "Recently a water snake emerged from the water tap, at which I was filling a glass to drink from. The reptile was of the thickness and length of an ordinary lead pencil, with distended jaws and wriggling fiercely in the soda water bottle, to which I transferred it. It did not present an inviting addition to the drinking water supply of the city." The writer was concerned that he might have to switch to whiskey instead of water as his beverage of choice. Join us on the 21st for more stories.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Chinese Legacies

I am currently working on a joint project with the Revelstoke Railway Museum entitled "Chinese Legacies." We will each mount an exhibit on this theme. The Railway Museum exhibit will look at the role of Chinese workers in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway and it will open on Friday, August 15 around 7 pm (after the Railway Days official opening.) The Revelstoke Museum & Archives exhibit is focused on the Chinese community in Revelstoke and it opens on Saturday, August 16 at 11:00 am. I am the researcher and curator for both exhibits and it has been a fascinating job uncovering this history. It is difficult finding accurate information on the number of Chinese who worked on the railway - I have seen numbers ranging from 7,000 to 15,000, and the number of deaths range from 600 to 2,200. This is a very difficult number to pin down, because their deaths were not registered.

Many Chinese people settled in Revelstoke after railway construction, and until the 1920s, they made up about 1/10th of the local population. In the 1901 census, there were 114 Chinese residents in Revelstoke, and only one of them was female. Half of the men were married, but their wives were still in China. Many of them were never able to bring their wives or children over because of the head tax that was imposed on Chinese immigrants.

Watch this blog for ongoing updates on the exhibits. The exhibits will be in place for two years after the opening date, so plan to attend.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Welcome to our Blog

Revelstoke Museum & Archives now has a blog! Curator Cathy English (that's Me) and other staff will use this blog to update you on museum and archives events and news, and we'll throw in tidbits of local history.

To start you off, I'll tell you how Revelstoke got its name. The original town site name was Farwell, after the original property owner and townsite developer. The Canadian Pacific Railway ended up in a legal battle with Farwell after ownership of the property, and they petitioned the Post Office department to legally change the name to Revelstoke, in honour of Edward Baring, First Lord Revelstoke, of England. Lord Revelstoke, as head of the Baring Bank, had bought enough shares in the CPR company to enable them to complete the trans-continental railway. The name change took place in 1886.