Revelstoke Museum & Archives

Ode to Eva Lake

2011-12-24T12:32:00.000-08:00

A recent acquisition to the archives was the poems and personal papers of Thomas Pagdin. Mr. Pagdin was born in Yorkshire, England in 1868 and came to Revelstoke in about 1909. In the 1930s and 1940s he began publishing poems in the Revelstoke Review newspaper under the pen name “Ivanhoe.” He eventually published a book of poems, including the one here, inspired by a hike to Eva Lake on Mount Revelstoke National Park.

Ode to Eva Lake: August 11 – 17, 1936:
A pilgrim – tired, yet not disconsolate;
The winding trail was long and steep:
The load was heavy and (for such is fate),
It grew in weight enough to keep
The panting pilgrim longing for trail’s end,
And wishing to unburden and unbend.

‘Twould seem the stiffest climb is at the crest;
The hardest fight toward the goal:
The prize being greatest when unyielding zest
Brings conquest to the anguished soul.
The weary traveller with head bowed down
Attains the heights, – the cross preceeds the crown.

A generous comrade plied the rod and line,
And played the game as sportsman ought.
So very deferential he and fine –
When but a single fish he caught.
Imperative and firm was his insistence
It MUST be mine; – futile my resistance.

Petite maiden, enthroned in the hills,
Didst hear the “Songs of Araby”,
And many another song, that throbs and thrills
I sang thee; or some soft lullaby?
You must have heard – you or your alter ego:
To me there came a sweet accompanying echo.
We saw thee, dear, distressed – under the lash –
They fair face fretted by the storm:
For lightning’s lurid flash, and thunder’s crash
That shook our shelter, charmed thy form.
A golden dawn eclipsed the storm scene:
You smiled again – sublimely and serene!

Farewell thou sweet oasis, and adieu!
Till kindly providence our trysts renew.
May God and courtesy of men keep thee
From fashion’s rude parade for ever free;
Secure in thy supreme beatitude,
That they who prize thy sacred solitude
May prove their love, woo thee, and win thy smiles
By pilgrimage through intervening miles.
Ivanhoe

Wishing everyone the best of the holiday season and all the best in the coming year. My New Year’s resolution will be to update this blog on a more regular basis!

Photo: A group of hikers at Eva Lake in 1918. From the Earle Dickey collection.

Politics in Revelstoke 100 years ago

2011-11-24T16:38:00.001-08:00

There seemed to be a lot of talk this year about the need for change in the city government, but our mayor won by acclamation, and the four incumbent councillors who were running all won their seats. There is definitely a precedent for this. One hundred years ago, municipal elections were held annually in January. In 1911, there was a lot of criticism of the city council, to the point that the mayor, Dr. J.H. Hamilton, felt compelled to write a letter to the editor of the Mail-Herald newspaper:

“Mayor’s Message: Think It Over – Statement by Mayor Hamilton: Revelstoke is on the eve of prosperity. The city is in a most enviable position. Let us forget petty differences and all boost for the city. Don’t knock those who are doing the best they can for the city, but help them along. This city has been so mixed up with petty strife that any man offering himself for public office might as well get out of the city. We all have our homes here and should pull together to make the city second to none in the Dominion.”

Whether the Mayor’s letter had the desired effect, or whether the rest of the citizens were afraid to put their names forward, the entire council that year was elected by acclamation, for the first time since Revelstoke was incorporated in 1899. One of the aldermen, Ed Trimble, resigned, because he had not formally accepted the nomination, and it was well into February before his seat was filled.

Alderman Hector McKinnon was determined that the city would find ways to cut expenditures and even suggested that the city could save $96 each year by cutting private phones to the City Cleark’s home and the Fire Chief’s home. Alderman McKinnon’s methods were popular with the public, because he was voted in as alderman each year until 1914, when he successfully ran for Mayor. McKinnon ran for Mayor 11 times; he was acclaimed five times; won five times and was defeated only once. Hector McKinnon was a popular and eloquent Mayor who presided over many important events, including the visits of the Prince of Wales in 1919 and 1927. Hector McKinnon ran a pool hall and cigar store in the building that now houses the Nickelodeon Museum and also ran Standard Dairy on land below where Downie Sawmills now stands. McKinnon tragically lost his life in a barn fire in 1929.

There was concern this year that less than 35% of the voters bothered to come out to the polls. Our forebears were definitely better in this regard, as most elections saw over 90% voter turnout. In one election in the 1920s only six eligible voters failed to cast their vote.

Remembering in Revelstoke

2011-11-11T14:22:00.000-08:00

On Remembrance Day in Revelstoke, there are many people to remember. The cenotaph carried the names of over 100 people from this city and district who died in World War I, and over 30 who died in World War II. This city was deeply affected by both world conflicts. During World War I, twelve men from Revelstoke and district died at the battle of Vimy Ridge alone. Here is a brief biography of each of those men.

John Henry Anderson was a well known young man in both Revelstoke and Malakwa. His name is etched on the Malakwa Cenotaph as well as the Revelstoke Cenotaph.

George Edward Bell had lived in Revelstoke since 1902, working as an engineer on the CPR. He had a sister who worked as a nurse here and is the great uncle of Gordon Robinson of this city.

John Collia came to Canada in 1907 with his father and sisters to join his brother, Bruno Collia. Bruno died here at the age of 101. There are numerous relatives still living here in Revelstoke.

Thomas Copeland was born in North Bend, B.C. and came here as a young man and worked as an engineman on the CPR.

Owen Harold Davies was born in Wales and worked as lineman for the CPR. During his service he earned a Military Medal.

Thomas Fleming was born in Revelstoke in 1893 and was working as a teamster in his father’s business. Thomas may have perished on his birthday or close to it.

Harold Freeman was the son of a Methodist minister who served in Revelstoke during the latter part of the war years. He was a student when he joined up.

Edwin Ibbotson was a bank clerk with the Canadian Bank of Commerce in Revelstoke. His family had close ties in the Salmon Arm area and his name is also etched on the Salmon Arm Cenotaph.

Reginald Lorraine Johnson was born in England and was working as an electrician in Revelstoke when he joined up.

James Alfred Kirk lived in Arrowhead with his parents and had a brother, Henry Kirk, who died shortly after the war and is now buried in Arrowhead. James was buried in France.

Leo McKinnon was the brother of the Mayor of Revelstoke at the time, Hector McKinnon. Mayor McKinnon had the sad duty of dedicating the newly planted maple trees around the Courthouse in honour of the Canadian soldiers one month after the death of his brother Leo. Many family members still reside in Revelstoke.

John Donald (Rory) McLennan was a champion amateur wrestler before the war and was working as a railway conductor prior to joining up.

Vimy Ridge was just one of many battles the Canadian forces fought in during World War One. All told 60,000 Canadians lost their lives in this conflict, 100 of them from Revelstoke. This “Great” War affected Canada and Revelstoke profoundly and the world is still dealing with its consequences. The Canadian Army’s victory at Vimy Ridge helped to form the nation of Canada as we know it today. Ordinary men (and women) from Revelstoke participated in these great events and helped to shape the city and country and world we live in.

Revelstoke Secondary School

2011-11-10T10:38:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, November 9, 2011, was an exciting day in Revelstoke, as the new Revelstoke Secondary School was formally opened. The building is visually stunning, and is a wonderful asset to our community. Congratulations to all who were involved in this project.

Revelstoke’s first High School opened in September of 1904, in a small building that had previously been used as an annex to Revelstoke’s first elementary school. The first teacher was C.B. Sissons, who went on to become a distinguished Canadian academic. He was invited here at the suggestion of his cousin, Rev. James Woodsworth. Woodsworth was a Methodist Minister who had spent a short time here. He later became the founder of the Canadian Commonwealth Federation – now known as the New Democratic Party.

C.B. Sissons received a salary of $1500 per year when he came to Revelstoke. He was very active in sports and outdoor pursuits, and spent his summers working on A.O. Wheeler’s survey of the Selkirk Mountains. He taught his students Latin, Greek, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, English literature, composition and grammar, geography, history, physiology, book-keeping and drawing. In the first year of the High School, Sissons had 23 students. One of them, Geoffrey Haggen, became a Rhodes Scholar and became Dean of Law at the University of Leeds, England.

By 1914, the small wooden school was very overcrowded, and a new brick building was constructed by local contractor O.W. Abrahamson.
The Mail-Herald of January 31, 1914 reported, “For years high school students and teachers have been hampered by the unsanitary and uncomfortable conditions existing in the old ramshackle building in which they have been quartered. Now the energy and perseverance of the school board, backed by the city and government, have resulted in building in this city the finest high school in BC.” Visitors who came to the opening ceremony were asked to bring at least one book to donate to the school library. An annex for Home Economics and Manual Training was built in 1938, and an addition with gymnasium in 1951. Prior to that, only outdoor sports were played, but soccer was a problem, because the ball would go across Third Street and over the bank into the river, and the school was only allowed to purchase one ball a year.

In 1965, the High School was moved to Tenth Street. There were already two schools at that site: Mountain View Elementary and Joseph Hammond Junior High School. The schools were renovated to became the new high school, and Mountain View Elementary was moved to the old high school building. The new Revelstoke Secondary School is a positive step forward for education in Revelstoke.

The photograph shows the original frame high school with the class of 1912.

Columbia Park Street Names

2011-10-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

Today in Brown Bag History, we were talking about street and place names. It's a very broad topic, so we focused on names in the Columbia Park subdivision. The name Columbia Park dates back to 1898 when the Dominion government granted 7 villa lots to a local committee for park purposes. When Revelstoke was incorporated in 1899, Columbia Park was turned over to the new city. Many of the street names in the area come from early farmers in the area. Oliver Henry Allen had a brewery on the river bank where the Trans-Canada Highway bridge is now. Hugh Allen Smythe, W. Maddocks, Job Maley and Jock Malcolm were all early farmers in the area. George Laforme was a miner and packer in the Big Bend region, and also had a farm where he grew strawberries and other crops.

Cleland Road is named after James Cleland, who wife was the sister of farmer Jock Malcolm. Cleland had farmland in the area but was also a Revelstoke policeman, and later chief of police from 1916 until his death in 1920. Cleland was only 40 years old when he died of influenza. Although 1920 didn't see the number of flu deaths that occurred in 1918 and 1919, it was still considered serious enough that only 10 people were allowed to attend his funeral. This wasn't the end of tragedy for the Cleland family. In June of that same year, 1920, James Cleland's 14 year-old daughter Marjorie died in a boating accident on the Columbia River. Four young people were boating in high water and attempted to "jump" over the breakwater when their boat overturned and all of them drowned. Marjorie's body was finally recovered in August and she was buried beside her father. That same month, a serious fire on the Cleland farm almost destroyed the family home. Mrs. Cleland and her remaining children moved to South Africa, where they had other relatives. Several years ago, some of the South African relatives visited the museum and learned more about the family's time in Revelstoke.

Pioneer Families

2011-08-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

This Saturday at the museum, we had visits from descendants of two pioneer families. Dan Leary and his niece and nephew, Susan and Brian, spent a couple of hours at the museum looking at photographs, information and artifacts relating to Dan’s grandparents, Fred and Catherine Fraser. Fred Fraser came to Revelstoke with railway construction in 1885 and his wife joined him later that year. Their first home was in a box car until they acquired land on the west bank of the Columbia River in what is now the Big Eddy subdivision. They were among Revelstoke’s first farmers, and their second daughter, Florence, born in May of 1887, was the first settler child born in Revelstoke. In 1894, which was a record flood year throughout much of B.C., the Fraser family was forced to raise their house by several feet, and to send their poultry and other stock to another farm outside of the flood zone. As well as running his farm, Fred Fraser held several government positions over the years, including mining recorder and magistrate.

To get to school, the children walked across the ½ mile long Canadian Pacific Railway bridge. There were a few areas where water barrels were stored where the children could huddle if a train was crossing the bridge while they were on it.

In August of 1892, Fred Fraser went to fetch his cows home before going to church. On the way back, he almost stepped on a half-grown cub, and shot it, then fired at another under a log. The cub began to scream, which brought an adult bear to the scene. He quickly headed for home, but came face to face with another full-grown bear. According to the newspaper account, “One of the cows turned back and came at the bear with her horns, hitting him square in the ribs with a thud that might have been heard half a mile away, and rolling him over like a log. Seeing her master’s danger she then flew at the other bear and served her in a like manner.” Both bears ran away. Fred went to church as planned and the next day took the skins from the two cubs and exhibited them in town.

Son Fred Fraser Jr. reminisced on the many chores that the children had to do, and confessed that they would make trips to the outhouse to try to get out of their chores. “The task of weeding and thinning the long rows of carrots, beets and turnips was a tedious one, and a welcome interval would be spent sitting on a toilet seat with handy reading material. When the time so spent became unconscionable, the matriarch complained to the master, who reshaped the smooth ovals into rough squares to discourage unnecessary dalliance. This, however, is said to have failed in its purpose. The human body soon adapts itself to new environment, and it was said that the family acquired the name, ‘the square-arsed Frasers’.”

Our second visit on Saturday was from Diana Johnson, a member of the Holten (originally Hultengren) family. Charles Holten was born Karl Hultengren in Sweden, and his family came to the United States when he was four years old. In 1885, he was in the Revelstoke area, and with his partners, was among the first successful miners in the Lardeau area. He settled in Revelstoke and became one of the partners in the Enterprise Brewery, which began operation in 1898. In 1897, he married Lyda Silcott (aka Edwards) and built a beautiful home at the top of the First Street hill. The home is now operating as Amble Inn Bed & Breakfast. Charles and Lyda had two sons, Charlie and Drennan, and they also raised Lyda’s niece, Mary Edwards, who married Dr. J. H. Hamilton in 1910. The Holten’s also took in Patrick, the young son of entrepreneur William Cowan, when Cowan’s wife died in 1906. The house was the scene of many benefits for the Anglican Church and the Red Cross Society, and Mrs. Holten became the matron of high society in Revelstoke.

We always enjoy having visits from descendants of our pioneer families, and are pleased when we have a lot of information to share with them, as in these two cases.

Chinese Legacies

2011-07-21T16:59:00.001-07:00

In 2008, Revelstoke Railway Museum and Revelstoke Museum & Archives opened joint exhibits entitled “Chinese Legacies”. The Railway Museum’s exhibit focused on the thousands of Chinese men who worked on construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway from Yale to Craigellachie in the 1880s. This exhibit is currently travelling, having recently been on display at Exporail in Montreal. It is now in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. The exhibit here at Revelstoke Museum and Archives is still on display. It follows the story of the Chinese community that developed here after railway construction was complete. By 1901, Chinese residents made up about 1/10 of the total population.

This past week, we were pleased to host Toronto artist David Cheung and his sons Lucas and Dudley who are embarked on a project known as Rocky Railway High (Closure.) David has created several works of art that commemorate the story of the Chinese railway workers, and he is inviting the public to submit small written or artistic pieces to supplement his paintings. The paintings and the gathered submissions will be shown in an exhibit and eventually brought to China to symbolically return the spirit of the workers to their native country. For more information on Rocky Railway High or to contribute a submission, see their website: http://www.rockyrailwayhigh.com/

There were up to 15,000 Chinese people employed along the railway line from Port Moody to Craigellachie between 1880 and 1885. Exact figures are impossible to find, as the workers were hired as gangs rather than as individuals, and there was a high turnover of workers. They were engaged in clearing the road, laying ties and other construction work. The work was tedious, difficult and dangerous, and the rewards were few.

The Chinese workers were paid $1 per day throughout the years of railway construction from 1880 to 1885. Their pay was reduced to .80 cents per day if they bought their staple food and supplies outside of the company store. Goods in the company store cost twice as much as they did on the open market.

The white workers were paid on a sliding scale depending upon their skills and the work performed. The wages for white workers were increased in March of 1881 in order to attract more men. The lowest paid white workers were receiving $1.50 to $2.00 per day as blacksmiths’ helpers, labourers, hewers and choppers.

In 1885, the Dominion Government conducted a Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration. Huang Sic Chen, a member of the Chinese consulate in San Francisco, presented a report on the number of Chinese in British Columbia and the work they were doing. He stated that there were 3,510 Chinese labourers involved in railway construction. An average labourer’s wage was $300 per year, and after expenses the labourer would be left with about $43. The expenses included a deduction of three months labour during the winter, $130 for provisions and clothing, $24 for room rent and other costs. For more information on this story, contact Revelstoke Museum and Archives.

William and Bertha Cowan

2011-07-14T13:55:00.001-07:00

Among the more noticeable markers at Revelstoke’s Mountain View Cemetery are two fairly similar red granite gravestones that are just across the service road from each other. William Cowan, who lived from 1855 to 1926 is buried just behind the maintenance shed, at the edge of the main cemetery. The road next to the shed marks the boundary between the Protestant and Roman Catholic sections of the cemetery. The Catholic section opened in 1906, and one of the first to be interred there was Bertha Beatrice Cowan, the young wife of William. Bertha was born in 1880 and in 1903 married William Cowan, who was 25 years her senior. The fact that theirs was a “mixed marriage” between a Protestant and a Catholic was also unusual for that time.

Bertha and William had a son Patrick, who was born in 1904, and two years later, Bertha died in childbirth with their second child, who also died. Bertha was buried in the Catholic section, next to the service road. William had an elaborate red granite marker placed on her grave. At the time of Bertha’s death, a non-Catholic could not be buried in a Catholic cemetery, so William obviously did the next best thing, and purchased the plot directly across the road from Bertha. William died in April of 1926 in Rochester, Minnesota, where he had gone seeking treatment for an illness.

William Cowan was one of Revelstoke’s most enterprising pioneers. He came to Revelstoke in 1885, where he built the Victoria Hotel on Front Street. He was one of the partners in a steamship company that saw the building of the S.S. Dispatch and the S.S. Lytton from a small shipworks at the south end of Front Street. Cowan had the first telephone in town, with a line between his hotel and the Canadian Pacific Railway station. By 1896 he had incorporated the Revelstoke, Trout Lake and Big Bend Telephone Company Ltd. and established a telephone exchanged in a building at the corner of Third Street and Charles. He formed the Revelstoke Water, Power and Light company that constructed the first water system in 1896 and the first electric power plant on the Illecillewaet River in 1898. The company was sold to the City of Revelstoke in 1902.

Front Street in Farwell Townsite

2011-07-11T17:49:00.000-07:00

Revelstoke tells its history through the many heritage buildings that are still in existence here. The restored heritage downtown and the many heritage homes are testament to the pioneers who built this community. However, the oldest part of town doesn’t have the built heritage to proclaim its fascinating history. It is only through sharing the stories and photographs of the Farwell townsite that this part of the community comes back to life. A Farwell walking tour scheduled for July 11th will help to keep this part of our history alive.

The Farwell townsite, centered on Front Street, was established with the coming of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885. By that summer, the population was over 5,000, with railway workers and those who would profit by their presence here making the town a lively place. Surveyor A.S. Farwell planned to sell his land to the C.P.R. and sell lots to those who wanted to settle in this new railway town. Unfortunately for Farwell, his plans turned to dust when the C.P.R. wouldn’t negotiate with him, and the dispute meant that clear title could not be issued for the lots he was trying to sell. He was forced to charge trespassers with “disturbing the earth” when people refused to pay for lots that they couldn’t get deeds for.

The bustling townsite of Farwell boasted a plethora of hotels and bars, several brothels, general stores, Chinese laundries and other necessities for a largely male population. What it lacked in the very first years were churches, schools, a hospital and a fire department. These eventually came into being as the town grew, many of the new facilities moving to the upper part of town closer to the railway station and the burgeoning “Revelstoke Station” townsite.

By the 1920s, many of the original buildings in the Farwell townsite had been moved or dismantled. The area was sparsely settled until the 1950s when a new wave of construction began. Front Street, once the main business street, is now purely residential.

Glacier National Park

2011-04-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

This year marks the 125th Anniversary of Glacier National Park, less than an hour’s drive east of Revelstoke. During construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s the beauties of the Selkirk Mountains were discovered. Politicians and CPR officials advocated the setting aside of public lands in the Selkirks and this was made official on October 10, 1886 with an Order-in-Council signed by Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald.

Administration of the park lands was minimal until the early 1900s, although there was significant public use of the park lands, with thousands of people travelling by rail to Glacier House, near the summit of Rogers Pass. Glacier House was constructed and owned by the CPR to accommodate the public who wished to stay in the fabulous mountain setting at the foot of the Illecillewaet Glacier. The original square building was opened in January of 1887 with Mr. Perley as manager. It had a large dining room, reception area and six bedrooms. In the first year of operation, 708 guests signed the register. The hotel was enlarged over the years with additional wings until by the early 1900s, there was a total of 90 rooms. The hotel complex was torn down in 1920s, leaving only the foundations and lingering memories of past glories.

In the 1880s, the glacier was only a 20 minute hike from Glacier House. In 125 years, the glacier has eroded considerably and is now just at the crest of the mountain. Climbing around Rogers Pass was facilitated through Glacier House, which became a base for climbers. Reverend William Spotsford Green of the British Alpine Club was one of the earliest climbers in 1888. Publication of his book “Among the Selkirk Glaciers” made people aware of the climbing opportunities in the Selkirks. According to A.O. Wheeler, by the end of 1903, nearly 40 major mountains or crests had been climbed for the first time.

The discovery of Nakimu Caves in 1904 by miner Charles Deutschman resulted in the first active development of the park by the Government. Deutschman discoved the system of caves in the Cougar Valley in Rogers Pass. Original estimates showed about 1 and ½ miles of caves, with four entrances. The caves were described as being “studded with millions of sparkling, beatifully shaped crystals.” Deutschman filed for mineral claims encompassing the caves, but when Superintendent Howard Douglas of Rocky Mountain National Park toured the caves in 1905, he arranged for Deutschman to be paid $5,000 for the claims, putting the area back into Dominion Government control. There was some question as to why Deutschman had been allowed to file mining claims in protected park lands in the first place, but nevertheless, he was compensated for the claims.

The caves were surveyed in November of 1905 by W.S. Ayres, a mining and consulting engineer from Banff, and he prepared a map based on his survey. In three days, he surveyed 3,225 feet and had not completed his work at that time. Over the years, further channels were discovered. As a result of public interest in the caves, trails were built, and a headquarter cabin was built near the main entrance. Charles Deutschman was quite appropriately given the job as caretaker of the caves, and he guided many tourists through them. He is recognized as the first Parks interpreter in Canada. Visitors to the caves fell over during the First World War, and again after the demolition of Glacier House, and for many years the caves were closed to the public. Access to the caves is now restricted and has to be arranged through Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks office in Revelstoke.

Contact Revelstoke Museum & Archives for more information on Glacier National Park and visit the park website for services and anniversary celebrations. http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/bc/glacier/index.aspx

International Women's Day

2011-03-08T12:05:00.001-08:00

Today, March 8, 2011, is the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day. It is interesting to note that in March of 1911, the Revelstoke newspaper, The Mail-Herald announced that the suffragette movement in B.C. had sent letters to several Revelstoke women, asking for their support of the Vancouver Political Equality League. The president of the movement was Mrs. Lashley Hall. The newspaper commented on the letter: “Whether this appeal will get any cordial response from the Revelstoke ladies is doubtful as the women here do not take any working interest in either municipal, provincial or federal politics.”

I’m not sure how the newspaper writer reached this conclusion, especially after reading an account just two months previously, where it was noted that although very few citizens turned out to hear the annual municipal financial statement, “A few ladies graced the boxes and the gallery and added an air of respectability to the meeting.” I took this to mean that the men present felt that they were unable to swear and cuss. It also indicated to me that although they were disenfranchised, they still had an interest in local affairs.

Women in 1911 certainly didn’t have the opportunities that we do 100 years later. Women who were trained in a profession such as nursing or teaching had to give up their jobs once they got married, as it was expected that running a house and raising children was the greatest job to which a woman could aspire. Women’s obituaries often left out the given name of the woman and instead referred to her as “Mrs. John Smith,” for example. Quite often, the accomplishments of the husband would be listed, with little or no mention of what the woman herself had done during her lifetime.

World War I shifted the role of women in a significant way, with more women entering the work force, and carrying on the community war effort. In Revelstoke, the Red Cross Society and the Women’s Canadian Club were instrumental in supporting the soldiers through preparing and sending care packages, and fundraising for the war effort. B.C. women gained the vote in 1917, while women won the right to vote in federal elections in 1918. Locally, Mrs. Isabel Coursier became the first woman to be enter politics, becoming the first woman on the Revelstoke School Board in 1919. A few years later, her daughter, also named Isabel, was making a name for herself as the women’s ski-jumping champion. This photograph shows Miss Isabel Coursier around 1922.

King George VI in Revelstoke

2011-02-04T14:37:00.000-08:00

King George VI in Revelstoke

Starting tonight, the movie The King’s Speech will begin playing at the Roxy Theatre in Revelstoke. I’m looking forward to seeing it. The movie focuses on King George VI and the way in which he overcame his stammer. King George VI made two visits to Revelstoke, one in 1927 as Duke of York, and then as king in 1939.

In August of 1927, the Duke of York was travelling with his older brother Edward, who was the Prince of Wales and the heir to the throne. Edward had made a previous trip to Revelstoke in 1919, when he unveiled a plaque to the fallen soldiers of the First World War, and a cairn part-way up Mount Revelstoke. When it was discovered that the two princes would be travelling through Revelstoke in1927, it was arranged to have them stop and officially open the newly completed road to the summit of Mount Revelstoke.

Before the opening ceremony, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, and Prince Albert, Duke of York, inspected a line-up of over 60 returned soldiers. The Revelstoke Review of August 17, 1927 reported, “Both Princes shook hands with the veterans, asking each the name of his war-time unit. Prince George, due to an injury to his right hand occasioned by too much hand-shaking in the east, used his left hand when gripping the hands of the returned men.”

In December of 1936, Albert became King George VI when his brother Edward abdicated to marry the twice-divorced Wallis Simpson. In 1939, just prior to the outbreak of World War II, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later to be known as the Queen Mother) toured many of the colonies, including a cross-country tour of Canada. When their train pulled into Revelstoke at the end of May in 1939, over 9,000 people were in attendance, having waited for hours in the pouring rain. The Royal Tour was a major event for the people of Canada, and the Revelstoke Review reported on the feelings of the citizens. “And it didn’t matter that the people were drenched to the skin after several hours in an unprecedented downpour of rain. It was merely incidental that new hats and other finery were ruined and it made to difference to the playing of the National Anthem that the fifty odd bandsmen sputtered water after every note. Indeed, what did it matter. The King and Queen had come.”

Mary Jobe Akeley

2011-01-14T15:46:00.000-08:00

Our new publication, "Reflections - 4 Decades of Photographs by Earle and Estelle Dickey" features approximately 100 images taken by this local couple. Their photography and research have helped to preserve so much of our local history.

One of my favourite photographs is on page 125. It shows Mary Jobe Akeley at Kinbasket Lake in September of 1937. This was a return trip for Mrs. Akeley, who first came to the area in 1905, as a young unmarried woman. She was with a botanical party from a college in Philadelphia who were here to collect plant specimens. The group camped on the Big Bend road, then just a rough trail, and spent some time in Ground Hog Basin. During that trip, Mary and others made a ten-day trip into the Selkirks from the Big Bend. She spent time at Glacier House, before going on to Banff, where she went on more climbs.

Mary Jobe was born in Ohio in 1878. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy in 1897, and received her master’s degree in English and American History from Columbia University in 1909. Mary came back to the Selkirks in 1909, to join an expedition to the headwaters of the Gold River. She and fellow climber Bess McCarthy joined the expedition of Professor Hershel C. Parker (head of physics department at Columbia University) and Howard Palmer (a lawyer from Connecticut) who were heading the expedition for the Dominion Topographical Survey. As a result of this expedition, Palmer produced a 1915 Reconnaisance Map of the Big Bend.

During the expedition, Mary climbed Mount Sir Sandford. An account in the New York Times of September 25, 1909 gave details of her ascent. "Miss Mary L. Jobe, an instructor in history at the Normal College of this city, and in her student days an athletic Bryn Mawr girl, was a member of the recent Canadian Topographical Survey expedition exploring in the Big Bend of the Columbia at Mt. Sir Sandford, British Columbia, the highest of the Selkirks. The party traveled over uncharted rivers, cut through a primeval forest and explored dangerous glacier-clad mountains, bringing back scientific data and a picture history of a region never before penetrated by white men. While admitting that the trip was strenuous, Miss Jobe says that it was altogether delightful, and that she never felt overtaxed even after a twelve hours climb. She says it is not too difficult for any woman of courage used to outdoor sports and exercise."

Mary made other climbs in the Selkirks and Rockies, and Mount Jobe in the Rockies is named after her.

In 1924, Mary Jobe married Carl Akeley, explorer, scientist, sculptor and taxidermist. Carl Akeley was the African specialist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, collecting and exploring in Africa on behalf of the museum. Carl died of a tropical disease in the Belgian Congo two years after their marriage, and Mary succeeded him as adviser in the development of the African Hall of the museum, later renamed the Akeley African Hall. She held this position until 1938. The recent movie, "Night at the Museum" takes places in the American Museum of Natural History, and the African gallery shown in the movie is modelled after the Akeley African Hall.

In September of 1937, Mary Jobe Akeley returned to this area. In company with Miss Shella Dickey, (sister of Earle), she made a trip up the Big Bend Highway as far as Goldstream, camping overnight at Downie Creek. She rediscovered several spots which she had first visited in 1905, when she made the trip on foot and with pack-horse. Mrs. Akeley reminisced about her 1905 visit, recalling how she had walked from Revelstoke to the Ground Hog Basin, where the expedition leader, Dr. Charles Shaw, had his scientific camp.

During the 1937 trip, Mary Jobe Akeley, Shella Dickey, George Merkel and Earle Dickey travelled to Donald by train, from which point they went by car to Boat Encampment, Canoe River and other places on the east leg of the Big Bend Highway. It was during this trip that this photograph was taken.

Pioneer Revelstoke Brewer, Oliver Henry Allen

2010-12-30T13:16:00.000-08:00

It looks as though one of my resolutions for 2011 should be to update the Museum blog more frequently! Sometimes the hardest part is trying to decide what to write about. I did have some requests last year to tell stories of some of our pioneer families, so I'll start there.

Seeing that we are very close to New Year's Eve, it's not hard to make a connection with the history of beer breweries in Revelstoke. For many years, Revelstoke was associated with brewing, and in fact when we purchased the latest version of the Encyclopedia Britannica in the early 1980s, the listing for Revelstoke focused on the presence of breweries. That was interesting, because at the time, there were no breweries in Revelstoke. The longest-running brewery, Enterprise Brewery, had shut down in the 1950s. The gap has now been nicely filled with the award-winning Mount Begbie Brewing Company.

The history of brewing in Revelstoke goes back to 1890, when Oliver Henry Allen came to Revelstoke. Allen came from Toronto, where his father was a brewer. Oliver Henry Allen became a lieutenant in the Canadian militia and was sent to the Riel Rebellion in 1885. In Regina, he met Mary McLean, originally from Kirkfield, Ontario, who was working at the Regina Star newspaper as the editorial writer. Oliver and Mary were eventually married, and in 1889 they came to Revelstoke. O.H. Allen erected a brewery at the base of Mount Revelstoke in the summer of 1890, in partnership with Thomas Righton. They used the water from nearby Brewery Creek to make their beer. In 1891, O.H. Allen left the partnership and built a new brewery approximately where the east abutment of the present Trans Canada Highway bridge is now. The Kootenay Mail newspaper of December 1, 1894 described the brewery as "...the largest of its kind in the Kootenay country. The buildings now present the appearance of a small village. There have recently been added to the lager beer brewery, a new ice house, with the capacity of 150 tons. The cellar is built entirely of stone, as are all the foundations of other buildings...the lager beer output is rapidly increasing and eastern and western brewers pronounce it as good as can be obtained anywhere."

The Allen brewery ceased operations in 1900, but Allen again went into business in 1903, in partnership with William Johnson, when they opened the Revelstoke Brewery, at the corner of Campbell Avenue and Fourth Street.

Oliver Henry Allen and his wife Mary had six children: Emma, Thomas, Marie, Dalton, Marjory and Jack. O.H. Allen died in Revelstoke in 1928, and Mary died in 1944. They are both buried in Revelstoke's Mountain View Cemetery.

November 7th and November 11th - What's the connection?

2010-11-08T16:39:00.000-08:00

Sunday, November 7 was the 125th Anniversary of the Driving of the Last Spike to complete the Canadian Pacific Railway. I was privileged to ride the train to Craigellachie for the commemorative ceremony. As we arrived at the Railway Museum to board the train we were met by two members of Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) Regiment in dress uniform.

Donald Smith, who drove the last spike to complete the transcontinental railway, was soon after given the title of Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal. In January of 1900, he offered to raise and equip a mounted regiment at his own expense to serve in the Boer War in South Africa. The reigiment was under the command of Sam Steele, the well-known early superintendent of the North-West Mounted Police. A sergeant in Lord Strathcona's Horse serving in South Africa was the first Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross. In 1909, the Regiment was reformed and named Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) and is still an active Regiment.

The significance of the presence of Lord Strathcona’s Horse at the ceremony yesterday made me think about the connection between the driving of the last spike, and Canada’s involvement in the Boer War, and World Wars I and II. It was the transcontinental railway that made it possible to move troops across Canada for active service overseas. The railway transported the thousands of parcels to the men overseas, including literally hundreds of pairs of socks knitted by the women of Revelstoke. Numerous photographs show troops coming and going from the station at Revelstoke, often with large crowds of residents and schoolchildren cheering them on their way.

One of Revelstoke’s casualties during World War I was Thomas Lewis, a long-time resident of Revelstoke. He came to Revelstoke in the late 1880s with his parents and siblings. He worked as a dairy farmer and teamster and in 1900 enlisted with Lord Strathcona’s Horse and served in South Africa. During World War I, he again enlisted for overseas service at the age of 43, making the difficult decision to leave his aging parents to serve his country. He was popular among the younger men, who saw him as a father figure. In a letter home to his parents, he wrote, “I know you would be glad that I am doing my duty, which as yet I have not failed in…Life or deathis not in our hands, but the manner of living or dying is.” Tom Lewis was killed in action on August 21, 1917, and at the age of 45, was Revelstoke’s oldest casualty.

As we approach Remembrance Day, we remember the 107 men from Revelstoke and district who died during World War I, and the 32 men who died during World War II.

The Farwell Police War

2010-10-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

Brown Bag History is back for the fall at Revelstoke Museum and Archives. The series kicked off yesterday with a talk on the Farwell Police War, an interesting story going back 125 years to the beginnings of our community. Surveyor Arthur Stanhope Farwell applied for a provincial grant here and established a townsite, with the main business street on Front Street, next to the Columbia River. The town grew quickly, with Canadian Pacific Railway workers, entrepreneurs and miners flooding into the area. By the summer of 1885, it was estimated that there were over 6,000 people in the new townsite.

Several businessmen were opening hotels and saloons in the new community, and were eager to acquire liquor licenses. The provincial government, represented locally by Magistrate Gilbert Malcolm Sproat and Provincial Police Constable Jack Kirkup, was issuing licences and allowing for the sale of alcohol at licensed establishments. The problem arose because there was a prohibition on liquor sales in the railway construction belt, and this law was being enforced by the North-West Mounted Police, with their barracks at the top of Douglas Street hill. The legendary Colonel Sam Steele was in charge at the Farwell barracks, but in the spring of 1885 he was called away to the Riel Rebellion, leaving behind a less-experienced man, George Hope Johnston, and a staff of untrained special constables.

Johnston's federal constables were confiscating liquor from provincially licensed sellers without warrants, and as a result, one of the constables, Mr. Roddick, was brought before Provincial Magistrate Sproat on a charge of larceny. Roddick flouted the authority of Sproat and left the court without bail and without permission. Sproat then sent two constables to pick up Roddick, but they were assaulted by Johnston and his men. One of the constables escaped, and the other was thrown into the NWMP barracks jail. Sproat sent another provincial constable, John Miles, to re-arrest Roddick, but he was also assaulted and thrown into jail.

By this time, Sproat had had enough. He sent a large group of men to arrest Johnston and his staff. Once Johnston appeared before Sproat, he saw that he had no choice but to let the provincial constables out of the barracks jail. Johnston was charged with assault of a police officer and let out of jail. In the meantime, the rest of Johnston's special constables fled local jurisdiction, some of them even going to the states. The Daily Colonist newspaper at Victoria as good as accused the 'special constables' of stealing the liquor from the licensed establishments and selling it themselves.

The situation was finally resolved at the end of September 1885 when Johnston appeared before Magistrate Sproat and Colonel McLeod (of Fort McLeod fame). Johnston was convinced to plead guilty and make submission, after which Sproat could charge him with a lesser charge of common assault and let him off with a fine, as opposed to up to 6 months of hard labour. Johnston's actions were put down to lack of experience and bad legal advice. The North-West Mounted Police barracks remained active in Farwell until early in 1866, but there seemed to be an agreement that the federal police would only go after unlicensed liquor sellers, of which there were many.

Commemorating the 1910 Rogers Pass Snowslide

2010-08-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

On March 4, 1910, a crew was working to clear the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline at Rogers Pass after a slide came off of Cheops Mountain, burying the line and stopping a passenger train east of the summit. Just before midnight, John Anderson, the roadmaster in charge of the clearing operations, went to the nearest phone to call Revelstoke to say that the line would soon be cleared. When he returned, he was met with an eerie silence. The crew had been buried under a second avalanche that came down from Avalanche Mountain. 58 men died, including John's younger brother Charles. Included in the crew were 32 Japanese laborers, all contract workers with the Canadian Nippon Supply Company, and men from Canada, Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark and Ukraine.

One hundred years later, this event is being commemorated in a number of ways. On the exact 100th anniversary, a community commemoration service was held in Grizzly Plaza in downtown Revelstoke. Buddhist and Christian services were held, along with reflections from relatives of John and Charles Anderson, and the Yamaji family of Japan, who had two ancestors lost in the slide. The plaza was decorated with over 10,000 origami cranes, folded by people from Revelstoke and beyond to carry the wish that should a tragedy would never happen again. The commemoration continued this past week with a ceremony at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver where all 32 Japanese men and two Caucasian men are buried. Back in Revelstoke, the Revelstoke Railway Museum opened an exhibit on the snowslide itself and on the railway's response to that slide and others over the years. On August 14th, Revelstoke Museum and Archives opened an exhibit on the slide entitled, "Overwhelmed" which looks at the lives of the men who died and on the families and community who were left to mourn.

The commemorative events culminated in Rogers Pass National Historic Site on August 15, which is a significant day of remembrance of the dead in Japan. Coincidentally, it was also the day, 125 years ago, that the rails reached Rogers Pass during the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Parks Canada unveiled a beautiful memory garden, designed by the brilliant Rob Buchanan, honouring many aspects of the history of the Pass, including the victims of the 1910 snowslide and other tragic events. At the ceremony, we again remembered the dead, and again relatives of John and Charles Anderson were present, along with relatives of four of the Japanese victims. Many of the families had not known the fate of their relatives or their final resting places until Tomoaki Fujimura of Revelstoke was able to locate them in Japan and provide them with this information. It was thanks to Tomo's efforts that the families were able to come to Canada to pay their respects to their ancestors and to honour their memories.

A poignant feature of the services in March and August was the performance of the song, "The Ballad of William LaChance" by singer and songwriter Saskia Overbeek, accompanied by Darrel Delaronde. The haunting refrain, "and the headlines read, 58 dead," brought home the impact of the slide and helped all those present to remember them.

The day's events ended back in Revelstoke in the evening, when 58 small "spirit boats" were released into the Columbia River, each one bearing the name of one of the victims. A haunting melody, played by a flautist on the river bank, helped us to meditate on the events of 100 years ago, and how they continue to resonate now. Through my research on the snowslide and the people involved, I feel as though I have come to know them, and I truly felt that we were setting their spirits free and honouring them as they deserved.

Reflections - The Photographs of Earle and Estelle Dickey

2010-07-21T11:48:00.001-07:00

Revelstoke Museum and Archives is currently working on a book featuring the photographs of Earle and Estelle Dickey. For over 40 years, Earle and Estelle recorded a great deal of the history of Revelstoke and the surrounding district through their photographs. Earle was born in Revelstoke in 1893 and worked as an electrical superintendent for the city. Estelle came to Revelstoke in 1916 as a clerk for the C.B. Hume Department Store and married Earle in 1920. Earle was active as the publicity chairman for the Board of Trade and many of his photographs were used to promote the city. Prior to his death in 1954, Earle took all of the photographs and Estelle developed them in her home darkroom. Estelle also learned the art of hand-colouring Earle's black and white photographs and they sold many of their coloured works. After Earle's death, Estelle took over as a photographer. As well as capturing many of the people, places and events of Revelstoke and district, she also worked as a commercial photographer. Estelle passed away in 1980.

Earle and Estelle's family donated the bulk of their collection of images to Revelstoke Museum and Archives, and each image has been catalogued and scanned. The entire collection of negatives, 1-inch slides, 2-inch slides and prints comprises over 1,500 images. Our "Book Committee" has spent hours going through the collection and selecting about 100 to be included in the book. We are now completing the text and captions and hope to get the book to the printer next week. We are anticapting that the book will be ready for sale for October and we are planning a book launch, with details to be announced in the future. We are very pleased to have received funding for this project from the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance. We are excited about the upcoming launch of the book.

Why I Love My Job

2010-06-25T18:43:00.000-07:00

My long to-do list didn't get dealt with today, but a lot of lovely things happened that made it a great day. To start with, we had a visit from a couple who donated some artifacts from the 1950s, including a child's tea set in perfect condition. It was donated by the woman who owned it as a child, and it was in its original box. The china tea set was made in Occupied Japan, which makes it even more interesting. She also donated a few other things, including Better Homes and Gardens magazines from 1944 and 1956.

Then the mail arrived, and with it, a package from Eugenia Howson Brown of California, who was born in Revelstoke in the 1920s to Len and Irene Howson. Len was one of the first children born in Revelstoke, in 1890. Len's home and his parents' home (now Minto Manor) are two of the very fine heritage homes on Mackenzie Avenue in Revelstoke. Eugenia sent her mother's and her grandmother's visiting purses - small sterling silver purses in which they put their visiting cards. When they went to visit a friend, they would present one of their cards. Also included was a Visiting Book, in which Mrs. Irene Howson recorded the days on which each of her friends received guests. These are great artifacts representing the social history of the community.

Later this afternoon, we were holding a birthday party for a seven-year-old girl and her friends. I was just beginning a tour for the children when I was asked to help a visitor. I turned the tour over to our capable summer student, Andrew, and went to assist the visitor. She was visiting from California and was looking for information on her great-uncle, who lived in Revelstoke until his death in 1948. After checking on the internet, we discovered that her great-uncle's wife died in Revelstoke in 1988, and when we found the obituary in the newspaper, I recognized the name of the daughter. The daughter and her husband still live in town, so I gave them a call, and discovered that they were having their 55th Wedding Anniversary party at that very moment! They were delighted to hear from their new relative, and immediately invited her to the party. The visitor from California was absolutely thrilled, and quickly went off to visit her new-found family!

Multicultural Heritage Picnic - Event Schedule

2010-06-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

Multicultural Heritage Picnic in the Park

Sunday 27 June 2010, 11 am to 3 pm

Farwell Park, 1^st Street West (opposite Okanagan College)

EVENT SCHEDULE

11 am
Bike decorating contest judging
Music from Steve Smith
Craft making and kids' activities (all day)

11.30am
Mayor David Raven opens event
Winner of bike decorating contest announced

11.45am
Jannica's Drum Song Welcome &
Métis Jigging performance

12.45pm
Egg & spoon, sack and three-legged races (for kids aged 5 - 12 yrs)

1.00pm
Music from Steve Smith

2.00pm
Best dressed heritage costume winners announced

2.00pm
Storytelling for kids:

Moosham George
Stories from the early days of the railway Traditional First Nations' stories

Cathy English
Once upon a time in Farwell...

3.00 pm
Tour of Farwell with Cathy English

Summer Heritage Tours

2010-06-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

Here is the schedule for our Heritage Tours for this summer.

Tuesday, June 29: Cemetery Tour: 7 PM Meet at the Cemetery Gates
Thursday, July 8: Farwell Tour: 7 PM Meet at Farwell Park
Thursday, July 22: Cemetery Tour: 7 PM Meet at the Cemetery Gates
Tuesday, July 27: Downtown Tour: 2 PM Meet at the Museum
Wed, August 4: Farwell Tour: 7 PM Meet at Farwell Park
Monday, August 16: Farwell Tour: 7 PM Meet at Farwell Park
Tuesday, August 17: Cemetery Tour: 7 PM Meet at the Cemetery Gates

Cost per person for each tour is $5.00. We can also do tours for groups on request. Get together a group of 6 or more people and give me a call to arrange for a tour of your choice. For more information, contact the museum at 250-837-3067 or email us at revelstokemuseum@telus.net

Farwell Townsite - 125 Years of History

2010-06-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

Join us in Farwell Park on Sunday, June 27th from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm as we celebrate Canadian Multiculturalism Day and the 125th Anniversary of the Farwell Townsite. We will have a variety of entertainment, food, and fun, including a bike decorating contest, and a contest for the best heritage costume (whatever your heritage may be!) We'll post the schedule here soon.

The establishment of the Farwell townsite in 1885 marks the beginning of our community's history.
In 1885, surveyor A.S. Farwell filed the map of his Farwell townsite, with Front Street as the main commercial area. The quickly growing frontier construction town was nestled along the riverbank next to where the first railway bridge was constructed. Farwell had applied for a provincial land grant in this area knowing that the Canadian Pacific Railway company would construct their line through Rogers Pass. He planned to sell his land to the company for their station and yards. The CPR disputed Farwell’s claim and refused to deal with him. They located their local operations to the east of Farwell’s land and began selling lots in what was known as Revelstoke Station, named after Lord Revelstoke, a British financier who had bought sufficient shares in the struggling railway company to allow them to complete the line.

Revelstoke quickly overshadowed Farwell as more and more businesses relocated close to the station. By the 1920s, the general stores and the large hotels were gone. A sawmill and shingle mill dominated the street in the 1940s and 1950s, but before long the street became wholly residential, with very few of the original buildings remaining. Join with us as we celebrate this important part of our heritage.

The Queen's Birthday

2010-05-21T11:47:00.000-07:00

Make sure to do something special on May 24th to celebrate the birthday of Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901. The early residents of Revelstoke always made the Queen's Birthday a reason for a fun community celebration.

The Kootenay Star of May 30, 1891 reported on a picnic held by the Independent Order of Grand Templars to celebrate the 72nd Birthday of Queen Victoria. They held the picnic on the banks of the Illecillewaet River, and arranged for horse-drawn buses to transport those who attended. The paper reported that "Queen’s Weather’ prevailed, the day being bright and warm, with probably an accent on warm.” Swings were set up in the trees, and baseball and other games were held. Ten women participated in the ladies' race, with Mrs. Coursier coming in first. Mrs. Coursier daughter, Isabel, later became the world champion women's ski jumper.

One of the highlights of the picnic was a tug of war between the men and the women. As the newspaper reported, “It remained, however, for the ladies to humble them in the dust, and this they did with the grace of polished dissemblers. Seven of the stronger sex thought they had a soft thing to outpull fourteen of the ladies. The pull began and thirteen ladies looked anxiously toward their Captain at the end of the line. She was equal to the occasion and puckered her lips to whistle. That was all that was necessary, and the twenty-eight fair hands let go as one, and seven men rolled over in the dust amid the derisive cheers of the assembled crowd.”

The crowd then enjoyed their picnic supper, "...after which the picnicers wended their way homeward, evidently pretty tired but serenely satisfied with the days outing.”

However you celebrate the Queen's Birthday, I hope that you have a lovely day. The museum will be open this Saturday, May 22nd but closed on the 23rd and 24th.

JD Sibbald

2010-04-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

We have had some recent requests from family members of Revelstoke pioneers to do profiles of them on our blog and Facebook page. In the first of these, I will give a brief history of John Drinkwater Sibbald, a Revelstoke pioneer who arrived here in 1893, coming originally from the Lake Simcoe area of Ontario, where he was born in 1846. He settled for a short time in California, then moved to Yuma, Arizona, where he became involved in mining interests. In 1882, he returned to Canada, settling in Regina, where he was manager of the Western Milling Company. J.D. Sibbald moved to Revelstoke in 1893, starting in the flour and feed business, but soon gave this up to pursue mining interests, and to open an insurance and real estate office. He organized and was the first president of the Revelstoke Board of Trade in 1895. This organization still exists, under the current name of Revelstoke Chamber of Commerce.

In December of 1897, Sibbald was appointed as Gold Commissioner and Government Agent for the Revelstoke district. This was a political appointment, and when the provincial government changed in January of 1899, he was asked to resign. This created outrage among his supporters in Revelstoke, although the two local newspapers took opposing sides. The Revelstoke Herald supported Sibbald, and in their issue of January 14, 1899, they led with this headline: “The Sibbald Outrage – The Dismissal of J.D. Sibbald Characterized as Un-British, Unjust and Cruel – The Reason That the Position Was Wanted by a Friend of the Government is an Aggravation of the Wrong.” The opposing newspaper, The Kootenay Mail, published statements that caused J.D. Sibbald to sue them for libel, but the case was dismissed.

J.D. Sibbald met with a serious accident in 1904, when he was inspecting mining property at McCullough Creek, north of Revelstoke. A large rock came loose from the hillside above where Sibbald was standing, and it struck him in the back of the head, fracturing his skull and rendering him unconscious. A mining packer made the 75 mile trip to Revelstoke in a very fast 10 and ½ hours and early the next morning, Doctor Graham and Mrs. Sibbald set out on the S.S. Revelstoke, reaching the scene of the accident that afternoon. The next morning, they were able to bring Mr. Sibbald into Revelstoke where he was admitted to the hospital. The return trip took over 14 hours. Mr. Sibbald remained in the hospital for over two weeks.

Mrs. Amelia Sibbald was also very active in the community and was the first president of the Women’s Canadian Club of Revelstoke when it formed in 1913. This organization was very active in supporting the troops during World War I. The Sibbalds had two children: J.D. Sibbald, Jr., and Mrs. Kathleen Lloyd.

Mr. and Mrs. Sibbald returned to the family home in Ontario in 1919, where J.D. Sibbald died on September 19, 1923. The museum has more information on the family and would be pleased to provide this to anyone who is interested.

The Art of Embroidery

2010-03-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, we will be holding a "Learn to Embroider" class at Revelstoke Museum as the first in our Pioneer Living Series. This new series is a part of our celebration of the125th Anniversary of the Farwell townsite.

As well as the opportunity to learn embroidery, we will be showing some examples of the craft. We will have some very beautiful embroidery work on display, including a few pieces done by Fred Maunder.

Fred Maunder was born in Ontario in 1876. He attended college, where he became a schoolteacher. He later became a Canadian Pacific Railway locomotive engineer. In 1907, he married Mable Cora Perrin, and she joined Fred in Field, B.C. In 1913, Fred became superintendent of Yoho and Glacier National Parks, and in 1914, when Mount Revelstoke National Park was created, he became the first superintendent of the new park.

In 1916, Fred Maunder signed up for overseas service, at the age of 40. He saw active service, and suffered shell shock and the effects of gassing. He was sent to recuperate in Oxford, England, and it was there that he learned to embroider, taught as a form of occupational therapy. He was soon creating beautiful embroidered pieces, and some of his work was displayed in the Hudson’s Bay store in Vancouver.

Upon his return to Canada, Fred Maunder resumed his work as Parks Superintendent until 1926, when he moved his family to Banff. Fred died there in 1929, after a bug bite in his eye became infected.

Fred Maunder’s daughter Marjorie married Alf Olsson in 1939, and Fred, John, Gordon and Larry Olsson are all grandsons of Fred Maunder. We thank the family for loaning Fred’s work for display.

Anyone interested in the embroidery workshop can call the museum at 250-837-3067.

Hall's Landing/Sidmouth

2010-03-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

This week, we had a "Memories of Sidmouth" evening at the museum. We invited people who grew up in the Hall's Landing and Sidmouth areas, south of Revelstoke, to share their stories. One local resident had several stories written by former residents of the area. One of them was a story written in the 1970s by Walter M. Girling. He told of his family's move to Hall's Landing in 1912, when his father secured the job of teacher at the one-room school. The family had previously been living at Nakusp. Walter Girling tells of their coming to Hall's Landing:

"I remember my father saying that the advertisement for a teacher at Hall’s Landing asked for a man with several children of school age who were needed to bring the enrollment up sufficiently high to prevent the government from closing the school. There were 4 of us of school age at the time. My 2 older brothers Moray and Charlie and my older sister, Louise and myself, age 8. My father went ahead of us to be on hand for the opening of the school term. We did not follow him until about the end of October where Noah and Dove Hall and Noah’s wife came down to Nakusp to get us in a small steam wood-burning paddle boat called the “Beaver” which was operated under government sponsorship for the Hall’s Landing people from Arrowhead on the other side of the Columbia River. I was very surprised and impressed to see Mrs. Hall acting as “captain” and steering the boat part of the way. The night we arrived, it snowed. The first snowfall of the season, but we did not see the ground again until the end of March or early April.

"Mrs. Noah Hall put us up the first night and I remember looking out the first morning and seeing a number of cows pulling hay out of a haystack as their pastures were covered with snow. Later we moved into a 2-story log house about 1/2 mile north of the Ferry Landing.
Shortly after that we moved to a house on the opposite side of Cranberry Creek from the school. This house had been owed by an English family who had wearied of pioneering in Canada and returned to England. This was a very badly built house. The walls were full of cracks. The winter was very cold-- often down to 20° below zero-- and we had to rely on stoves for heat. These burned out during the night and we awake every morning to find the water frozen to ice on the wash basin and water pails. Milk was also frozen and the bread glistened with frost. There was no wood supply and my father and 2 brothers spent all their spare time after school and on the weekends, cutting firewood in the foothills and dragging it home on a sleigh. Fortunately green birch wood burns fairly well.

"My brother had located an abandoned preemption consisting of about 100 acres on the bank of the Columbia River almost opposite Arrowhead, with a small building on it ("The shack," we called it). My father filed a claim on this property and as soon as the snow was melted sufficiently, he laid out a site for a small house and excavated by hand with a shovel, a hole for the “cellar.” As soon as things were ready, the neighbors organized a “bee” and erected the frame of the house. A man named “Nichol” an eager proud axe man, squared up some cedar logs for the joist. This I believe is probably a lost art in this mechanical age. We lived in this house till December 1914, where we left to join my father at another school where he was teaching at Balfour, B.C.

"Some incidents which occurred during our residence at Hall’s Landing may be of interest. My parents were always devoted church members and one Sunday evening during January or February when we were living in the Wymess house, they and my older brother, Moray, set out to attend evening service at the church in Arrowhead. They were re-crossing the river in a rowboat when the broke an oar lock and they found themselves stranded helplessly on the middle of the river. The boat was caught in an ice floe and they were carried down to the head of the lake where they managed to land on Cottonwood Island. There they “hallooed” until they attracted the attention of someone on the shore at Arrowhead. And a very harsh voice shouted “Go into the bush and make a fire and get yourselves warm.” Help came and they spent the night in Arrowhead, returning home next morning. We younger children went to bed and slept unconcerned, but my brother Charlie and sister Louise spent a very worried night.

"The first school I attended at Hall’s Landing was in a little log cabin, so tiny that my desk was so close to the teacher’s desk that I could reach out and touch it. Slate pencils squeaking on slates were the bane of the teacher in those days. Our family owned the Hall’s Landing property up to about 6 years ago (mid 1960s) when it was sold to the Provincial Government because it was going to be flooded.

"During the 2nd World War, birch trees growing on the property were bought by the Dept of National Defense to use in airplane manufacturing but most of the revenue from this was taken by the government to pay arrears of taxes, Some of the people I went to school with were; Byron Bessie and Grace Frusster, Alee and Jean Shannon, Oscar and Evertt Petersen, Nelson Nichol and Lawrence Vigue."

We would be very happy to hear of any other stories from families who settled in this region.

Tournament of Champions

2010-02-17T16:55:00.000-08:00

We've been doing so many things at the Museum lately that it was hard to decide what to blog about. I'll go back to last week's Brown Bag History topic: Tournament of Champions. This was the name given by the Revelstoke Ski Club to the international ski-jumping tournaments that they held on Mount Revelstoke from 1950 to 1974. Ski-jumping had been an important winter sport in Revelstoke since 1915, with several Canadian and World Records established on the local jump. In 1948 the hill was rebuilt to meet FIS (International Ski Federation) specifications. The hill was classified as an 80 meter jump which was the largest that the FIS recognized for world competition at the time.

In 1949, plans were underway for the Tournament of Champions, and excitement grew when it was confirmed that several jumpers from the Norwegian Jumping Team would compete at the Revelstoke Tournament. The date was set for January 29th, 1950, just a few days before the team was scheduled to compete at Lake Placid, New York. The local club was hard at work, and had about 40 volunteers lined up for the various jobs involved in hosting the event. One week before the event was scheduled to take place, the local organizers got word that the Norwegian team would not be able to come for January 29th. They suggested an alternate date of February 11th and 12th. The Revelstoke Ski Club moved ahead with the new plan and quickly got everything in place for the big event. The event was a huge success, and the Norwegians were certainly popular in town. On the first evening, a dance was scheduled for 9:30, and the Norwegian team showed up right on time, only to discover that no-one in Revelstoke would ever show up for a dance that early. They amused themselves playing the orchestra's instruments, until the rest of the population showed up. One of the jumpers, Arnfinn Bergmann, married a Revelstoke woman, and came back to Revelstoke in 1951 where he helped to train the younger jumpers. Bergmann was acclaimed as a jumper with flawless style, who could make jumps of up to 266 feet.

In 1951, the Canadian Olympic Trials were held in Revelstoke, along with an International meet called the Diamond Jubilee Ski Jumping Tournament, celebrating 60 years of skiing in Revelstoke. For 1952, the name reverted back to Tournament of Champions. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was still a lot of enthusiasm for ski-jumping, and competitors were coming from Norway, Sweden, Japan, Italy and Germany. In 1959, a young Japanese jumper, Yasuhi Sugiyama was a hit at the concert held as part of the event, when he sang, "Love Me Tender" in perfect English.

By 1974, ski-jumping was waning in popularity, and the local club was finding that they were putting more effort into grooming the hill than into developing new skiiers. The last large tournament held in Revelstoke was the Western Canadian Ski Jumping Tournament held in February of 1974.

Mattie Gunterman

2010-01-30T12:11:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday, I spoke about Mattie Gunterman at Brown Bag History. Mattie was a truly remarkable woman who lived in Beaton, south of Revelstoke from the late 1890s until her death in 1945. She grew up in Wisconsin, then travelled to Seattle, Washingon at the age of 17. She married William Gunterman in 1891 and their son Henry was born in 1892. Mattie wanted to leave the damp climate of Seattle to ease her worsening lung condition, so the family decided to visit Mattie's cousin in the small mining community of Thomson's Landing, later known as Beaton. William and Mattie, along with 6-year-old Henry and their dog Nero, walked a total of 600 miles, with Will looking for work in sawmills along the way. They arrived in Beaton in June of 1898 and decided to settle there.

Mattie had learned photography from an uncle back in Wisconsin, then received further lessons from Will's brother-in-law, including the art of developing of her own photographs from her glass slide negatives. She began chronicling the life of her family through her photographs, and continued to develop her photographic skills when the family settled in Beaton. Will found work in area logging camps, and Mattie and Henry often went along, with Mattie and Will soon becoming popular camp cooks. Mattie's photographs portray her love of the outdoors, and her connection to her chosen community on the Upper Arrow Lake. Mattie loved to appear in her own photographs, and developed a method for doing this. She used a long piece of rubber tubing attached to her camera’s pneumatic shutter at one end with a rubber bulb at the other. By squeezing with the hand or stepping on the bulb, the shutter would be released and an exposure made at any distance within the tube’s length of the camera.

Will's original occupation in Seattle had been as a candymaker, and he practiced his art in Beaton, providing candy for all of the local children at Christmas time. He shared his skills with Horace Manning of Revelstoke, and provided Manning with the recipe for the famous Manning's Broadway chocolates. Will had not originally been too pleased to be relocating to the isolated community of Beaton, but he did so knowing that Mattie was delighted with the semi-wilderness of the area, and that her health improved greatly in the new environment.

Henry Gunterman stayed in Beaton for most of his life, and raised his family there as well. In 1961, he was visited by Ron D'Altroy of the Historic Photographs divsion of the Vancouver Public Library. Henry helped Ron look for his mother's glass negatives in an old woodshed, and they found them in a box covered with packrat droppings. Henry donated the photographs to the Vancouver Public Library, where they were carefully cleaned and catalogued. The collection is still available at the VPL and many of the photographs were reproduced in the book "Flapjacks and Photographs" by Henri Robideau. You can view the photographs on the Vancouver Public Library website: http://www3.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca/spe/histphotos/

SS Minto

2010-01-14T12:46:00.000-08:00

The Brown Bag History talk yesterday was on the S.S. Minto, a paddlewheel steamer that was part of the Canadian Pacific Railway's Inland fleet. The S.S. Minto operated on the Arrow Lakes between Arrowhead and West Robson from 1898 to 1954 and there are still plenty of people around who fondly remember travelling on her.

Otto Estabrooks, captain of the S.S. Minto in 1947 told some of his adventures to E.L. Affleck, author of "Sternwheelers, Sandbars, and Switchbacks" As Estabrooks remembered, “My own major brush with an eddy occurred many years later on the MINTO, in the narrows between the two lakes. With the stern caught in an eddy and the bow in a fast running current, both pressing hard in opposite directions the boat turned with breathless speed to crash against the sharp rocks of a granite bluff opposite. Here destiny had provided a big log caught on the rocks against which the boat made a spectatular crash landing without doing any damage to the hull. Had the log not been there, I cannot say what would have happened, but one thing is certain, the boiler was too close to the contact point for comfort. That one never took liberties with steam boilers was a maxim.” Estabrooks had many other stories of his time as a steamboat captain in the interior of British Columbia.

The Canadian Pacific Railway finally made the decision to retire the S.S. Minto in 1954, after the boat had logged over 2,500,000 miles in its 56 years of operation. The last run of the Minto took place on April 23, 1954, and all of the staterooms were fully booked. One of the passengers was Mrs. Olive Maitland of Winnipeg, who had ridden on the maiden voyage of the Minto back in 1898. Residents all along the Upper and Lower Arrow Lakes came out to bid farewell to the Minto.

The Minto was sold to the city of Nakusp for $1, but they could not maintain it, and it was finally acquired by John Nelson of Galena Bay. He brought the Minto up to his property, but never had the money needed to get the sternwheeler navigational again. After John Nelson's death, the boat was towed into the middle of the lake and burned in August of 1968.

Plans for 2010

2010-01-05T11:21:00.001-08:00

We have lots of events and programs coming up for this year. To begin with, we are collecting stories on behalf of the Revelstoke Olympic Committee for the Revelstoke Torch Relay Story Contest. Submit a story of 1000 words or less on Winter Fun in Revelstoke, Past, Present or Future, and be eligible for cash prizes. Stories must be submitted to the museum at revelstokemuseum@telus.net by 5 pm, Monday, January 18th.

There are a few significant annivesaries in 2010. This year marks the 125th anniversary of the Farwell townsite, and the 125th anniversary of the Driving of the Last Spike. We will be holding a Farwell Tea on March 6th to begin our celebration of these events.

The Brown Bag History series commences on January 13th with a talk on the SS Minto, and we are adding a new program beginning January 20th. The "Memories" evenings will give everyone a chance to share their stories of the history of this region. The series will kick off on January 20th at 7 pm with "Memories of Arrowhead," led by former Arrowhead resident Sherrian Van Goor. Whether you lived there and have stories to share, or whether you just want to come to hear everyone else's stories, you are welcome.

100 years ago on March 4, 1910, Canada's largest avalanche disaster occurred at Rogers Pass when 58 men were killed. There will be a series of events this year marking this tragic event. Here is the schedule of events planned by the committee:
January 21, 2010: Avalanche safety awareness film night—Lessons from 1910, Revelstoke United Church at 7:30 pm.
March 4, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. 1910 Avalanche Memorial Service at Grizzly Plaza.
March 4, 2010 at Noon: Opening ceremony for a special exhibit on the history of avalanche safety in Canada at the Canadian Avalanche Centre.
August 13 – 22, 2010: Railway Days History Field Trips to Rogers Pass National Historic Site.
August 13, 2010: Opening ceremony for a special exhibit at the Revelstoke Railway Museum.
August 14, 2010: Opening ceremony for a special exhibit at the Revelstoke Museum & Archives.
August 15, 2010: Memorial Service at the site of the 1910 slide in Rogers Pass National Historic Site.

Call us at the museum at 250-837-3067 for any information on these events or to find out how you can get involved.

Christmas 100 years ago

2009-12-22T14:24:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of stories from Revelstoke Mail-Herald issues from December 1909.

December 15, 1909:
"Mrs. T. Kilpatrick, President of the Revelstoke branch of the BC Anti-Tuberculosis Society, just received usual supply of 2000 Christmas and New Year stamps issued by the Society. Sales will support indigent patients at Tranquille Sanitorium, Kamloops. Price is one cent per stamp. The idea originated, under royal patronage, and was developed by the National Red Cross Society during the Boer War. “It is felt that it will give pleasure to many when sending Christmas greetings to friends, to feel that they are at the same time contributing in a small way to a national cause.” Stamps available for sale in the drug stores and post office. “If the public as a whole buy these stamps, and attach them to their Christmas parcels, the idea of this, the chief festive season of the year, of good will, of charity and brotherly love, will be made doubly strong, and by giving pleasure to a friend, a great cause will be held and valuable lives saved that must otherwise be lost to the province."

I found it interesting that Christmas Seals had originated during the Boer War!

December 29, 1909:
"Christmas at the Edison: Management of Edison Parlor Theatre reports large houses on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and excellent programmes were provided on each occasion. The S.R.O. sign was conspicuous on Christmas night and the matinee that day was well attended. The picture illustrating whale fishing was particularly good and instructive, and the scenes in the Civil War of America showing “Brother against Brother” were stirring and realistic. Several high class comedies made up a good programme."

Didn't those people have Christmas dinners to go to?

However you are spending your holiday time, we at Revelstoke Museum and Archives hope that is a happy one for you. We wish all of you the very best for the coming year.

Masquerade Ball

2009-12-09T15:46:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday, December 8, 1909, the Revelstoke No. 1 Fire Brigade held their second annual Masquerade Ball at the Opera House on Second Street West. The Revelstoke Mail-Herald newspaper of December 11, 1909, said, "Seldom has there been witnessed such a gala scene as that portrayed in the elegantly decorated hall. Several new ideas in decorative schemes were carried out, the whole being tastefully lavish and artistic. Bunting and flags were used ad libitum while ropes of colored electric lamps gleaming like gigantic pearls among the gracefull festoons of variegated streamers gave a bright and flashy appearance to the hall. An enormous electric sign suspended over the stage bearing the letters 'R.F.B. No 1' caught the eye on entering the ballroom, while trophies of firemen's apparatus added to the business side of the fireman's calling."

The newspaper reported that over 90 couples in fancy dress were present, and began dancing after a Grand March headed by Fire Chief Charles Abrahamson. The reporter continues, "The conglomeration of color was seen to advantage in the many intricacies of the fascinating circle, the general effect being superb. It is safe to say that such an exhibition of art, taste and decorative skill and variety in the many new and original costumes worn, that mingled together blending in an ever changing kaleidoscopic galaxy, has rarely been witnessed in Revelstoke."

The music was supplied by Revelstoke's Independent Band, led by Richard Sawyer, and the Revelstoke Symphony Orchestra , dressed as pierrots, also provided several dance numbers.

Costumes were judged by all of the participants, and the winners were as follows:
Best Lady - Mrs. C. Holten, dressed as "Egypt". Prize: a garnet and gold sunburst brooch.
Best Gentleman - Mr. E.S. Butler, dressed as "Viking Chief". Prize: Briar pipe.
Best Comic - Guy Barber, dressed as "Babe". Prize: Silver Mounted Clock. (This is a little bit funny, as he was the local jeweller, and sold clocks in his store!)
Special - Mrs. T. Lawrence, dressed as "No. 1 Fire Brigade". (I'd love to have seen that costume!) Prize: Pair of Tiffany Glass Vases.

From the CPR Accident Files

2009-12-01T19:18:00.000-08:00

In the archives, we have about 40 file boxes full of Canadian Pacific Railway Accident Reports from the Revelstoke Division from 1909 to 1935. Every single accident had to be reported, even if someone got a boo-boo on their finger, so there are hundreds of reports about minor accidents as well as a smaller percentage of major accidents, including fatalities. The March 4th, 1910 Rogers Pass Snowslide was the largest loss of life in any accident on the Revelstoke Division, with 58 men killed. The file for that event alone comprises about 600 pages of letters, memos, invoices and telegrams.

At tomorrow's Brown Bag History talk, I will be sharing some of the stories from the files. Obviously, there were some terrible tragedies. In 1919, two brakemen were knocked off the top of a train by a derrick on a spur line to the sawmill. One of the men, Thomas Ernest Root, died of a fractured skull, and the other, William Clay, survived, but died nine years later in an engine boiler explosion at Glacier. The story was very tragic, but there was one item in the file that made me smile. When Thomas MacNabb, Superintendent at Revelstoke sent a memo to Mr. Cotterell, the Assistant General Manager of CPR at Vancouver, the agent who sent it left out a crucial period. This incorrect punctuation caused Mr. Cotterell to call the local office for clarification, and he was so annoyed that he asked the local superintendent to discipline the agent who sent the memo. The unfortunate man was given two demerit marks for "using incorrect punctuation and altering the meaning of a memo."

Riding on the Cowcatcher

2009-11-23T18:47:00.001-08:00

Last Friday, we had a party at the museum to mark the end of our year-long celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Revelstoke Museum & Archives Association. Close to 80 people came out to enjoy refreshments, see our new panel on the history of the museum and take part in a challenging scavenger hunt. We were pleased to present 13 of our long-standing volunteers with certificates and Williamson's Lake posters to thank them for their many years of outstanding service.

During the evening, I told a story regarding Sir John A. Macdonald and Lady Macdonald's trip across the newly-built Canadian Pacific Railway in 1886. They arrived in Donald, B.C. (just this side of Golden) in July 22, 1886. Their visit was described by Elsie Spragge, a journalist and wife of Arthur Godfrey Molson Spragge, a lawyer who was establishing his practice in Donald and Golden. This account was written by Elsie Spragge in her book, “From Ontario to the Pacific by CPR” published in 1887.

“They arrived by special train at two o’clock, Lady Macdonald creating an immense sensation, as the engine drew near the crowded platform, by her occupancy of a well-cushioned seat immediately above the cow-catcher; she had made the whole trip from the summit down the Kicking House Pass on this commanding post of observation, and subsequently continued her journey to Port Moody without any change of base (they not travelling by night), a feat which will doubtless become historical. Sir John and Lady Macdonald spent only half an hour at the station, just long enough to receive a handsomely engrossed address presented by Judge Vowell, Stipendiary Magistrate and Gold Commissioner of the Kootenay District, on behalf of the residents of Donald." The cowcatcher was the metal grille or frame projecting from the front of a locomotive which served to clear the track of obstructions.

Elsie and Arthur Spragge later settled in Revelstoke, where Arthur continued to practice law. His law office was at the back of the Molson's Bank building, at the corner of Mackenzie Avenue and First Street. In June of 1898, Arthur Spragge went missing, and when it was discovered that he had retreived his gun from the provincial constable and had been last seen near the river bank, it was assumed that he had committed suicide. His body was not found until September of that year. In the meantime, Elsie Spragge moved to Toronto, and later to Banff, where she continued to make a name for herself as a journalist.

Remembering Revelstoke's Fallen Soldiers

2009-11-11T09:04:00.000-08:00

On May 23, 1917, the Women’s Canadian Club planted several maple trees on the courthouse grounds as a living memorial to all of the men who were serving overseas and those who had already paid the supreme sacrifice. After the war ended on November 11, 1918, the Women’s Canadian Club decided that they would create an honor roll for the approximately 100 war casualties from Revelstoke and the surrounding area. The Club started a fundraising campaign, and on September 20, 1919, Edward, Prince of Wales officially unveiled the plaque on the Revelstoke Court House.

According to the Revelstoke Review of September 25, 1919, “The Prince was surprised at the large number of names recorded, and while he regretted so many noble lives had been thus sacrificed, he said he was proud of this patriotism and loyalty.”

By 1922, Revelstoke had a branch of the Great War Veterans’ Association, the organization that later became the Royal Canadian Legion. The War Memorial Committee of the GWVA felt that there should be a permanent cenotaph in the city, and they set about raising funds for the project. The original plan was to place the courthouse plaque on the cenotaph, but it was decided that a new plaque would be made, as the courthouse one contained some errors.

There was some controversy regarding the building of the cenotaph. Some people felt that the memorial at the court house was sufficient, and that the Great War Veterans Association should instead fundraise for a public facility such as a library or a children’s playground. The project did have a lot of local support, however, and many organizations and individuals contributed to the cost. The War Committee also raised funds through a benefit play and by running a refreshment stand at the Ski Festival. The total cost for the Cenotaph project was $3,370, including $2,600 for the cenotaph itself and $475 for the bronze tablet. The Monument was made of white hammered granite by the B.C. Monumental Works of New Westminster, and the bronze tablet was made by O.B. Allan, Jeweler of Vancouver. The tablet listed the names of 92 men from Revelstoke and Arrowhead who had died during the war.

The new cenotaph was unveiled on September 2, 1923 by Brigadier General Victor W. Odlum. After World War II, another memorial tablet was added with the names of 32 men who died during that conflict. Another plaque was added after the Korean War, although there were no Revelstoke casualties from that conflict.

Arrowhead

2009-11-08T09:58:00.000-08:00

The Brown Bag History talk this week was on Arrowhead, and 25 people showed up to hear the talk! Some of the people who came had grown up or gone to school in Arrowhead, so they were able to contribute their own stories.

Arrowhead was a small community south of Revelstoke, where the Columbia River widens into the Upper Arrow Lake. It was established in 1895, when the Canadian Pacific Railway built a branch line to that point from Revelstoke. From Arrowhead, there was steamboat traffic south to West Robson, near present-day Castlegar. The town developed quickly, with several hotels and stores popping up along Front Street. Two large mills were established there, and by 1911 the population was close to 500. The community had a school, two churches and a hospital, as well as a community hall.

On July 1, Dominion Day, in 1906, Arrowhead had a big celebration, and a photograph of Front Street shows it decorated for the event. Twelve days later, a fire broke out in one of the stores on Front Street, and within a few short hours, much of the business street was gone. The community had a water system, but no hydrants, and the hoses of the SS Minto and the two mills could not reach as far as the fire. The townspeople were forced to use a bucket brigade against the fire, and to try to salvage as much stock and furniture as they could from the buildings.

By the 1960s, there were less than 100 people living in Revelstoke, and with the opening of the Hugh Keenleyside Dam at Revelstoke, the remaining residents were bought out and forced to leave. The last remaining building was the old school house, located above the high water line, which was used as a church camp until it too was removed several years ago. The Arrowhead cemetery also remains, and in the museum we have a list of the burials there.

People who lived in Arrowhead have many fond memories of their days there. They describe it as a friendly community, where everyone knew each other and helped each other out. To hear more about people's memories of their lives in Arrowhead, we are starting a series called "Memories." Our first session, on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 7:00 pm, will focus on Memories of Arrowhead, and will give people who lived, worked or went to school there a chance to share their stories. Other "Memories" sessions will feature Sidmouth, Mount Cartier, and other outlying communities, as well as a session during Heritage Week in February 2010 to share stories about participating in sports in Revelstoke and the surrounding area. Watch for more details on these coming events.

Porcupines and Policemen

2009-10-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

At Revelstoke Museum and Archives we have Revelstoke newspapers on microfilm from 1890 to 1965. It is always a lot of fun reading the early newspapers. The writing styles were quite florid, and there didn't seem to be any publication bans. There are plenty of amusing stories to be found, such as this one from the August 7, 1912 issue of the Revelstoke Mail-Herald. One can't help wondering why the man thought it was a good idea to kick the animal when he thought it was a bear!

The article is entitled: “A Peculiar Adventure"
"A police officer and a well-known government employee of Revelstoke, met with a peculiar adventure on Tuesday evening last, within the city limits.
"Walking home about 11 pm, one of the friends wheeling a bicycle, and both engaged in an animated conversation, the attention of the alert-eyed officer was attracted to the movement of some wild, brown creature rustling its way through the grass along the roadside. The silent night resounded with the quick call: “A bear, a bear” and whilst the constable pulled his gun, the other fellow stepped over and gave bruin a playful little kick. It was a bear, but of the electric variety, and there was a scene of great excitement as the venturesome kicker danced round the road with no less than eighty-four porcupine quills sticking into his foot and leg. The startled constable got in a pot shot at the fleeting animal, but the bullet went right through the steel quilled one without apparently damaging it, and found a safe billet in the tyre of the bicycle which exploded with a noise like thunder, the double report bringing the night patrol hastily to the scene.
"The quills were removed at the Revelstoke hospital, and the two nimrods continued the movement homewards, arriving safely without any further adventures.
"The wounded hero of this incident was very reticent when our reporter tried to interview him the following morning, but the quills were there to speak for themselves, and all we succeeded in learning was that next time he ran across a porcupine there would be no kick coming so far as he personally was concerned.”

The Holten Family

2009-10-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

We recently added a fan page for Revelstoke Museum and Archives, and we are already up to 70 fans! I now feel obliged to update the blog more often, to give our fans something to read. I can't promise daily or even weekly blogs, but I'll do what I can.

I'll tell you a bit about one of my favourite Revelstoke families: The Holten Family. Charles Holten came to Revelstoke around 1885, and was one of the first to investigate mining prospects in the Lardeau region south of Revelstoke (around Trout Lake, Ferguson, and that area.) He and his partner Thomas Downs located the Silver Cup mine, one of the most successful in the region. They sold it for a nice bundle and both settled in Revelstoke. Charles Holten was an original director in the Revelstoke Water, Power and Light Company which was organized in 1896, and in that capacity he supervised the construction of the first water mains for the city. He was an original partner with Thomas Downs and William Cowan in the establishment of the Enterprise Brewery in 1897. Enterprise Brewery continued in operation until 1955. In 1897, Charles Holten had a beautiful home built on First Street, at the crest of the hill. The house was built for his bride, Lyda Edwards, who had come to Revelstoke in 1894 with her family. The Holtens became the elite of Revelstoke society and their home was the setting for many social events. Charles Holten died on October 13, 1918 and Lyda lived until 1942. Their two sons, Charles and Drennan, passed away without leaving any family.

Now for the interesting part. Charles and Lyda both reinvented themselves in one way or another. Charles was born Karl Hultengren in Sweden on October 20, 1865. In the census records available, he does not give his ancestry as Swedish, and does not say that he was born in Sweden. His age is always different in each of the records as well. We really don't know why he didn't want to be Swedish, but we haven't come across any particular scandal that would indicate why he changed his name and nationality.

Lyda, on the other hand, has a scandal attached to her family. When she came here in 1894 as a young woman, she was with her parents Charles and Mary Edwards, her brothers Jim and Eddie Edwards, and her young niece Mary Edwards (Jim's illegitimate daughter.) Records show that the legal surname of Jim, Eddie, Lyda and young Mary was Silcott. Craven Silcott, the father of the three siblings, was from a distinguished Ohio family. Craven was working as cashier in the bank of the House of Representatives in the United States, when he disappeared along with a substantial amount of money. Some stories said that he had fled to Quebec with his French Canadian mistress, while other stories indicated that he had reunited with his family and they had gone to Mexico, after which no trace of them was found. What we don't know is whether Charles Edwards and Craven Silcott were the same person, or whether Mrs. Silcott had remarried. The Charles Edwards who came to Revelstoke in 1894 claimed that he had once been an Australian sea captain. It's an interesting story, especially the way in which a family who had fled a scandal ended up at the top of Revelstoke society.

Heritage Interpretive Panels

2009-10-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

I'm part of a committee in charge of creating heritage interpretive panels to be placed along the biking/walking trail from the Community Centre to the Illecillewaet River. A couple of years ago, a panel about Farming in Revelstoke was placed along the walking trail a short distance along from the Worker's Memorial. Currently, we are working on panels about Sternwheelers, the Forest Industry, the Railway, and First Nations. It's a good opportunity to share the rich history of this region with locals and visitors alike. Today we were talking about the Railway panel and brainstorming ideas about what elements should be in the panel. We talked about the impact of the railway on Revelstoke, and how it has defined this community. Revelstoke was once one of the major centres in the interior of the province, and that was because of the importance of Revelstoke as a railway divisional point. Revelstoke connected the east-west traffic of the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline with the traffic from the south along the Columbia River. Because of this connection, Revelstoke was made a customs port, even though we are close to 200 miles north of the American border.

In early tourism brochures, Revelstoke was cited as one of the easiest points to reach. Nowadays, it is considered difficult to reach, because of our distance from an international airport. We also talked about the number of Royal Visitors that came to Revelstoke in the days when they made their trips across the country by train. The Prince of Wales, who later became Edward VIII, visited Revelstoke in 1919 and 1927. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) visited in 1939 as part of their cross-country trip, and Queen Elizabeth II visited as Princess in 1951 and as Queen in 1959. Revelstoke is no longer as likely to see a Royal Visit as current trips are planned around the international airports.

The development of road travel and air travel in other parts of the province had an impact on Revelstoke's development. While the rest of the province was being opened to road travel in the 1920s and 1930s, Revelstoke lagged behind, because the Big Bend highway from Revelstoke to Golden was not completed until 1940. Even then, it was a treacherous highway, and could not be kept open in the winters. It was not until 1962 that the Rogers Pass highway was completed.

The photograph at the top of this post shows the Revelstoke CPR yards around 1912.

On another note, we invite everyone to join our fan page on Facebook. Fans will be eligible for special discounts and offers, and will be the first to know about upcoming museum events.

Williamson's Lake and Rotary

2009-10-05T15:45:00.000-07:00

This coming Saturday, October 10, is the 80th Anniversary of the Revelstoke Rotary Club. The Brown Bag History topic this week will be on the connection between Rotary and Williamson's Lake. I will also be a guest speaker at their Anniversary Banquet this coming Saturday. They are having the banquet on the exact anniversary date, and they are recreating the original banquet menu! It should be a great evening!

Soon after the Rotary club formed in the fall of 1929, they looked for a community project that they could put their money and volunteer effort into. They decided to take on the upgrading of Williamson's Lake, the small lake just south of town that had been the local swimming hole since the 1890s. The lake was named after Mr. A. Williamson, who established his farm along the lake. It was well used, but had never been developed until the Rotary Club took it on. They held a big fundraising dance in March of 1930, then in May of that year began going out to the lake to begin their upgrading work. That first year, they installed two piers, one with a platform and spring board, built several rafts, brought in 200 loads of sand, cleared 250 feet of beach, built a combined boat house and girls' dressing room and made countless other improvements. They took over the running of the Annual Swimming and Diving Meet, and hired a lifeguard and swimming instructor. The Rotary Club continued this commitment to Williamson's Lake until after the Centennial Pool was built in 1971. Although the City of Revelstoke now maintains the lake, the Rotary continues to be involved, and this year they provided a new dock.

For close to 40 years, the Rotary held a Carnival to raise funds for the Williamson's Lake project. Their first carnival, held on Labour Day in 1930, raised the astounding amount of $1,396.26. $823.54 of that amount was earned from ticket sales for the raffle of an Oldsmobile Sport Sedan.

A newspaper article in June of 1937 poked good-natured fun at the Rotary members who headed out to Williamson's Lake to rake in truckloads of gravel and sand which were hauled out by truck. The Rotary Club members were all local businessmen, and the newspaper made sure to point this out: "Visitors at Williamson's Lake on Wednesday were amazed to see a bank manager, a druggist, a dentist, a lawyer, the theatre proprietor, the jeweller, CPR officials and local merchants and professional men in shirt sleeves and overalls trying manfully to swing shovels and rakes in the approved manner...It would have gladdened the heart of anyone accustomed to this kind of work to see the businessmen trying to keep their brows mopped between shovelfuls...Citizens who hear their banker groan as he sits down or find the theatre manager too stiff to walk up to the balcony, or the dentist unable to bend over, will understand that these things are suffered for the sake of improving Williamson's Lake."

Congratulations to the Revelstoke Rotary Club on their 80th Anniversary, and thanks to all of the members who have provided such outstanding service to this community!

Women Climbers

2009-09-23T05:11:00.001-07:00

My Brown Bag History topic for today is Women Climbers. I'll be talking about several women who came here to climb in the Selkirks and Rockies, including Mary Jobe Akeley, Mary Schaffer, Mary Vaux and several others. A.O. Wheeler cites several early climbs by women in his work, "The Selkirk Range." When he and Elizabeth Parker and others formed the Alpine Club of Canada in 1906, several of the initial members were women and by 1917, half of the members were women. One of those original members was Eva Hobbs, a Revelstoke schoolteacher. Eva had come to Donald with her family in the early 1890s, and at the age of 17, she became a schoolteacher and was sent to remote places such as Retallack to teach. She later taught at Hope, and sent a letter home to her mother saying, "They call this place Hope, but I call it Despair." She was obviously feeling lonely and homesick at the time. Shortly after Revelstoke's new Central School was built in 1903, she secured a teaching position in Revelstoke and moved here, where her family had relocated when the divisional point at Donald was closed down.

The principal of Central School was A.E. Miller, who was very keen on encouraging his teachers to stay physically fit and to be active in the outdoors. He was one of the early residents who discovered the joys of Mount Revelstoke and he encouraged his teachers to climb there as well. Eva Hobbs began hiking and climbing, and when the Alpine Club of Canada was formed in 1906, she was eager to join and participated in their first annual camp at Yoho. When the Revelstoke Mountaineering Club was formed in 1909, Eva Hobbs was the Vice-President. The club was responsible for building the first chalet at Balsam Lake, on Mount Revelstoke, that summer, and on a break from building, some of the members decided to go on a hike to Miller Lake, named after A.E. Miller. Once there, they decided to push on a little further, and Eva, being an experienced climber, went on ahead, being impatient with some of the other women, who needed a helping hand from the men. She was the first to see the lake that now bears her name. Eva later married local engineer Phil Parker and they raised their family in Revelstoke. Their twins, Charlie and Helen, were both very active in local sports. In the 1960s, Eva and Phil Parker were interviewed, and the original tape and the transcript are now in Revelstoke Museum and Archives.

Monkeys and Tarantulas

2009-09-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, I left the last blog with a bit of a cliff-hanger, so I will explain. What do tarantulas and monkeys have to do with hotels in Revelstoke?

In 1905, Mrs. MacDonnell, wife of the manager of the Revelstoke CPR Hotel, was unpacking a carton of bananas from Mexico when out crawled a tarantula. Someone managed to capture it and it was kept in a jar on the front counter for the amusement of the guests.

And the monkey? Well, it was an unexpected guest in the dining room of the City Hotel, which opened in 1899 on First Street West, where Mount Begbie Brewing Company is now located. The members of a travelling circus were staying at the hotel and the troupe's monkey managed to get out of his crate and make his way to the dining room. He made a good meal out of leftovers from people's plates, and at the time that he was caught he was trying to take the stopper out of a bottle of ketchup.

The talk on Revelstoke hotels included several fires, many of which were deliberately set. In at least two of these cases, people died when they were caught in the fires. None of the arsonists were ever caught. I also talked about the Climax Hotel (yes, it was as bad as it sounds!) where a man died in the early 1900s after being hit by the hotel manager. There were several contradictory stories about what actually happened, and due to a lack of evidence, the manager was not charged with the man's death. There was also a story about the Salvation Army singing outside of the Climax Hotel. The hotel manager came out with a hose and soaked the poor missionaries. The Climax Hotel burned down in 1916.

For more information on this subject contact us at the Revelstoke Museum @ revelstokemuseum@telus.net

Hotels

2009-09-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow will be the first Brown Bag History talk for the Fall season. I will be talking about some of Revelstoke's hotels, starting with the Columbia House, the first hotel in Revelstoke. Columbia House was at the north end of Front Street, on the right hand corner closest to the river bank when you are coming across from Big Eddy on the old bridge. By the end of 1885, there were several hotels on Front Street, some of them little more than tents. The Stockholm House, that later became the Oriental, started out as a frame building with a large bar downstairs and a "ram pasture" upstairs. A ram pasture was nothing more than a large room with a bare floor and bedrolls. The men would find a spot on the floor and roll out their blankets. You wouldn't find any women or refined gentlemen staying there!

After a few years, four main hotels dominated Front Street: The Columbia House, Victoria, Central and Oriental. They were large hotels and after a while they developed their kitchens as well and served fine meals. Some guests were regular residents, especially the miners, who would spend most of the winter months living in one of the hotels. One of the main reasons to run a hotel was to acquire a liquor licence, and that was also a major aspect of hotel operations.

By the early 1890s, with the shift of the downtown to the area close to the CPR station, hotels were being built in that part of town. The first was the Union Hotel, where Home Hardware is now. One of the most well-remembered old hotels was the King Edward, which stood on Second Street behind City Hall until it burned down in 1995. The original hotel was built at that site in 1897, and it was renovated several times until 1910, when it was faced with brick and cement block, and a turret was added to it. The switchboard from the King Edward Hotel is now on display in the museum.

Join us for the talk tomorrow to hear more about Revelstoke's hotels and some of the interesting stories associated with them, including arson, murder, tarantulas and monkeys!

Family Ties

2009-09-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

In the last couple of weeks, I have had several encounters with descendants of pioneer families. This is my favourite part of the job. I get to hear people's stories of their families, and sometimes I can fill in gaps for them, as well. A couple of weeks ago, there was a Westerberg family reunion in town, and I had the chance to meet several of the grandchildren and great grandchildren of Andrew"Ole the Bear" Westerberg. Ole the Bear was the mail carrier to the Big Bend region north of Revelstoke for about 35 years, and he made his winter runs on skis and snowshoes. He had many encounters with bears and other animals, and maintained a fairly lucrative trapline along his route. His nickname came about due to some of his more dramatic encounters with a bear, including a story in which he reputedly killed a bear with an axe. He was also famous for fashioning a pair of snowshoes for a horse, so that he could save it from being snowed in about 50 miles north of town. The Westerberg family settled on a homestead south of town, on what is now Westerberg road.

I also had a visit from the granddaughter of Frank Bourne. Frank's daughter, Eleanor, had lived in California for most of her adult life, and she and her husband made several trips to Revelstoke over the years to see her old home. I got to know Eleanor quite well and we carried on a correspondence in between her trips. Her daughter Linda came to Revelstoke to let people know that Eleanor passed away last fall at the age of 94. It was very moving to be able to meet Linda and hear more stories about her mother and family. Linda appreciated the chance to see people and places that had meant so much to her mother.

Yesterday, I had a visit from two of my favourite people. Tom and Margaret Taylor have been visiting Revelstoke for over 20 years. Tom's grandparents were Thompson Edgar Leon Taylor and Adriana Taylor, early residents of Revelstoke. T.E.L. was an entrepreneur, officer in charge of the local regiment of Rocky Mountain Rangers, postmaster, and was very involved in community life, so even prior to Tom and Margaret's first visit, I was well aware of T.E.L. Taylor and had seen several photographs of him. When Tom and Margaret first visited the museum in 1988, I recognized Tom based on his resemblance to his grandfather, and they were so impressed, that they have been coming to visit every year since! Tom has provided the museum with a lot of valuable material on his grandparents, and I have been able to find information for him as well.

These are just three of many stories about families that have come to the museum. To me, this is what my job is all about: helping people connect with their own history.

Cemetery Tour for Railway Days

2009-08-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

I was on holiday last week and we went to Victoria to see the exhibit "Treasures - The World's Cultures from the British Museum" at the Royal BC Museum. I highly recommend a visit to see it. It will be showing until the end of September. We also saw the "Vermeer, Rembrandt and the Golden Age of Dutch Art" exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery and I also recommend a visit to that exhibit, as well as the Emily Carr and Jack Shadbolt exhibit at the same gallery.

I'll get right back into the swing of things this week with Railway Days. Our schedule is posted in the blog just prior to this one. Please note that the Cemetery Walk on Tuesday is at 7:00 pm, not at 2:00 pm as printed in the Times Review.

This cemetery walk will deal more with railway employees and railway related accidents. One incident involved the explosion of the boiler of engine 5759 in July of 1918. CPR Fireman William Phillips died while he was servicing the engine, which exploded due to a lack of water in the boiler. The coroner's jury into Mr. Phillips death determined that the gauge on the boiler was not operating correctly and did not show that the boiler was short of water. The explosion lifted the whole upper structure of the locomotive into the air, and it turned in a complete somersault and became reversed, landing about 100 feet away in the opposite direction. The impact of the landing caused the engine to bury itself partially into the roadbed. The drive wheels of the locomotive and the tender remained on the rails. The cab of the locomotive was blown over 200 feet away and embedded itself into the side of a storage building. The body of Mr. Phillips was found about 75 feet away, wedged under the drive wheels of a locomotive on an adjacent track.

There are certainly many sad stories associated with the railway, but the early railway workers knew that the job came with many hazards. During the cemetery walk, I will tell the sad stories, but also talk about the bravery and dedication of the railway workers on the Mountain Division.

Railway Days

2009-08-07T10:36:00.000-07:00

The Annual Railway Days Community Festival is coming up soon, and Revelstoke Museum and Archives will be participating with a few events:

Monday, August 17th at 2:00 pm, there will be a downtown walking tour, beginning at the museum. Find out about the history of the downtown and some of the beautiful heritage buildings. The tour will take about an hour and a half and costs $5 per person.

Tuesday, August 18 at 7:00 pm, there will be a Cemetery Tour at 7:00 pm. Meet at the Cemetery Gates or call the museum at 250-837-3067 for a ride. The cost is $5 per person. This special cemetery tour will focus on railway employees and railway related accidents, and takes about one and a half hours.

Thursday, August 20, from 2:00 to 3:30 pm, our weekly Heritage Explorers Children's Program will have a look at railway history with crafts, games and activities. This program is suitable for ages 5 to 12. Pre-registration is required.

Our annual Beer and Wings event will be held on Friday, August 21st from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. Chef Ron Kwong will serve up his famous wings, paired with beer from Mt. Begbie Brewing Company. This event is $25 per person.

We'll see you during Railway Days!

Interesting Tidbits

2009-08-05T07:26:00.001-07:00

While reading 1923 newspapers yesterday, I came across a couple of interesting items. The first was a small personal item in the June 19, 1923 issue of the Revelstoke Review:

"NOTICE: Should my wife, Beatrice, be in Revelstoke, I again ask her to return. I have rented a nice, furnished apartment at the Waldorf. Private bath; Simmonds mattress - just what was wanted. - Jack"

I wasn't sure whether it was really a personal ad, or just a clever advertisement from the owner of the Waldorf apartment block which was located on Second Street East, where Beruschi Park is now.

The other interesting item I found was about the trial of Elsie Simmons (alias Alice Langford), Dong Wing and Harry Greenwood (alias "Sticks") for attempted murder. The previous year, the home of local "madam" Connie Smith had been dynamited. It appeared that Miss Dolly West, a prostitute at Elsie Simmon's "House of Illl-Repute" had moved to Connie's house, and in retaliation, Elsie had arranged for Dong Wing and Harry Greenwood to dynamite Connie's. There was still an active Red Light District in Revelstoke at that time, and this was just one incident relating to their activities. Around the same time as the dynamite incident, the local mayor had resigned his post and moved to New Westminster. He had started a campaign to close down the brothels, but conceded defeat when his children were threatened and an explosion was set off in the basement of his home.

After the trial in 1923, Alice Simmons, Harry Greenwood and Dong Wing were all sentenced to five years in the penitentiary.

Cemetery Tours

2009-07-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Apparently, people really enjoy cemetery tours. So far this weekend, we have led 3 heritage cemetery tours, with a total of 145 people attending. I'll be leading another one tonight. The most popular tour was Friday night at 11:00 pm, with just over 100 people in attendance. That one was led by Jen Busch, and she couldn't believe the groups of people who kept arriving.

I have been leading heritage cemetery tours for about 20 years, and they have always been more popular than the city walking tours we offer. I think the reason for this is that when we are in the cemetery, we are focusing on people, not on buildings and dates. The cemetery is where we tell the stories of people's lives and who doesn't love a good story?

The story that I personally find most moving is that of Jennie. Her marker says, in English, "Jennie - Japanese" and also has some Japanese script, which thanks to my friends Tomo and Yuko has been mostly translated. It gives her age, 24, and the date of her death: April 19, 1905. Her last name could have been Kiohara, but we are not certain. We know that she was in Revelstoke by 1903, established in a brothel on Front Street, and that she was brutally murdered in 1905. Her murder was never solved. The newspaper of the day describes her wounds in detail, and also describes the weapon and much of the other evidence. There was obviously no such thing as a publication ban back then. Jennie had been most likely forced into prostitution at a young age, and then was reviled for her lifestyle. The newspaper account ends by saying that the Japanese community refused to assist the police because they said she was not worth hanging a man for. A very sad ending to what must have been a very sad life.

Homecoming at Last!

2009-07-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

We are right in the thick of Homecoming Weekend. Things started off with a blast last night at the Dinner with Lord Revelstoke. It was a delightful evening, and everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. Ann & Edna-Mae and the events committee outdid themselves, and made the Golf Clubhouse look fabulous. Lord Revelstoke was delightful and seems to be enjoying his visit to Revelstoke.

Today at the museum we had a lot of people come in to see our exhibits and check out the new cookbooks. Samples of some of the recipes were made by our volunteers and everyone seemed to be quite happy to do some taste testing.

Upstairs, we had a table full of memorabilia, including photo albums from Golden Spike Days, newspapers from the 1974 homecoming, high school annuals and many other items. These were enjoyed by many people and there was plenty of reminiscing going on.

We had good groups for our downtown walking tour and the Cemetery Tour. For tomorrow, we are going to cancel the afternoon walking tour and add another evening Cemetery Tour. They seem to be more popular. Tonight at 11:00 pm, Jen Busch will lead a Lantern Cemetery Tour. I'm hoping to be asleep long before then! I need to rest my feet, and my brain!

1 Week Left!

2009-07-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

Wow, everybody, it's one week until Homecoming! Have a look at the schedule: http://www.cityofrevelstoke.com/pdf/HomecomingBrochure.pdf There's something for everyone. The Dinner with Lord Revelstoke is just a few tickets shy of a sell-out, and it promises to be a marvelous event.

Don't miss our exhibit openings and Cookbook Launch at the Museum on Saturday, July 24 at 10:00 am. We will be opening three new exhibits: "From Farwell to Revelstoke", "The Photographs of Earle and Estelle Dickey" and "Manning's - A Revelstoke Tradition." The Manning's exhibit will look at the history of Manning's Candy Store, from the time it first opened in 1902 until the Kwong family took over the shop. We had hoped to have Manning's Chocolates available for sale, but unfortunately, it wasn't possible. Ron Kwong was not able to find a supplier who could produce the chocolates to the taste that everyone remembered and loved. However, we can still fondly remember Manning's through the new exhibit. Our museum Past President, Helen Grace, worked at Manning's during the Second World War and has wonderful memories of that time. She said that Mr. Manning would let his new employees eat all the chocolate they wanted, and after two or three days, no-one wanted another bite!

As well as these three major exhibits, there will be lots of changes to other exhibit area throughout the museum, so even if you've been in this year, there will be lots of new items to see.

The third cookbook arrived this week, so we will have two new books available for sale: "A Legacy of Country Dining" and "A Taste of Elegance - Second Helpings." Come in to pick up your book and try some tasty treats made from some of the recipes.

During the Homecoming weekend, we will also have photograph albums, high school annuals, newspapers and many other items to look at. We have prepared albums with photographs taken between the 1970s and the 1990s. You won't want to miss the chance to see your friends and neighbours wearing funny clothes and hairstyles!

We look forward to seeing you at Homecoming!

2009-07-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

We ventured out on the highway last weekend to travel to Vernon, and I was disgusted by the rudeness of some travelers. We were travelling at the speed limit, and twice we were fingered by passengers in cars passing us on double solid lines. The heavy traffic and the ever-present feeling that we were putting our lives at risk made me think about the first highway that was built between Revelstoke and Sicamous. After almost two years of work, the highway was officially opened at Malakwa on August 17, 1922.

The Revelstoke Review had a great deal of news about the special opening ceremony. The paper noted that Harry Bews of Revelstoke had lined up 40 auto drivers for the trip on the new road, “which is without exception the best, prettiest and most scenic drive in the interior of BC. And it is in the pink of condition, with the stones raked off, and level as a floor. The paper continued: “Major Kay Alexander deserves much credit for the way in which he has pushed the work ahead in readiness for the opening. Last Sunday he, together with four others motored out as far as Taft, planting signs ‘Slow’ around some of the corners and erecting painted signs at the various lakes en route, namely, ‘Griffin,’ ‘Victor,’ ‘Summit,’ ‘Three Valley’ and at ‘Alexander Falls’ (now known as Kay Falls,) the latter named after the genial major, who has taken a great personal interest in the falls, and is spending private means to enhance their beauty.” It was estimated that over 800 people attended the ceremony, which included ice cream and other refreshments as well as endless speeches.

Less than one month after the new highway opened, the first fatal accident occurred. Donald Adams of Revelstoke went off the road at Summit Lake and his car plunged into the lake. Two of his passengers were killed in the accident. One of them was Isabelle Steed, his fiancee’s mother, and the other was Miss Lister, Matron of Queen Victoria Hospital. Mr. Adams was cited for driving too fast around the twisty lake road.

Homecoming

2009-07-03T16:22:00.000-07:00

Edward Charles Baring, First Baron Revelstoke.

Revelstoke, BC was named in his honour in 1886.

Well, we're just three weeks away from Homecoming! Everyone is getting excited about the many events that are being planned. To see the full schedule, go to http://www.cityofrevelstoke.com/pdf/HomecomingBrochure.pdf

One correction that I will point out: Our Lantern Cemetery Tour is on Friday, July 24 at 11:00 pm, not on Saturday.

If you haven't reserved your tickets for the Dinner with Lord Revelstoke, now is the time to do so. They are going fast, and you don't want to miss this event. James Baring, 6th Baron Revelstoke, is the great grandson of the man that our city is named after, and we are delighted that he is coming from England to take part in our special 110th Anniversary Homecoming celebrations. The dinner will take place at the Revelstoke Golf Club on Thursday, July 23 at 6:30 pm. Tickets can be purchased at Revelstoke Museum & Archives or call 250-837-3067 or email revelstokemuseum@telus.net to reserve your tickets.

The museum will also be hosting many other events, including Heritage Walking Tours, Cemetery Tours, and a Heritage Home Tour that will take you inside five beautiful heritage homes. We will also be showing photographs taken by Earle & Estelle Dickey from the 1930s to the 1970s at Traverse Lounge at the Regent Inn. On top of all of these events, we will also be opening new exhibits on the Saturday morning at 10:00 am. "From Farwell to Revelstoke" will look at the development of our city from the early days of the Farwell Settlement and the reasons behind the name change to "Revelstoke." Another exhibit will feature the photographic work of Earle and Estelle Dickey, and there will also be a new exhibit on Manning's Confectionery and its evolution into Manning's Restaurant. An exciting part of this exhibit will be the sale of Manning's Chocolates made by Ron Kwong, whose father purchased Manning's in the 1950s. Don't miss out on the opportunity to get your Manning's chocolates in the famous blue box!

During the Exhibit Opening, we will also be officially launching our two new cookbooks in our Heritage Cookbook Series. "A Legacy of Country Dining" features recipes from residents who lived outside of the city limits, as far south as Arrowhead, and "A Tradition of Elegance - Second Helpings" contains more recipes from past and present Revelstoke residents.

All throughout Homecoming Weekend, the museum will be open for people who want to take a trip down memory lane, and perhaps even look for family information. We will be featuring several photograph albums, high school annuals and many other pieces of nostalgia. Come in and take a look.

On another note, a Cemetery Walk is scheduled for this coming Wednesday, July 8th at 7:00 pm at Revelstoke's Mountain View Cemetery, on Highway 23 North, across from the Frontier. Meet at the gates or call the museum for a ride. This is an interesting way to find out about some of Revelstoke's pioneer residents.

We have also begun our summer program for children: "Heritage Explorers." Each Thursday from 2:00 to 3:30 pm, children ages 5 to 12 have the opportunity to come out and learn about the history of our community while having lots of fun. Call the museum to register.

Mayor McCarty

2009-06-18T20:57:00.001-07:00

Wow, two blog entries in one day! I just got back from a Cemetery Walk and wanted to say how happy I am that Revelstoke's first mayor now has a headstone on his grave. For many years, the grave has been unmarked, but a few years ago, one of the participants on a Cemetery Walk asked the city to do something about it, and now, at last, Mayor McCarty has an appropriate marker.

When Revelstoke was incorporated in March of 1899, the first mayor elected was Mr. Florence McCarty, although he preferred to be called Frank (and who can blame him!) Frank McCarty had a butcher store on Track Street, near the CPR Station, and later had a livery business and a steam laundry. The McCarty's first home was on CPR hill, and he and his wife ran it as a boarding house for CPR employees. It was known as a temperance house, which meant that drinking was not allowed on the premises. Board and lodging cost $5 a week, or individual meals were available for 25 cents. The McCartys were Roman Catholic, and before the first Catholic Church was built in Revelstoke in 1893, services sometimes took place in their home.

In 1899, as the newly-elected Mayor, he had a fine new home built on Mackenzie Avenue at Third Street. John Kernaghan built the house at a cost of $5,000, and stonemason E.C. Fromey built the 2-foot thick cellar walls. The house originally had a turret and upper and lower verandahs. The house is currently the location of Heather Hut boutique, and while it has been changed a lot over the years, it still has many of its original features.

Florence (Frank) McCarty passed away in 1920, and a photograph in the museum shows his grave covered with flowers. It is possible that there was once a marker on the grave, but if there was, it has been missing for many years. In this year when we are celebrating Revelstoke's 110th anniversary of incorporation, it is fitting that at last his grave is marked, identifying him as Revelstoke's first mayor.

Revelstoke's First Doctor

2009-06-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

We had the privilege this week of a visit from John McAlpine, great grandson of Dugald Leitch McAlpine, Revelstoke's first doctor. Dr. McAlpine came to Revelstoke in 1884 or 1885, in the very early days of the community's development. The doctor came here with his 17 year old son, Johnny, and set up an office on Front Street, the hub of activity in the new settlement. When the doctor and his son came, the town was still known as Second Crossing, as this was the second point that the railway crossed the Columbia River. First Crossing was at Donald. By 1885, the community was referred to as Farwell, after the surveyor who purchased the land and laid out the townsite.

Mr. McAlpine was interested in finding out how his grandfather and great-grandfather would have reached Second Crossing before the railway line had been built. At that time, there were two ways of getting here from the east. One was to take a treacherous boat trip around the Big Bend, and the other was to walk or ride by horseback along the surveyed route through Rogers Pass. We weren't able to find out for sure, but we suspect that they would have come through Rogers Pass.

In 1886, Dr. McAlpine's wife and other children arrived from Ontario. The doctor built a home for his family on an island in the Columbia River, near the west bank of the river opposite Front Street. According to John McAlpine, the doctor was concerned about having his family live in the wild west settlement of Farwell. At that time, there were several brothels, saloons and gambling dens lining Front Street, and Dr. McAlpine felt it was no place for young children. We have not been able to definitely identify the location of the island. The McAlpine family moved to Vancouver in 1887, but the island was still referred to as McAlpine's island into the early 1900s.

Remember that the Queen Victoria Hospital exhibit is opening this Saturday, June 20 at 2:00 pm.

Queen Victoria Hospital

2009-06-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

We're working on a new exhibit on Queen Victoria Hospital, and the opening will be on Saturday, June 20 at 2 pm. We have a little surprise we found lurking in the basement of the museum, and it will be a special feature of the exhibit. Anybody born in Revelstoke between 1913 and 1970 was most likely born in the old brick Queen Victoria Hospital, so it still brings back a lot of memories for past residents.

The exhibit will dwell a little bit on the other hospitals as well, including the private hospital opened by Dr. McKechnie and Dr. Jeffs in 1897. It was located in a house at the top of Douglas Street hill, and it could only accommodate 7 patients. One of the first patients was a man who was working in one of the sawmills in the area. He was in the hospital with a broken leg when his fiancee arrived on the train from the east. expecting to meet up with her man and get married. When she discovered that he was in hospital, she arranged for a minister to come there with her to perform a bedside wedding.

In 1902, the Queen Victoria Cottage Hospital was built where Cooper's and Alpine Village Mall are now located. The hospital fronted onto First Street, and was built in cooperation with the Victorian Order of Nursing, who provided the first nurses and some much needed funding for construction. The first Matron was Miss Elsie Mackinnon of Prince Edward Island, who only worked at the hospital for a year before marrying T.D. Kilpatrick, local CPR Superintendent and President of the Revelstoke Hospital Board. Mr. Kilpatrick had to endure a great deal of good natured ribbing for depriving the hospital of the Matron. At that time, married women did not work in professions, because of course, once you were married, you had the noblest profession of all: housewife and mother! ;)

The brick Queen Victoria Hospital opened in 1913 and was in use until February of 1971. We welcome memories, photos and stories about the hospital. Come in and see the new exhibit, and add your stories to our memory board.

Cemetery Walk

2009-05-31T19:15:00.000-07:00

I will be leading the first cemetery walk of the season on Thursday, June 18 at 7:00 pm. Meet at the Cemetery gates (Highway 23 North across from the Frontier) or call the Museum at 250-837-3067 to arrange for a ride. The tour takes about an hour-and-a-half, and we look at about 20 sites, and talk about the history of the cemetery. The oldest gravestone that we have been able to find is that of Louise Beavo, who died in 1892. If you look at her marker, it will say 1893, but it was over a year after she died before her marker was placed, and they got the year wrong!

We also visit the graves of two murder victims. Jennie Kiobara was a Japanese prostitute who was murdered in 1905. The newspapers of the day described the crime in grisly detail, but had little sympathy for the victim, because of her occupation. Her grave marker was paid for by Wah Chung, the owner of the house in which she lived. Wah Chung was under suspicion for a while, but was never charged. Her murder was never solved, although a story is told that a man confessed to the crime on his deathbed. The other murder victim was Frank Julian, or Francesco Juliano, who came to Revelstoke from Italy via Chicago and San Francisco. He was one of Revelstoke's early Italian citizens, and had a farm near the Illecillewaet River as well as a home on Second Street East. In 1910, he was found murdered on his farm property, killed by a blow from an ax. On his forehead was a black cross, etched into his skin with acid. The murder was believed by everyone, including the police, to be a mafia slaying. His murderer was never found.

Bike to Work Week

2009-05-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, Wednesday May 13, the topic of the Brown Bag History talk will be "Biking & Hiking" to mark "Bike to Work Week." I couldn't find quite enough information just on biking, so added in the extra topic of hiking. I will talk a little bit about early mountaineering in the Selkirks, but I won't delve into that too deeply, because it warrants a talk of its own on another occasion.

I did find a few interesting bits of information on early biking in Revelstoke. As early as 1896, local entrepreneur William Cowan had built a bicycle track, for racing, in the lower section of town, and by 1897, Eddie Edwards was making a name for himself as a champion bicycle racer. A photograph of him on his bike is currently on display in the front window of the Museum, along with a wooden bicycle wheel rim. This photograph shows two young lads cycling on Front Street, around 1900.

In 1928, a champion bicycle rider, Fred St. Onge, stopped in Revelstoke as part of his North American bicycle tour. He taught bicycle safety to local children, and set up a 150 foot long, 5 inch wide plank for the children to test their bicycle agility. Ten year old Helen Parker managed a world-record total of 2,420 feet on the plank without falling, and she was awarded a gold medal from the CCM Bicycle Company. The medal is now in the collection of Revelstoke Museum & Archives. Helen was the daughter of Phil & Eva (Hobbs) Parker, and it is possible that Helen got her sense of balance from Eva, an experienced mountaineer after whom Eva Lake on Mount Revelstoke is named.

For more information on this topic, or any other aspect of local history, call or drop in to see us.

Heritage Walking Tour

2009-05-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, May 3, at 1 pm, I will be leading a heritage walking tour for "Hike for Hospice." All of the proceeds go to the local Hospice Society, a very worthwhile organization that provides compassionate care to people facing the end of life.

I'll be following the "Courthouse Tour" which will leave from the Museum and head west along First Street. We'll look at the site of the old Queen Victoria Hospital, and the original site of the cenotaph. I'll talk about Government Road, which angled from Third Street to Victoria Road. The last vestige of the road is the angled street alongside The Bargain Store and Chalet Bakery. Goverment Road provided slightly more direct access from the original business section on Front Street to the C.P.R. Station. We'll talk about the origin of some of the street names that we encounter, and look at the various styles of residences along the route. I'll throw in a few stories about some of the early residents, especially my favourite family, the Holtens. There is an element of mystery, and possibly even scandal, associated with them, which makes them very interesting!

We'll look at the exterior of the Courthouse, and the various monuments and plaques that have been placed on and around it over the years. How many of you know where to find the cornerstone? We'll look at the plaque in honour of the World War I casualties from Revelstoke - over 100 names. The plaque was placed there in 1919 by the Women's Canadian Club of Revelstoke and was unveiled by the Prince of Wales.

We're hoping for fine weather, and a good turnout. If you can't make it for the walk, drop in to the museum for a copy of our Heritage Walking Tour brochure and take a self-guided tour.

The Latest News

2009-04-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me recently when I'm going to add a new post to the blog, and I was surprised and delighted to know that someone actually reads it! So to all my many blog readers, I encourage you to check out the additions to our website, (http://www.revelstokemuseum.ca) and watch for more to come. One great new addition is the page on Arrowhead, with links to reports prepared for the Arrowhead Conservation Society. These include a horticultural report and accompanying photographs, as well as a Heritage Assessment Report on the former townsite. If you're interested in the former community of Arrowhead, south of Revelstoke, you may want to have a look at the reports.

We are making plans for the upcoming Revelstoke Homecoming, planned for this July 23 to 26. The facebook group for Revelstoke 2009 Homecoming will provide you with more information on the community events. The Museum will be holding Cemetery and Downtown Heritage Walking Tours, and we will be unveiling new exhibits at the Museum. On Thursday, July 23, we will be hosting a special dinner in honour of James Baring, 6th Baron Revelstoke, who is the direct descendant of the First Lord Revelstoke, after whom our city is named. Keep an eye on our website and this blog for upcoming details.

We now have a Facebook group for Revelstoke Museum & Archives & Gift Shop, and we welcome you to join.

My next Brown Bag History talk on Revelstoke will be on Libraries. Revelstoke had reading rooms as early as 1890, and I found this note in the April 9, 1892 issue of the Kootenay Star: “Surely there are landowners enough in this town to make the institution a useful and successful one. But strangers come and go and never know that Revelstoke is so advanced in culture as to contain a library. Why not have some kind of notice outside informing the passer-by and the stranger within our gates that we have at least a reading-room?"

I'd love to hear your comments on our website and blog. Post a comment to the blog, or email me (Cathy English) at revelstokemuseum@telus.net

Heritage Cookbook

2009-03-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Revelstoke Museum & Archives Association, we compiled a Heritage Cookbook that went on sale last September. The cookbook has been an overwhelming success. Over 600 recipes were gathered from past and present Revelstoke residents to commemorate 50 years of preserving and celebrating Revelstoke's history.

More than just a cookbook, "A Taste of Elegance" includes beautiful heritage photographs, a tribute to Revelstoke Mayors, and bits of interesting Revelstoke facts.

Revelstoke Museum and Archives is pleased to announce that we are currently compiling recipes for a second edition of the cookbook, to be released at Revelstoke Homecoming 2009 this July.

A second edition requires many more recipes. We invite all current and former residents to submit their recipes. They can be ones that have been in your family for generations, or ones that you just discovered last week. We are especially encouraging residents from our ethnic communities to submit their recipes. Revelstoke was known for the large Italian population in "Little Italy", the Ukrainian settlement at Mount Cartier, and the Scandinavian settlers in the Big Eddy. There were also many early Japanese and Chinese families here, as well as many other ethnic groups. We especially welcome recipes from these communities.

Heritage cookbooks make excellent gifts and a great kitchen companion and the purchase of the cookbook also helps the museum preserve history for the next 50 years and more.

Stop in to purchase a copy of the first edition and pick up a recipe submission form, or email us at revelstokemuseum@telus.net for a form. Recipe deadline is April 15th.

1910 Rogers Pass Slide

2009-03-01T20:16:00.000-08:00

Our next Brown Bag talk will be on March 4, 2009, the 99th Anniversary of the 1910 Rogers Pass Snowslide that killed 58 railway workers. John Woods, retired Chief Park Naturalist of Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks, and Cathy English, curator of Revelstoke Museum & Archives, will give the talk together. John will talk about the slide itself, the weather system that caused it, and the geography of the slide site, as well as previous slide research going back to the 1880s. Cathy will talk about the workers, 32 of whom were Japanese, and about the impact the slide had on the community. Revelstoke Museum and Archives has several pictures of the slide site as well as about 600 pages of original material from the Canadian Pacific Railway divisional records. The records include letters from family members of slide victims as well as receipts, telegrams and other correspondence. A committee has now been formed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the slide next year and a series of events will be planned. Watch for more details as we get closer to the date.

Heritage Week

2009-02-17T11:49:00.001-08:00

This is Heritage Week (February 16 - 21) and the theme this year is "Legacy of Learning," looking at the history of education. The Brown Bag History talk this week will be on that theme, and one of my favourite stories relating to this topic is a little bit of a scandal. In the 1920s, Mr. Bassett, the elementary school principal was called in front of the board to address allegations that he was interacting in an inappropriate way with one of the female teachers. He denied the accusations and claimed that she was a family friend, with his wife welcoming the teacher to their home for visits. Before long, though, Mr. Bassett emptied the projector fund of the $100 plus dollars that the students had raised, and fled to San Francisco with the young schoolteacher. They were arrested there, which led to an article in the local newspaper with my all-time favourite headline: "Bassett Nabbed in 'Frisco." The schoolteacher was handed over to her father, and Mr. Bassett was tried and sent to prison for a short time.

And then there's the story of the schoolteacher who went to talk to the School Board about her raise. She was asked to wait outside the meeting room in the top floor of the High School (now Mountain View School.) She waited for over an hour, when she realized it was awfully quiet. She opened the door to the room, only to discover that the whole School Board had left out of the fire exit.

We are also in the process of collecting recipes for our next edition of the Revelstoke Heritage Cook Book. Get your recipes in before April 1st. Call or email the museum: 250-837-3067 or revelstokemuseum@telus.net for more information.

Pot-Hole Kellie

2009-01-02T18:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a bit of Revelstoke history trivia to start off the New Year.

Revelstoke's first Member of Provincial Parliament was James M. Kellie, first elected in 1890. He came out to B.C. from Ontario and tried his hand at mining near Golden, B.C. He had the idea that if he could divert a creek bed, he would find gold in the rock pot-holes of the bed. He spent one spring working on this plan, and twice lost his wooden flumes to wash-outs. Finally, he succeeded in diverting the creek and cleared the pot-holes, only to find the bone of a mountain goat and nothing else. However, he did end up with the nickname Pot-Hole Kellie as a result of his endeavours.

In 1890, the Provincial Government passed some legislation that made it very expensive and difficult for miners operating along the Canadian Pacific Railway right of way. The local miners wanted to discuss this with Premier John Robson, so when he was passing through Revelstoke on a campaign trip, they asked him to meet with them to discuss the legislation. The miners made sure that he missed his train, then took him to a meeting on Front Street in Revelstoke, where they spoke against the legislation. Nobody but the men who had "kidnapped" Robson knew that he was there. Robson was finally invited to speak, and claimed that he had seen the error of his ways, and would rescind the legislation. He suggested that they elect a miner to sit in the legislature and represent their interests. J.M. Kellie, the ringleader of the "kidnapping" plot, was persuaded to run and won by one vote over W.M. Brown.

Kellie held his position as M.P.P. for 10 years, and became well-known for his outspoken views and his unwavering support for the riding of West Kootenay. Revelstoke Museum and Archives holds a typed manuscript by J.M. Kellie detailing his life and political career. It is one of the many historically significant and fascinating items in Revelstoke Museum and Archives.

Brown Bag History will resume for the new year on Wednesday, January 21st at 12:15. The topic will be "Revelstoke in 1909."

Christmas Hours

2008-12-24T12:23:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-24T12:16:00.001-08:00

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!

50 Years of Preserving Our History

2008-11-27T18:09:00.000-08:00

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.

All the News that's Fit to Print

2008-11-15T13:18:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-10-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

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.

"A Taste of Elegance" Cookbook

2008-09-24T13:01:00.001-07:00

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.

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

2008-09-07T13:54:00.001-07:00

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

River of Light

2008-09-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

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.

Chinese Legacies

2008-08-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

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

Big Bend Gold Rush

2008-07-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

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.

Brown Bag Picnic

2008-07-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

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.

Latest Museum News

2008-06-20T17:11:00.001-07:00

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?

100 Years Ago Today

2008-05-30T14:10:00.000-07:00

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.

Sturgeon in the Columbia

2008-05-20T15:23:00.000-07:00

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.

Upcoming Events and Water Snakes

2008-05-13T12:54:00.001-07:00

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.

Chinese Legacies

2008-05-02T09:50:00.001-07:00

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.

Welcome to our Blog

2008-04-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

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.