Pioneer Revelstoke Brewer, Oliver Henry Allen

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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