Rogers Pass Station Snowslide, 1899

Many people know about the disastrous avalanche at Rogers Pass that killed 58 railway labourers who were clearing a previous slide. Less well-known is an avalanche that occurred on January 31, 1899, taking out the CPR Station at Rogers Pass and killing seven people. The station was located east of the Rogers Pass National Historic Site Interpretive Centre, and just before the first snowshed, at the base of the Hermit Range. On the afternoon of January 31, 1899, the station agent, William Cator, age 37, was speaking with Frank Vago, the coalman. Cator’s wife, Annie, age 35, and the Chinese cook Ah Hou were busy working in the kitchen. The Cator’s children, three-year-old Charles and two-year-old Ethel were also in the station house. Upstairs, the 18-year-old night operator Frank Corson was asleep in his bunk. The station waitress and housekeeper Annie Berger was upstairs. James Ridley, age 31, a CPR wiper, was asleep in a nearby shack. Without warning, a dry slide consisting of loose powdery snow roared down the mountain and tore through the station and yards. The Kootenay Mail of February 4, 1899 described the events. “The express from the east was expected at Rogers Pass, and those there Tuesday afternoon were busy at their various duties, anticipating its arrival, when down the gorge in the northwest came the awful avalanche which was to be the snowy sepulcher for so many. They heard the sound, which filled everything, and that was all; it took them – as did the lava the Pompeiians – where they stood. The awful slide first encountered two “shacks,” belonging to Maxwell and Newitt, both of whom were absent. These it hardly noticed, but drove with increasing fury on some Chinese boarding cars... It took the cars with it like feathers,…threw them over the round house, which it badly wrecked, and with its gathered debris rushed at the station house and completed its dreadful mission in less time than it takes to tell it.” The entire Cator family was wiped out in the slide, as was Ah Hou and Frank Corson. Frank Vago dived under the table and survived with broken ribs. The waitress Annie Berger survived but suffered a broken leg and other injuries. James Ridley died in the shack near the station. The three Chinese men who were in their boarding car at the time survived without injuries. Newspaper accounts stated that Mrs. Cato was found with a rolling pin and pastry in her hand. Two dogs and a caged bird managed to survive the slide. Years later, in a recorded interview, CPR Engineer George Williamson said that his mother and sister were also living at Rogers Pass and that his sister had been visiting Mrs. Cato that afternoon and had just left the station before the slide came down. The following quotes are from his interview with Imbert Orchard recorded in the 1960s. “And this particular day that the slide came down, my sister, she was 14 years old at the time. She had just been visiting the Cator family. And she hadn’t only got about three minutes away from the station when she heard this roar and her skirts begin to flop around her – she got the wind of that slide that smashed the station up against the hillside. Well, when that slide came down the first thing it struck was an old pay car on logs alongside of the shop, no trucks or anything, for the wipers to sleep in. And then there was a two-stall roundhouse and the 409 was in there at the time. They were wiped out – 409 just tipped into the pit sideways and the shop was cleaned right clean like the cleanest could be clean. And then it took the station and smashed it just level as this floor. The first fella to go was this James Ridley, a wiper – he was asleep in this car, and then it went over the station and there was an old Frenchman in there, our coal-up man, old Frank Vago. He told me weeks later that just before the slide struck, he said to William Cator that he thought the station would go. That station was built on piling, about six or eight feet high, because it was all swamp underneath it…” The photograph of the station shown here was taken in the summer of 1898, just six months before the slide wiped it out. The Cator family can be seen in the photograph, along with the waitress Annie Berger, in the white blouse and dark skirt. The other photograph shows the area after the slide had hit. The station and yards were rebuilt where the Rogers Pass National Historic Site Interpretive Centre is now located. Once the Connaught Tunnel was completed in 1916, the summit of Rogers Pass was bypassed by the Canadian Pacific Railway main line and was no longer in use.

First Tracks

Revelstoke Museum & Archives is proud to announce the publication of our new book, “First Tracks – the history of skiing in Revelstoke.” The book explores this fascinating history going back to the early 1890s, when the newspapers reported people coming in to town on “Norwegian Snowshoes,” as skis were then called. Snowshoes were the more usual mode of travel in the snow, and the skis created a bit of a sensation in town. The newspaper Kootenay Mail described the skis in their November 28, 1891issue: “The snowshoes are simply thin slats of wood about three inches in width and ten feet in length, and turned up in front like the bows of a canoe. The feet are fastened to these slats by leather straps in the centre, leaving about five feet clear fore and aft, which is not lifted clear of the snow, but glides along the surface. A pole about six feet in length is carried, either for steering purposes or as a help in propulsion.” The book explores how skiing became a recreational pastime in the 1890s and early 1900s, then discusses the formation of the competitive Revelstoke Ski Club in 1914. This club, with many members from the local Scandinavian population, put Revelstoke on the map in terms of the sport of skiing, with both ski racing and ski jumping being the most popular forms of the sport. Revelstoke became known world wide as a ski jumping destination right up until 1975. Every aspect of skiing in Revelstoke is explored in the book, right up to the present day. Revelstoke Mountain Resort, cat powder skiing, heliskiing, backcountry skiing and Nordic skiing are all discussed in the book. Fabulous photographs illustrate the book throughout. The book was a wonderful way for the museum to share this exciting aspect of our history. We were able to add to our knowledge on this subject through many interviews and donations of photographs and artifacts. We created a new ski hsitory exhibit at the museum to further explore the passion that people here have for skiing. The picture on the front cover of the book shows six Revelstoke men and women skiing at the summit of Mount Revelstoke in February of 1941 during a film shoot. It is just one of dozens of great photographs that tell this history. For more information on the book, contact us at info@revelstokemuseum.ca

Revelstoke in 1912

Much of Revelstoke’s historic downtown was constructed by 1913. Revelstoke shared in the general economic boom that took place in Canada in the early 1900s, and this can be seen in some of the commercial and government buildings that were constructed during that time. In 1912, Revelstoke saw the completion or at least the start of construction of several of our prominent heritage buildings. McKinnon’s pool room and cigar store and Bourne Brothers General Store were both opened in February of 1912. They are now operating as Nickelodeon Museum and Style Trend Clothiers respectively. They are both beautiful buildings and both have restored parts of their original pressed tin ceilings. C.R. Macdonald opened his drugstore on Mackenzie Avenue in March and that building now houses Isabella’s Restaurant. Our beautiful brick Courthouse was being constructed by contractors Foote and Pradolini. The cornerstone was laid on May 2, 1912 and the building was completed in October of 1913. Horace Manning arranged for the construction of his new candy factory in the fall of 1912 and it was completed the following year. The building retains the original name of Manning’s although it is now a Chinese Restaurant rather than a candy factory. There are residents who still remember the delicious Manning’s Broadway Chocolates made there. Another beautiful building that began construction in 1912 was the Queen Victoria Hospital. Revelstoke’s first public hospital had been constructed in 1902 on the site where Cooper’s is now located, and a brick annex was added to it in 1910. In 1912, the original cottage hospital was moved to the next lot where it eventually became the first Legion building. A new brick hospital was built up against the brick annex to create the new Queen Victoria Hospital that remained in use until the end of 1970. Sadly, the brick hospital was torn down in the early 1970s. The bricks in the posts at the back end of our Heritage Garden came from this building. In 1912, Revelstoke was one of the largest centers in the interior of the province, third in size after Kamloops and Nelson. Kelowna, Vernon and Salmon Arm were still fairly small farming communities at that time. The CB Hume Department Store in Revelstoke was the largest of its kind in the interior. Revelstoke boasted a large YMCA building equipped with a full gymnasium, bowling alley and indoor pool. There was also an Opera House where local and travelling performers could stage shows. A local group known as the Progress Club was negotiating with the federal government to have Mount Revelstoke declared a National Park and construction of the auto road to the summit began in the summer of 1912. The CPR was the major employer and operated a branch line to Arrowhead, south of Revelstoke, with steamer traffic from Arrowhead to West Robson. This growth continued up until the outbreak of war in August of 1914, which changed Revelstoke irrevocably.

Revelstoke Remembers

Revelstoke residents have been gathering each November 11 at the cenotaph since it was first erected in 1923. The marker was created by the Great War Veterans Association, the forerunner to the Royal Canadian Legion. The plaque on the cenotaph listed the names of 91 men from this district who gave their lives during World War I. A second plaque was added after World War II with the names of another 32 men. Revelstoke Museum & Archives created memorial books with a profile on each of the World War I soldiers and we are currently doing the same for the men who gave their lives in World War II. It is important for future generations that the memories of these men are not lost. Ken English researched and wrote the profiles of the World War I soldiers, and he created a summary profile. Here are some of the facts that he discovered. About half of the men who died were born in England and Scotland. Another quarter were born in Eastern Canada and thirteen were born in British Columbia, seven of those in Revelstoke. The average height of the men was 5’8” with the shortest recruits John Henry and Stanley Janes at 5’3” and the tallest Daniel Montgomery at 6’2”. The average age of the men at the time of death was 28. The oldest was Andrew Lee at 44, and there were six other men over the age of 40. The youngest was Charles Hanbury who was a 16 year old sailor on the HMCS Galiano when it sank off the Queen Charlotte Islands on October 29, 1918. There were four other soldiers who were under the age of 20 when they died. There were several sets of brothers who served overseas, but the only family that lost two sons was the Robinson family. John Robinson was the brother of pioneer sawmill owners Fred and Dan Robinson. John’s three sons Arthur, Walter and Victor all served overseas and only Victor returned home. Walter died on April 22, 1915 during the battle of Ypres at the age of 21. Arthur died on August 11, 1918 at the age of 20. The stories of the men who died are endless and we have only fragments of them. We welcome any additional information and photographs on the soldiers from the two world wars. Any family members of Revelstoke’s fallen soldiers are encouraged to contact us – we would be happy to share whatever information we have as well. The photograph shows a group of Bridge Guards in Rogers Pass. The man at the left is John Collia, who was born in Italy in 1893 and came to Canada around 1907. John died at the age of 24 on April 19, 1917 at the battle for Vimy Ridge. John has many family members still living in Revelstoke.

Halloween in Revelstoke

Halloween is widely celebrated in Revelstoke now, by both adults and children, but that wasn’t always the case. In researching Revelstoke’s celebration of Halloween, it was hard to find much about it at all in the early newspapers. This note appeared in the November 4, 1905 edition of the Revelstoke Herald: “Halloween passed off quietly, the principal mischief being the disappearance of gates on Mackenzie Avenue. The owners would be glad to have them returned.” Trick-or-treating did not seem to be popular until the 1930s. Before that time, there was what the newspapers referred to as pranks, or mischief, which included the occasional destruction of property as well as noisemaking and the shooting of firecrackers. During the First World War, the newspapers exhorted the boys of the city to refrain from any destruction of property, claiming that it was an assistance to the enemy. In 1934, there were rumors that the underemployed men in the government work camps would cause mass destruction in the city. The Revelstoke Review of November 2, 1934 had this to say: “Halloween passed very quietly in Revelstoke, believe it or not. There had been rumors that the town would be blown off the map. Dynamite had been made into hand grenades and other destructive material had been obtained, it was said. But nothing happened. A few windows were soaped and none of the so-called radical element in the camps was found in the city.” Community suppers and parties were often held in celebration of Halloween. The Pythian Sisters lodge held a Halloween Social in 1936. The Revelstoke Review reported: “Ghosts, witches and Jack-o-lanterns were the masters of ceremonies at the Pythian Sisters’ social held on Tuesday evening. Treasure hunting was a popular game, while Halloween contests and the Witch’s Murder, in the form of a bowling match, were a close second. Prizes and fortunes were distributed among the guests. Dainty refreshments consisting of ‘Druid’s Delight,’ ‘Witches’ Brew’ and ‘Toes Not Found on Man Nor Beast’ were served to put the finishing touches on to a real Halloween evening. During World War II, the Kinsmen Club tried to provide some Halloween fun for the local children while raising money for their war efforts. “Milk for Britain” campaign. Due to rationing, most homes could not purchase treats to hand out, so the Kinsmen Club came up with a great alternative. They sold sheets of tickets to householders at one cent per ticket. When children came to the door for treats, they were given a ticket at each home. They could then redeem the tickets for hot dogs and treats at a community-wide Halloween party at the YMCA building on First Street East. All of the proceeds went towards the Kinsmen Club’s “Milk for Britain” campaign. However you celebrate Halloween, we hope that it is fun and safe. The attached photograph by Emma Roberts shows a group of school children having some Halloween fun at the CPR station in 1920.

Randle William Gascoyne-Cecil

It’s always fascinating to discover where a bit of research can take you. I did a Google search today on Nobel Peace Prize winners and saw a surname that I recognized. Robert Gascoyne-Cecil was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1937 for his work with the League of Nations. Several years ago, my husband Ken English researched all of the 100+ men from Revelstoke who died during World War I. The name Randle William Gascoyne-Cecil came up during his research. Although Randle William Gascoyne-Cecil’s name does not appear on the local cenotaph, he was mentioned in the Revelstoke newspapers as one of the first men who applied for military service after war was declared on August 3, 1914. His occupation at the time was listed as car repair assistant with the Canadian Pacific Railway. His name was given as Randle Cecil in the local newspapers. He was one of 25 men from Revelstoke accepted for service with the Second Contingent of Canadian Volunteers and he signed his attestation papers in Victoria on November 11, 1914. At the time of enlistment, he stated that he was married, and was 25 years of age. He had served with the local branch of the Rocky Mountain Rangers militia for two and a half months. He had also served with the Oxford University Officers Training Corp, with the Cavalry Squadron. He stated that he was born in London, England on November 28, 1889. He died on December 1, 1917 while serving as a Lieutenant with the Royal Horse Artillery, Territorial Force. The Canadian Virtual War Memorial maintained by Veterans’ Affairs indicates that he was the son of Right Rev. Lord William Gascoyne-Cecil and the husband of Elizabeth Claire Gascoyne-Cecil. Until today, that was all that we knew about him. The coincidence of finding the name Gascoyne-Cecil among the list of Nobel Peace Prize recipients spurred us on to do some further digging. We discovered that Randle William’s father William and uncle Robert (the Peace Prize winner) were both the sons of Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, and three-time Prime Minister of England. William, Randle’s father, was the Bishop of Exeter. So why was Randle William, obviously very wealthy and well-connected, living in Revelstoke and working as a railway car repair assistant? We then found an article in the New York Times from July of 1915, telling of the divorce of Randle and his first wife, Dorothy Janaway. The article indicated that Randle had been sent down from Oxford in 1908 for “a breach of discipline” after throwing rocks through the windows of Balliol College. The article went on to say that Randle had appeared as an actor in Gaiety plays and had travelled with actor George Grossmith to America. With a bit more research, we discovered that Randle married Dorothy Janaway in June of 1914 and divorced her in July of 1915. Did his wife come with him to Revelstoke? There is no indication whether she did or not. By the time of his divorce, he was back in England, and preparing for active service. In June of 1916, he married Elizabeth Claire Turner. Their daughter Anne Mary Gascoyne-Cecil was born on July 29, 1918, seven months after her father’s death. Anne gained the rank of 2nd Officer in the service of the Women's Royal Naval Service during the Second World War. She married Lieutenant Commander David Bryce Wilson in 1945 and came with him to his home in Ontario, where they had five children. Randle William Gascoyne Cecil and two of his brothers died in active service in World War I. One other brother was wounded but survived. The story so far, still just bits and pieces, seems to indicate an aristocratic English youth sowing his wild oats, and then heeding the call to serve his country when war was declared. It is a story that was surely repeated throughout the British Empire during World War I. The mystery remains though – what brought a grandson of a British Prime Minister to Revelstoke? Why was he working as a common laborer? What was the story of his first marriage? Revelstoke had its share of people with secrets. We can now add Randle William Gascoyne-Cecil to that list.

Happy 113th Birthday, Revelstoke

March 1, 2012 marks the 113th anniversary of Revelstoke’s incorporation as a city. The community was already 14 years old, having been established in 1885 during the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The long delay in incorporation was largely a result of the dispute between the original townsite owner, Farwell and the CPR, and the inability of the provincial and federal governments to agree on riverbank protection. The community was renamed Revelstoke in June of 1886, as a result of a request by the Canadian Pacific Railway to the Post Office Department. It was perhaps a measure of the C.P.R.’s political influence that the request was granted with little or no discussion. The name honoured Edward Baring, First Baron Revelstoke, and head of the Baring Bank of England, which had saved the CPR from bankruptcy and had allowed for the completion of the railway. The City of Revelstoke was honoured to host Edward Baring’s great-grandson, the Sixth Baron Revelstoke, James Baring, at our city’s homecoming in 2009 and we were saddened to hear of James’ death this February. James Baring’s oldest son Alexander Baring will become the Seventh Baron Revelstoke.

An editorial in the Kootenay Star newspaper of February 16, 1892 explained “How the Station was Built a Mile and a Half away.” The articles stated that one Canadian Pacific Railway official was prepared to purchase 80 acres of land from A.S. Farwell for the station and yards. The editorial states: “Had this been carried out, Revelstoke would have been one compact town, instead of being cut in two by a mile and a half of lonely, burnt-up timber…Mr. Van Horne (the company Vice-President) would have nothing to do with Farwell or his offer…and thus Revelstoke remains in two parts – the old and the new.”

Once the station was established near the present location, the Farwell townsite had a distinct disadvantage. Businesses had to pay extra shipping charges to transport their goods from the station to their Front Street locations. Government Road was built to provide a more direct route from the Station to Front Street. It angled from Victoria and Rokeby to Third Street between Pearson and Ford. The last vestige of Government Road can be seen in the angled street between the Alpine Shopping Mall and The Bargain Store and Chalet Bakery building.

The Canadian Pacific Railway began selling lots in their new townsite in the early 1890s and by 1899, many businesses had relocated to Revelstoke Station. The townsite dispute had finally been settled, and residents could get clear title to their land. The local Board of Trade was pushing for incorporation and this finally happened on March 1, 1899.

This photograph of Mackenzie Avenue in 1898 shows the early development of this part of town. The spire of the Catholic Church can be seen at the corner of First Street. It was moved to Fifth Street in 1899. There were still several homes in the first two blocks of Mackenzie, but within two years, they had all been moved to other locations. In the background, Mount Revelstoke is completely burnt off.

Ski History Project

Revelstoke Museum and Archives is embarked on an exciting new project. During the year, we will be compiling photographs and information for a major new book on ski history in Revelstoke. The book will chronicle the early recreational ski clubs in the 1890s, the rise of competitive skiing in 1915, and advances in technique and equipment right up until the present day. Ski jumping on Mount Revelstoke will be highlighted, as well as distance and downhill skiing, and what we believe to be one of the earliest heli-skiing photographs around. The book will be 144 pages, with fine-art quality black and white photographs with accompanying text.

During the year, we will be conducting interviews and compiling information as well as additional photographs and artifacts. As a result, we will be mounting a major exhibit on skiing in addition to the book project. We are especially seeking information on the downhill and slalom runs on Mount Revelstoke and the early development on Mount Mackenzie. Please contact us if you can contribute to this project.

In the course of the project, we are already uncovering amazing stories and photographs. One of my favourite stories is Bob Lymburne’s ski ascent of Mount Begbie in 1932, as chronicled in the Canadian Alpine Journal. At the time of this feat, Bob Lymburne was the new Amateur World Record holder in ski jumping, having achieved a jump of 269 feet earlier in the year. On the 15th of May, 1932, Bob Lymburne left town at 4 am and drove as close as he could get to the base of Mount Begbie. He was not too far up the mountain before he put on his skis and set a fast pace, not knowing how long it would take him.

Lymburne described his ascent in the journal: “On reaching the foot of the glacier I was surprised to find that it was just 8 a.m. I enjoyed the wonderful ski-ing that is to be had on the long, smooth slopes of the glacier. After two hours ski-ing on the glacier, I halted and enjoyed my lunch. This consisted of raw eggs, oranges and raising which, in my opinion, forms the most satisfactory lunch for strenuous exercise.”

He continued upward to the highest peak. “In places there were crevasses four feet in width, thousands of feet in length and so deep that I could not see the bottom. The safe passage of these was much facilitated by the fact that I was wearing skis. Climbing to the last pinnacle, I was forced to remove my skis as it was necessary to hack out holes in the ice with my ski poles, in order to get a foot hold. The ice-walls were exceedingly steep and I had to go very carefully as a misstep would have led to a two thousand-foot fall. Before attempting the last bit, I sized up the situation very carefully, and convincing myself that I could complete the climb, reached the summit at 1 p.m.” He started to descend about 2 p.m. “After many wild, swift rides down the mountain side, the valley was reached and I arrived at Revelstoke the same evening at 6 p.m.”

The accompanying photograph shows Bob Lymburne in his glory days around 1932.

What a Guy!

In my last Brown Bag History session, I talked about John Guy Barber, known locally as Guy. I referred to him as our honourary ghost. One of the most frequently asked questions in the museum is whether we have a ghost. After working here for over 25 years, I would have to say that either we do not a ghost, or I lack the required sensitivity to notice such a presence. However, after answering the question over and over I decided that perhaps we should have a ghost, and if we did, I would like our ghost to be Guy Barber.

Guy Barber came to Revelstoke in 1890 as the young community’s first resident jeweller. He was born in either the United States or Manitoba, depending on which census you believe, and received his apprenticeship as a jeweller and watchmaker in Winnipeg before coming first to Kamloops and then to Revelstoke. His father was born in the United States, and his mother was probably born in Manitoba., unless we believe the 1891 Revelstoke census, where he claimed that his mother was Cuban and was born in Cuba. Was this the truth, or was this a young man in his early twenties having a bit of fun with the census-taker? Our reseach shows that his mother was indeed from Manitoba, so for now we will go with the young man’s hijinks theory.

Guy Barber appears in many photographs in the museum’s collection. Many of them are sports pictures, such as the 1891 ski club and the 1909 curling club and the snowshoe club; others show Guy in front of his jewellery store on Front Street, and his later store on Mackenzie Avenue. He also appears in several photographs of local entertainments, such as the 1911 Fireman’s Masquerade Ball.

The early newspapers are full of writeups telling of Guy Barber’s talent as an entertainer. There is hardly a local event that didn’t have Guy listed as a soloist or part of a quartette. His voice was said to be particularly good, and he was also a talented banjo player. He also played alto horn in the city’s first brass band in 1897.

In the mid 1890s, Guy Barber’s name was often linked with that of Lyda Edwards. They were partners in tennis, and at other local events. In November of 1897, though, Lyda married Charles Holten, a Revelstoke pioneer who had made a small fortune with a mining claim in the Lardeau. The museum now has many of the personal papers of the Holten family and they contain some material on Guy Barber, including photographs of Guy’s father and sister, and photographs showing Guy and Lyda on outings together, even while Charles Holten was still alive. What was the connection between Guy and Lyda? Were they friends, or more than that? Guy never married, but does that mean that he didn’t have any children? We’ll never know for sure, but there were rumours.

The early photographs of Guy Barber showed him as a tall, dark, slim man. As time passed, he became quite heavy. He played for the “Fats” team in the “Fats” versus “Leans” Red Cross benefit baseball game in 1915, and continued to grow in girth over the years.. In the 1930s, Guy moved back to Winnipeg, where he passed away in 1937 at the age of about 70.

The photograph shows Guy Barber, far left, with the Revelstoke Ski Club, circa 1891. F.B. Wells is at the right. He brought skis in from Minnesota and sold them in his men's clothing store.

Ode to Eva Lake

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.