Bike to Work Week

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

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

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

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

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

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

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."