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

Summer Heritage Tours

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

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.