CONTENTdm
Northwest bookshelf. Vol. XV
British Columbia Historical Books Collection
Ireland, Willard E.
Woldfenden, Madge
Provincial Archives of British Columbia
British Columbia Historical Association
"Supersedes the association's Annual report and proceedings. Table of contents, index in each volume. Indexed in Canadian index. Last number appeared in 1958."-- Lowther, B. J., & Laing, M. (1968). A bibliography of British Columbia: Laying the foundations, 1849-1899. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 193. "Published by the Archives of British Columbia in co-operation with the British Columbia Historical Association. Superseded the Association's Annual report and proceedings. Table of contents and index in each volume. Also indexed in the Canadian Index. Publication suspended with vol.21, Jan., 1957-0ct., 1958, i.e. 1963. Includes many articles and reviews of publications on the precolonial period."-- Strathern, G. M., & Edwards, M. H. (1970). Navigations, traffiques & discoveries, 1774-1848: A guide to publications relating to the area now British Columbia. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 32.
248 pages : coat of arms, portraits, illustration, tables ; 25 cm
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THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA LIBRARY From the library of Dr. C.E. Dolman THE BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 1951 EDITOR Willard E. Ireland, Provincial Archives, Victoria, B.C. ASSOCIATE EDITOR Madge Wolfenden, Provincial Archives, Victoria, B.C. ADVISORY BOARD Princeton, B.C. T. A. Rickard, Victoria, B.C. W. N. Sage, Vancouver, B.C. ations should be addressed to the Provincial Archives, CONTENTS OF VOLUME XV British Columbia and Confederal By Walter N. Sage Labour and Socialism in British Columbia: Development before 1903. By lohn Tupper Saywell Archibald Menzies" Trophies. By Richard H. Dillon Notes and Comments— The Northwest Bookshelf: Copy-book of Letters Outward. lames Isham's Observations on Hudson's Bay, 1743. By Willard E. Ireland Arthur Currie. By F. H. Soward ^ Petroglyphs of Central Washington. ly F. H. Soward_. Peter Skene Ogden's Snake Country lourni By Margaret A. Ormsby The History of Canada by Father Du Creu m Educational Pione, The Northwest Bookshelf—Continued Some Modem Historians of Britain. By Walter N. Sage Papers Read before the Hi Series III, No. 6. By Willard E. Ireland Page 93, line 26: For explanatory read explorat Page 112, line 20: For TWread Todd. Page 114, line 29: For loseph read Edward. THE BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY JANUARY-APRIL, 1951 BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Published by the Archives of British Columbia in co-operation with the British Columbia Historical Association. EDITOR Willard E. Ireland, Provincial Archives, Victoria. ASSOCIATE EDITOR Madgb Wolfenden, Provincial Archives, Victoria. ADVISORY BOARD I. C. Goodfellow, Princeton. T. A. Rickard, Victoria. W. N. Sage, Vancouver. Editorial communications should be addressed to the Editor. Subscriptions should be sent to the Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. Price, 50^ the copy, or $2 the year. Members of the British Columbia Historical Association in good standing receive the Quarterly without further charge. Neither the Provincial Archives nor the British Columbia Historical Association assumes any responsibility for statements made by contributors to the magazine. The Quarterly is indexed in Faxon's Annual Magazine Subject-Index and the Canadian Index. BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY "Any country worthy of a future should be interested in its past." ol. XV Victoria, B.C., Ianuary-April, 1951 Nos. 1 ani The Kootenay Mail: Revelstoke's Second Newspaper. By Burt R. Campbell How British Columbia Nearly Became a Colony of Australia. By Thomas Dunbabin George Mason, Priest and Schoolmaster. By Andrew Forest Muir First Impressions: Letter of Colonel Richard Clement Moody, R.E., to Arthur Blackwood, February 1,1859. Edited with an introduction by Willard E. Ireland Notes and Comments: British Columbia Historical Association 1 Yukon Historical Society 1 Kootenay Historical Society 1 The Montana Magazine of History 1 Plaque Commemorating British Columbia Becoming a Province of the Dominion of Canada : 1 A Note on "Coal-seekers on Peace River, 1903 " 1 Contributors to This Issue 1 The Northwest Bookshelf: Copy-book of Letters Outward &c begins 29th May, 1680 ends 5 My, 1687. lames Isham's Observations on Hudson's Bay, 1743, and Notes and Observations on a Book Entitled "A Voyage to Hudson's Bay in the Dobbs Galley," 1749. By Willard E. Ireland 1 Cain: Petrogtyphs of Central Washington. By Wilson Duff Canada. THE KOOTENAY MAIL: REVELSTOKE'S SECOND NEWSPAPER* In attempting to write a story of this kind, the natural thing to do would be to search the files of the newspaper itself. It would appear, however, that only two complete files of The Kootenay Mail exist—one in the Provincial Library, Victoria, B.C., and the other in the Library of Parliament, Ottawa—neither of which was available for personal examination. The files for the years 1896 to 1898, being Volumes 3 and 4, are to be found in the office of The Revel- stoke Review, currently publishing at Revelstoke, and these were examined. As the story is written from within rather than from hearsay, it includes a more or less biographical sketch of the period during which the author was associated with the newspaper; therefore, an indulgence is asked for personal references.—B. R. C. The final issue of The Kootenay Star, which had been published at Revelstoke since the summer of 1889, appeared on March 31, 1894, and contained the following poetic obituary:— I am leaving with the snow; I am going " out of sigh My twinklings you will never see again; I am very glad to quit this uncongenial sphere On which my bright effulgence shone in vain. 'Twas difficult to please more than one or two each v For each reader had an idea of his own On every topic 'neath the sun, how a paper should be And scrupled not to let the same be known. I've been criticized and cuss'd; I've been victimized a I've been starved and neglected and unloved. Without a dollar or a cent, all my debts paid but the In the journalistic boneyard I am shoved. This is my last farewell; but I'm not going to h , As some of my dear friends have wished of yore, So 111 bid you all adieu; I'll just leave you " in the st< I am nothing loth to go, to give the Mail a show; But I wish to make this sole and last request— Vouchsafe to my successor what you would not give to me— A living—in this wild and woolly west.1 This somewhat graceful bow of retirement announced the commencement of The Kootenay Mail, which entered the field on April 14,1894, as a four-page home-print product. This new venture in the newspaper field was sponsored by the Revelstoke Printing and Publishing Company, Limited, which had been incorporated the previous year by a group of Revelstoke business-men.2 R. W. Northey was its first editor, and the policy laid down made it possible to lay a claim to being the only independent newspaper in the Province thus able "to take a whack at any offending head which pops up on either side." J. A. Smith, who came from Toronto, was also on the staff as printer. The home of this new enterprise was in a building on the north side of Front Street in lower town. The plant included a good supply of wood and metal type—all type being set by hand— imposing-stones, racks, paper-cutter, a No. 2 Gordon press for job work, and what was known as a Washington press for the newspaper work. This latter unit called for two operators—one to feed the paper sheets and take the impressions, the other to ink the forms. With hard work it was capable of producing 250 two-page sheets an hour. Most newspapers to-day have what is known as "the morgue," containing photographic cuts of prominent people and local personages. The Kootenay Mail had but one, the likeness of Queen Victoria, the editor evidently having visions of that good lady some day passing away. In point of fact this same cut did service on that memorable day in January, 1901, when the time of Empire mourning arrived. That the office equipment did not include a Linotype or Intertype, which to-day seem so essential, is not to be wondered at, for it was only eight years prior to this time that Ottmar Mergenthaler introduced the first Linotype in New York. None had reached British Columbia, although the Vancouver News- Advertiser had two years previously installed slug-casting machines (1) Revelstoke The Kootenay Star, March 31, until the fall of 1893 was the owner of The Inland i time the publisher and proprietor of this newspaper. (2) The articles of association on file in the office of the Registrar of Companies, Victoria, B.C., are dated lune 3, 1893, and were signed by Frederick Fraser, William Cowan, H. N. Coursier, and Charles Lindmark. 1951 The Kootenay Mail 3 known as the Rogers Typograph, which, on the introduction and general use of the more versatile Linotype, were abandoned as obsolete.3 That the business people of a town of less than 500 population should see the need for a paper is not to be wondered at, for Revelstoke, which had come into being with the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885, was just beginning to get on its feet. The railway company's townsite was about to be placed on the market, although the prospect of securing clear titles was still obscure and did not improve for over a year. Mackenzie Avenue was to be opened from the railway to First Street, and a road cleared on that street from Campbell Avenue to the freight-sheds. This latter road would also be of advantage to the Revelstoke Lumber Company. Settlers were taking up land across the JUecillewaet River, and there was a prospect of a bridge across that river to accommodate them. Work was already under way on what was known as the R. & A.L. Railway—Revelstoke and Arrow Lakes Railway —and the road was that year completed to Wigwam. Mining in Big Bend showed signs of some activity, but it was perhaps the Lardeau, Slocan, and South Kootenay Districts that were of the greatest help to Revelstoke. Nelson, Nakusp, and Robson were each making a bid as choice sites for business and residential property. Boats of the Columbia and Kootenay Steam Navigation Company and two smaller craft were operating in the handling of traffic4 to and from the lower Kootenay and bringing ore from the south for shipment by rail from Revelstoke to smelters. The larger boats landed at the smelter wharf,5 the smaller ones at the lower-town landing. That being the summer famous for creating a record of high water through the Province, Revelstoke shared in it, and the lines were blocked east and west, and the long trestle bridge over the Columbia was for a time endangered. A Provincial election was drawing near, and as the political pot commenced boiling, for a time there seemed a prospect of six candidates entering the field. Under these circumstances the paper's motto of political neutrality would seem to have been a wise one. Those men- (3) For further details on this subject see Burt R. Campbell, " From Hand-set Type to Linotype," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, X (1946), pp. 253-272. (4) Captain lames Fitzsimmons, " Columbia River Chronicles," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, I (1937), pp. 87-100 passim. (J) For details concerning the Revelstoke smelter see S. S. Fowler, " Early Smelters in British Columbia," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, 111 (1939), pp. 193-197. 4 Burt R. Campbell Jan.-Apr. tioned as possible candidates were J. M. Kellie (the sitting member),6 W. M. Brown, R. Tapping, R. Howson, J. W. Haskins, and Angus McKay. However, when nomination-day arrived, only the names of Kellie and Brown7 were submitted, the former as a supporter of the government of the Honourable Theodore Davie; the latter, the Opposition—party lines as now known not having then been introduced. The results following the election on July 11 showed Kellie, 217; Brown, 125.8 Some attention was being given to mining properties in the Ulecille- waet and Big Bend districts, and this helped the town from a business standpoint. South Kootenay, principally around Nelson, was coming to the fore, and the Slocan District was also developing. To serve the latter district, the Nakusp and Slocan Railway had been built, and two passenger-coaches for this run passed through Revelstoke the latter part of August. The burning of the steamer Columbia near Waneta on August 1 somewhat hampered the traffic on the Arrow Lakes and Columbia River, but the steamer Lytton was assigned to the Revelstoke run as a replacement.9 All apparently went well with The Kootenay Mail during the fall and winter months, although an occasional letter by "Diogenes" dealing somewhat caustically with various matters served the purpose of making the publication interesting.10 However, in the issue of March 6, 1895, there appeared a letter from " Diogenes" commenting on the Police (6) I. M. Kellie, popularly known as " Pot-Hole " Kellie, was born in Cobourg, Ontario, December 6, 1848. He came to the Kootenay country in the 1880's and was extremely popular. He was first elected to the Legislature in the general election of 1890 for Kootenay West riding. This seat he retained when that riding was divided in 1894, when he became the first member for Kootenay West (north riding) and again in 1898 when he was the first member elected for the Revelstoke riding. He was never defeated at the polls and refused to accept a nomination after party lines were introduced into Provincial politics. He died at Victoria on December 12, 1927. Victoria Colonist, December 13, 1927; also article in Kamloops Sentinel, May 13, 1932, entitled "Kidnapping of a Prime Minister." (7) W. M. Brown was a native of England, born in 1837, who for many years resided in the Lillooet district. He was elected to the Legislature in 1874, the first member from the Lillooet riding and was re-elected in 1875. Subsequently, he moved to Revelstoke, where he operated the Union Hotel and became active in local politics, serving for several years as Mayor. He died at Medford, Oregon, on December 23, 1915, while on a visit to his daughter. Victoria Colonist, December 29, 1915; Vancouver World, December 30, 1915. (8) Revelstoke The Kootenay Mail, My 21, 1894. (9) Ibid., August 4, 1894. (10) Ibid., August 4 and 11 and September 29, 1894. 1951 The Kootenay Mail 5 Court case of Swift vs. Currie,11 involving an assault charge which started ructions in the Revelstoke Printing and Publishing Company. The plaintiff, Miss E. Swift—" Irish Nell" to the old-timers—ran a sporting- house in lower town. Northey, the editor, who lived in the same building that housed the printing plant, received notice of his dismissal but refused to vacate the office. He appeared before Fred Fraser, J.P., on a charge of trespass laid by the company, and the case was adjourned for eight days. Northey remained in possession until publication-day (Saturday), getting out an edition of the paper setting forth his grievances, as also those of B. H. Lee, a lawyer, and his client, Miss Swift. Quite a number of copies of this issue were put into circulation before the directors took possession while the editor was absent for a short time in his home. The directors, with J. W. Vail as editor, then undertook to get out a second edition of the paper. This appeared in the evening and contained an apology for the unauthorized edition of the morning.12 While this was going on, a petition was circulated asking for an inquiry into the fitness of Fred Fraser to act as a Justice of the Peace. This contained 120 names and was submitted to the Attorney-General of the Province by W. M. Brown on behalf of the petitioners. Subsequently, suit was entered by Northey, claiming $700 damages in lieu of six months' notice of dismissal and for certain incidental expenses in the proceedings. This case was not disposed of until the County Court sessions held in the latter part of May, when F. J. Fulton,13 of Kamloops, appeared for the printing company and R. B. Kerr, of New Denver, for the plaintiff. Judgment was given the plaintiff for $260.14 During the last week in March, what was styled the third scene in the drama "How to Fire an Editor" was enacted in the Police Court (11) Ibid., February 23 and March 2,1895. (12) Ibid., March 9, 1895. (13) F. I. Fulton was born in Bedlington, England, on December 8, 1862, and came.to Canada in 1887, settling at Kamloops in 1889. From 1900 to 1909 he represented Kamloops in the Provincial Legislature and served in the Cabinet as President of the Council, Provincial Secretary, Attorney-General, and Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works at various times. He resigned from the Legislature in 1909, when he disagreed with Premier McBride over guarantees promised to the Canadian Northern Pacific Railway. In 1917 he entered the Federal Parliament as a Unionist member, but retired from public life in 1920. He died at Kamloops on luly 25, 1936. E. O. S. Scholefield and F. W. Howay, British Columbia, Vancouver, 1914, Vol. HI, p. 921; Vancouver Province, luly 25,1936. (14) Revelstoke The Kootenay Mail, May 18, 1895. 6 Burt R. Campbell Jan.-Apr. before A. McArthur, J.P., of Illecillewaet. This was an action for libel brought by Fred Fraser against ex-Editor Northey. The cause of the complaint was attributed to the unknown correspondent "Diogenes," a letter from whom had appeared in the spurious issue of the paper. The plaintiff sought to prove that R. W. Northey, editor of The Kootenay Mail, and " Diogenes" could all be covered by the same hat. However, the limelight of evidence was not strong enough to penetrate the transparency of fact, and the case fell through. Moreover, the evidence failed to prove who were the editors or the proprietors, what either of them had to do with "Diogenes," and, further, what "Diogenes" had to do with the defendant. A. G. M. Spragge appeared for the plaintiff and B. H. Lee for the defendant.15 Still another controversy arose within the ranks of the Revelstoke Printing and Publishing Company when Charles F. Lindmark disagreed with the other directors over the matter of the motion for Northey's dismissal.16 T. L. Haig, managing director, claimed Lindmark had made the motion and that it was unanimously endorsed. Lindmark threatened to expose the doings of other meetings if more was said on the subject.17 This episode in the annals of The Kootenay Mail had been ironed out before the arrival of the narrator of this story in Revelstoke. Northey, however, remained a resident of the town until the latter part of August, when he went to Rossland as the editor of The Prospector. The writer entered the printing trade at The Inland Sentinel, Kamloops, when James W. Vail was editor and, during the interval before going to Revelstoke, had also worked at The Vernon News, returning to Kamloops, where only occasional employment was available. It was the friendship of Mr. Vail that led to the connection with the Revelstoke newspaper. The second letter from Mr. Vail regarding this position, written on the printed note-paper of T. L. Haig, notary public, mining, real estate and commission agent, bears date June 10, 1895, and leaves the inference that this likeable old gentleman, like many of that time, believed it was no crime to beat the Canadian Pacific Railway. It read:— I received your letter saying that you would be willing to come and work on the (15) Ibid., March 30, 1895. (16) Ibid., March 9, 1895. (17) 7AM, March 30, 1895. 1951 The Kootenay Mail 7 get here without paying fare; but if not, I have told Mr. Haig that you would have to be repaid the amount of the fare. I suppose you will have $10.00 a week, as you have been getting from others, for the present.18 A change had but recently taken place at the old Court-house, when J. D. Graham19 succeeded John Kirkup20 as Gold Commissioner and general official, the latter being transferred to Rossland. Earlier that year the Canadian Pacific Railway ran a train to the end of steel at Wigwam for the handling of ore and some passengers,21 and with the rise of water in the river the Columbia and Kootenay Steam Navigation Company's boats resumed the run to the smelter wharf. Rossland boom had started, and building was going forward day and night. Mining properties were showing up well in that district as well as in the Slocan, and pack-trains were serving the northern district of the Big Bend. ' Printers of that day were somewhat noted as tourists—the "homestead " stage when one must stay on a job not having arrived. The first of these to call in Revelstoke, though not working for the Mail, was James W. Greer, afterwards well known in the Boundary and Slocan Districts as a printer and publisher. Mr. Greer's call was made at a time when the writer was engaged on one of his earliest assignments— the preparation of a Dominion Day poster, a task that afforded him some amusement to watch. Dominion Day opened with a Gun Club shoot held on or about Mackenzie Avenue, south of Third Street, a site difficult to locate owing to the new growth of brush among the stumps (18) Letter in the possession of the author. (19) loseph Dee Graham was born on the high seas aboard the transport ship Dee on August 14,1853. He received his education at the Duke of York's Military School in England and joined the Royal Engineers as a bugler when 14 years of age. Before coming to British Columbia, he saw service in South Africa, Bermuda, Gibraltar, and Halifax. For a time he served in the police force at Victoria and then joined the Provincial Police and served at Kaslo and Nelson. In 1898 for a time he left the Government service, but the following year accepted a position as Gold Commissioner at Atlin. About 1910 he retired to the Cobble Hill district on Vancouver Island. He died at Duncan on May 8,1940. Victoria Colonist, May 11, 1940; Atlin News-Miner, lune 29, 1940. (20) lohn Kirkup was born in Kemptville, Ontario, in 1855, and came west to Winnipeg in 1878. Two years later he came to Victoria and in 1881 joined the Provincial service as constable at Yale. In addition to serving at Revelstoke, Kirkup was stationed at Golden and Rossland, and at the time of his death on November 2, 1916, he was Government Agent at Nanaimo. Victoria Colonist, November 3,1916. (21) Revelstoke The Kootenay Mail, April 6, 1895. 8 Burt R. Campbell Jan.-Apr. of the logged-off area. In the afternoon athletic sports were held on Front Street and keenly contested.22 Mid-August witnessed the inaugural meeting of the Revelstoke Board of Trade, at which J. M. Kellie, M.L.A., was chosen president,23 but he resigned at the next meeting and was succeeded by J. D. Sibbald.24 Before the close of the month, steamboat history was made with the arrival of the new steamer Nakusp.25 During the early days of July Mr. Vail resigned as editor of The Kootenay Mail and was succeeded by the author's printing mate, J. A. Smith. By this time the Northey incident had been pretty well forgotten, and work went on without unusual happenings. Probably as a result of expenses in connection with the disposal of Northey, the Revelstoke Printing and Publishing Company found itself short of money for operating expenses. In consequence, the first issue of the paper in September did not make its appearance on the Saturday as usual, the staff having gone on strike. A partial adjustment of arrearages on salary was paid on the Monday and business resumed. Peace reigned for five or six weeks. Then, during the absence of Mr. Smith at the Coast and Mr. Vail substituting for him, the author declared a lone strike for the same reason as on the former occasion. This was a rather unusual strike inasmuch as one of the directors of the company was an abettor to the action. About noon on publication-day William Cowan paid a visit to the office and made the remark, " I will pay you a week's wages, but never mind the paper to-day, we want you to play football." Games were then held on the ball-grounds in the centre of town between upper and lower town teams. Mr. Vail did what he could with the paper, his lament being that he should be thus deserted on his seventieth birthday. A few weeks later another walkout occurred in which Mr. Smith also participated. This was not as speedily adjusted as the first and, as a result, it was necessary to cover up the continuity of some legal advertisements then running. To do this, two issues were produced from the (22) Ibid., luly 6, 1895. (23) Ibid., August 17, 1895. (24) John Drinkwater Sibbald was a pioneer on the Canadian Prairies before coming to Revelstoke. In 1882 he reached Regina, where he subsequently built the first grain-elevator and flour-mill in that city and also built the first brick house in Regina. He came to Revelstoke about 1895 and subsequently became a Government official. Revelstoke Review, luly 6, 1944. (25) Revelstoke The Kootenay Mail, August 31, 1895. 1951 The Kootenay Mail 9 same type with a change of date-line, only a few copies of the second issue being distributed. In mid-September a contract was let to Dan. McGillivray for the completion of the Revelstoke and Arrow Lakes Railway for $150,000.26 This, of course, resulted in busy times for Revelstoke for the balance of the season. About the same time, navigation closed on the upper river and the steamer Nakusp laid up at Wigwam. During the winter months of 1895-96 nothing much of outstanding interest transpired. Business went on without interruption, and social life centred about dances at Bourne's Hall and skating at a rink built and operated by Hugh Loug- heed on a site near the present residence of C. R. Macdonald on First Street. In the spring of 1896 political interest shifted to the Federal scene. The Conservative candidate was the sitting member, John Andrew Mara, one of the Overlanders of '62, who had throughout most of the intervening years been a resident of Kamloops, with many interests, such as steamboat operator on the Thompson River and Shuswap Lake, partner in mill, store, and townsite ventures, and a former member of the Provincial Legislature. At Revelstoke he was a large shareholder in the Columbia and Kootenay Steam Navigation Company.27 The Liberal standard-bearer was a comparative new-comer to the Province who had also located in the Kamloops area and had interests elsewhere, including mining property at Rossland. This was Hewitt Bostock,28 an English- (26) Ibid., September 21, 1895. (27) John Andrew Mara was bora in Toronto on luly 20, 1840, and joined the overland party of R. B. McMicking in 1862 and settled for a time at Yale but soon moved to Kamloops. In 1871 he became a member of the first Provincial Legislature for the Kootenay riding. In 1875 he was elected for the Yale riding and held this seat until 1886. During 1883-86 he was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. In 1886 he successfully contested the Federal Yale constituency. Subsequently, he became a resident of Victoria, where he died on February 11, 1920. J. B. Kerr, Biographical Dictionary of Well-known British Columbians, Victoria, 1890, pp. 227-228; Victoria Colonist, February 12,1920. (28) Hewitt Bostock was bora near Epsom, Surrey, England, on May 31,1864. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, receiving his Master of Arts degree in 1888. Called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn that same year, he never practised his profession. He came to British Columbia in 1893. One of the newspapers in which he became interested was The Province, then a weekly published in Victoria, B.C. In 1904, after serving eight years in the House of Commons, he was called to the Senate and became leader of the Liberal Party in that House in 1914. From 1921-22 he was Minister of Public Works and in 1922 became Speaker in the 10 Burt R. Campbell Jan.-Apr. man, who had acquired the ranch property of Duck & Pringle at Ducks, now Monte Creek. To him the political game was somewhat new, but being possessed of the requisite finances for such an undertaking, he found many seasoned political advisers on his Kamloops central committee.29 Mr. Bostock was quick to recognize the value of newspaper support and was reputed to have become interested in one or more publications. Others, wishing to engage in journalism, found this interest made it somewhat easier to secure loans on chattel mortgages. About this time the majority of the Revelstoke business-men who had founded and carried on The Kootenay Mail for two years were tiring of the venture and casting about for a purchaser. As a result, what must have seemed to them a strange act occurred when H. N. Coursier30 and John Abrahamson31 made an offer for the business. This agreement was concluded on April 15, 1896, when the transfer papers were drawn up and signed on behalf of the Revelstoke Printing and Publishing Company by T. Livingstone Haig, chairman and managing director, and F. B- Wells,32 secretary, the witness to the transfer being Senate. He died at Monte Creek, April 28, 1930. W. Stewart Wallace (ed.), The Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Toronto, 1945, Vol. I, pp. 61-62. (29) Personnel of this committee included M. J. Mclver, Ben Moore, J. H. Morrison, Charles Sweeney, William Baillie, James Vair, Hugh McCutcheon, J. S. Bennett, M. P. Gordon, I. M. Harper, W. H. Whittaker, and James Russell. (30) H. N. Coursier was born in Lambton Mills, Ontario, in 1862 and came west to British Columbia by way of San Francisco in 1882. For a time he worked as timekeeper with Andrew Onderdonk in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Subsequently, in 1889, he opened a store in lower town Revelstoke for R. E. Lemon, and in 1892 he became proprietor of this business, eventually opening other branch stores throughout the Kootenay country. He gave up his mercantile business after the turn of the century and for a time served as Government Agent at Revelstoke. Later he established an insurance and coal business, from which he retired four years before his death on January 10, 1938. Revelstoke Review, January 14, 1938. (31) John Abrahamson was born in Sweden in 1853 and came to Revelstoke in 1885. He died at New Westminster, September 30, 1933. Vancouver Province, September 30,1933. (32) F. B. Wells came to Revelstoke in 1889 from Nelson, where he was the first postmaster. At Revelstoke he bought out the business of T. W. A. Gordon on Front Street in lower town. On March 10, 1890, he received the appointment as postmaster at Revelstoke, the second to hold that position. He was born in England and came west with the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, serving as timekeeper at Winnipeg and later at Donald. When Revelstoke was incorporated, he became one of the first Aldermen. He died on October 1, 1940. Victoria Colonist, October 2, 1940; Revelstoke Review, February 6, 1947. 1951 The Kootenay Mae. 11 R. R. MacLean, assistant to Mr. Wells in his store and the post-office. But, strange as this transaction may have seemed, the awakening came three days later when, on April 18, the printing plant and business was transferred from Coursier and Abrahamson to B. R. Atkins and J. A. Smith, the witness in this instance being W. G. Paxton, an accountant.33 Atkins, whose native home was Cork, Ireland, had for some time resided at Kaslo,34 and he became the editor under the new set-up. Smith, as previously mentioned, had been connected with the Mail as printer and latterly as editor. One of the first weekly papers in the Province to adopt a front page free from advertising, The Kootenay Mail continued as a faithful chronicler of mining activities throughout the Kootenay. The southern part of the district was rapidly coming into prominence, but Blecillewaet, Albert Canyon, and the Big Bend sections all showed activity. Railway news also shared the paper's columns. The first gun in the Federal election battle was fired on May 6, when Hewitt Bostock made his initial appearance at a meeting held in Peterson's Hall, lower town, and presided over by H. A. Brown, chairman of the local Liberal committee.35 As was the custom of the day, an invitation had been extended to Mr. Mara to be present, but he was said to be absent from his Kamloops home. Mr. Bostock addressed the meeting at some length, and other speakers were E. C. Carney, of Kaslo, and R. B. Kerr, of New Denver. An invitation for a Mara supporter to take the floor was issued without response. A motion of J. W. Haskins, seconded by H. N. Coursier, endorsed Mr. Bostock's candidature and pledged him support. The evening of May 23 again found Peterson's Hall the venue of political activity, when Mr. Mara sought the suffrage of the electors at a meeting presided over by W. M. Brown.36 Mr. Mara (33) Notice of this transfer appeared in The Kootenay Mail of April 11, 1896, when it was announced that Atkins and Smith were the new " Proprietors & Publishers." In the issue of May 2 there appeared the comments of many other newspapers in the Province regarding this change in ownership. (34) Benjamin Richard Atkins was born on May 5,1866, at Cork, Ireland. He was a sailor and came.to Canada in the early 1890's and worked on Great Lakes steamboats. Later he went to Montana and in 1893 was in the Slocan country. He came to Revelstoke at the time of his purchase of the paper. Later he became private secretary to the Premier. Until his retirement in 1921 he served as Customs Collector at Revelstoke. He died in Kamloops on November 16, 1941. Kamloops Sentinel, November 20, 1941. (35) Revelstoke The Kootenay Mail, May 9,1896. (36) Ibid., May 30,1896. 12 Burt R. Campbell Jan.-Apr. reviewed the proceedings at the last Federal session. He was followed by Hugh McCutcheon, former owner of The Inland Sentinel and The Kootenay Star, representing the Liberal aspirant for the office. Then came E. King Dodds, of Toronto, who spoke until midnight on behalf of the Conservative candidate. Of this meeting, the next issue of the Mail said:— The large audience completely filled the hall, and there was no lack of enthusiasm, particularly when mention was made of Laurier or Bostock. . . . The climax was reached when the meeting, though called in the interests of Mr. Mara's candidature, adjourned at midnight with cheers for the Queen, Laurier and Bostock; and without a resolution, or even a cheer, for our ex-member.37 From the foregoing it may be assumed that the newspaper no longer enjoyed the independence declared at its birth two years previously. Succeeding issues until the election-day dwelt heavily on the sins of omission of Mr. Mara during his representation of the constituency at Ottawa.38 Summing up the election results under the heading " Laurier, Mowat and Victory" in the issue following election-day, June 23, the Mail gave various phases of the battle. British Columbia Conservatives —the "solid six"—found a reverse in the election of four Liberals. Yale-Kootenay-Cariboo returns showed Bostock, 1,824; Mara, 1,479. Of the Revelstoke vote, the Mail stated: " Locally the contest was keen, and resulted in disappointment for Mr. Mara's committee which had confidently counted upon a much larger majority than 14. The number of' importations' was considerable, and will account for the majority."39 With the election over, the excitement caused thereby was soon overshadowed by interest in the Dominion Day celebration, for which $500 in prizes had been collected. Disappointment when the day arrived was caused by the non-arrival of the Donald baseball players due to washouts on the railway. At that time the Columbia River at Revelstoke was within 16 inches of the historic 1894 high-water mark.40 Well-contested tennis matches between upper and lower town, athletic sports, bicycle and horse races, participated in by the residents, served to make an enjoyable holiday. It may be of interest to note that the bicycle feature was a new one for Revelstoke, and in these competitions the winners (37) 7AM. (38) Ibid., June 6 and 13,1896. (39) Ibid., June 27, 1896. (40) Ibid., July 4, 1896. 1951 The Kootenay Mail 13 included Miss Lyda Edwards, Miss Grace Hamilton, Eddie Edwards, J. H. Lyons of Kamloops, and David Little.41 Considerable excitement was occasioned by the discovery of gold quartz on Mount Revelstoke near the railway, which resulted in seventeen claims being staked and recorded within a few days in mid-July.42 J. E. Long also recorded as a placer claim the property on which his brewery stood. The Kootenay Mail was represented in this flurry by J. A. Smith, who had staked the Maureen Claim. Much activity in mining furnished ample news for the Mail and dealt with the Big Bend, Jordan Pass, Trout Lake, and Ulecillewaet districts, of more local interest, not to mention southern Kootenay sections. At Ulecillewaet, properties to an aggregate of $90,000 changed hands. Even the Mail staff as a whole joined in the inining excitement when an asbestos strike was being staked on Keystone Mountain, Big Bend.43 This was the staking and recording by B. R. Atkins et ai. of Crown Point Claim—the et al. being J. A. Smith, the author, and F. W. Laing, each having a quarter interest in the claim. Of particular interest to residents of the town was the announcement on August 1 that A. P. Cummins, C.E., was making a survey on behalf of a local company for the installation of a water system from Brewery Creek, the money already being subscribed.44 Before the close of the month the Revelstoke Water, Light and Power Company held an organization meeting, when W. Cowan, W. M. Brown, and J. Abrahamson were appointed provisional directors.45 By the middle of September, work on the waterworks system was under way, with Charles Holten as superintendent.46 On September 29 all Canadian Pacific Railway telegraph operators, dispatchers, and agents over the entire system went on strike for official recognition of their organization, better hours, and increased wages.47 The Mail joined in the controversy, setting forth both sides of the story. By October 8 all the men were back at work after a victory.48 A notable fact was that on the Pacific Division only one member of the Order of (42) Ibid., luly 18,1896. (43) Ibid., September 5,1896. (44) Ibid., August 1,1896. (45) Ibid., September 5, 1896. (46) Ibid., September 19,1896. (47) Ibid., October 3,1896. (48) Ibid., October 10,1896. 14 Burt R. Campbell Jan.-Apr. Railway Telegraphers remained at his key. The Revelstoke agent, I. T. Brewster, had been in the East for some time, and Dan Stearman, who was substituting, was among the strikers. The formation and incorporation of The Orphan Boy Gold Mining Company to handle a property known as The Orphan Boy Claim on McCulloch Creek, with J. W. Haskins as vice-president and manager and F. C. Whitney, a former steward on the river-boats, as secretary- treasurer,49 was the beginning of somewhat of a scandal which for months was the cause of news as company officials became involved in litigation arising from shady transactions in the handling of the company's stock by the secretary and culminating in his departure to the United States.50 During the early part of the winter of 1896-97 Mr. Smith went on a visit to the East, and the proposition was made that during his absence the author, who had been up to this time a wage-earner, should work with Mr. Atkins on a 50-50 basis. Mr. Atkins not being a compositor, the task of setting the paper and attending to the job-printing orders was fairly heavy with the reduced staff. On Monday, January 18, 1897, the first issue of the Revelstoke Herald made its appearance and announced that future publications would be on Wednesdays and Saturdays.51 Published by Arthur Johnson and R. Parm Pettipiece,52 who had respectively printed newspapers at Edmonton and South Edmonton, but who had now joined forces, the Herald was said to be a free and independent paper. In welcoming the new contemporary, the Mail expressed the hope that the enterprise of semi-weekly publication would be rewarded. Three weeks later G. E. Grogan arrived from Edmonton to take over the position of editor of the new paper.53 This venture followed rather closely a visit of Mr. Pettipiece to Revelstoke and Rossland and gave rise to a suspicion that (49) Ibid., October 3,1896. (50) Ibid., March 6,1897. (51) Revelstoke Herald, January 18, 1897. (52) R. Parm Pettipiece was born in Huron County, Ontario, and came west to the Prairies in the early 1890's. He founded the South Edmonton News in 1895, and after starting the Herald at Revelstoke in 1900 founded the Lardeau Eagle at Ferguson. The following year he came to Vancouver and began publishing a labour paper. In Vancouver he took an active part in civic affairs, serving for years on the Board of the Vancouver General Hospital. North Vancouver North Shore Press, August 3, 1945. (53) Revelstoke Herald, lanuary 30, 1897. 1951 The Kootenay Mail 15 one or more local parties not politically in accord with the Moi7 had influenced the intrusion. Be this as it may, it was but typical of a trend throughout the Interior. Soon thereafter Rossland had two dailies and a weekly; Nelson, the same; Grand Forks, two dailies; Greenwood, a daily and a weekly; the same year the Inland Sentinel at Kamloops found opposition in the coming of the Standard after having enjoyed a monopoly for thirteen years. The cause of such duplication lay largely in the fact that publishers had not learned that they could not tread on the toes of their customers and expect them to like it. The semblance of neutrality in the newspaper field was then unknown, even though but Me Government support was forthcoming to those friendly to the party in power.54 During the winter months the Mail devoted considerable space to separate write-ups of the various mining camps of the district, and these were widely circulated. An indication of the extent of the mining operations then going on in the Province is to be found in the announcement that the registration of 120 mining companies in three weeks had brought the total capitalization to $600,000,000.55 As spring approached, building operations were under way on many structures in the town and, as a result, 1897 was the most prosperous year that Revelstoke ever enjoyed. Many new business houses were introduced and existing ones were enlarged, but to enumerate them would require too much detail.56 Incorporation of the town was being mooted, but a meeting held in Bourne's Hall late in February, 1897, voted against the proposal.57 Toward the close of March Mr. Smith returned from Toronto, and this involved a slight change in the set-up of the Mail office. It was then agreed that the author should be placed on a one-third split instead of the 50-50 basis prevailing during the winter. To all intents and pur- (54) About this time the Mail found it necessary to enter a protest under the . heading " This is Not Fair " against what was considered too liberal an interpretation of the provision regarding the publication of legal notices in The British Columbia Gazette and a newspaper circulating in the district involved. Certificates of improvement pertaining to mining properties in the vicinity of Revelstoke had appeared in a Nelson newspaper. (55) Revelstoke The Kootenay Mail, March 20, 1897. (56) See Burt R. Campbell, "Revelstoke Was at One Time Divided into Two Sections," Revelstoke Review, June 29, 1940, pp. 3-4. This was a special edition commemorating the opening of the Big Bend Highway. (57) Revelstoke The Kootenay Mail, February 27, 1897. 16 Burt R. Campbell Jan.-Apr. poses this meant becoming a silent partner, a plan that worked so satisfactorily that it established my belief in the co-operative plan for the operation of a small business. Under this plan my new duties included that of soliciting business for the paper and collecting outstanding accounts. These were the days when every person could produce a few dollars without the use of cheques—the first bank, the Imperial Bank of Canada, had just opened a branch in Revelstoke58—and the collection of an account was only a matter of finding the .party owing. Book-keeping was scarcely a necessity, and the custom was to make collections, pay the accounts owing by the Mail, and divide the balance. That the business of the paper had greatly increased during the year covered by the third volume—April 25, 1896, to April 17, 1897—the first year operated by Atkins and Smith, is shown by a comparison of the inches of advertising carried. At the beginning of that year there was 153 inches of display and 26 inches of legal advertising, and the final issue contained 247 inches of display and 16 inches of legal advertising. This may be partially accounted for by the fact that a publication operated by local business-men could scarcely be expected to encourage outside advertisers, whereas by the end of the year a considerable number of outside advertisers are to be noted. A printer visitor that spring was John Mclntyre, of Calgary, who later worked in Nelson. Early association with touring printers had given me a most favourable impression of the International Typographical Union. Mr. Mclntyre provided the requisite name and address of the western representative of that organization and, as a result, an application was immediately filed and affiliation granted with the head office at Indianapolis. This marked the commencement of a membership that has been continuous since that date. About the same time another visiting printer came in from Calgary, whose name is now forgotten. After imbibing a little Revelstoke "cheer-producer," he became playful and touched a match to the whiskers of Tom Cadman, then having his pre-supper snooze in a chair at the Stockholm House. The result was a visit to the office by the hotel proprietor, Albert Stone, who indignantly wanted to know who the crazy printer was. It was thought prudent that the visitor should leave town while the going was good, so he departed. 1951 The Kootenay Mail 17 In The Kootenay Mail of May 8,1897, there appeared the following To correct a false idea raised by a notice in the Revelstoke Herald on the 5th inst. the publishers of the Kootenay Mail desire to state that the premises at present occupied by them will not be available for rental on June 5, next, and that the Kootenay Mail will neither suspend publication nor move at that date. Atkins & Smith, publishers.59 This announcement was brought about through the landlord, Jules Perrin, harbouring a grievance in the satisfaction of which he attempted to render the Mail homeless at a time when new quarters would have been difficult to get. To accomplish this, he sought to give the necessary month's notice and then advertised the premises as being for rent on the date named. Not being equal to the task of penning the aforesaid notice, he asked the assistance of Fred W. Wrong, who was, by the way, a friend of the Mail. Mr. Wrong wrote the notice in due legal phraseology, but purposely post-dated it so as not to take effect for some time. The last day of tenancy, as Perrin thought, arrived, and he paced by the office repeatedly in wonderment at the lack of action. Finally he could stand the suspense no longer and came into the premises to investigate and was then shown the post-dated notice. He was a good sport, for no move was asked nor took place for some months. During the period of this month's tenancy the newspaper operated under somewhat unique conditions, for the premises were in semi- quarantine. The apartment over the office formerly occupied by Perrin was then used by James Lauder and his family. A diphtheria scare arose, and one of the Lauder children eventually died from the disease. Quarantine was set up from the corner of the building to cover the entrance to this apartment, past the large window of the office, and extended to, but did not include, the doorway. Once inside, practically all the work was being performed under quarantine. Having promised steamer service on the Columbia River above Revelstoke, Captain T. J. Troup brought the steamer Ulecillewaet to the wharf at Revelstoke but reconsidered his promise and did not attempt the trip.60 River-men volunteered to pull the boat through the bad spots if necessary. However, commencing on June 1 a daily boat service was inaugurated by the Canadian Pacific Railway between Arrowhead and 18 Burt R. Campbell Jan.-Apr. Trail.61 This was the means of keeping all local hotels filled to capacity in catering to the large traffic to and from the south and contributed greatly to the general prosperity of the town. One of the worst catastrophes on the Canadian Pacific Railway up to that time occurred on Tuesday, June 15, when the eastern end of a tunnel just west of Laurier collapsed during the operation of renewing supporting bents. Bridge Foreman Alex. McGregor was in charge of the work and had the previous day replaced one bent. While removing a second bent on the day of the accident, it was thought unwise to continue the work inside until the overhead weight had been reduced. As attempts were being made to move a rock, it slipped through the bents, and the ceiling of the tunnel collapsed, burying six men, five of whom were killed, the other being slightly injured. A correspondent of the Mail visited the place and interviewed numerous witnesses, securing facts of the case. When the inquest was held at JJlecillewaet the next day, J. D. Graham, Gold Commissioner, watched the proceedings on behalf of the Crown and A. G. M. Spragge represented the railway company. Following the depositions of the various witnesses, the jury sat all night, giving its verdict Thursday morning, this being signed by Walter Scott, foreman. The verdict was set forth in three parts:— (1) Ques.—What was the cause of death? Answer.—Wounds and suffocation caused by collapse of approach to east end of C.P.R. rock tunnel 214 miles east of Ulecillewaet. (2) Ques.—Was death due to accident? Answer.—Yes! Caused by defective timbers in said approach to tunnel. (3) Ques.—Does any blame attach to anyone? Answer.—Yes! The Canadian Pacific Railway Company.62 With a view to making a scoop, covering the story in full, the Mail staff worked late and early in preparation for the issuance of the paper, which ■ found a ready sale. Before it appeared, however, the publishers had a visit from Superintendent E. J. Duchesnay and Solicitor A. G. M. Spragge who, sensing what was going on, without threat advised that the evidence be verified before publication. The callers were shown a proof of the story and assured every possible precaution had been taken to make a trustworthy report. That the story as printed was well founded is borne out by the fact that the railway company never in the slightest way intimidated, coerced, or punished the Mail for its audacity and the officials were ever friendly to the editor. For a long time there- 1951 The Kootenay Mail 19 after, however, the Moil kept pointing out that due attention had not been given the matter by the Government and urged J. M. Kellie, M.L.A., to bring the matter to the consideration of the Attorney-General on the floor of the House. No action on the part of the Government was ever taken. Property-holders in the lower town—Farwell townsite—and surrounding area had been seeking titles which were long overdue. Finally in desperation they signed a " round robin " whereby they jointly refused to pay taxes until the titles were forthcoming.63 Whether or not this had any effect, the fact remains that the announcement was made within a few days (June 12th) that the title dispute had been settled.64 The Mail also brought good news to the residents of the community by the announcement on June 19 that the Revelstoke Water Works, Electric Light and Power Company had agreed to extend the water system to all parts of the town and to build a new reservoir 600 feet farther up the stream. It was also decided to install an electric-lighting plant.65 More stock was to be offered to shareholders. A few days later the company paid a dividend of 13 per cent on the first six months of operation. Celebrations on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria's accession and on the 12th of July once more drew attention to the need for a recreation ground, a matter stressed by the paper editorially.66 However, one of the most eventful days was August 5, for the steamer Lytton left for the Big Bend with 20 tons of hydraulic piping for the French Creek Mining Company, for which the manager, George J. Atkins, had made arrangements.67 This proved a difficult trip, but leaving again on the 28th the steamer made three round trips to LaPorte in five and one-half days. Late in November, 1897, the papercarried the following item: "The Mail wishes all its patrons to note that its office is now ... the ground floor of the Central Hotel."68 This was the room designed by Abrahamson Bros, for use as a commercial sample-room. Much consternation arose in mid-December, and it was largely shared by the Mail, when it was made known that J. D. Sibbald had been named as Gold Commissioner to preside at the recently opened new (63) I'M', June 5,1897. (64) Ibid., June 12,1897. (65) Ibid, June 19,1897. (66) Ibid., July 17,1897. (67) Ibid., August 7,1897. (68) Ibid., November 27,1897. 20 Burt R. Campbell . Jan.-Apr. Court-house in place of J. D. Graham, who had resigned to become manager of Waverley Mines Ltd. at Albert Canyon.69 This was the first of several political appointments to that position ignoring the rights of Civil Servants. It also led to the desertion of the Government by the local member, J. M. Kellie, who stated that he would no longer support the Premier, Honourable J. H. Turner, when he would not consult the members of his Government in such appointments.70 At a meeting of 300 persons Kellie explained his stand to his constituents, and a resolution was passed with only six dissenting votes asking that he retain the seat at the next session, thus avoiding the expense of a by-election. Two weeks later the Mail recorded:— J. M. Kellie, M.P.P, got back Saturday last from his trip through the constituency. His stand against the government was everywhere endorsed, and the Herald and its peanut gang are the only persons who requested him to resign his seat. What a call-down for the peanut gang!71 The local Turner party, which had been dubbed the " peanut gang " or the " peanutters," came in for occasional shots. By the commencement of 1898, Provincial politics were wanning up, and the Mail, which in November had drawn attention to the fact that " The Herald Somersaults Once More—Under a Party Cry It Will Support the Turner Government,"72 again had occasion to make reference to the Herald, pointing out that" Our lightning change contemporary has again somersaulted."73 Other sallies aimed at the Herald from time to time asked as to how its tail was, giving the impression it had been caught in a crack. Another favourite reference was to the Herald's smoke-screen. With Mr. Kellie declaring his opposition to the Government,74 the appearance of a report in the Slocan City News of March 5, 1898, of an interview with William White, Q.C., who had some months earlier taken up residence in Revelstoke, in the course of which he indicated that the return of the Turner Government was not only assured, but that he anticipated no difficulty in unseating Mr. Kellie, caused unusual interest. Later Mr. White repudiated the statement credited to him,75 but nevertheless it later transpired that he was in the field. (69) Ibid., December 18,1897. (70) Ibid. (71) 7AM, January 8,1898. (72) Ibid., November 27,1897. 1951 The Kootenay Mail 21 Editorially and otherwise the question of the responsibility for river- bank protection as between the Federal and Provincial Governments and the grants for such work made an ever-popular topic for the Mail.16 The city received its first electric lights when the service was instituted on February 26,1898.77 Street-lights followed within a few weeks. The Kootenay Mail of April 9,1898, carried the following notice:— DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHIP Notice is hereby given that the partnership heretofore existing between B. R. Atkins and J. A. Smith, under the firm name of Atkins & Smith, as publishers of the Kootenay Mail newspaper, was dissolved March 31, 1898. Signed B.R.ATKINS. J. A. SMITH. The said business will be continued by B. R. Atkins and B. R. Campbell, as Atkins & Campbell, to whom all accounts of the old firm are payable and by whom all debts of the firm will be paid. Signed B. R. ATKINS. B. R. CAMPBELL.78 The agreement of sale which brought this about was dated March 31 and conveyed the interests of J. A. Smith to B. R. Atkins, which condition really held good for thirteen months thereafter due to the fact that the new partner (B. R. Campbell) was not of age and could not be a party to a legal document. This was an instance of a " gentleman's agreement " to the full. At this time there happened along one of the best printers ever in the upper country—A. C. Thompson—and he became an employee of the paper for a considerable time. The smelter townsite had been boosted for some months, and the Mail acquired a lot at the intersection of Second Street and Government Road, on which Mr. Atkins had a building erected, which the partnership rented. Moving from the Central Hotel site on April 20, the paper thus became a party in the trend of business eastward. Second Street was then cleared but not graded. Volume 5, No. 1, of The Kootenay Mail thus was issued from its new home. By way of comparison with the two previous years, there were 227 inches of display and 32 inches of legal advertising being run at the close of Volume 4. It should be noted that the hotels of those early days were among the most faithful advertisers. The merchants, too, were consistent in their (76) Ibid., February 26,1898. (77) Ibid. (78) Ibid., April 9,1898. 22 Burt R. Campbell Jan.-Apr. support and, for the greater part, contented themselves with standing advertisements stating their lines. Where they varied from this, it was only by checking up that they could be kept from advertising snow-shoes in mid-summer and other unseasonable articles in winter. As for commercial printing, hotel letter-heads bulked large, the great quantity required partially arising from the travelling public taking more than they needed for immediate use. Loose-leaf systems were not in vogue, and merchants issued itemized written accounts on sheets of four varying sizes to meet the requirements of the bill. Settled in the new home, the Mail modernized itself somewhat by purchasing a faster and steam-equipped newspaper-press. This press, known as a Prouty, was good for about 800 two-page prints per hour, as against the former machine's 250. The engine and boiler resembled a large box stove with a small power device on the top. To the writer the new equipment was an old friend, having been bought from The Inland Sentinel. Misfortune overcame the boiler the following winter when frost burst the tubing and ended its career. From then on the press had to be operated by hand, as had been the case at Kamloops. In those days at the Sentinel it was propelled by a Chinaman known as " Jim Jam," a name given him after he had helped himself to preserves belonging to a woman living next door to the office. Jim, though perspiring freely, was good for an hour's run and " cussed " if he had to stop. If sick for a day he sent two men to substitute, and they could not do the job without a break. At the Mail the staff furnished the man-power, and it proved good exercise for the editor. The Provincial election participated in by the Turner and Semlin factions, represented by W. White, Q.C., and J. M. Kellie as respective candidates, was preceded by some interesting meetings in which Cabinet Ministers participated. July 11 was the election-day, and when the smoke had cleared away, Mr. Kellie was declared to be again the representative of Revelstoke riding of West Kootenay, his majority being 76.79 One of the highlights of The Kootenay Mail's career was the preferring of a charge of libel against its editor by J. D. Sibbald, whose duties as Government Agent placed him in charge of road-construction. Formerly the Big Bend Road went by way of the east end of the Canadian Pacific Railway's bridge across the Columbia River. A new The Kootenay Mail road was under construction east of the cemetery and by the route now used by the Big Bend Highway. This work was carried out just prior to the election, which in itself was a cause for comment. Political factions opposed to the Turner Government that had appointed Sibbald declared that the cost of this work was excessive for the amount of road constructed. In this the Mail concurred80 and, when the Semlin Administration was elected, asked that a survey of the construction and cost of the road be made. A. P. Cummins, C.E., was appointed for the work, and his report showed an expenditure out of all proportion to the mileage and form of construction. The Mail asked bluntly " Where did the money go? "—the somewhat general impression being that it went for electioneering or campaign purposes.81 Sibbald inferred that this reflected on his administration and handling of public moneys and had a warrant issued for the appearance of the editor.82 Alex. McRae, then Provincial Police officer in Revelstoke, was handed the document for service. Mr. Atkins, looking from the Mail's corner window, saw McRae crossing the open spaces where the high school now stands swinging the blue paper and, guessing what it meant, suddenly discovered that he had business elsewhere and departed by the back door. The constable, unable to serve the warrant, returned and suggested to Magistrate T. L. Haig that he be given a bench warrant. To this Sibbald demurred, and the request was refused probably because it would have given costs to the defendant if the case failed. Later the original paper was served, and the author was also summoned as a witness. The case was heard at the Court-house, the plaintiff being represented by W. White, Q.C., and the defendant by the newly arrived lawyer James Murphy, B.A., a brother of Denis Murphy, then practising at Ashcroft. In opening, Mr. Murphy took exception to the presiding Justice of the Peace, C. F. Lindmark, sitting on the case. Lindmark, a member of the so-called " peanut gang," was said to have expressed opinions favouring Sibbald. The defence, incidentally, had seen that two other Justices of the Peace were present in Court, but a fair hearing being promised, the trial proceeded. After publication of the article was admitted, the author was excused. The prosecution then sought to prove the reflection charged, and a somewhat surprising incident occurred when the editor of the (80) Ibid., August 20,1898. (81) /to/, February 18,1899. (82) Ibid., February 25,1899. 24 Burt R. Campbell Jan.-Apr. Herald, G. E. Grogan, testified that he had interpreted the story as had the plaintiff—that the money went into Sibbald's pocket. In summing up, the presiding Magistrate decided that the charge had not been proven and dismissal followed.83 A sequel to the above followed soon after when, with a change of the Government in power, H. N. Coursier replaced Sibbald as Gold Commissioner.84 Following the election in July, 1898, a government was formed by. the Honorable C. A. Semlin, and the following March he reorganized his Cabinet, the Premier also taking the portfolio of Provincial Secretary. About this time Premier Semlin invited Mr. Atkins to become his private secretary, and the offer was accepted. This necessitated Mr. Atkins' removal to Victoria and new plans being made for the Mail. It was agreed that the author should purchase Mr. Atkins' half interest, and the terms were arranged, the dissolution dating from March 31, 1899. However, because of the minority of the new owner the document transferring the business, as drawn up by Langley & Martin, Victoria attorneys, bore date April 29, 1899, the day following the owner's twenty-first birthday. The signatures were witnessed by G. S. McCarter. British Columbia was in those days pretty much a young man's country in almost every respect. While this particular instance was probably somewhat extreme, publishers of small newspapers throughout the land were, for the most part, quite youthful. How this prevalence of young men appeared to easterners is illustrated by a personal experience. During the summer of 1899 two gentlemen called at the Mail's office, the spokesman being a Member of Parliament well up in years who had come from Moncton, N.B., and had timber interests in the Big Bend country. He asked for the editor, and when told that he was speaking to him, looked amazed, and when he had recovered from the shock, turned to his companion exclaiming " That's the West for you!" As might be expected of a youthful editor and publisher, editorials were not a strong point in the newspaper; in fact, the expression credited to George Norris, founder and for long publisher of the Nanaimo Free Press, found sympathetic support. It was said that when Norris was interrogated as to the few editorials appearing in his paper, he curtly replied, " Who gives a damn what the editor says? " However, this editorial deficiency was probably more than compensated 1951 The Kootenay Mail 25 by a fair " nose for news" of a local nature. Mr. Grogan of the Herald, on the other hand, preferred to sit back and suck his pipe and rewrite the locals from the Mail for his newspaper. On one occasion personal zeal nearly proved disastrous for both papers, for the Mail prematurely announced a birth and the Herald copied it. Whether the sex of the child was correctly forecast is not now recalled. Following the incorporation of the City of Revelstoke on March 1, 1899,85 the early summer found the civic fathers getting into their stride, and municipal printing and advertising became a consideration. At one Council session the question of the printing of by-laws and advertising came up for discussion and, as a result, both the Herald and the Mail were asked for tenders. Arthur Johnson, of the Herald, and the author were present at that meeting, and on the way home it was agreed that identical tenders would be submitted and the work divided between the two newspapers, and this arrangement held. Later the suggestion was made in the City Council that the printing of debentures should be done outside the city, but a protest was entered and again tenders were called. This time, since the Herald could not undertake the work, it was decided that the Mail should submit an estimate and the Herald would raise its price; in this way the Mail got the debenture- printing contract, thus keeping it in the city for a considerable number of years. On the other municipal printing and advertising, the City Clerk, C. E. Shaw, tried to arrange an equitable distribution of the work. Actually the bulk of the advertising went to the Herald and the greater share of the printing to the Mail since it was able to produce better work. Although Revelstoke's population was greatly augmented by the arrival of the residents of the town of Donald late in 1898,86 the year 1899 was not as good from a business standpoint as had been the three immediately preceding years. This was due largely to a falling-off in the traffic up the lakes and river as a result of the opening of the Crowsnest Pass branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In addition, those who had moved from Donald were obliged to rebuild their homes in Revelstoke and found this a heavy drain on their finances. In an effort to counteract the loss in advertising revenue the Mail (85) Ibid., March 4,1899. The Proclamation establishing the city called for civic nominations by March 15 and the elections, if any, by March 22. Fred. Fraser, J.P, was appointed Chief Returning Officer. (86) Ibid., October 29,1898. 26 Burt R. Campbell Jan.-Apr. became a five-column semi-weekly publication instead of the former six-column weekly.87 This proved to be a mistake, resulting in a poorer paper and not having the desired financial results. Up to this time there had"not been many changes in the Mail's small staff, but that summer Mr. Thompson represented the Revelstoke Lodge of the I.O.O.F. as supervisor in the construction of the new brick-veneer lodge building on Second Street and Government Road. As his substitute with the Mail came Fred. S. Kettleson, of Calgary, who had for a time previously served on the staff of the Herald. An addition also was Marvin Archibald, of Vernon, a half-brother of the author, who came as an apprentice and remained a year, then returning to Vernon to join the staff of the Vernon News. To digress a little but having some bearing on the story, it may be related that in February, 1897, Court Mt. Begbie, No. 3461, Independent Order of Foresters, was instituted at Revelstoke, and both the author and Mr. Atkins became charter members and officers. A High Court for British Columbia was later set up, and Mr. Atkins became High Vice-Chief Ranger. In the fall of 1899 the High Court executive decided to appoint a Deputy High Chief Ranger and organizer to do occasional work throughout the Province. On Mr. Atkins' recommendation the author accepted appointment to this position. This led to occasional absences from Revelstoke, with consequent neglect of business. This new appointment provided an opportunity for meeting people and making new friends, and eventually had a bearing on the decision to dispose of the Mail, but shortly after the sale of the business the High Court office was itself dispensed with. One of the first of the trips arising from this appointment was to Golden. A. C. Thompson was back on the job with the Mail and was left in charge, Kettleson having departed. A stranger, Mike Hickey, arrived in town and was engaged by the Mail. Some days later Thompson returned from dinner, became delirious and proceeded to fire Hickey bodily, but the latter proved too much for him. Thompson was at the time wearing a red pullover sweater, and the proceedings were likened by Arthur Johnson, who happened to be passing by, to a railway switchman's lantern signal as Hickey threw his assailant over his head and off the back steps. In the meantime the frightened apprentice sought a policeman and was fortunate in meeting Chief (87) Ibid., February 6,1900. 1951 The Kootenay Mail 27 Thomas Bain. When he arrived, Thompson threatened to throw the portable typewriter at him. However, the Chief was strong on reasoning and suggested that they should go the first round without weapons and that if Thompson lost he should have the privilege of using the typewriter in the second. This was agreed to, but the Chief was the better man and, of course, there was no second round. This incident seemed too amusing to be passed over, but in fairness to Thompson it should be said that he was soon on the job. Needless to say, Hickey. sought new employment. Soon thereafter David M. Rae, formerly of Golden, was brought from Nelson and became a resident of Revelstoke for several years, serving first with the Mail and later with the Herald and the Mail-Herald. Nearly a year had elapsed since the departure of Mr. Atkins, but it would be unfair to drop interest in him while he held a government position, which in those days of short-lived administrations was so uncertain. His experience in office proved no exception to the rule. February 27, 1900, saw the defeat of the Semlin Government in a want-of-confidence vote, and the Lieutenant-Governor, T. R. Mclnnes, called upon the Honourable Joseph Martin to form a government. On assuming office " Fighting Joe" hardly waited to take off his hat before declaring a vacancy in the position of private secretary to the Premier. This meant that the former editor returned to Revelstoke to seek new activities. Soon thereafter, through the auspices of Hewitt Bostock, he became Customs Officer at Revelstoke, a position held with satisfaction to the public generally until his retirement on superannuation. Principal interest for newspaper-men during 1900 centred around two elections—a Provincial contest early in June and a Federal one in December. The former, so far as the Revelstoke riding was concerned, was a rather unusual one, with two popular men in the field, for either of whom, apart from party leanings, most voters would have been pleased to cast a vote. These were Thomas Taylor,88 later (88) Thomas Taylor was born on February 4, 1865, in London Township, Ontario. He trained as a lawyer and in 1885 came west to Winnipeg. In 1888 he came to British Columbia in the service of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1889 he was at Donald in connection with the mechanical and stores department of the railway company. After leaving the service of that company in 1894 he took over the management of the C. B. Hume Company in Revelstoke and subsequently directed their Trout Lake branch. At the time of his leaving this firm in 1903 he 28 Burt R. Campbell Jan.-Apr. Minister of Public Works, and Alexander (Sandy) McRae, who became the first postmaster when Revelstoke central post-office replaced the former upper- and lower-town services. As a result, this contest was more or less lukewarm, but on election-day, June 9, Taylor won a decisive victory—517 votes to 367 for McRae.89 In the early stages of this campaign the Honourable Joseph Martin sent to the Mail for publication a copy of his long-winded platform accompanied by a $10 bill. This amount would in all probability not have covered the cost of placing the essay in type, so, consequently, it was returned and regular advertising rates quoted. With this the transaction ended. The Federal election, a deferred contest in the Yale-Cariboo- Kootenay constituency, was held on December 6,1900. It was keenly contested with three candidates in the field, and as a coincidence all were South Kootenay men—W; A. Galliher,90 banister of Nelson, running as a Liberal; Chris. Foley, miner of Rossland, running as a Labour candidate; and John McKane, a mine-owner from Rossland, upholding the Conservative Party. The latter replaced A. H. McNeill, who had been the candidate in the earlier stages of the campaign. The candidates emerged after a strenuous fight as follows: Galliher, 3,112; Foley, 2,652; McKane, 2,583. While Galliher's majority over either of the others was quite decisive, the Liberals were overjoyed, as it was claimed that Foley had previously been rated as of their faith, and his ranking second was considered a further victory for them. One of the most vivid recollections of this election campaign had to do with the Foley meeting in Revelstoke. This was the first time was a partner, although he continued to retain a financial interest in it. From 1894 until 1898 he was Mining Recorder and also postmaster at Trout Lake. First elected to the Legislature in 1900, he retained his seat until the defeat of the Bowser Government in November, 1916, and since 1908 had been in the Cabinet. He died in Vancouver, April 26, 1947. E. O. S. Scholefield and F. W. Howay, British Columbia, Vancouver, 1914, vol. iii, pp. 1144-47; Vancouver Daily Province, April 28, 1947. (89) Revelstoke The Kootenay Mail, June 12, 1900. (90) William Alfred Galliher was bora in July, 1860, in Bruce County, Ontario. He served with Lord Wolseley's Nile contingent for the relief of General Gordon. In 1887 he was called to the Bar in Manitoba and ten years later to the Bar in British Columbia. First elected to the Federal House in 1900, he retained his seat in the election in 1904 and in 1909 was appointed to the Appeal Court of British Columbia, when it was created, from which he resigned in July, 1933, because of ill-health. He died in Vancouver on November 23, 1934. Victoria Colonist, November 24, 1934. 1951 The Kootenay Mail 29 the candidate had addressed a Revelstoke audience, and he proved to be a whirlwind orator. As the hour of the meeting approached, the author took a place at a table behind the scenes on a wing of Tapping's Opera House. Not having mastered the art of shorthand, it was necessary to be content with a few notes and trust to memory for the remainder. It soon became apparent what a rapid talker Foley was, a fact of which he was well aware, and the big affable man from time to time kept casting a look at the reporter, as much as to say " How are you coming? " It was a trying ordeal, not made any easier by the natural weariness resulting from long hours spent in performing the multifarious duties involved in preparing a fair report of all meetings.91 During the campaign a meeting booked in the Galliher interests had to be called off owing to an extreme cold spell, when it was considered impossible to heat the Opera House. The speaker for that event was Frank Oliver, of Edmonton, who had himself been returned by a large majority to the House of Commons a few days previously. A printer of the old school, he spent most of the day around the Mail office. In so far as the Mail was concerned, not much by way of change took place during that year. During the midsummer a prospective purchaser in the person of J. A. Bates, school-teacher at Golden with journalistic ambitions, came forward, but the negotiations were not brought to completion. Later, however, he satisfied his ambition and had newspapers at Mission and White Rock. January, 1901, brought forward a new prospective purchaser and by coincidence also a Golden man. This was E. A. Haggen,92 a mining engineer who at a previous time had edited the Golden Era. The agreement of sale was drawn and executed at Golden on January 12, 1901,93 the signatures to this document being witnessed by Thomas King, present M.L.A. for that riding. A concluding paragraph of the agreement provided for the continuation of the author as printer in charge of the composing-room. The new owner assumed control at once and took up residence in (91) Revelstoke The Kootenay Mail, November 8, 1900. (92) Edward Alexander Haggen was born and educated in New Zealand, coming to British Columbia in 1897, continuing his profession of mining engineer. For a time he was editor of the Mining and Industrial Record and also served as one of the founders of the British Columbia Chamber of Mines. At the time of his death on April 22, 1929, he was in his seventieth year. Vancouver Sun, April 24, (93) Revelstoke The Kootenay Mail, January 17, 1901. 30 Burt R. Campbell Jan.-Apr. Revelstoke. Publication of the Mail continued for the time being at the old stand, but late in the spring a move was made to the original furniture store of R. Howson & Company on Mackenzie Avenue. The new editor, who was a fluent writer and a professional mining engineer, proved to be a great space-filler with strong leanings toward reporting mining activity. So pronounced was this that it was difficult at times to accommodate the type set, even with the return to a six-column paper. One of the highlights of that summer was the strike of Canadian Pacific Railway maintenance-of-way men which lasted a considerable time and was a topic of great interest, the Mail lending what support it could to the men involved.94 Early in the proceedings, as extra gangs laid down their tools, the railway company decided it was wise to concentrate them in one place, so boarding-cars were run into Revelstoke, somewhat swelling the population temporarily. While Revelstoke continued to grow slowly, there was not sufficient business to support two newspapers. With the approach of fall it became evident that a cut in the staff would have to be made and, as a result, the author retired in favour of D. M. Rae, who was a married man with a child, and as his assistant Norman Hillier was taken on as an apprentice. From that time the writer's association with The Kootenay Mail was broken for nearly a year and a half. At first a new line of endeavour was undertaken with the establishment of the Revelstoke Collection Agency, with which was combined the district agency for a then little-known life insurance company. An office for this purpose had just been furnished, next door to the Mail, when an offer was made by A. C. Thompson, who had left the Mail early in 1900, to succeed him in charge of the composing-room of the Ladysmith Leader. Thompson at the time went to Nanaimo to join the staff of the Nanaimo Herald. Early in December work was commenced at Ladysmith, but early in March the staff of the Leader was reduced and again new employment had to be found. After a short return visit to Revelstoke a position opened up as pressman on the staff of the Inland Sentinel, Kamloops, and it was not until February, 1903, that association with The Kootenay Mail was resumed on invitation of Mr. Haggen. (94) Ibid., June 21 and July 5 and 12, 1901. 1951 The Kootenay Mail 31 During this interval the Mail found a new home in the original Tapping's Theatre building; D. M. Rae transferred to the Herald, and his place was taken by M. M. (Tom) Collinge. Mr. Haggen was trying to solve the problem of frenzied finance, at which he was a past master. One of his policies was to draw up statements of accounts due for advertisers, including such well-known firms as P. Burns & Company. This was something which no other person would have thought of attempting, let alone carrying it out; however, these methods served to keep the banker in good humour. The Kootenay Mail Publishing Company Limited was incorporated under date September 6, 1902, and the sale of stock was commenced. Shares Nos. 1 to 28 were turned over to the writer in lieu of the balance due on the original sale. Several other local business people also became shareholders in small amounts. Mr. Haggen had views quite favourable to labour organizations, and this, combined with the fact that Revelstoke railway unions were then very active, led to his asking that the Mail employees be brought under the jurisdiction of the Rossland Typographical Union. Thus when the invitation came in 1903 to rejoin the Mail, the $4 per week .differential between Rossland and New Westminster scales was a deciding factor, for Kamloops newspapers operated under the latter scale. The staff at that time included only Collinge and the author. As summer approached, there was a fresh impetus in mining operations north and south. As a result, the editor was frequently away from his desk. Mr. Haggen was a man of few words, and often the first intimation that he was gone on one of his periodic jaunts through the inining country would be a brief note " Gone to Big Bend, back in ten days." Although these periods were usually doubled or trebled, he was a most trusting employer, for no copy was left for the paper and it was up to the staff to become responsible for its preparation. The Provincial election of 1903 was an historic event inasmuch as it saw the introduction of party lines as now known. Under the system of government and opposition formerly prevailing, the factions so far as Revelstoke was concerned were pretty closely drawn on " Grit" and " Tory " lines. It was perhaps unfortunate therefore that the first real contest had a Socialist candidate interjected into it. Throughout the Province as a whole the Conservatives under the leadership of the native-born Premier, Richard McBride, emerged with a bare majority. In Revelstoke there was an interesting contest, which resulted as follows: 32 Burt R. Campbell Jan.-Apr. Thomas Taylor, Conservative, 342; J. M. Kellie, Liberal, 316; J. W. Bennett, Socialist, 186.95 With the approach of winter a wave of prosperity struck the Kootenay Mail Publishing Company Limited, due partially to the sale or anticipated sale of stock. A larger press, a four-page Wharfedale,96 was bought from the Vancouver News-Advertiser; a 6-horsepower upright boiler was installed; and extra type purchased. This was in early December, and before the installation was completed work was undertaken to produce what was supposed to be a sixteen-page Christmas supplement resplendent with photo reproductions. To assist in this work, Miss Edith Pettipiece, later Mrs. J. J. Manley, an experienced type-setter, was brought onto the staff. Unfortunately, just at this time "Tom" Collinge went on a "periodical" and was dismissed, and the author declined to assume charge of the plant until a salary adjustment was made. Much difficulty was found in getting the Wharfedale press into service, which also contributed to the difficulty of producing the special issue. In addition, Mr. Haggen kept bringing in more advertisements, cuts, and manuscripts until, if memory serves correctly, the completed number ran to forty-eight pages. With all hand composition and a large issue involving many runs of presswork, the production of this edition became a matter of endurance. Christmas passed and still no supplement. The column-width to be used was magazine rather than double-column newspaper, but finally in desperation the last section was at least partially made up of advertisements lifted from the regular paper. It was New Year's Eve when the much-looked-for Christmas special edition was ready for delivery and a most trying period was ended. About that time, too, George Keating, one of the most radical Socialists of the day, was added to the staff and remained for a couple of months. During the next two or three months more equipment was introduced into the plant, including a folding-machine, a large power- cutter, and a larger job-press. Mr. Haggen had a dream that he might monopolize the counter-slip business of the country, and with this in mind he purchased a self-feeder for the job-press, which was never put into use. Keating was replaced by Thomas Hart, an Englishman, and there was a succession of apprentices—"Bobby" Smith, Earl Pettipiece, (95) Ibid., October 10, 1903. (96) This press in 1921 went to the Kelowna Courier; its predecessor, the Prouty, to Lethbridge. 1951 The Kootenay Mail 33 and Albert Robbins. That winter had seen the introduction of a bookkeeper and office-helper, H. W. Pritchard, who left in the early spring and was succeeded by Miss Mae Corley, later Mrs. C. R. Macdonald. During the winter further sales of stock were undertaken, and for this purpose Mr. Haggen spent several weeks in the Okanagan Valley going from town to town. He met with considerable success, for it later developed that he had promised the establishment of a second newspaper in Vernon, something that appealed to the Liberals there and doubtless facilitated greatly his sale of stock. Summer came but no paper appeared in the Okanagan, although a press had been ordered from the Vancouver agency of the American Type Foundry and was delivered to the Canadian Pacific Railway's freight-sheds at Vernon. A deputation of two prominent business-men from the valley was sent to Revelstoke later that summer to make inquiries as to when the newspaper might be expected to commence publication, but they returned home quite subdued after having been informed by George S. McCarter, on behalf of Mr. Haggen, that they had bought stock in The Kootenay Mail Publishing Company Limited and not in an Okanagan newspaper. In September, 1904, the writer's connection with The Kootenay Mail terminated, although there remained to the end of its existence a kindly interest in its welfare. " Tom " Collinge returned to Revelstoke and became the replacement on the Mail. That fall witnessed another Federal election, with the Kootenay riding for the first time being separated from Yale-Cariboo. Because of the size of both of these constituencies and the slowness in handling of the ballot-boxes, deferred elections were held on November 22, the regular election-day throughout the country being November 3. Three candidates were in the field—the sitting member, W. A. Galliher, C. Macintosh, and F. Baker. Galliher won with a good majority, as did Duncan Ross in Yale-Cariboo, thus creating what was known as the " solid seven " Liberal representatives of British Columbia in the Federal House.97 Amalgamation of The Kootenay Mail and the Herald was first talked of early in 1904, but the terms then suggested by Mr. Haggen could not be given serious consideration, as he proposed that he should continue as managing editor and that the author should be placed in charge of the plant. This meant that Arthur Johnson, then proprietor (97) Ibid., November 26,1904. 34 Burt R. Campbell of the Herald (R. Parm Pettipiece having long since disposed of his interest), would have been reduced to the status of a workman in a business, one branch of which he had built up. However, new proposals were submitted toward the end of 1905 that were acceptable and, as a result, the Mail-Herald became a reality with the appearance of its first issue on January 6, 1906.98 The editorial that appeared in the final issue of The Kootenay Mail on December 30, 1905, wrote finis to the career of one of the publications which served the town and city of Revelstoke throughout the principal years of its development. • The first issue of the Mail-Herald, resulting from the amalgamation of the Mail and Herald offices, will be out on Saturday, lanuary 6th, and thereafter the paper will be published twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons. Arrangements are being made to secure the latest telegrams up to the hour of going to press. The former Herald office will be closed, and the business will be carried on •meantime in the building which has been occupied by the Mail, until arrangements are made for the erection of a new building suitable to the requirements of the amalgamated companies.99 Burt R. Campbell. (98) Revelstoke The Mail-Herald, January 6, 1906. In making its newspaper pledged itself to political independence. It stated that the re the amalgamation were economic—Revelstoke was not large enough tc (99) Revelstoke The Kootenay Mail, December 30, 1905. HOW BRITISH COLUMBIA NEARLY BECAME A COLONY OF AUSTRALIA On March 11,1950, the centenary of the founding of the colony of Vancouver Island, the first British colony on the western side of America, was celebrated. Richard Blanshard, the first Governor, reached his post by a voyage from England by way of the Isthmus of Panama.1 Sixty years almost to a day before Blanshard's arrival, the British Government had issued instructions for the founding of a colony on the coast of what is now British Columbia as a dependency of New South Wales, Australia. The first Governor was to have been an officer of the New South Wales Corps. Had these orders been carried out the boundary between Australia and Canada might now be at the continental divide, or perhaps even farther east. The whole history of the Pacific Coast of North America might have been very different. Idea of linking activity on the Northwest Coast of America with action in the Southwest Pacific goes back more than two centuries before the day when Governor Arthur Phillip2 of New South Wales was instructed to found a " Botany Bay " colony at or near Nootka Sound. A definite English project for combining exploration and settlement in the Australasian region with a search for the western end of the Northwest Passage, supposed to reach the Pacific not far to the north of California, was put forward in the earlier years of Queen Elizabeth's reign. In 1572 Henry Hawks returned to England from Mexico, where he had lived from 1567 to 1571. He brought news of Mendana's discovery of the Solomon Islands in 1567-1568 and of a voyage from the west coast of Mexico to seek the western end of the Strait of Anian,3 the supposed North-west Passage leading from the Atlantic to the Pacific somewhere near Puget Sound. When Mendaiia found the Solomons, he (1) See W. E. Ireland, "The Appointment of Richard Blanshard," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, VIII (1944), pp. 213-226; W. Kaye Lamb, "The Governorship of Richard Blanshard," ibid., XIV (1950), pp. 1-40. (2) For his account of his Australian experiences see The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay; with an account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port lackson and Norfolk Island . . . , London, 1790, passim. (3) See T. A. Rickard, "The Strait of Anian," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, V (1941), p. 161 ff. 36 Thomas Dunbabin Jan.-Apr. had been seeking the Terra Australis, the continent presumed to exist in the Southwest Pacific. Such a continent, answering roughly to Australia, had appeared on the world map which John Ross, or Jean Rotz, had given to Henry VIII in 1542 and on other maps of the Dieppe School. These two themes, the continent in the Southwest Pacific and the Strait of Anian, are linked in the petition which Sir Richard Grenville (later of the Revenge) presented to Queen Elizabeth on March 22,1574. This sets out that the fourth part" of the new found world . . . is by God's providence left for England "4 and adopts the belief mentioned by Hawks that the west end of the Strait of Anian " lieth not far from the main land of China, which the Spaniards account to be marvellous rich."5 In response to the petition, a draft patent was drawn up for the enterprise proposed by Grenville and his associates. This sets out the twofold purpose of the undertaking—the discovery and occupation of new lands in the South Seas and the search for the western end of the Strait of Grenville never sailed to the Pacific to seek the Terra Australis and the North-west Passage. However, when Drake sailed for the Pacific on November 15, 1577, the " draft project" for his voyage included these two objectives. After passing through the Straits of Magellan, Drake did attempt to sail westward, presumably in search of Terra Australis. Adverse winds drove him away to the south, nearly to Cape Horn. He gave up the attempt and turned to plundering the Spaniards on the west coast of America. Later he ran up the California coast and made a perfunctory search for the Strait of Anian. It is the belief of some authorities that he went as far north as what is now British Columbia.7 Drake crossed the Pacific to the Moluccas, within a few hundred miles of the north-west coast of Australia, but he was concerned with collecting spices, not with exploring Terra Australis. He did, however, found a little colony by leaving two negro men and a woman on the Isle of Crabs, near Celebes. Of these colonists we hear no more. Australia and the Northwest Coast of America were linked again in the first definite and detailed plan for a British colony in Australia. This (4) A. L. Rowse, Sir Richard Grenville of the Revenge, London, 1937, p. 89. (5) E. G. R. Taylor, Tudor Geography 1485-1583, London, 1930, pp. 113-117. (6) For a full discussion of Grenville's " Great South-Sea Project," see A. L. Rowse, op. cit., pp. 83-112. (7) R. P. Bishop, " Drake's Course in the North Pacific," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, HI (1939), pp. 151-182. 1951 British Columbia and Australia 37 was put forward in August, 1783, by James Magra (who took the name of Matra), a native of New York who had visited Botany Bay in New South Wales with Captain Cook in 1770. After referring to the fur trade of the Pacific Northwest as carried on by the Russians and mentioning that the sea-otters furs were sold at high prices in China by the ships engaged in Cook's last voyage, Magra wrote: ". . . our situation in New South Wales would enable us to carry on this trade with the utmost facility. . . ."8 By 1788, when the colony proposed by Magra was actually founded, British subjects were becoming actively and regularly engaged in the maritime fur trade on the Northwest Coast of America. In March, 1790, the Right Honourable W. W. Grenville, Secretary of State for the Colonies, wrote a dispatch to Governor Phillip of New South Wales instructing him to found a colony on the Northwest Coast of America, using for the expedition H.M.S. Gorgon and H.M.S. Discovery. Grenville gave orders that as many officers and men as possible from H.M.S. Sirius, then on the New South Wales station, should be lent to the Gorgon for the trans-Pacific voyage. One of the objects of this expedition being to form a settlement on the no.-west coast of America, it is his Majesty's pleasure that you should select from among the people with you a proper number of persons to compose it, and that you should embark them either on board the Discovery or Gorgon. The extent of this establishment, it is imagined, need not at first exceed thirty persons, a moiety of whom at least should consist of drafts from the new corps,' under the command of a discreet subaltern officer, who is to be entrusted with the temporary superintendence of the new settlement. The remainder should consist of two or three of the most intelligent of the overseers, who have lately been sent out, a storekeeper, and any other person them, together with a few of the most de offer a remission of a part of their service Such " stores, provisions, medicines, and utensils for building, etc.," as would enable the colonists to form a settlement able to resist any attacks of the natives and able also to assist His Majesty's subjects in the fur trade were to be put aboard. The Discovery and the Gorgon were to meet at Hawaii a warship being sent from the East Indies station by Commodore Cornwallis. It was hoped that the three vessels would reach the Northwest Coast in the spring of 1791. Provision was made that if for any reason the frigate (8) Historical Records of New South Wales, Sydney, 1892, Vol. I, part 2, p. 4. (9) The New South Wales Corps which was replacing the Marines as the military force in New South Wales. (10) Historical Records of Australia, Series I, Vol. I, Sydney, 1914, p. 162. 38 Thomas Dunbabin Jan.-Apr. from the East Indies should not reach Hawaii, then known as the Sandwich Islands, by the end of April, 1791, Governor Phillip was to direct the senior officer of the Discovery and Gorgon to proceed with the two vessels to execute the instructions, leaving one of his people with the natives in order to communicate to the captain of the frigate the route proposed to be taken so that upon his arrival he might also proceed to the place of destination. In addition, packages " containing such articles as are most esteemed by the people of the Sandwich Islands and the inhabitants of the American coast" were being sent out so that the colonists might barter for provisions and other necessaries.11 Alternative plans were laid in the event that the Gorgon or the Discovery were disabled, for Governor Phillip was instructed to use his discretion in sending H.M.S. Sirius in place of the Gorgon and any light vessel—" if any such should be under your orders"—in place of the Discovery. The Sirius was wrecked at Norfolk Island on March 19, 1790, and became a total loss. The plan for making British Columbia a dependency of New South Wales was not carried out; indeed, there is no known acknowledgment by Governor Phillip of Grenville's dispatch. In all probability the dispatch of March, 1790, was a draft of an intended letter that was never transmitted, for the Gorgon sailed from England on March 25,1791, and reached Sydney, New South Wales, on September 21. After landing stores and troops, she sailed for England on December 18 carrying a detachment of Marines whose term of service in Australia had ended, Governor Phillip making no effort to send her to the Sandwich Islands.12 In a dispatch written on February 19, 1791, and acknowledged by Governor Phillip on November 5, Grenville speaks of " a plan which is now in contemplation for surveying the north-west coast of America and the Sandwich Islands."13 A transport was to be sent to the Sandwich Islands in the ensuing spring (1792), which, after supplying the ships engaged in the survey, was to proceed to Port Jackson, carrying to New South Wales as much five stock from the Sandwich Islands, Tahiti, or the Friendly Islands as she could carry. (11) /Wrf,p.l63. (12) 7fc/„p.747. (13) Ibid., p. 216. The phrasing of this reference is misleading, for it is unlikely that the details for the famous Vancouver expedition were not fully drawn up at this time, only forty days prior to the sailing of the vessels. 1951 British Columbia and Australia 39 H.M.S. Discovery and H.M.S. Chatham, under the command of Captain George Vancouver, sailed from Falmouth on April 1,1791, for the Sandwich Islands and the Northwest Coast. It is to be noted that Grenville's letter to the Lords of the Admiralty outlining the scope of the expedition makes no mention of the earlier proposal regarding the establishment of a colony on the American continent from Australia.14 Vancouver, in agreement with Grenville, did a little Australian exploration on his way to the Northwest Coast.15 Had the weather been better, he would have done more and would probably have settled seven years before the voyage of George Bass and Matthew Flinders the question whether Tasmania was part of the Australian mainland. On August 9, 1791, Vancouver wrote to Grenville—who had by that time been succeeded as Secretary of State for the Colonies by Henry Dundas— from False Bay, Cape of Good Hope: Since receiving my instructions at Falmouth for the prosecution of our voyage I have much regreted not being fortunate enough in a farther interview with your Lordship to have gained your final opinion respecting the examination of that extent of coast of the S.W. side of New Holland, which in the present age appears a real blot in geography. . . .16 Vancouver reminded Grenville that the latter " seemed highly to approve I of the idea when Vancouver communicated his wish to make such an examination. He intended, therefore, " to fall in with the S.W. Cape of New Holland, and should I find the shores capable of being navigated without much hazard, to range its coast and determine whether it and Van Diemen's Land are joined, which from all information at present extant appears somewhat doubtfull."17 Vancouver did "fall in" with the coast at Cape Chatham on September 26,1791, and charted it for 330 miles to the eastward. On September 28 he discovered King George's Sound,18 where he spent thirteen days. He planted watercress, vine cuttings, almonds, orange, lemon, and pumpkin seeds on an island for the benefit of future visitors. He also saw two or three yellow or (14) Mt rical Records of New South Wales, Vol. I, part 2, pp. 451-454. (15) For a detailed ace ountof he career of Captain George Vancouv G A Life 1757-1798, New York, 1931, passim. (16) Reprinted in ibid., p. 204. (17) Ibid pp. 204-20 in Historical Records of New South V 1.1, part 2, pp. 519-520. (18) Wild flowers from Vancou by a plaque, were placed on the nav gator's grave at Petersham, England, o 10 1949,the 51st annivers try of hi death. 40 Thomas Dunbabin Jan.-Apr. bronze coloured snakes which were very good eating. Owing to adverse winds, Vancouver quitted the Australian coast on October 17. He sighted the Tasmanian coast near its south-western corner on October 26 and ran along it for two days, when he stood away for Dusky Sound, New Zealand. There he examined an arm of the sea which Captain Cook had called " Nobody Knows What" and renamed it" Somebody Knows What." This seems to have been Vancouver's only geographical joke.19 After he had spent his first northern summer exploring the coast of America, Vancouver wrote to Governor Phillip, whom he called Phillips. In his letter, dated from the Discovery, at sea, on October 15,1792, he On my passage into this ocean I visited a small part of the S.W. coast of New Holland, and there discovered one very excellent port, which I have honored with the name of King George the Third's Sound. As I think from its situation, the fertility of the country, with Oyster Bay Harbour, seas, etc, it may be worthy some further attention. I have sent you my survey thereof with the adjacent coast, and some views of the surrounding country, which, though not executed with any degree of neatness, the positions of the different harbours, etc, as also the different headland, etc, as also their appearance [are given], without, I believe, any material Vancouver also gave details of two other discoveries—the Snares group of rocks off the south end of New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. In addition, he announced his intention of sending the transport Daedalus under Lieutenant James Hanson to Australia. We are now on our passage to some of the Spanish ports on the south part of the coast of New Albion, where I intend putting on board the Daedalus, for the use of his Majesty's colony under your Excellency's government, so many breeding cattle and sheep as she can conveniently take, which breed, inur'd to countries but slightly cultivated, have at Nootka succeeded to a very high degree with scarce the smallest care and attention. I therefore trust they will be found useful in New South Wales.2i In a second letter, written at Monterey, California, on December 29, 1792, Vancouver told Governor Phillip that he had put on board the Daedalus twelve cows and six bulls " with an equal number of male and female sheep." He sent a list of stores and provisions which he needed (19) Captain George Vancouver, A Voyage of Discovery . .. , London, 1801, Vol. I, pp. 132 c/ seq. (20) George Godwin, op. cit., p. 225; also printed in Historical Records of Australia, Series I, Vol. I, pp. 428-431. (21) George Godwin, op. cit., p. 224. 1951 British Columbia and Australia 41 and asked Phillip to send these by the storeship to Nootka Sound. He reported, further:— The Daedalus, from accident and desertion, being short of complement, Sr. Quadra has made a promise of using his efforts to prevail on some of the people under his command to undertake this voyage in the Daedalus, on my promise that they should be returned to Nootka by that vessel or such other as may be charged with the before-mentioned stores and provisions for the use of his Majesty's vessels under my command, to which condition I have acceded and taken the liberty of asserting that your Excellency would cause the same to be put in execution. . . .22 In the published account of his voyage Vancouver noted that Quadra and the Spanish authorities in California refused to submit an account or to take any payment for the stock supplied for New South Wales or for the corn and forage put on the Daedalus. The cattle were in high condition when the ship sailed from Monterey on December 29,1792.23 When the Daedalus sailed for Australia, she had on board also A. P. Cranstoun, surgeon of the Discovery, who had been ill ever since leaving Cape of Good Hope.24 Vancouver had also informed Governor Phillip in a postscript to his dispatch that he was also sending Willan House, boatswain on the Discovery, and three valuable seamen and one marine to Australia for onward passage to England. He commended them to the Governor's attention and parted with them only because of their violent rheumatic complaints.25 In addition, " Mr. Philips carpenter in the Discovery was sent home by the same conveyance under Arrest," according to Archibald Menzies, botanist-surgeon on the expedition.26 Lieutenant Hanson also had instructions to give a passage from Tahiti to Sydney to twenty-one men of the crew of the whaler Matilda, which had been lost on a shoal in 22° south latitude, 138° 30' west longitude, while on a voyage from Port Jackson to the coast of Peru. These men, one of whom was a stowaway convict, had reached Tahiti in their boats.27 Cranstoun and the three seamen—John Williams, John Willis, and John Rhums—and the marine—George Bull—sailed from Port Jackson for England in the Kitty,a which reached Cork, Ireland, on February 5, (22) Ibid., p. 227. This dispatch is also to be found in Historical Records of Australia, Series I, Vol. I, pp. 431-432. (23) Captain George Vancouver, op. cit., Vol. ID, p. 74. (24) C. F. Newcombe (ed.), Menzies1 Journal of Vancouver's Voyage, April to October 1792 (Archives Memoir No. V), Victoria, 1923, p. 121. (25) George Godwin, op. cit., p. 227. (26) C. F. Newcombe, op. cit., p. 121. (27) Historical Records of New South Wales, Vol. I, part 2, pp. 681-683. (28) Historical Records of Australia, Series I, Vol. I, p. 467. 42 Thomas Dunbabin Jan.-Apr. 1794. The boatswain, House, recovered and took command of the New South Wales Government schooner Francis and served on the Australian coast for many years. In 1805 he was appointed superintendent of boats and harbour-master at Port Dalrymple, Tasmania. He was lost at sea in 1807 when attempting to reach Sydney, 500 miles away, in an open Vancouver had requested Governor Phillip to complete the cargo of the Daedalus with a year's provisions of all sorts, as would be necessary for the Chatham and Discovery, and to send her to Nootka. Lieutenant Hanson was given trade goods with which to buy hogs and fowls for New South Wales. Governor Phillip had left for England by April 20,1793, when the Daedalus reached Port Jackson, and Major Francis Grose was acting as Lieutenant-Governor. In his report to the Right Honourable Henry Dundas, Grose stated that apart from the hogs only one calf and four sheep had survived the passage. After stating that the Daedalus had apparently been sent more for the purpose of asking than giving assistance, Grose reported:— I shall take care that the Daedalus returns at the time Captain Vancouver has pointed out; and I am happy to add the service he is engaged in is not likely to be interrupted for the want of supplies, being enabled from the state of my stores to furnish him with almost everything he writes for.30 In addition, he mentioned that he was having the "charts and drawings of Oyster Bay, King George the Third's Sound " that he had received by the Daedalus copied and would forward then to London by the Kitty. David Collins, in his Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, stated than when Lieutenant Hanson reached Tahiti, he found that fifteen of the Matilda's men had been taken off by an American vessel and by Captain William Bligh, then on his second bread-fruit voyage. This left six seamen and the runaway convict, and only one of the seamen could be induced to leave Tahiti.31 The Daedalus left Port Jackson again on July 1,1793. Her supplies for Vancouver included a quantity of arrack brought from India by the ship Shah Hormuzear. After missing Vancouver by a day at Nootka, the Daedalus met the Discovery between San Francisco Bay and •cal Records of Australia, Series I, Vol. VI, p (31) David Collins London, 1804, p. 283. 1951 British Columbia and Australia 43 Monterey on October 26, 1793. Of the supplies which she brought, Vancouver wrote:— Mr. Hanson brought a supply of provisions and such parts of the stores which I had demanded as could be procured. From him I learned that Major Grose was very solicitous that I should again attempt the introduction of the cattle of this country into New South Wales.32 Hanson stated that he had landed seventy swine from Tahiti in Sydney. However, under date of February 21,1794, Vancouver, then at Karaka- kooa Bay, Sandwich Islands, noted that his stock of sails and riggings " even with the supply we had received from Port Jackson, which was very short of what I had requested, demanded the greatest economy and care to make them last."33 There is no mention in the Australian records of any Spanish seamen whom Quadra may have induced to help in sailing the Daedalus to Sydney. Presumably they returned to America in that vessel. When the Daedalus sailed from Sydney, she shipped six convicts of good character, who had completed their term of transportation, and two seamen left behind by other ships. She also carried an aboriginal native of New South Wales, whom Grose sent on the voyage that he might learn English. This was a young man whose native names were Gnung-a Gnung-a or Murremurgan, but he had taken the name of Collins, after the Judge-Advocate and writer of the Account, David Collins. This dark Collins returned safely in the Daedalus, having " conducted himself with the greatest propriety during the voyage." David Collins stated:— The king of Owhyhee earnestly wished to detain him on the island, making splendid offers to Mr. Hanson of canoes, warlike instruments and other curiosities, to purchase him, but if Mr. Hanson had been willing to have left him Collins would not have consented, being very anxious to return to New South Wales.34 On March 13,1793, two Spanish exploring vessels, the Atrevida and the Descubierta, under the command of Don Alejandro Malaspina, had reached Port Jackson. Malaspina and those with him had left Cadiz on July 30, 1789. Their explorations had included the Northwest Coast of America,35 where a great glacier now bears the name of Malaspina. They remained in Australia nearly a month, sailing on April 12.36 (32) Captain George Vanco Vol. JV, p. 305. (33) Ibid., Vol. V, p. 85. (34) David Collins, op. cit., .362. (35) For details regarding this expediti Dn's activity on the Northv H. R. Wagner, The Cartogr aphy of the Northwest Coast of Amer r 1800, Berkeley 1937, Vol. I pp. 225-229. (36) Historical Records of A ustralia, Ser esLVoU p. 427. 44 Thomas Dunbabin Jan.-Apr. Lieutenant-Governor Grose's anxiety for the speedy return of the Daedalus to Port Jackson annoyed Vancouver. Under date of December 14,1793, Vancouver stated that he would have followed the Californian coast farther to the south, below 30° north, " had we not been pressed for time in consequence of the very importunate manner in which Major Grose had requested the return of the Daedalus to New South Wales."37 He therefore stood over to the Sandwich Islands. The Daedalus left Karakakooa Bay for Sydney on February 8,1794. She carried no cattle, but some bread-fruit plants were put on board so that Lieutenant Hanson might introduce them at Norfolk Island if he visited that place on his return to Port Jackson. On April 3,1794, the ship reached Port Jackson and shortly thereafter sailed for Norfolk Island with supplies and presumably took with her the bread-fruit plants Vancouver had supplied. Finally, on December 18, 1794, the Daedalus sailed for England with Grose and his family on board as passengers.38 As the Daedalus stood in for Sydney Heads on April 3, 1794, the brig Arthur,39 Henry Barber master, sailed out, bound for the Northwest Coast of America. She had come originally from Bengal. Captain Barber took with him four convicts and the carpenter of the Boston brig Fairy, who had been in hospital. Vancouver met the Arthur in Cross Sound on the Alaskan coast on July 15,1794. On her arrival he thought it proper " to prohibit the purchase of furs by any of our people," presumably to leave the field clear to Barber.40 The Arthur sailed away on July 23, but one of her crew, Charles Lee, a boy, deserted from her and was mustered into the Discovery's company. Australia's early official connection with the Northwest Coast of America ended with the second return of the Daedalus. This time she brought•" three young gentlemen of the Discovery and Chatham's quarter decks" seeking passage to England. One was Thomas Pitt, cousin once removed of the great William Pitt the younger. On his arrival in Sydney he learned that he had, by the death of his father, become Lord Camel- ford. He sailed for England in the Indispensable and smuggled away, (37) Captain George Vancouver, op. cit., Vol. IV, p. 385. (38) Historical Records of Australia, Series I, Vol. I, pp. 447, 479, 484, 487. (39) Ibid., Series I, Vol. I, p. 469. (40) Captain George Vancouver, op. cit, Vol. V, p. 441 ff. See also F. W. Howay, "A List of Trading Vessels in Maritime Fur Trade, 1785-1794," Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Third Series, Vol. XXIV (1930), section ii, pp. 131-132. 1951 British Columbia and Australia 45 as his servant, a convict named Richard Haynes.41 Deserters from the Daedalus were handed over to Vancouver by the Spaniards at Monterey on November 15,1794. They and the deserters from the Chatham had run up debts to the extent of $325 Mexican, which Vancouver declined to pay but promised to bring to the attention of the Admiralty. The first United States vessel bound for the Northwest Coast of America to call at Port Jackson was the brig Fairy, Captain Rogers, which arrived on October 29, 1793. The cargo consisted " wholly of articles of barter for the Northwest Coast." When the Fairy sailed on November 11, Rogers took with him three men and two women who had leave to quit the colony. These women were the first to cross the Pacific from Australia to America. John Crow, a convict, swam off to the Fairy but was caught and brought ashore, and subsequently on December 10, 1793, he was hung for burglary.42 The brig Mercury from Providence, Rhode Island, William Barnet master, reached Sydney on October 17,1794, and sailed for the Northwest Coast of America on December 7, taking five persons belonging to the colony. One of these, an ex- convict named Hughes, deserted at Atooi in the Sandwich Islands, where he was discovered in 1796 by Captain W. R. Broughton acting as adviser to the chief Taava.43 The Otter of Boston, commanded by Ebenezer Dorr, reached Port Jackson on January 24,1796, and sailed on February 18 for the Northwest Coast.44 She carried away Thomas Muir,45 one of the Scottish martyrs — five political prisoners transported in 1794 — a woman convict named Jane Lambert, and a number of male convicts. Subsequently, Muir landed at Monterey and, by way of Mexico, Cuba, (41) "Report of Captain W. Wilkinson," Historical Records of New South Wales, Vol. II, pp. 295-296. (42) David Collins, op. cit., pp. 322-326. Judge Howay states that there is no record of her having been on the Northwest Coast in 1794; see F. W. Howay, (43) Captain W. R. Broughton, Voyage of Discovery to'the North Pacific Ocean . . . , London, 1804, Vol. I, p. 68. For further details see F. W. Howay, "A List of Trading Vessels in the Maritime Fur Trade, 1795-1804," Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Third Series, Vol. XXV (1931), section ii, p. 120. (44) Ibid., p. 123. See also Historical Records of Australia, Series I, Vol. I, p. 568. (45) Marjorie Masson and J. F. Jameson, "The Odyssey of Thomas Muir," American Historical Review, XXIX (1923), pp. 49-72; lohn Hosie, "Thomas Muir, Scottish Political Martyr and his Connection with Vancouver Island," First Annual Report of the British Columbia Historical Association, Victoria, 1923, pp. 28-32; The Life and Trial of Thomas Muir, Rutherglen, 1919. 46 Thomas Dunbabin and Spain, went to France, where he died. The last United States vessel bound for the " fur coast" of America to call at Sydney seems to have been the William and Jane46 of New York, Captain Mellor, which entered Port Jackson on February 23,1817, and sailed on April 4. By that time the great days of the sea-otter trade on the Northwest Coast of America were over. Thomas Dunbabin. Ottawa, Ont. (46) This vessel is not mentioned in F. W. Howay, "A List of Trading Vessels in the Maritime Fur Trade, 1815-1819," Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Third Series, Vol. XXVn (1933), section ii, pp. 132-144. Mil Rev. George Mason. GEORGE MASON, PRIEST AND SCHOOLMASTER Throughout the entire history of Christianity, devout men and women have cheerfully abandoned wealth, social position, and material comforts in old established communities and volunteered to carry the Gospel into new and backward areas. During the nineteenth century, graduates of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge were not slow in demonstrating themselves eager and willing to continue this splendid Christian tradition. Not the least of these was the Venerable George Mason, M.A.(Oxon.), who gave up wealth, position, and convenience to assist in the evangelization of Hawaii and British Columbia. George Mason was born in Handley, Dorsetshire, in 1828 or 1829,1 son of Rev. Thomas Mason, a member of an aristocratic family, and his wife Emma Louisa.2 He was matriculated as a commoner in Oriel College, Oxford, November 6,1846, and received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from New Inn Hall in 1853 and that of Master of Arts in I860.3 As a student he " was noted for his poetical genius, his generous spirit, and the courageous skill of his horsemanship." His first choice of a profession was the law, but he was so influenced by a sermon of Edward Hobhouse, later Bishop of Nelson, New Zealand,4 that he entered Wells Theological College in 1852,5 and, after a year's preparation, was made (1) Mason was 17 years old when he matriculated at Oxford and 64 when he died. Consequently, he was bora in 1828 or 1829. On the other hand, C. F. Pascoe, Two Hundred Years of the S.P.G. . . . , London, 1901, p. 912, shows 1830 as the date of Mason's birth. (2) A manuscript note, supplied by Mrs. W. H. Britton, of Okehampton, Devonshire, a granddaughter of Mason, purporting to be an extract from Burke's Landed Gentry, shows four generations of the Mason family. The writer has been unable to find the family in the recent volumes of Burke's at his disposal. Thomas Mason, third son of Bryant Mason, of Bengal, was born about 1802; he received the B.A. degree from Christ Church College, Oxford, in 1824; and he died November 21, 1863, having been vicar of Shapwick cum Ashcott, 1850-1863. Joseph Foster (ed.), Alumni Oxonienses . . . 1757-1886, London, 1888, vol. iii, p. 925; tombstone, Ashcott, courtesy of Rev. Hector Morgan, vicar of Shapwick. Mrs. Thomas Mason, aged 82, died February 18, 1888. (3) Treasurer of Oriel College to Mrs. W. H. Britton, November 17, 1947. (4) "George Mason, Priest, In Memoriam," Christ Church Magazine (St. Leonard's on Sea), March, 1893. This obituary was probably written by Rev. C. L. Vaughan. (5) Rev. H. Bryant Salmon to the author, June 5, 1947. 48 Andrew Forest Muir Jan.-Apr. deacon by Dr. Edward Denison, Bishop of Salisbury, in his cathedral on May 22, 1853.6 For two years following he was curate at Burleston, Dorsetshire, where he officiated at eleven baptisms and one burial, in addition to the usual ministrations of a deacon.7 On June 3, 1855, he was ordained priest by Dr. Henry Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter,8 after which he became curate of Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire, and minister of St. James', Alfington, a chapel of ease. The registers of the mother church contain entries made by him between August 23, 1855, and October, 1856.9 On March 25, 1856, Father Mason was married to Ellen Mary Jones in St. Peter's Church, Bournemouth.10 Miss Jones was the daughter of Major-General William Daniel Jones, Royal Artillery, and his wife, Elizabeth Smith. The Jones family was a distinguished military one, for two of General Jones' brothers were also generals.11 To the Masons were born three daughters—one in England and two in Hawaii. Father Mason wished to go out as an army chaplain during the Crimean War, but his youth prevented his appointment.12 In or shortly after 1856 he became curate of St. Stephen's, Devonport. With the help of his wife and his sister, Miss Emma Mason, he established a home for fallen women. Soon it was overcrowded with penitents, and Mason negotiated with Rev. George Rundle Prynne, vicar of St. Peter's, Plymouth, to establish a penitentiary for the Three Towns. The Honourable and Reverend C. L. Courtenay suggested instead a penitentiary for the whole of South Devon, and this was finally established at Bovey Tracey. Nevertheless, the House of Mercy at Devonport continued under the Masons' care until they left Devonport, when it was turned over to the (6) Salisbury Diocesan Registrar to Rev. William B. Sharp, Major, U.S.A, October 10, 1947. (7) Rev. Canon Arthur Helps, vicar of Puddletown, to the author, August 26, 1947. (8) Church and State Gazette (London), XTV, p. 354 (June 8, 1855). (9) Rev. Bernard C. Jackson, vicar of Ottery St. Mary, to the author, August 27, 1947. Ottery St. Mary was the seat of the Coleridge family, which, considering the number of entries in the Dictionary of National Biography, is the most distinguished family in modern England. (10) Copy of marriage record from the register of St. Peter's, supplied by Mrs. W. H. Britton. (11) Bernard and Ashworfh P. Burke (eds.), A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage . . . , London, 1928, p. 1315. (12) | George Mason, Priest, In Memoriam," loc. cit. 1951 George Mason, Priest and Schoolmaster 49 sisters of the Society of the Most Holy Trinity.13 In 1860 it would appear that Father Mason became curate of St. Peter's, Plymouth, and for a while he was associated with Rev. Joseph Leycester Lyne, later known as Father Ignatius of Jesus, O.S.B., who served a brief honorary curacy at St. Peter's.14 On May 12,1862, the corner-stone of St. Peter's Mission Chapel, a chapel of ease to St. Peter's, was laid by Dr. Thomas Nettleship Staley, the recently consecrated Bishop of Honolulu, who had not yet set out for his diocese.15 The meeting of Father Mason with Dr. Staley at this time, probably, was the beginning of the negotiations which led Father Mason to enlist as a missionary to Hawaii. With him to the Islands, Father Mason took his wife, his daughter, and a governess, a Miss Roche.16 So hurriedly did he leave England that he failed to pay a small balance owing to one of his domestics.17 A farewell service for the Hawaiian missionaries was celebrated in Westminster Abbey on July 23,1862,18 and the missionary party sailed aboard the Tasmanian on August 18.19 Their route was direct to Panama, overland across the isthmus, and by ship again to San Francisco, which they reached on September 25 and left aboard the Comet on the following day. Father Mason was a good sailor and did not get sea-sick during the rough crossing of the Pacific.20 On October 10 the ship sighted land, and on the following morning it sailed into Honolulu Harbour. The pilot brought aboard sad news. The Prince of Hawaii, whose baptism was to mark the formal initiation of the mission and for whom Father Mason had been selected as tutor,21 had died shortly (13) A. Clifton Kelway, George Rundle Prynne, a Chapter in the Early History of the Catholic Revival, London, 1905, pp. 130-131. (14) Ibid., p. 146. There is no mention of Mason in Baroness de Bertouch, The Life of Father Ignatius, O.S.B., the Monk of Llanthony, New York, 1905. (15) Kelway, op. cit., pp. 134-135. (16) Sandwich Islands, Extracts from a Journal of the Bishop of Honolulu, September to November, 1862, London, 1862, p. 28. Extracts from Mason's diary appear on pages 28-35 of this work. (17) George S. A. Godson to Bishop of Honolulu, Barnet, November 8,1871, in Letters Received, 1865-1874, Honolulu, No. 53, MS. in Archives of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, London, England. (18) Illustrated London News, July 26, 1862, Vol. XLI, p. 203. (19) Ibid., August 23, 1862, p. 203. (20) Sandwich Islands, Extracts from a lournal . . . , pp. 1-2. (21) Letter of Ellen Mary Mason in The Net, Cast in Many Waters (London), February 1, 1866, p. 22. 50 Andrew Forest Mum Jan.-Apr. before. " We were quite stunned," Father Mason reported. " It seemed to take from us the chief hope of the mission."22 No time, however, was lost in setting to work. The missionary bishopric was incorporated under the name of the Hawaiian Reformed Catholic Church, Queen Emma baptized, and both the King and Queen confirmed and admitted to their first communion.23 Dr. Staley correctly judged his staff of three priests and, in consequence, generally assigned Father Mason the more arduous and honorific tasks. It was he who usually served as Dr. Staley's chaplain,24 and once during the Bishop's absence he held his power of attorney.25 On November 28, 1862, Dr. Staley appointed him examining chaplain.26 In this capacity he scrutinized the qualifications of three laymen Dr. Staley made deacons and two deacons he ordained priests.27 Dr. Staley rented in Honolulu a chapel and a parsonage that had been erected for a defunct Methodist congregation. Father Mason and his family were installed in the parsonage,28 and he and Rev. Edmund Ibbotson,29 who had come over in the same party, were put in charge of both the English- and the Hawaiian-speaking congregations of the temporary cathedral, while Rev. William Richard Scott, who soon arrived, was sent to Lahaina, the second city of the kingdom. Like Dr. Staley, Father Mason took lessons in Hawaiian from Colonel David Kalakaua, who was later to reign as king.30 The missionaries taught the doctrines of Anglo-Catholicism, and they introduced the ceremonial that (22) A letter by Mason, ibid., p. 21. (23) Church Registry of Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, etc, in Honolulu of the Hawaiian Reformed Catholic Church, MS., in the office of St. Andrew's Cathedral, Honolulu, p. 1. The charter is in the Interior Department, General File, Box 38, MS., Archives of Hawaii, Honolulu. See also Viator to editor, December 1, 1862, Honolulu Polynesian, December 6,1862. (24) Viator to editor, ibid. (25) Records of Conveyances, XXV, pp. 215-216, MS., Bureau of Conveyances, Honolulu. (26) Sandwich Islands, Extracts from a Journal . . . , p. 17. (27) [Mildred Staley (ed.)] "Bishop Staley's Diary," Hawaiian Church Chronicle, July, 1934, p. 8; W. Kalaeloa to editor, Sebakemapa 28, 1864, Honolulu Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Okatoba 8, 1864; Honolulu Hawaiian Gazette, March 20,1867. See also Andrew Forest Muir, "Ordinations by the Bishops of Honolulu, 1862-1902," Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church, XX (1951), pp. 328-331. (28) Honolulu Polynesian, October 18, 1862. (29) Andrew Forest Muir, "Edmund Ibbotson (1831-1914), S.P.G. Missionary to Hawaii, 186-2-1866," Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church, September, 1950, XIX, pp. 214-241. (30) Sandwich Islands, Extracts from a Journal . . . , p. 32. 1951 George Mason, Priest and Schoolmaster 51 had thus far been regained. They wore white cambric mass vestments31 and celebrated every day.32 Dr. Staley, in addition, wore cope and miter on pontifical occasions,33 the first Anglican bishop in the nineteenth century to do so. For the entire period of Dr. Staley's episcopate, the church was under criticism of the local Calvinist missionaries from New England, who called themselves the American Church in distinction to the English Church, as they referred to the Hawaiian Reformed Catholic Church, and they were materially aided by Low-Churchmen both in England and the United States, and soon by some partial converts from dissent in Hawaii. Father Mason was probably the first to feel their spite. Within a few weeks of his arrival, he was invited to join in a prayer meeting at a Congregational chapel. He declined, on the ground that by so doing he might leave the impression that he " did not consider episcopal ordination as necessary for a Christian minister,"34 and his refusal was widely held up as a slur on the Calvinist missionaries.35 So long as Kamehameha IV lived, criticism kept within modest channels, but no sooner had he died, on November 30,1863, than the Calvinists set upon the Hawaiian Reformed Catholic Church with a hue and cry, and so fertile were they in expediency that after seven years Dr. Staley, worried by their unabated harassing, resigned his see. Toward the end of Father Mason's cure at the temporary cathedral, in January, 1864, he and Father Ibbotson reported that during the previous year they had celebrated divine service almost a thousand times, had baptized 174 persons, and had presented sixty-five for confirmation. The communicants then numbered a hundred, and often there were as many as 230 persons, probably the capacity of the building, present at In the same month Father Mason was sent to take charge of the mission at Lahaina. This transfer was made necessary by Father Scott's having fallen into debt there and having lost the confidence of the natives. Father Mason set to work with energy. He found the building used for (31) Dr. T. N. Staley to W. T. Bullock, Kensington, undated, in Letters Received, 1865-1874, Honolulu, No. 17, MS., Archives of S.P.G. (32) Sandwich Islands, Extracts from a lournal . . . , p. 9. (33) Viator to editor, Honolulu Polynesian, December 6, 1862. (34) Mason to [S. C. Damon], November 4, 1862, in [T. N. Staley] A Pastoral Address . . . , Honolulu, 1865, pp. 41-42. (35) Missionary Herald, February, 1863, LXIV, p. 36. (36) Annual return, January 14, 1864, in E MSS., 1862-1863, Archives of S.P.G. 52 Andrew Forest Muir Jan.-Apr. divine service unattractive, except for a reredos that had been brought over from England. He therefore brightened up the building, introduced a choir, reassembled the congregation, and soon had a flourishing mission.37 In November, 1864, the first Anglican sisters to set out into the mission field located in Lahaina,38 and in February, 1865, Dr. Staley appointed Father Mason Archdeacon of Maui.39 Despite Father Mason's activity, Lahaina was a dying town. The Pacific whaling industry that had once been its main source of income had declined as early as the late 1850's, and during the American Civil War the Confederate cruiser Shenandoah had virtually destroyed the remaining fleet. At the same time, sugar cultivation greatly expanded on the Island of Maui, but the central valley offered greater expanses of desirable land than the narrow strip between ocean and mountains, and so the new town of Wailuku grew at Lahaina's expense. Natural calamities added to Father Mason's burdens. Fire destroyed a portion of his mission premises in August, 1867,40 and a four-day northerly gale completely demolished the chapel in December, 1869.41 Nevertheless, Father Mason worked on until he was assigned elsewhere. The success of his labours may be gauged by an address his parishioners presented to him along with a silver urn:— We are of one mind in acknowledging the zeal and fidelity with which you have discharged the duties of your sacred calling, and we have also reason to congratulate ourselves, that, in the ordinary intercourse of life, we have found in our Pastor, the man of education and the gentleman.42 At the beginning of 1869 Dr. Staley returned from an unsuccessful begging tour of England, only to find that during his absence the persistent Calvinist opposition had fomented a widening rift in the English- speaking congregation in Honolulu. He immediately took energetic steps to heal the dissension, and he was fairly successful, but in doing so he alienated most of his clergy. Among these was Father Mason. The (37) Report of the Lahaina Mission, October, 1864, in E 15, MS., Archives of S.P.G. (38) Thomas Jay Williams, Priscilla Lydia Sellon, the Restorer after Three Centuries of the Religious Life in the English Church, London, 1950, p. 223. (39) Honolulu Hawaiian Gazette, February 11, 1865. (40) Letter by Mason, dated August 17, 1867, Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, August 17,1867. (41) Honolulu Hawaiian Gazette, December 15, 1869; Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 11, 1869; Honolulu Punch Bowl, lanuary, 1870, I, p. 48. (42) Honolulu Hawaiian Gazette, May 26, 1869. I 1951 George Mason, Priest and Schoolmaster 53 nub of the difficulty between them was whether Dr. Staley had resigned his see or had simply requested permission of the Archbishop of Canterbury to resign. In any case, as early as New Year's Day, 1870, it was announced that Dr. Staley was soon to leave Honolulu and that Father Mason was to take charge of St. Andrew's Cathedral in Honolulu until the arrival of Rev. Charles George Williamson, whom the English- speaking congregation had requested as pastor.43 Father Mason moved to Honolulu and assumed the cure,44 without, however, relinquishing Lahaina. Dr. Staley remained until July, and during the interval he recorded two refusals made by Father Mason. In May, Father Mason declined to examine a layman whom Dr. Staley was to make deacon,45 and he declined also to invite the Bishop to confirm at Lahaina. The last entry Dr. Staley made in the cathedral register recorded this refusal.46 Dr. Staley's final departure from the Islands no doubt was agreeable to the English and American Low-Churchmen, who appear to have placed themselves in the anomalous position of accepting episcopacy without the episcopate, but it was alarming to loyal churchmen, both Anglo-Saxons and Hawaiians. In August, Kamehameha V asked Father Mason to journey to England and there to place before the public the true state of affairs of the Hawaiian Church and to push the appointment of a successor for Dr. Staley. Father Mason at first declined.47 The King, nevertheless, wrote letters to England, probably to Dr. Wilberforce and to Dr. Archibald C. Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury, requesting a new bishop. In view of these letters, the Hawaiian Committee in England wondered whether the synod in Hawaii united in the King's request.48 Before it could receive an answer, the King persuaded Father Mason to undertake what Father Mason regarded as the " disagreeable work "i% of conducting negotiations in England. Bearing letters from both Kamehameha and Queen Emma, he left Honolulu on September 27.50 On the same day, Queen Emma wrote Mrs. Mason:— (43) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 1,1870. (44) Honolulu Hawaiian Gazette, January 12,1870. (45) T. N. Honolulu to [W. T.] Bullock, Waikiki, May 22 [1870], in Letters Received, 1865-1874, Honolulu, No. 48, MS., Archives of S.P.G. (46) Church Registry, p. 355. (47) Mason to [E. L. Cutts (?)], Milton Abbas, November 30, 1870, in Letters Received, 1865-1874, Honolulu, No. 55b, MS., Archives of S.P.G. (48) Manley Hopkins to [W. T. Bullock (?)], London, November 22, 1870, ibid., No. 54. (49) Mason to Bullock, Milton Abbas, November 30, 1870, ibid., No. 55a. (50) Honolulu Hawaiian Gazette, September 28, 1870. 54 Andrew Forest Muir Jan.-Apr. My sympathies are with you during this new trial of separation from your husband. The Archdeacon sailed this morning at noon in the Moses Taylor for England fortified with a strong letter from the King, justifying the object for which he goes and that is the Continuance of the mission which the King wished heartily. He says in the letter he has and will ever have the interest of the Church at heart." Father Mason's expenses during his absence from Hawaii were paid by the King and Dr. F. W. Hutchinson, Minister of Interior, in their private capacities.52 He arrived in England probably in October, and both the Hawaiian Committee and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel appear to have accused him of deserting his post.53 In England, Father Mason had interviews with Dr. Wilberforce and Dr. Tait. The King had authorized him to request that Hawaii be placed under the episcopal supervision of the Bishop of London, who traditionally had oversight of all Anglicans not under the jurisdiction of any other bishop. After Father Mason reached England, however, the King communicated directly with Dr. Tait, informing him that the prosperity of the Church in Hawaii " must depend on the personal care of a Diocesan " and requesting him to consecrate a bishop for the see or to send out a bishop who had previously been consecrated.54 The second alternative was the one accepted at the moment. Rev. George Brayton Whipple had served at Wailuku, and through this connection his brother, Dr. Henry Benjamin Whipple, Bishop of Minnesota, had shown an interest in the Hawaiian Church. At the same time, Dr. Whipple's health was so poor that his physician advised a mild climate, and the Hawaiian was perfect. Dr. Wilberforce, therefore, was authorized to tender the see of Honolulu to Dr. Whipple. On his way back to Hawaii, Father Mason discussed the matter with Dr. Horatio Potter, Bishop of New York.55 Father Mason arrived back (51) Wm. F. Wilson's Polynesiana Collection, n.p, n.d, p. 47. (52) Mason to [Cutts(?)], Milton Abbas, November 30, 1870; T. N. Staley to Bullock, Kensington, March 14, 1871, in Letters Received, 1865-1874, Honolulu, No. 58, MS., Archives of S.P.G. (53) Mason to Bullock, November 30, 1870, and Mason to [Cutts (?)], November 30, 1870, ibid. (54) Kamehameha to Archbishop of Canterbury, Honolulu, January 28, 1871, MS., Lambeth Palace, London, courtesy of His Grace the Archbishop of Canter- (55) H. Potter to the Bishop of Minnesota, New York, April 25, 1871, in Henry Benjamin Whipple, Lights and Shadows of a Long Episcopate . . . ,New York, 1912, p. 340, reprinted in Honolulu Diocesan Magazine and Quarterly Record of Church Work in the Diocese, April, 1901, IV, p. 316. 1951 George Mason, Priest and Schoolmaster 55 in Honolulu on April 19, 1871.56 His mission had been successful. Although Dr. Whipple declined the see, later in the year the English friends of the Hawaiian Church selected Rev. Alfred Willis as bishop- designate, and on February 2, 1872, the Archbishop of Canterbury consecrated him second Bishop of Honolulu. Upon his return to Hawaii, Father Mason took up residence in Honolulu. Rev. Charles George Williamson, regarded as a Low- Churchman by the English Low-Churchmen in Honolulu but one who did not follow the Low Church party line upon his return to England in the following year, was then in charge of the English-speaking congregation, and Rev. Alexander Mackintosh, a deacon, was in charge of the Hawaiian congregation. At intervals, Williamson celebrated the Holy Eucharist for the Hawaiians. When Father Mason took up residence in Honolulu, Williamson's services were no longer required for the Hawaiian congregation,57 apparently to his own relief and certainly to the delight of the Hawaiians and the sisters at St. Andrew's Priory.58 At midnight on Christmas, a secular newspaper reported, " a mass was sung by the Rev. Arch Deacon,"59 and no doubt both the terminology and the ceremonial pleased the congregation. Dr. Willis arrived in Honolulu in July, 1872, and was immediately enthroned in his cathedral, at a service at which Father Mason read the licence under which the Bishop had been consecrated. In the evening, Father Mason preached a sermon on the establishment of the Church in Jerusalem, which a secular editor, heretofore and later a severe critic, described in glowing terms. We take pleasure in recording the fact that there are few men now existing in the whole world, much less in our present limited sphere, who could manipulate the subject with such mental power and vitality as Mr. Mason. We could recognize in him the polish and bouquet of Oxford, with the whole soul and poetic feeling of the Christian gentleman. There appeared the vivid intensifying electricity of "Peter the Hermit" toned by the grace and finish of a Wolsey.«° After ten years in the Islands, Father Mason had weathered and lived down criticism. He continued in charge of the Hawaiian congregation until the beginning of the following year. (56) Honolulu Hawaiian Gazette, April 19, 1871; Honolulu St. Andrew's Magazine, April, 1871, p. 25. (57) Ibid., July, 1871, p. iv. (58) Sister Albertina to "Rev Father," September 1, 1885, in Alfred Willis Papers (MS. in private hands). (59) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 30, 1871. (60) Ibid., July 13, 1872. 56 Andrew Forest Muir Jan.-Apr. Throughout his eleven-year residence in Hawaii, he was known, in addition to being a faithful priest, as schoolmaster, preacher, writer, lecturer, and poet, under which heads it might be well to examine his Much of Father Mason's time in Hawaii was devoted to education, which the mission rightly considered one of its principal functions. As early as November 6, 1862, less than a month after their arrival, Dr. Staley asked Father Mason to conduct a college for boys of the superior classes. Apparently Father Mason saw before him difficulties, and at the time he referred to one of these—lack of text-books.61 The sons of both gentlemen—that is, professional men—and tradesmen were expected to enrol.62 Father Mason busied himself immediately, for on November 8 there appeared an advertisement of a collegiate grammar- school for boys, in which Latin, Greek, Euclid, algebra, and the usual branches of an English education were to be offered at a quarterly tuition of $12. Dr. Staley was announced as visitor and Father Mason principal.63 The opening of the school was set for January 12, 1863.64 At first, apparently, the school was held in the parsonage behind the temporary cathedral, in which the Masons lived, but a short while later they purchased a property in Nuuanu Valley,65 where they seemed to have erected a building at a cost of £250. By the middle of the year there were thirty-two students, of English, French, German, Hawaiian, and half-white extraction, whose tuition totalled £.250 per year.66 Of these students, twenty were boarders. The school soon received the name of St. Alban's College,67 and collections in the temporary cathedral for its support netted £30.68 Upon the removal of the Masons to Lahaina, in January, 1864, St. Alban's was left in other hands, and Father Mason proposed to begin (61) Sandwich Islands, Extracts from a Journal . . . , p. 34. (62) Letter of Ellen Mary Mason in The Net, February 1, 1866, p. 24. (63) Honolulu Polynesian, November 8,1862; Honolulu Hoku o ka Pakipika, Novemaba 13, 1862. (64) Honolulu Polynesian, December 27, 1862. (65) Henry Rhodes to Mason, May 30, 1863, Records of Conveyances, XX, pp. 295-296, MS., Bureau of Conveyances, Honolulu. (66) Letter of Dr. Staley, dated September 30, 1863, in Mission Field, 1864, p. 14. (67) Entry for September 9, 1863, in Mildred Staley (ed.), "Bishop Staley's Journal," loc. cit., p. 6. (68) Annual return, January 14, 1864, MS., Archives of S.P.G. 1951 George Mason, Priest and Schoolmaster 57 another boys' school at his new station.69 He immediately leased the building near the shore formerly used by the United States consul as a hospital for American seamen and altered it to serve as a school building.70 So onerous were Father Mason's duties in Lahaina that he was obliged to hire a teacher, G. W. Hart, to help him with the school. Within a short time the two of them obtained creditable results. At a public examination of December 22, 1864, all but nine of the fifty-six students were present, and an observer wrote that the results indicated the lads had received a superior education. At least one of them, Curtis Piehu Iaukea, who had received a prize, was to grow up to great prominence as an official of the Kingdom of Hawaii. After the examination there was light calisthenics, and then, with flags flying, drums beating, and all singing "God Save the King," the lads marched to Father Mason's lawn, where he had spread an abundant feast.71 By 1866 Father Mason had two boys' schools in Lahaina—one a boarding-school, with twenty-five students, and the other a day-school for Hawaiian boys exclusively, with sixty-five students.72 Hart was principal of the latter in 1866,73 with his salary paid by the Board of Education of the Kingdom,74 and in the following year Father Mason was relieved of the former by Rev. Edward Warren, a deacon from the diocese of California.75 During the summer of 1868, undoubtedly because of financial strain, Dr. Staley decided to combine Father Mason's boarding-school with St. Alban's in Pauoa Valley, Honolulu, which had moved to the former girls' school, the combination to be effected on August 24, with Father Mason as headmaster and Rev. Charles William Turner, a deacon, as master.76 No sooner had the Masons moved their family and children to Honolulu,77 when it was decided to remove St. Alban's to Lahaina. Immediately before the date appointed for the opening of the combined (69) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 21, 1864. (70) Ibid., February 4, 1864. (71) Honolulu Hawaiian Gazette, January 6, 1866, Vol. I, p. 236. (72) Annual Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 1866, pp. 179-180. (73) Honolulu Hawaiian Gazette, January 13, 1866, Vol. I, p. 244. (74) Annual Report of the S.P.G., 1867, pp. 145-146. (75) Warren to Secretary, S.P.G, in Letters Received, 1865-74, Honolulu, No. la, MS., Archives of S.P.G. (76) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, August 15, 1868. (77) Mason to Bullock, February 11, 1870, in Letters Received, 1865-1874, Honolulu, No. 46, MS., Archives of S.P.G. 58 Andrew Forest Muir Jan.-Apr. schools in Lahaina, the Masons, Turner, and twenty-five pupils of St. Alban's moved to Lahaina and combined St. Alban's with Father Mason's school there.78 Apparently, for a while in Lahaina, Turner was in charge of St. Alban's and Hart in charge of the day-school, with Father Mason acting as superintendent of both.79 Very shortly, however, Turner returned to Honolulu, where he kept a day-school with eighteen students.80 Father Mason found the schools a great pecuniary burden, for he had difficulty collecting tuition from the parents of his lads. In addition, a number of the boarding students were orphans who were entirely dependent upon him for support. He deplored the lack of an endowment, which would have permitted him to keep the boys in school longer, for he found their parents anxious to push them into the business world in order to add to the family earnings. A number of the boys who left the school, however, found remunerative employment—two were compositors in the Government Printing Office in Honolulu, two assistants in stores, one clerk to the circuit Judge of Maui, and another second mate on a whaling-ship.81 In 1870, it would seem, St. Alban's returned to Honolulu. The boarding-school at Lahaina, with fifteen students, of whom nine held scholarships granted by the Board of Education, was then known as Lahainalalo College—that is, the college in Lower Lahaina—and the day-school, with thirty-five students, was under H. Higgins, whose salary was paid by the Board.82 When in England in 1870 Father Mason informed the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel that he was anxious to plead for funds for the establishment of a college for Hawaiian youth, complete with a theological department.83 The Society did not encourage him in this hope, and obviously he did nothing about the matter. Upon his return to Hawaii he established his residence in Honolulu,84 and there he became connected with Iolani College, which appears to have been 78) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, August 22, 1868. 79) C. C. Bennett, Honolulu Directory, and Historical Sketch of the Hawaiian mdwich Islands, Honolulu, 1869, p. 74. jiU, p. 72; Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 3, 1869. 81) Mason to Bullock, February 11, 1870, toe. cit. [82) Honolulu Hawaiian Gazette, May 25, 1870. 83) Mason to Secretary, S.P.G, St. Andrew's Day, 1870, in Letters Received, ■1874, Honolulu, No. 55b, MS., Archives of S.P.G. [84) Honolulu St. Andrew's Magazine, July, 1871, p. iv. 1951 George Mason, Priest and Schoolmaster 59 Turner's day-school. His first connection with Iolani was as examiner,85 but shortly afterwards he assumed charge of the school. Always alert to the necessity of keeping his schools before the attention of the public, he held two entertainments in 1871-1872—one at Christmas-time86 and the other at the beginning of summer, at which a visiting actor, George Pauncefort, gave readings.87 Father Mason's connection with Iolani was not entirely happy, for on September 8, 1872, one of the students died at the school,88 possibly the lad was one of the orphans for whom he was entirely responsible. During the five years 1868 to 1872 Father Mason received for his schools $5,644.72 from the Board of Education.89 Mrs. Mason, likewise, devoted her attentions to education. Eleven days after the arrival of the mission in Honolulu, Dr. Staley, together with the Masons, discussed a family school for native girls with the King and E. H. Allen, a member of the Board of Education.90 Queen Emma viewed the proposal with enthusiasm, for she always interested herself in every move designed for the elevation of her people, particularly the women.91 The first seven students came to Mrs. Mason while she was still living in the parsonage, but they soon removed to Nuuanu Valley, while they awaited the construction of a school at the mouth of Pauoa Valley.92 This building cost the King £800,93 and shortly after its construction he undertook to build an attached chapel, in which were said the daily offices94 and where Father Mason celebrated his first mass of Easter, 1863.95 The school was advertised as offering an English (85) Ibid., p. 25. The present Iolani School in Honolulu, which is named in honour of Kamehameha IV (Iolani was the name he used when he wrote to his relatives and old friends), is possibly a continuation of the Iolani College here mentioned. There is no certainty that it is a continuation of St. Alban's, and certainly not Iolani nor indeed was any other Anglican church school for boys in Hawaii founded in 1862, as the present Iolani claims. (86) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 3, 1872. (87) Ibid., June 29, 1872; Mason to the editor, July 5, 1872, ibid., July 6, 1872. (88) Ibid., September 14, 1872. (89) /AW, June 1, 1878. (90) Sandwich Islands, Extracts from a Journal . . . , p. 12. (91) Ibid., p. 34; see also letter of Ellen Mary Mason in The Net, February 1, 1866, p. 24. (92) Letter of Mason in The Net, March 1, 1866, p. 42. (93) Letter of Dr. Staley in Mission Field, 1864, p. 14. (94) Entry for September 9, 1863, in Mildred Staley (ed.), "Bishop Staley's Journal," loc. cit., p. 6. (95) Honolulu Polynesian, April 4, 1863. 60 Andrew Forest Muir Jan.-Apr. education and also domestic and industrial training.96 In addition to the usual subjects, it offered French and German, calisthenics, music and dancing, drawing, illuminating, plain needlework, embroidery, and dressmaking. It was divided into two departments—the first for girls over 12 years and the second for those under that age. The tuition was $40 per quarter in the first department and $25 per quarter in the second. At first Mrs. Mason had the entire burden of instruction,97 but two ladies were brought out from England to assist her, one of them Father Mason's sister and the other Father Ibbotson's sister.98 There were about two dozen students, and Dr. Staley expected to draw others from the Royal School.99 Most of the students were free exhibitioners of the King and Queen.100 Upon the removal of the Masons to Lahaina, the school continued under the direction of the Misses Mason and Ibbotson101 until 1867, when St. Andrew's Priory was founded by Rev. Mother Lydia, of the Society of the Most Holy Trinity, into which the students were absorbed. In Lahaina Mrs. Mason for a short time had a girls' school, which probably had been initiated by Mrs. Scott. Three sisters of the Society of the Most Holy Trinity arrived in the Islands in November, 1864, and took over this school, which they named St. Cross.102 Although withdrawn from formal teaching, Mrs. Mason took into her home a number of girls, varying from 7 to 12 years, whom, with the assistance of a Miss Spurgin, she trained in domestic and industrial work,103 and she advertised for a companion to be educated along with one of her daughters.104 Three-quarters of a century after his departure from Hawaii, Father Mason was still remembered in Honolulu as an eloquent preacher.105 (96) Ibid., November 8, 1862; Honolulu Hoku o ka Pakipika, Novemaba 13, (97) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, April 2, 1863. (98) Letter of Dr. Staley in Mission Field, 1864, p. 14. (99) Ibid.; see also Annual Return, January 14, 1864, MS., Archives of S.P.G. (100) Entry for September 9, 1863, in Mildred Staley (erf.), "Bishop Staley's Journal," toe. eft., p. 6. (101) Annual Report of the S.P.G., 1866, pp. 179-180. (102) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, November 12, 1864. (103) Annual Report of the S.P.G., 1866, pp. 179-180; ibid., 1867, pp. 145-146; Dr. Staley to Secretary, S.P.G, November 17, 1867, in Letters Received, 1859-1867, Honolulu, No. 54, MS., Archives of S.P.G. (104) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 20, 1867. (105) Conversation with Mrs. Florence Lawrence, of Honolulu, February 9, 1947. Mrs. Lawrence, daughter of George Morison Robertson, was bora in Honolulu, March 25, 1859. 1951 George Mason, Priest and Schoolmaster 61 There is practically no information now available on his usual sermons, but there are comments about his occasional ones. He certainly did not read his sermons, for he was so near-sighted that he could not read except at very short range.106 It was he who delivered the first sermon after the arrival of the mission, in the temporary cathedral, on October 12,1862.107 Within a month of his arrival in the Islands he preached for the first time in Hawaiian, on the text" Go ye, teach all nations. "108 He described bis preparation for a Hawaiian sermon in a letter written to England:— First I write a foul copy; then I get my volunteer tutor [David Kalakaua] to correct it. Then .1 write a fair copy and learn it by heart; and finally, on the Saturday, I speak it to my tutor, who corrects my pronunciation and emphasis.109 Father Mason preached a eulogy on Kamehameha IV, December 6, 1863, which, like many of his sermons, showed evidence of a deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. In speaking of the King, he said in part:— You may not all know how he loved communion with his Lord. You may not all know how it was his delight in the early morn to enter the courts of the Lord's house and partake of the bread of life, after due preparation and hearty contrition for past sin. Truly to him it was the most comfortable sacrament of the body and blood of Christ. He ever looked upon the Holy Communion service as a sacrifice of thanksgiving, which it was his" bounden duty" to offer on all special occasions, whether of sorrow or of joy. Thus, when but a few weeks ago God visited him and his beloved Queen with a severe accident, his first thought was to send for his Bishop to celebrate privately those holy mysteries as a mark of his gratitude, and to express his consciousness of hourly dependence on the protecting hand of the King of Kings.110 Father Mason also preached at the ordination of William Hoapili Kaau- wai to the diaconate in Lahaina, September 25, 1864;111 on the unity of Christendom, July 2,1865;112 at a mass of thanksgiving for the safe return of Queen Emma from England, October 28, 1866;113 and a eulogy on George Morison Robertson, March 17,1867.114 (106) Letter of Mason in The Net, March 1, 1866, p. 42. (107) Sandwich Islands, Extracts from a Journal . . . , p. 7. (108) Ibid., p. 35. (109) Letter of Mason in The Net, March 1,1866, pp. 42-43. (110) Quoted in Staley, A Pastoral Address, p. 66. For comment on the sermon see Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 10 and 17,1863. (111) Report of the Lahaina Mission, October, 1864, MS., Archives of S.P.G. (112) Honolulu Hawaiian Gazette, July 1, 1865, Vol. I, p. 21. (113) Ibid., October 27, 1866. (114) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 23 and April 6, 1867. J 62 Andrew Forest Muir Jan.-Apr. One of his Honolulu sermons was published. This was a judicious and scholarly criticism of John William Colenso, Bishop of Natal, which he delivered on July 12,1863. Colenso had written that it was a " presumptuous and impious assumption " to claim that man was created in God's image. Taking as his text, " Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26), Father Mason showed that he was " disposed to side with all advances of science," however much they appeared to contradict Scripture. He was dismayed, he said, not by Colenso's regarding parts of the Mosaic narratives as legends, but by his attacking the purpose of those legends: instruction on the origin of man, his fall, and the scheme of his restoration. Father Mason's sermon was built upon the doctrine of the Incarnation. The pre-existent Word was identical, he affirmed, with the Incarnate Word, and the mediation of Jesus Christ and the salvation of man depended on the reality of material man, which was, in some manner, made in God's likeness. He ended his sermon with a reaffirmation of the Blessed Sacrament, " the brightest earthly mirror of God's love," as the extension of the Incarnation.115 A secular editor criticized the sermon, but Father Mason stuck to his guns.116 Father Mason wrote two theological tracts—one a statement on confirmation and the other on the validity of Anglican orders. The tract on confirmation he prepared at the request of Dr. Staley, and so pleased was the King with it that he translated it into Hawaiian.117 In this tract he boldly stated the doctrines of the gift of the Holy Ghost in episcopal confirmation and of the power of the keys. Both of these were distasteful to the Calvinists, and they did not fail to seize the opportunity of attacking both Father Mason and the mission.118 The historical work on the validity of Anglican orders was a more substantial one. In May, 1865, the Roman mission in Honolulu issued a reprint of a small portion of John Fletcher's Comparative View of the Grounds of the [Roman] (115) George Mason, Colenso on the Book of Genesis, the Creation of Man in the "Image" of God Vindicated from the Charge of Being a "Presumptuous and Impious Assumption," a Sermon Preached in the Hawaiian Cathedral, Honolulu, on the 6th Sunday after Trinity, 12th luly, 1863, Honolulu, 1863, 12 pp. (116) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, August 27, September 3, September 17, and October 1, 1863. (117) Letter of Ellen Mary Mason in The Net, February 1, 1866, p. 23. Unfortunately the author has been unsuccessful in locating a copy of this tract, either in English or in Hawaiian. (118) Missionary Herald, February, 1863, LXIV, pp. 35-36. 1951 George Mason, Priest and Schoolmaster 63 Catholic and Protestant Churches (London, 1826), which it thought would " prove interesting and instructive for our Hawaiian community especially under the present circumstances." This was an artful statement in which Fletcher, while pretending not to deny the validity of Anglican orders, presented the worn-out arguments that the consecration of Matthew Parker, if it occurred at all, was uncanonical and illegal, that I lacked commission, that the form was insufficient, and n of Barlow was doubtful.119 This pamphlet was eagerly seized upon by the Calvinist critics as a weapon to use against Dr. Staley, although the same critics would have been the first to deny the doctrine of apostolic succession.120 Father Mason wrote a reply to the pamphlet, but, not wishing to engage in controversy, he abstained from publishing it until Dr. Staley, who had discovered the pamphlet in circulation among his flock, requested him to put it in print. Using primarily Francois Pierre le Courayer's A Dissertation on the Validity of the Ordinations of the English and of the Succession of the Bishops of the Anglican Church (1723, new edition 1844) and Walter Farquhar Hook's Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, he deftly demolished all of Fletcher's arguments.121 The Hawaiian Gazette commented that the pamphlet read " like the work of a thorough scholar and one well versed in Church history,"122 while the Pacific Commercial Advertiser, to which Father Mason did not send a copy, whined that " from the fair and temperate manner in which Mr. Mason's productions have always been received in this paper, we certainly had a right to expect that the usual courtesy would be extended to us."123 Probably it was the " fair and temperate manner" which Father Mason wished to avoid, having been exposed to it on previous occasions. His pamphlet seems to have effectively ended the local Romanist and Calvinist criticism of Anglican orders. On several occasions, during his residence in Hawaii, Father Mason gave public lectures and readings as a means of raising funds for civic (119) [John] Fletcher, 27ie Ordinations of the Church of England, Honolulu, 1865, 25 pp. (120) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, May 20, 1865. (121) [George] Mason, A Vindication of the Orders of the Ancient Catholic Church of England, against the Objections of one Dr. Fletcher, with a Preface and Notes, Honolulu, 1865, 35 pp. Publication of this tract was announced in the Honolulu Hawaiian Gazette, July 22, 1865, Vol. I, p. 47. (122) Ibid., July 29,1865, Vol. I, p. 52. (123) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, August 5, 1865. 64 Andrew Forest Muir Jan.-Apr. improvements. The first of these was on June 22, 1863, when, in aid of the building fund of Queen's Hospital, he lectured on " The Genius of Shakespeare Illustrated from the Tragedy of Hamlet." For an hour and three-quarters he spoke extemporaneously, and, according to one reporter, showed that he not only knew his subject, but also " possessed himself literary powers of no ordinary capacity."124 It is not surprising that he was harshly criticized by Congregationalists for elevating Shakespeare above Milton, for the Calvinist mind always regarded Milton as the greatest of English poets.125 On April 17,1868, he gave a reading of Hamlet as a benefit for the Olympic Hall, a gymnastic association; this reading was received with better grace than the lecture.126 Three years later, on August 4,1871, he lectured on " The Indirect Influence of Popular Writers of Fiction on Social Institutions, as Exemplified by the Writings of Charles Dickens," as a means of raising funds for building a schoolroom. Although a heavy rain prevented a large audience, those who braved the elements were amply rewarded. Father Mason spoke of Dickens' influence in ameliorating poorhouses, workhouses, hospitals, and schools.127 Again, on February 3, 1873, despite a cold, Father Mason, " with a fine voice, good taste, and correct appreciation of all the points of the subject," read selections from Shakespeare, Shelley, Poe, Tennyson, Hood, Whittier, and the Ingoldsby Legends.Wi In Hawaii, Father Mason wrote a number of occasional poems. His first was a description of the arrival of the English missionaries, written on shipboard before the pilot was taken up.129 In addition, he wrote an elegy on the Prince of Hawaii,130 an ode to Kamehameha IV,131 one celebrating the first observance of Kamehameha the First Day,132 and one lauding King Lunalilo.133 (124) /AW, June 18 and 25, 1863. (125) Honolulu Friend, July 3, 1863, Vol. XX, pp. 49-50. (126) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, April 18, 1868; Honolulu Friend, May 1, 1868, Vol. XXV, p. 40. (127) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 29, August 5 and 12,1871. (128) Ibid., February 1 and 8, 1873. (129) Honolulu Polynesian, November 1, 1862. This poem was signed G. M. A portion of it was reproduced and correctly assigned to Mason in Rufus Anderson, The Hawaiian Islands; Their Progress and Condition under Missionary Labors, Boston, 1864, p. 350. (130) Honolulu Friend, November 1, 1862, Vol. XIX, p. 88. (131) Honolulu Polynesian, December 20, 1862. (132) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 6, 1872. This day is still celebrated on June 11. (133) Ibid., February 8, 1873. 1951 George Mason, Priest and Schoolmaster 65 After almost eleven years' work in Hawaii, Father Mason, who suffered from persistent eye-trouble, concluded that a cooler climate would improve his health. In San Francisco there was a struggling Anglo-Catholic parish, St. Alban's, which was undergoing all the vicissitudes that such parishes were subjected to in the nineteenth century. Father Mason was apparently informed that a call from this organization would be forthcoming if he were in California.134 On February 15, 1873, he obtained a letter dimissory from Dr. Willis, addressed to Dr. William Ingraham Kip, Bishop of California,135 and three days later, without his family, he sailed aboard the Moses Taylor for San Francisco.136 Upon arriving there he learned that, on February 9, St. Alban's had placed itself under Trinity Church.137 The name had then been changed to Trinity Chapel, and Father Mason was appointed to minister to its congregation.138 Mrs. Mason and the children followed aboard the Costa Rica on May 3.139 Apparently Father Mason's arrangements with Trinity were not entirely satisfactory, for he looked about for work elsewhere. Dr. Henry J. C. Harper, Bishop of Christ- church, New Zealand, offered him a place in his diocese,140 and Dr. George Hills, Bishop of British Columbia, did likewise.141 Accepting the second offer, Father Mason moved to British Columbia in November. A newspaper reported that Dr. Hills intended appointing him Archdeacon of Vancouver.142 This rumour was premature, for Father Mason was not made archdeacon until 1880. Instead, he became pastor of Holy Trinity Church, New Westminster. His geniality and tact made him agreeable to everyone in the community, which appears to have been composed of divergent national and sectarian groups. With dissent, he was on the best of terms. For example, at an annual meeting of the New Westminster Bible Society he gave an address, "The Incorrupt (134) Hawaiian Church Monthly Messenger, April 1, 1873, p. 30. (135) " The Acts of the Right Reverend Alfred Willis, D.D," MS., in office of Missionary District of Honolulu, Honolulu, p. 6. (136) Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, February 22, 1873. (137) Hawaiian Church Monthly Messenger, April 1, 1873, p. 30. (138) Ibid., May 1, 1873, p. 38; Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, April 19, 1873. (139) Ibid., May 10, 1873; Hawaiian Church Monthly Messenger, June 1, 1873, p. 47. (140) Ibid., April 1, 1873, p. 30. (141) Church Times, February 3, 1893, Vol. XXXI, p. 103, reprinted in Victoria Colonist, February 26, 1893. (142) Ibid., November 22, 1873. 66 Andrew Forest Muir Jan.-Apr. Preservation of the Bible,"143 a subject on which he and they were no doubt in complete agreement. His own congregation was heterogeneous in churchmanship, but through the exercise of delicacy he was able to avoid giving offence,144 yet, in light of his fervent Anglo-Catholicism, one suspects that he surrendered no principle. He merited a local reputation as a sound and admirable preacher,145 and his reading of the services was commended as impressive.146 Even the secular newspaper recommended a hearty response at the offering on Easter as a reward for the pastor.147 As always, he took an interest in children. At a Christmas party for the church school children, he distributed prizes donated by Mrs. Hills,148 and a few weeks later he gave a treat at which he showed magic-lantern slides and provided his little guests with tea and cakes.149 In March, 1874, Father Mason was appointed principal of the Collegiate School at Victoria.150 This was a work for which his experience in Hawaii had eminently prepared him. In addition to the educational work, he was licensed to minister to Cedar Hill and Lake districts near Victoria.151 He held these positions for only five months. In August he was appointed rector of St. Paul's Church, Nanaimo,152 to which he moved in the following month, after the pupils of the Collegiate School had presented him with a leather-bound album.153 He served at Nanaimo for four years, during which the congregation of St. Paul's so increased in size that the parish built an enlargement to the church.154 On November 9 his wife and he opened St. Paul's School, in which they offered the ordinary English branches, together with French and needlework if desired.155 In addition to his parochial work, he took an interest in diocesan affairs. When a synod was constituted tiser, July 4, 1874. (145) New Westminster Mainland Guardian, February 19, 1874. (146) Ibid., March 7, 1874. (147) Ibid., April 4, 1874. (148) Ibid., December 25, 1873. (149) Ibid., February 12, 1874. (150) Victoria Colonist, March 24, 1874. (151) Dr. Harold Eustace Sexton, Bishop of British Columbia, to February 17, 1947. (152) Victoria Standard, August 18, 1874. (153) Victoria Colonist, September 19, 1874. (154) Nanaimo Free Press, June 12, 1878. (155) Ibid., October 31, 1874. 1951 ' George Mason, Priest and Schoolmaster 67 for the diocese in 1875, Father Mason preached at its opening and became a member of its executive committee. In 1878 Dr. Hills went to England, and for the period of his absence he appointed Father Mason dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria and one of his two local commissaries.156 Upon Father Mason's departure from Nanaimo, seventy-one members of St. Paul's congregation presented him with an address testifying to his merits "as a man and Pastor" and to his " valuable services as a Minister of the Gospel and a true and Christian friend and monitor," and the church school children gave him a Father Mason was installed as dean on June 6,1878,158 and served for two years. Upon the ordinary's return to his diocese, he resumed his functions as dean and rector of the cathedral. Father Mason then became locum tenens charged with the pastoral oversight of the cathedral congregation.159 On July 8,1880, Dr. Hills gave him the more pretentious title of assistant rector and, in addition, appointed him Archdeacon of Vancouver, a position, like the bishopric, endowed by the Baroness Burdett-Coutts.160 Father Mason did not devote all of his time in Canada to education and his priestly duties. Mrs. Mason worked assiduously among the sick and needy in Victoria,161 and there is an unverified statement that during their residence in British Columbia Father Mason and his wife founded and operated a hospital.162 In British Columbia Father Mason continued to write verse. The Mechanics' Literary Institute, of Victoria, in 1875, offered a prize of $20 for.the best poem submitted in a contest sponsored by it. Father Mason easily captured the prize by a poem Lo! the Poor Indian! which was regarded as abounding in " fine sentiment and Christian thought."163 In the poem he contrasted the dignity of the Indian before the arrival of the white man with his debasement following the introduction of whisky and the plunder of his lands. The poem is remarkable for the recognition of the unity of man despite racial distinctions. It contains some (156) Bishop Sexton to the author. (157) Nanaimo Free Press, June 15, 1878; Victoria Colonist, June 20, 1878. See also Hawaiian Church Monthly Messenger, September 1, 1875, p. 66. (158) Nanaimo Free Press, June 6, 1878. (159) Victoria Colonist, January 10, 1880. (160) Bishop Sexton to the author. (161) Victoria Colonist, August 8, 1884. (162) Church Times, February 3, 1893, Vol. XXXI, p. 103. (163) Victoria Colonist, October 29, 1875. 68 Andrew Forest Mum Jan.-Apr. notable lines, among them the description of the Indian at the time Father Mason wrote:— Lo! the poor Indian now! from street to street In cast-off finery, with naked feet, Listlessly strolling, object of contempt,— His claims neglected and his lands pre-empt,— Despoiled, uncared for, destitute he roams, A homeless exile, 'mid his native homes!164 Not great poetry perhaps, but certainly evidence of decent and manly commiseration for an exploited people. A short while later he published a poem on the wreck of the steamship Pacific, from which only two persons had escaped with their fives.165 This poem was sold for one bit a copy, and the proceeds were devoted to the purchase of a carpet for St. Paul's Church, Nanaimo.166 Upon the death of Sir James Douglas, long-time Governor of the former colony, Father Mason prepared an elegy extolling his virtues.167 His pen was not, however, devoted exclusively to the commemoration of public events, for upon the tenth birthday of his. youngest daughter he presented her with an acrostic written in her honour.168 On July 30, 1881, Father Mason, together with his family, left British Columbia for England.169 The exact reason for his departure is hard to determine, for no statement of his own on the subject is available. There were made by others, however, conflicting claims, on the one hand, that he went on furlough170 and, on the other, that his wife's health required a change of climate.171 Had he gone for the first reason, and had there been no other issues involved, he probably would (164) Prize Poem, Lo! the Poor Indian! Read before the Mechanics'Literary Institute, Victoria, Thursday, October 28,1875, Victoria, 1875, 8 pp. (165) Ode on the Loss of the Steamship "Pacific" November 4th, 1875, Nanaimo, 1875, 4 pp. This poem was reprinted in the Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 3, 1876. (166) Nanaimo Free Press, December 1, 1875. (167) "In Memory of Sir James Douglas, K.C.B," Victoria Colonist, October 19, 1877. ifcrt.<io«8 (168) "Ethel's Birthday, Deer 5th 1878," MS. supplied by Mrs. W. H. Britton. Efheldreda Eliza Finch Nalanieula, Mason was born at Lahaina, December 5, 1868, and was baptized on December 20, with Queen Emma as one of the godmothers. Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 19, 1868. Printed baptismal certificate supplied by Mrs. W. H. Britton. (169) Victoria Colonist, July 31, 1881. (170) Church Times, February 3, 1893, Vol. XXXI, p. 103. (171) Anglican to editor, August 8, 1884, in Victoria Colonist, August 9, 1884. 1951 George Mason, Priest and Schoolmaster 69 have returned. Had he gone for the second reason, his return would have been doubtful. As a matter of fact, he never returned to British Columbia, but this does not prove the validity of the second assumption, for there was, it would appear, another issue involved: Dr. Hills did not wish his return.172 The truth of this is not substantiated, but it is certain that adverse decisions of bishops often prevent the return of missionaries from furloughs. For a year in England, Father Mason worked for the welfare of the mission. He presented the merits of British Columbia to congregations and collected £1,200 from them.173 Having resigned from the mission, Father Mason helped for a year at Christ Church, St. Leonard's on Sea, where an old college friend, C. L. Vaughan, was incumbent. There he was long remembered for some notable addresses at a three hours' devotion on Good Friday. Then he served a year at St. Michael's, Southsea.174 In the summer of 1884 Dr. Edward H. Browne, Bishop of Winchester, presented him to the living of Long Cross, Virginia Water, near Windsor,175 where he served for eight years. By quiet teaching and example he won his parishioners to the acceptance of the full Catholic faith, and with his wife he initiated a home for penitents where he ministered daily. In addition to his work in Long Cross, he was often in demand as a preacher elsewhere. During Holy Week, 1891, while returning from an outside engagement, he suffered a stroke of paralysis which permanently crippled He resigned his living in the following year and retired to St. Leonard's. He last received the Blessed Sacrament on January 16,1893, and on the following day he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage, from which he died on January 21.177 In a codicil to his will made the day before his last attack, he had requested that his funeral be " conducted according to the rites of the Catholic Church of England " and that it be " as simple and inexpensive as possible."178 This wish was executed on January 24, when the burial office was said and a requiem mass in the presence of the body was sung by Father Vaughan, after which his body was buried in (172) Ibid., August 8, 1884. (173) Church Times, February 3, 1893, Vol. XXXI, p. 103. (174) " George Mason, Priest, In Memoriam," he. cit. (175) Church Times, February 3, 1893, Vol. XXXI, p. 103. (176) Ibid.; "George Mason, Priest, In Memoriam," loc. cit. (177) Ibid. See also Death Certificate, MS., Registry General, London. (178) Codicil, January 16, 1893, to will, March 5, 1885, MS., in Principal Probate Registry, London. 70 Andrew Forest Muir the churchyard of St. Leonard's, HoJJington.179 Upon his tombstone were engraved the words, " I believe in the Communion of Saints."180 Andrew Forest Muir. Daniel Baker College, Brownwood, Texas. (179) "George Mason, Priest, In Memoriam," loc. cit.; Burial Register of St. Leonard's, Hollington, courtesy of Rev. J. C. Poole, vicar of Holy Trinity, Hastings, and rural dean of Hastings. (180) Mason's widow died January 6, 1900, aged 64 years, and her body is buried with Father Mason. Courtesy of Rev. J. C. Poole. BRITISH COLUMBIA AND CONFEDERATION* During the almost eighty years that have elapsed since British Columbia joined Canada the population of the Province has increased from 36,247, including Indians and Chinese, to over 1,000,000.1 The Pacific Province is now third in population, being surpassed only by Ontario and Quebec. It may well be asked why the far-away British colony on the Pacific Coast became a Canadian Province in 1871 on terms of union that included the promise of a railway linking the Pacific seaboard with the railway system of Eastern Canada. The story of how British Columbia joined Canada has often been told, but as a rule British Columbians have failed to realize exactly where this event fits into the general picture of Canadian Confederation. It will be well, therefore, first to sketch the progress of the federation movement in the Eastern British North American Provinces, and then to fit within the framework of confederation the entrance, first, of the Hudson's Bay territory that became the Province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, and, finally, the steps leading to the inauguration of our Province of British Columbia. The American Revolutionary War came to an end in 1783, when the representatives of His Britannic Majesty George III and those of the new United States of America signed a treaty of peace at Versailles, France. Thirteen of the former British colonies had broken away from the Empire and had been recognized as forming a new nation. During the war for independence the revolting colonies had signed articles of confederation that were finally ratified by all the new States in 1781. But the confederation was not a close federal union, and it was found * The substance of an address delivered before the Victoria Section of the British Columbia Historical Association on the occasion of the unveiling of a plaque erected by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada to commemorate the inauguration on July 20, 1871, of the Province of British Columbia. The ceremony took place in the Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C., March 9, 1951. (1) Canada Year Book, 1950, Ottawa, 1950, p. xvii, gives the estimated figure for 1948 as 1,082,000. The 1941 Census gave the population as 817,861. The white population of the Province at Confederation was under 10,000. J. T. Marshall, Vital Statistics of British Columbia, Victoria, n.d, pp. 191-193. The figure given for 1870 was 8,576. British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. XV, Nos. 1 and 2. 72 Walter N. Sage Jan.-Apr. necessary in May, 1787, to summon a constitutional convention to meet in Philadelphia. This convention drafted the Constitution of the United States that was accepted and signed by the delegates from twelve out of the thirteen States—Rhode Island had refused to send delegates to the convention—and then submitted to the various States for ratification. The necessary nine out of thirteen States had recorded votes in favour of ratification by June, 1788, and the Constitution of the United States was formally proclaimed. The first presidential elections were held in 1789, and George Washington was declared elected as the first President and John Adams as the first Vice-President of the United States of America. The American Constitution established the first modern federal union, and its influence has been profound. The " Fathers of Confederation " in Canada were quite aware of the strength and weakness of the Constitution of the United States. The British colonies that remained in North America could be roughly divided into two groups—the northern and the British West Indies. The latter group does not come into the picture at all and, therefore, for our purpose must be omitted. The northern group in 1783 included Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, the " old Province of Quebec," and Newfoundland. There was, in addition, the Hudson's Bay territory or Rupert's Land, held by the Hudson's Bay Company under its royal charter of May 2, 1670. Proposals for a union of the Eastern British North American Provinces were brought forward by Colonel Robert Morse, R.E., in 1784 and by William Smith, Chief Justice of Quebec, in 1790.2 During the next half-century other similar proposals were made, but nothing came of them. Lord Durham in his celebrated Report discussed the possibility of a federation of all the British North American Provinces, but in the end rejected the idea in favour of the reunion of Upper and Lower Canada. He recommended, however, that in the Act of Union provision be made for the admission of" any or all of the other North American Colonies."8 His lordship's recommendation on this point, as on many others, was disregarded, and the Act of Union of 1840 contained no such provision. (2) See R. G. Trotter, Canadian Federation, Toronto, 1924, pp. 5, 6; and A. Shorn and A. G. Doughty (eds.), Canada and Its Provinces, Edinburgh, 1914, Vol. Ill, pp. 130, 131. Smith had proposed a federation of all the North American Provinces before the outbreak of the American Revolution. (3) Sir Charles Lucas (ed.), Lord Durham's Report, Oxford, 1912, Vol. H, p. 323. See also Vol. I, pp. 132, 133, 248-255, and Vol. H, pp. 304-323. 1951 British Columbia and Confederation 73 During most of the hectic decade of the 1840's the subject that agitated the minds of British North Americans was the securing of responsible government. Nova Scotia, under the inspiration and leadership of Joseph Howe, led the way in the Maritiraes, and the battle was won in 1848. The next year Lord Elgin signed the Rebellion Losses Bill and thereby accepted the principle of responsible government in the Province of Canada. In 1846 the British Parliament had abolished the Corn Laws and thereby ended preference for Canadian grain in the British market. The repeal of the Navigation Acts and the final victory of free trade in 1849 led to hard times in Canada, especially in Montreal, where leading merchants signed the Annexation Manifesto.4 The British American League, meeting at Kingston on July 31, 1849, had already adopted a platform favouring a union of all the British American Provinces.5 Both movements, however, failed to arouse public opinion to any marked extent or to achieve any permanent results. In the 1850's the problem of closer union was canvassed both in the Maritime colonies and in United Canada. J. W. Johnstone, leader of the Conservative opposition in the Nova Scotia Assembly, raised the issue in 1854, but his resolution failed to pass. In Canada the political situation was becoming exceedingly complicated, and it was evident that the Union of 1841 had failed to bring harmony between the two races. The rapid increase in population in Upper Canada, or Canada West, led to a movement headed by the " Clear Grits" and championed by George Brown in the Toronto Globe in favour of representation by population, or " Rep. by Pop." as it was popularly called. Proposals were advanced for a federation of the two Canadas, and even for a general federation of all the British Provinces. In 1858, when the political situation was more confused than ever, Alexander Tilloch Gait, member for Sherbrooke in the English-speaking Eastern Townships, delivered a speech in the Canadian Parliament advocating a federal union of British North America. It is noteworthy that Gait stressed (4) The text of this celebrated document is to be found in Sir Arthur G. Doughty (ed.), The Elgin-Grey Papers, Ottawa, 1937, Vol. IV, pp. 1487-1494. Among the signatories were J. J. C. Abbott, D. L. Macpherson, L. H. Holton, John Rose, Q.C, and William McDougall, all of whom later supported the movement for Confederation. (5) "Address of the ' British American League' to the inhabitants of Canada —adopted 31st July, 1849, in General Convention at Kingston," in The Elgin-Grey Papers, Vol. I, pp. 441-443. See also R. G. Trotter, op. cit., p. 15. 74 Walter N. Sage Jan.-Apr. the necessity of including the Northwest in the new federation. The third section of his resolution read, in part, as follows: " That a general Confederation of the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island with Canada and the Western territories is most desirable . . ."6 But Gait at the time received little support from the leading Canadian parliamentarians. Nonetheless, as 0. D. Skelton has well said, " he brought the question once for all into practical politics."7 Georges Etienne Cartier, however, the leader of the Conservatives of French Canada, was attracted by the idea of federation, and Gait, who had hitherto supported the Lower Canadian opposition, in 1858 accepted office in the Cartier-Macdonald Cabinet on condition that the Government should adopt a federation policy. Cartier, Gait, and John Ross were sent to England to discuss not only federation, but also the future of the Hudson's Bay territory and the proposed Intercolonial Railway. The British Government was not favourable, and Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton gave the project of federation only lukewarm support in his dispatch to Sir Edmund Head, the Governor-General of Canada. The road to Confederation was to be long and hard. Gait's proposals, however, aroused popular interest in Canada. A young barrister in Montreal, Alexander Morris, who had attended the British American League's Kingston convention in 1849, delivered a brilliant lecture before the Mercantile Library Association of Montreal on March 18, 1858, nearly three months before Gait had made his historic speech in the Canadian Parliament. Morris took for his title " Nova Britannia." In it he advocated the federal union of the Provinces and the taking-over of Rupert's Land. He went further and included Vancouver Island in the new federation. In a second lecture delivered during the winter of 1858 on the topic "The Hudson's Bay and Pacific Territories," he carried his hearers up the Ottawa Valley and onward by the old fur-traders' route to the head of the lakes and to Rupert's Land. In his imagination he crossed the Rockies and arrived in the new gold colony of British Columbia and on to Vancouver Island. Returning from the coast he visited the Athabaska country and then dealt with the Saskatchewan, Assiniboine, and Red River districts. (6) The text of Gait's resolutions appea Times of Sir Alexander Tilloch Gait, Torontc (7) Ibid., p. 217. 1951 British Columbia and Confederation 75 He favoured the construction of a Pacific railway and prophesied a " new English speaking nation which will at one and no distant day people all this Northern continent . . . with its face to the south and its back to the pole, with its right and left resting on the Atlantic and the Pacific, and with the telegraph and the iron road connecting the While Alexander Morris was dreaming dreams and seeing visions, a hard-headed business-man, Sir Edward Watkin of the Grand Trunk Railway, was working out plans for the building of the Intercolonial Railway and projecting a railway to the Pacific Coast. Watkin had first visited North America in 1851, and ten years later he returned to the British Provinces. According to his account in Canada and the States, a rambling autobiography which sheds much light on the period, he was from 1861 to 1864 the unofficial agent of the Duke of Newcastle, Secretary of State for the Colonies. Watkin in 1863 was commissioned by the reorganized Hudson's Bay Company to visit the Red River Settlement and to discuss with Governor A. G. Dallas " the state and condition of this Settlement, the condition of the adjoining territory, the prospect of settlement therein, and the possibility of commencing operations for an electric telegraph line across the southern district of Rupert's Land."9 Since 1847 the Hudson's Bay Company had been under fire. In that year Alexander K. Isbister, a native of Rupert's Land, son of a Hudson's Bay Company official, who had served as a clerk in the Mackenzie River district, had sent to Lord Grey, Secretary of State for the Colonies, a series of communications charging the Hudson's Bay Company with " obstructionism " toward all colonizing activity within its territory, of interference with the attempts of the settlers in Red River to trade with the Americans to the south, and, above all, of its neglect of the Indians and half-bloods and the sacrifice of their welfare to the production of dividends for the shareholders. The Company, of course, refuted these charges as best it could, but public interest had been aroused. In 1857 the House of Commons appointed a select committee to investigate the affairs of the Hudson's Bay Company. Chief Justice W. H. Draper attended on behalf of the Canadian Government. Canada (8) Alexander Morris, Nova Britannia: or Our New Canadian Dominion Foreshadowed, Toronto, 1884, p. 89. (9) Sir Edward Watkin, Canada and the States, London [1887], pp. 152, 153. 76 Walter N. Sage Jan.-Apr. was already taking a great interest in the future of the Hudson's Bay territory. George Brown in the Toronto Globe and William McDougall in the North American advocated the taking-over of the West and challenged the monopoly rights of the Hudson's Bay Company. The investigation of 1857 let in a great flood of light on the conduct and trade of the Company and the "Committee's report.heralded the end of the fur-trading monopoly in the ' fertile belt.' "10 As events were to prove, the fate of the Hudson's Bay territory and of Vancouver Island and British Columbia was to depend on the solution of the problem of British North American federation. Canada was not prepared to take action on her own, in spite of the promptings of the Colonial Office in London. Nonetheless, the Canadian Government sent out an exploring party in 1857 headed by George Gladman, a native of the Hudson's Bay territory, accompanied by Henry Y. Hind as geologist, W. E. Napier as engineer, and S. J. Dawson as surveyor, to investigate "the possibilities of improving the portages and extending the navigable reaches between Lake Superior and Rainy Lake" and "also to study the desirability of building a road for part of the distance from Lake Superior and also for a distance eastward from Red River."11 In 1858 Hind made a topographical and geological survey west of Lake Winnipeg, and Dawson in the same year continued his exploration of the route between Lake Superior and Red River. The Palliser expedition, sent out by the British Government, between 1857 and 1860 traversed the southern prairies, discovered the Kicking Horse Pass, and penetrated into British Columbia.12 The great Fraser River gold-rush of 1858 and the establishment of the Crown Colony (10) John S. Galbraith, "The Hudson's Bay Company under Fire, 1847-62," Canadian Historical Review, Vol. XXX (1949), p. 329. The Report of the Select Committee on the Hudson's Bay Company as printed by order of the House of Commons is a mine of information. A. K. Isbister, former Governor Richard Blanshard, and James Cooper, of Vancouver Island, and others testified against the Company. Sir George Simpson did his best to defend the interests of the great corporation, but even he failed on occasion. The committee favoured the transfer to Canada of the Red River and Saskatchewan districts and recommended the termination of the Hudson's Bay Company's connection with Vancouver Island. See R. G. Trotter, op. cit., pp. 241-243. At this time annexationist sentiment was powerful in the United States, and especially in Minnesota. (11) Ibid., p. 250. (12) J. J. Denholm, The Palliser Survey, 1857-1860, M.A. thesis at the University of British Columbia, in the library of that institution. 1951 British Columbia and Confederation 77 of British Columbia called attention to the Pacific Coast and the possibilities of a British North American federation which would extend from sea to sea. But the time was not yet. In the early 1860's four outstanding events hastened the coming of confederation. The first was the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States and the subsequent secession of the South to form the Confederate States of America. The Civil War, 1861-65, profoundly affected the British North American Provinces. On the whole the British Provincials favoured the North, although some Southern sympathizers who came to Canada caused trouble. The Trent affair of 1861, when two Southern envoys were removed from a British vessel by U.S.S. San Jacinto, brought Great Britain and the United States to the verge of war. The defenceless state of British North America became only too evident. Canada, however, was not prepared to take on the burden of her own defence and, because of party strife, the Militia Bill of 1862 failed to pass the Canadian Parliament. As the Civil War dragged on, British North America prospered, largely on account of the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854, which allowed certain raw material and other products to enter the United States free of customs duty. The American Government was not too anxious to renew the Reciprocity Treaty, and hard times would almost certainly result. The second of the important events of the early '60's was the movement for Maritime Union. In 1860 Dr. Charles Tupper delivered a lecture at the opening of the Mechanics' institute in Saint John, N.B., on " The Political Condition of British North America," in the course of which he discussed the possibility of a union of the Maritime Provinces as a step toward a broader federal union of all of British North America.13 This theme he elaborated in a second address given at Portland, N.B., opposite Saint John. Next year, in the Nova Scotia Legislature, Joseph Howe moved, seconded by Tupper, a resolution in favour of" the union of the North American Provinces, or of the Maritime Provinces of British America," but nothing came of it. In 1864 Dr. Tupper, as Premier of Nova Scotia, "introduced and carried a resolution in favour of a legislative union of the Maritime Provinces," explaining that he regarded it as a step in the direction of a wider union (13) Sir Charles Tupper, Recollections of Sixty Years, London, 1914, pp. 14-38. G. E. M. Saunders (ed.), The Life and Letters of Sir Charles Tupper, Bart., K.C.M.G., London, 1916, Vol. I, p. 80. 78 Walter N. Sage Jan.-Apr. in the way of which insuperable difficulties then existed.14 As a result of this motion, the Charlottetown Conference met on September 1, 1864, with representation from the three Maritime Provinces. This Conference passed a resolution in general terms favouring Maritime Union. The arrival of the Canadian delegates, however, broadened the scope of the Conference, and the more limited legislative union gave way to Confederation. The third important event was the completion of the Grand Trunk Railway in 1860, connecting Sarnia on Lake Huron with Portland, Maine, and also its extension from Richmond, P.Q., to Levis and on to Riviere du Loup. It had been hoped that an Intercolonial Railway could be constructed from Riviere du Loup by way of the north shore of New Brunswick to Halifax, N.S., but this was not to come about until after Confederation. Last on the list, but by no means least in importance, was the political deadlock in Canada that led in 1864 to the creation of a coalition government charged with the task of securing the federation of the British North American Provinces. Goldwin Smith stated that the parent of Confederation was deadlock, and the phrase has often been quoted. It was, at best, only a partial truth. Deadlock did play a part in the coming of federation, but its importance has often been overemphasized. In the decade between 1854 and 1864 there were no less than nine ministeries in Canada. Of them, six were Liberal-Conservative and three were " radical," composed for the most part of " Clear Grits" from Canada West (formerly Upper Canada) and " Rouges" from Canada East (formerly Lower Canada). The Liberal-Conservatives were led by John A. Macdonald of Canada West and Georges Etienne Cartier of Canada East. They were composed of the moderate men from both sections of the Province. The political balance between the parties was so fine that no administration could remain long in office. This was especially the case because of the " double majority " rule that demanded that a ministry should have a majority in each section of the Province. By June, 1864, when the Tache-Macdonald ministry fell, it was obvious that not only had the Act of Union failed, but that responsible government was in jeopardy in Canada. For several years there had been proposals for a federation of Canada West and Canada East, but (14) Tupper, Recollections, p. 39. 1951 British Columbia and Confederation 79 there were many counter-proposals, especially those of Alexander Tilloch Gait in 1858 and of Thomas D'Arcy McGee in 1859, in favour of federation of all the British Provinces. When a solution seemed impossible, George Brown of the Toronto Globe, the leader of the " Clear Grits," took his political life in his hands and approached the Liberal-Conservatives with a view to forming a coalition. After a week of negotiation a new government was formed, with Brown and two of his colleagues from Canada West, Oliver Mowat and William McDougall, as members of the Executive Council. At this juncture a deputation from Canada headed by John A. Macdonald, George Brown, and Georges Cartier, and including A. T. Gait, Hector Langevin, William McDougall, and Thomas D'Arcy McGee, set out for the Maritime Provinces to attend the Charlottetown Conference. The project of Maritime Union was being wrecked because the Prince Edward Island delegates were unwilling to consider any scheme that did not place the capital at Charlottetown, and the larger scheme of federation was accepted. The Maritime and Canadian delegates agreed that the Conference should adjourn to meet in Quebec, and after the adjournment the Canadian delegates visited Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and won golden opinions by their able and tactful presentation of the Confederation scheme.15 The delegates reassembled at Quebec on October 10, 1864, and were joined by the representatives from Newfoundland. John A. Macdonald proposed a legislative union, but opinion was practically unanimous in favour of a federation. After nearly three weeks of debate the delegates accepted the Quebec Resolutions, made up of seventy-two sections. This was, in fact, the first draft of the British North America Act. The matter was then referred to the British Government, and delegates were sent to London to work out the final terms of the Bill establishing the federation, but nearly three years were to elapse before the British North America Act became law. All was not plain sailing. Opinion in Canada was strongly in favour of Confederation, but minorities in Canada East and Canada West were (15) The proceedings of the Charlottetown Conference have never been published, but much information on the subject and reports of the speeches of the Canadians may be found in Edward Whalen, The Union of the British Provinces, reprinted with an introduction by D. C. Harvey, Gardenvale and Toronto, 1927, pp. v-xix and 1-61. Walter N. Sage Jan.-Apr. very doubtful.16 In New Brunswick the administration of the Honourable Leonard Tilley suffered defeat on the Confederation issue. In Nova Scotia, Joseph Howe led the anti-Confederation forces, and it was only with difficulty that Dr. Tupper avoided a general election. Eventually New Brunswick accepted Confederation, but Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland rejected the scheme. In 1867 the British Parliament passed the British North America Act, and on July 1 Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick officially became a federation under the British Crown.17 By the terms of the British North America Act, United Canada was divided into two Provinces—Ontario and Quebec—and the machinery of government, both Federal and Provincial, was set out in detail. Provision was made in section 146 for the admission of the " Colonies or Provinces of Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and British Columbia " and of " Rupert's Land and the North-western Territory." In the first three cases the consent of the Parliament of Canada and of the respective legislatures was necessary, but the Parliament of Canada alone could apply to Her Majesty to admit Rupert's Land and the Northwest. Prince Edward Island joined the federation in 1873 and Newfoundland in 1949. The story of the entrance of Rupert's Land, the Northwest Territories, and British Columbia will now briefly be set forth. On December 4, 1867, the Honourable William McDougall, Minister of Public Works in Sir John A. Macdonald's administration, the first Federal Cabinet of Canada, introduced a series of resolutions in the House of Commons " upon which an address to the Queen was subsequently based, praying Her Majesty to unite Rupert's Land and (16) An excellent study of Canadian opinion may be found in Peter B. Waite, Ideas regarding federalism in the Province of Canada, 1864-1867, M.A. thesis at the University of British Columbia, in the library of that institution. (17) The British North America Act, 1867, 30 Victoria, chapter 3,.has a subtitle "An Act for the Union of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and the Government thereof; and for Purposes connected therewith." The preamble reads, in part, as follows: "Whereas the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have expressed their Desire to be federally united into One Dominion under the Crown of Great Britain and Ireland, with a Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom. . . ." The term Dominion of Canada is not officially used in this Act. 1951 British Columbia and Confederation 81 the North-Western Territory with Canada."18 The British Government refused to proceed with the scheme until the claims of the Hudson's Bay Company had been considered and a satisfactory arrangement had been made. Cartier and McDougall were sent to London to negotiate. In April, 1869, an agreement was reached whereby the Hudson's Bay Company surrendered its rights to the British Crown but retained one- twentieth of its lands in the so-called " fertile belt" and 45,000 acres adjacent to its trading-posts. The Crown then transferred the territory to Canada, and Canada paid £300,000 to the Hudson's Bay Company. The Canadian Parliament ratified the terms agreed upon in London and passed an "Act for the Temporary Government of Rupert's Land." William McDougall was appointed Lieutenant-Governor, and the date for the transfer was set for December 1, 1869. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of the Red River Settlement had not been consulted and the " New Nation," le Metis, led by Louis Riel, was unwilling to accept the terms. The Red River insurrection occurred and Thomas Scott was done to death.19 The Manitoba Act, 1870, was passed by the Canadian Parliament, and an expedition under Sir Garnet Wolseley was sent west to the scene of the disturbance. The Provisional Government, headed by Riel, collapsed, and several of its leaders, including Riel, fled to the United States. Manitoba became the fifth Canadian Province and the Northwest Territories were created. The western boundary of the Canadian federation had now reached the summits of the Rocky Mountains, but it was a long time before the ill effects of the Red River rising had worn off. The securing of the old Hudson's Bay territory paved the way for the entrance of British Columbia to federation. Until this was accomplished there was little chance that the British colony on the Pacific Coast could effectively join hands with Canada. As is well known, the Colony of Vancouver Island had come into being in 1849 and the Crown Colony of British Columbia in 1858. There is no need here to retell the story of the development of these two colonies under the (18) Sir Joseph Pope, Memoirs of the Rt. Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald, Toronto, 1930, p. 400. See also R. G. Trotter, op. cit., p. 289. (19) The most complete modern account of the Red River difficulties is to be found in G. F. G. Stanley, The Birth of Western Canada, London, 1936, pp. 19-106. Other useful sources are E. E. Kreuzweiser, The Red River Insurrection, Gardenvale, n.d, and A. S. Morton, A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71, Toronto, n.d, pp. 870-909. 82 Walter N. Sage Jan.-Apr. administration of James Douglas and the brief period from 1864 to 1866 when the colonies were under separate governors. Suffice it to say that in 1866 the two colonies were united at the fiat of the British Colonial Office. Governor Arthur Edward Kennedy of Vancouver Island was transferred to another colonial appointment, and Frederick Seymour became governor of the united colonies. The years 1866 to 1871 have been termed "the critical period of British Columbia history." By 1865 the golden stream from Cariboo had begun to dry up, and hard times had come to Vancouver Island and British Columbia. The union of 1866 did not provide a satisfactory solution to the financial problems. Three courses lay open to British Columbia. She might remain an isolated British colony, she might join the United States, or she might enter the newly formed Canadian federation. The first course led nowhere. The second was attractive, but annexation was not to be the solution.20 The annexationists were never more than a vocal minority, chiefly centred in Victoria. The purchase of Alaska in 1867 by the United States placed British Columbia, so to speak, " in the nut-crackers," but even then British Columbians were not prepared to desert the Union Jack. The only practical solution for British Columbia was federation with Canada, but the difficulties to be overcome were very great. The greatest of these difficulties was the lack of communication with Eastern Canada. Until a railway, or at least a wagon-road, could be constructed, connecting British Columbia with Red River and with the Eastern Provinces, there could be no reality in union with Canada. The second problem was the anti-Confederationist attitude of Governor Seymour and the Legislative Council of British Columbia. Canadians and other Eastern British North Americans were none too popular in British Columbia; they were often referred to as "North American Chinamen " who sent their money home and did not spend it lavishly in the colony, as was the habit of the Americans. Nonetheless, there was a strong movement for Confederation led by Amor de Cosmos, John Robson, John Foster McCreight, Robert (20) On the subject of annexation see W. N. Sage, " The Annexationist Movement in British Columbia, 1866-1871," Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Third Series, 1927, pp. 97-110; Willard E. Ireland, "The Annexation Petition of 1869," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, IV (1940), pp. 267-287; and F. W. Howay, W. N. Sage, and H. F. Angus, British Columbia and the United States, Toronto, 1942, pp. 196-201. 1951 British Columbia and Confederation 83 Beaven, George A. Walkem, Alfred Waddington, and J. Spencer Thompson. In March, 1867, Amor de Cosmos introduced into the Legislative Council a motion favouring Confederation which passed unanimously on March 17. Governor Seymour delayed action as long as possible.21 The Confederationists, unable to secure the support of the Governor and the Legislative Council, appealed to the people. A Confederation League was formed in Victoria on May 21,1868, under the presidency of James Trimble, Mayor of Victoria. Branches of the League were formed on the Mainland. Cariboo was strong for federation. In an open-air picnic held at Barkerville on July 1,1868, Dr. R. W. W. Carrall and J. S. Thompson spoke in favour of union with Canada. In September, 1868, the Confederationists held a convention at Yale that suggested terms of union. Although it was an entirely unofficial meeting, the Yale Convention was, in a sense, the British Columbia counterpart of the Quebec Conference. Governor Seymour and the majority in the Legislative Council remained adamant. In 1869 the Council passed a resolution opposing union with Canada, but in June of that year the hand of death removed Governor Seymour. By this time both the British and the Canadian Governments were anxious for British Columbia to join Canada. Sir John A. Macdonald suggested that Governor Anthony Musgrave of Newfoundland, who had first lost the battle for federation in that colony, be transferred to British Columbia. Musgrave was given the necessary authority to expedite the union of British Columbia with Canada. In March, 1870, there occurred the memorable Confederation debate in the Legislative Council of the colony. The anti-Confederationists were ably led by Dr. John S. Helmcken, but now the majority among the officials and magistrates was also with the Confederationists. Terms of union were drafted. Governor Musgrave selected a delegation of three—the Honourable Joseph W. Trutch, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works; Dr. R. W. W. Carrall, a leading federationist from Cariboo; and Dr. J. S. Helmcken—to go to Ottawa to work out the final terms of union. With them travelled H. E. Seelye, a newspaper-man. The mission was successful. Terms of union were arranged, and in 1871 the enlarged Legislative Council accepted them and forwarded the necessary address asking for union with Canada. The Imperial Order in (21) F. W. Howay, "The Attitude of Governor Seymour towards Confederation," Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Third Series, 1920, pp. 31-49. 84 Walter N. Sage Council was issued when requested by British Columbia and Canada. On July 20, 1871, the union was proclaimed, and British Columbia became the sixth Canadian Province. Walter N. Sage. UNrvERsrrY of Brttish Columbia, FIRST IMPRESSIONS: LETTER OF COLONEL RICHARD CLEMENT MOODY, R.E., TO ARTHUR BLACKWOOD, FEBRUARY 1, 1859 The Royal Engineers have for long occupied a prominent place in the annals of the Mainland colony of British Columbia. It has, however, always been a matter of regret that so little material was available from the pen of their gallant leader, Colonel Richard Clement Moody, other than the official correspondence in his capacity of Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works. Presumably he must have submitted reports to the War Office in London, but these have never come to light. Whether or not he kept a diary during his sojourn of nearly five years in the colony is not known, but no such document nor even any volume of personal correspondence is to be found in the Archives of British Columbia. Late in 1950, however, a packet of material concerning Moody was presented to the Archives by Major Richard C. Lowndes, Boar's Hill, Oxford, England. These papers had been in the possession of his aunt, Miss Grace Moody, last surviving daughter, and upon her demise were made available. Of particular interest in the collection is the copy of the letter that is now being published. Richard Clement Moody,1 the second son of Colonel Thomas Moody of the Royal Engineers, was born on February 13, 1813, in St. Ann's Garrison, Barbados, British West Indies. At the age of 14, after education by a tutor at home and at private schools, he entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, where he remained until December, 1829, when he was attached to the ordnance survey. On November 5, 1830, he was gazetted second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers and posted to Ireland. Early in 18 3 3 he became ill and on his recovery spent a few months in England before being sent out to St. Vincent in the West Indies. There he remained until September, 1837, when, as a result of an attack of yellow fever, he was invalided home. During his sick-leave (1) For biographical details see Sidney Lee (ed.), Dictionary of National Biography, London, 1894, xxxviii, 332-333; Madge Wolfenden, "Pathfinders and Road-builders: Richard Clement Moody, R.E," British Columbia Public Works, April, 1938, pp. 3-4. 86 Willard E. Ireland Jan.-Apr. he was given permission to accompany Sir Charles Felix Smith2 on a tour in the United States. Upon his return, in 1838 he became professor of fortification at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. That he was possessed of unusual capabilities is evidenced by the fact that in 1841, when only 28 years of age, he was selected to become the first Governor of the Falkland Islands. This colony was in a most disturbed state, and Moody was given exceptionally wide powers, which he used with moderation yet great effect. At the time of his return to England in February, 1849, he had risen to the rank of first captain. He served in various capacities in England, principally as commanding Royal Engineer at Newcastle-on-Tyne until 1854, when he was sent out to Malta, and there on January 13, 1855, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. Unfortunately, he contracted Malta fever and was invalided home later that year, and after a leave spent in Germany he was appointed commanding Royal Engineer in North Britain.3 While in Scotland, Moody was promoted to brevet-colonel on April 28,1858, and it was from this post that he was appointed to the new colony of British Columbia as Lieutenant- Governor and Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works. The reasons for the establishment of a Crown Colony on the Mainland in the region adjacent to the Fraser River goldfields and the decision to provide it with a corps of the Royal Engineers are well known. The fact that as experienced and qualified a commander as Moody was selected is ample indication of the importance with which the venture was looked upon by the Colonial Office, then presided over by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton.4 The detachment of Royal Engineers came out to British Columbia in three sections, and Colonel Moody and his family travelled out independently by the Panama route, leaving England on October 30,1858. On December 21 they sailed from San Francisco in (2) Charles Felix Smith, 1786-1858, was then a colonel in the Royal Engineers and had just completed fourteen years of service as commanding Royal Engineer in the West Indies with headquarters at Barbados. Dictionary of National Biography, liii, 21-24. (3) It is interesting to note that Moody was himself a skilled draughtsman and le in Scotland prepared plans for the restoration of Edinburgh Castle which so ressed the Secretary of State for War that Moody was ordered to submit them personally to Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort. (4) Speeches of Edward Lord Lytton . . . with some of his political vritings . . . and a prefatory memoir by his son, London, 1874, vol. ii, pp. 6-96; The Life of Edward Bulwer, first Lord Lytton, by his grandson, London, 1951 First Impressions 87 the steamer Panama and arrived at Esquimalt on Christmas Day. After a short respite Colonel Moody assumed his official duties, for he was sworn in on January 4,1859. Col. R. C. Moody was sworn in as Lt. Governor of the Colony of British Columbia and Commissioner of Lands and Public Works in the same by Chief Justice Cameron, on Tuesday afternoon last, at 1 o'clock. Immediately upon the close of the ceremonies, a salute was fired from the guns of the Fort, in honor of the The letter, now published for the first time, is of unusual interest on a number of grounds. For one thing it gives a fairly detailed account of Moody's first hectic month in his new position, written at a time when the events were still fresh in his mind. The letter was written to Arthur Blackwood, a senior official in the Colonial Office. Blackwood had entered the Civil Service in 1824, and since 1848 had been head of the North American Department within the Colonial Office. Doubtless, he had come to know Moody during his term of office as Governor of the Falkland Islands, and it is of no little interest to realize that Moody had such direct access to the Colonial Office, an advantage not shared by Governor Douglas. Moreover, there is every reason to believe that Moody was known personally by the then Colonial Secretary, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, for the latter, when addressing the Royal Engineers just prior to their departure from England, referred to Moody as " my distinguished friend, your commanding officer."6 Moody's official correspondence, as one might expect of a military man, was always direct and to iht point. In consequence, it has always been difficult to recreate an impression of the man that lay behind the officer. This letter goes a long way in providing an insight into the character and personality of Colonel Moody. He reveals himself as a man sensitive to the beauties of nature and capable of expressing his sentiments in beautifully descriptive prose. There are evidences that he had a fine sense of humour, and that he was a man of devout religious conviction cannot be gainsaid. The letter sheds some additional light on the largely unsolved problem of the relations between Governor Douglas and his Lieutenant-Governor, for in the privacy of a letter to a friend personal opinions and comment are not withheld. It is, perhaps, a little startling to find him an advocate of" a Federal Union of the N. American 88 Willard E. Ireland Jan.-Apr. Colonies" at so early a date, particularly when it was generally known that such an opinion was not concurred in by the Colonial Secretary.7 Of even greater significance, however, is the fact that this letter offers a fresh, on-the-spot account of the infamous " Ned McGowan War." Heretofore, the reports of this incident as written by Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie8 have been accepted as the official version, for Governor Douglas was not an active participant in the event. The contemporary newspaper accounts tended to be inaccurate and contradictory, and the only other printed version from a participant appeared in Four Years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island,9 by R. C. Mayne. For the first time we now have access to a narrative of events as recorded by the principal investigator of that rather remarkable occurrence. It is not necessary here to outline in detail the incident of which Moody writes at length.10 At that time P. B. Whannell was the resident Magistrate at Yale, and George Perrier held the similar position at Hill's Bar, about 2 miles below Yale. On Christmas Day a negro named Dixon was assaulted at Yale by two Americans from Hill's Bar, Burns and Farrell by name. Dixon complained to Whannell, and the latter issued warrants for the arrest of Burns and Farrell, and in the meantime committed Dixon to close custody in Yale. On Whannell's warrants Burns and Farrell were apprehended and taken before Magistrate Perrier at Hill's Bar. Perrier wished to secure additional information from the prosecutor and sent his constable to Yale to bring Dixon back. Whannell , refused to release him and contended that Burns and Farrell should be brought to Yale for trial; this the constable refused to do, and Whannell, aroused by alleged insolence, threw the constable into jail. Perrier, incensed by this action, then issued a warrant for the arrest of Whannell and the transfer of Dixon, but now being without a constable swore in Edward McGowan and a compatriot as special constables. In company with an armed " posse " of twelve or fourteen men they proceeded to Yale, where they seized Whannell and his gaoler and brought them back (7) R. G. Trotter, Canadian Federation, London and Toronto, 1924, p. 30. (8) These reports and a great amount of related material are to be found in F. W. Howay, The Early History of the Fraser River Mines (Archives Memoir No. VI), Victoria, 1926, pp. 20-41, 54-59. (9) R. C. Mayne, Four Years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island, London, 1862, pp. 58-71. (10) See E. 0. S. Scholefield & F. W. Howay, British Columbia, Vancouver, 1914, vol. ii, pp. 61-65; F. W. Howay, The Work of the Royal Engineers in British Columbia, 1858 to 1863, Victoria, 1910, pp. 4-5. 1951 First Impressions 89 to Hill's Bar. There they were tried by Perrier, Whannell being fined £25 for " contempt of court." Whannell promptly reported the incident to Governor Douglas, and the investigation was ordered, as from the Magistrate's account it appeared that American renegades were taking the law into their own hands. In this letter is to be found Moody's version of the incident, the end result of which has been humorously described as follows:— The testy magistrates both lost their commissions; the Royal Engineers had an outing; the colony paid the expenses—and heavy expenses they were; and Ned McGowan's war, as the incident was named, went on record as being even more bloodless than the ordinary South American revolution or the celebrated Battle of the Spurs.1* This letter is of such interest that one cannot refrain from speculating as to the contents of the others that must have followed it. Had they survived, what a commentary they would provide on an important period in the development of the colony of British Columbia. By midsummer of 1863 it became known that the detachment of Royal Engineers was to be disbanded. Most of the sappers elected to remain in the colony, but on November 11,1863, the officers and some fifteen of the men left New Westminster on the beginning of their journey home. Colonel Moody and his family sailed in the steamer Enterprise, taking with them the good wishes of the sturdy Utile town that had been brought into being at Moody's insistence.12 After a short sojourn in Victoria the party continued on its way to England.13 In March, 1864, Moody, now a regimental colonel, was appointed commanding Royal Engineer of the Chatham district, and on January 25, 1866, he was promoted major- general and retired from the service on full pay. He continued to live quietly at Lyme Regis until his death on March 31,1887, which occurred unexpectedly while he was on a visit to Bournemouth. To-day Moody's name is commemorated in the city of Port Moody, at the head of Burrard Inlet, the original Pacific terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway. But his lasting memorial is to be found in the conception and execution of a scheme of public works that united the Interior (11) Ibid., p. 5. (12) New Westminster British Columbian, November 11,1863. (13) An editorial in the Victoria Colonist, November 16, 1863, suggests that the party was to leave within a few days. 90 Willard E. Ireland Jan.-Apr. goldfields of Cariboo with the coastal seaport of New Westminster, thus giving a practical foundation to a colony born in the urgency of a gold- Willard E. Ireland. Colonel Richard Clement Moody, R.E. 1951 First Impressions 91 [Copy.] Victoria. 1st Feb1? 1859. My dear Friend I have just retd fr a Winter's Journey into the interior, whither it was necessary for me to go at a moment's notice to put down what at one time looked like a very troublesome sort of rebellion on a small scale. I [the] day after I was sworn into my office I started for Frazer River.14 The passage across the Gulf of Georgia was extremely captivating, a clear cold bright winter day, the sea calm, the Islands about which the Americans & English are at loggerheads (& w[hic]h I hope we sh[ould] hold on to firmly) all sunny in their sparkling, light & shade & every object reflected in the water. A glorious belt of Mountains in the distance, dazzling in their whiteness. It is quite impossible to exaggerate the beauty of the country at all events. We anchored at night in a small harbour at one of the Islands. The following day was equally splendid in sunshine. There does not exist any difficulty whatever in entering the Frazer. The channel is quite straight & of depth sufficient for any ordinary Merchant man & for most small class Men of War. There is rarely any sea on. It has no " fetch " across the Gulf. There is no room for any sea of consequence to get up and there are anchorages not far distant to run into. The channel of the River across the sands however fho' deep & straight is rarely (I believe never) with any sea of consequence on, is narrow 4 miles long, & there is no room to " beat" in with a sailing vessel. " With a wind " any vessel c[oul]d go in. Steam engs will be common thing for sailing Vessels just as at N. Castle on-Tyne.15 By the way, the Tugs & their crews on the system of the " lay " (a sort of company) the practice at N. Castle w[oul]d be the very thing for this place & the Frazer. They wd make a great deal of money, and be an immense boon to the community. At present our American Friends run away with everything,16 small blame to them, if the English won't come. All Steamers of any class can get into the Frazer at all times in any weather. For sailing vessels also there are some troublesome places among the Islands (races & tide-rips) It is probable therefore that for some time to come all but coasters will demand in their charter party to be towed across fr Esquimalt to Frazer River. It is not really necessary, but they will be nervous about it until well acquainted with the Gulf. To be towed across will also save time, a great maker in commercial matters. The above opinions are the result of much enquiry & information gained fr Richards17 H.M. Surveying Vessel (14) Moody used this spelling for Fraser river, as did many others at the time. The specific date of Moody's departure for the Mainland would appear to be in doubt. According to the Victoria Gazette, January 6, 1859, he was sworn in on January 4, and this would make his departure fall on the 5th, but the Victoria Colonist, January 8, 1859, implies that he did not leave until the 6th. (15) Moody had served as commanding Royal Engineer at Newcastle-upon- Tyne and was consequently fully conversant with its harbour problems. (16) See Norman Hacking, '"Steamboat 'Round the Bend': American Steamers on the Fraser River in 1858," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, VIH (1944), pp. 255-280 passim. (17) Captain George Henry Richards, 1820-1900, in 1856 commissioned the steam-sloop Plumper for survey work in the Pacific Northwest. He arrived at 92 Willard E. Ireland Jan.-Apr. Plumper,18 who conveyed me about, also fr Capt" Prevost19 of the Satellite,2" & fr numerous Skippers of large & small craft English & American. For some years to come Esquimalt will therefore be the Chief port in the British possessions here. Most probably it will also remain so. It is greatly to be regretted that any town at all has been laid out at Victoria. I will not enter into all the reasons that led to it & to which I cannot shut my eyes. It is not necessary now, the deed is done & a great deal of Capital has been embarked in it. By & bye Esquimalt will be encouraged & folks in Victoria will murmur. I do not understand this Colonial Policy. It is not the one I am inclined to pursue. All newcomers shd go at once to Esquimalt, but alas for them the land has been bought up at £1.0.0 per acre in large blocks!!! There will be a good deal of irritation at this bye & by. Indeed it has begun. Off the landheads at the entrance of the Channel of the Frazer shd be placed a floating light as soon as possible. It shd be among the first works in the Colony. The Pilots cd live on board. The entrance to the Frazer is very striking—Extending miles to the right & left are low marsh lands (apparently of very rich qualities) & yet fr the Background of Superb Mountains—Swiss in outline, dark in woods, grandly towering into the Clouds there is a sublimity that deeply impresses you. Everything is large and magnificent worthy of the entrance to the Queen of England's dominions on the Pacific Mainland. I scarcely ever enjoyed a scene so much in my life. My imagination converted the silent marshes into Cuyp-like21 pictures of horses & cattle lazily fattening in rich meadows in a glowing sunset. One cannot write prosaically of such scenes as these, so pray make allowances when I get into rhapsodies at any time about this most beautiful country. The water of the deep clear Frazer (such a name! the proper one is " Tatouche ") was of a glassy stillness, not a ripple before us, except when a fish rose to the surface or broods of wild ducks fluttered away. Soon we reached the woodland district. The contrast with the treeless meadows just past was very striking. All delightful to look at, but those half drowned woods promise hard work for the settler and possibly fever & ague in the autumn. The ground began to rise on the right hand, & shortly on Esquimalt on November 9, 1857, and remained until 1863, when he took H.M.S. Hecate back to England. See Captain John T. Walbran, British Columbia Coast Names, 1592-1906, Ottawa, 1909, pp. 421-422. (18) This auxiliary steam-sloop, 484 tons, was barque-rigged and had been launched at Portsmouth in 1848. Her speed under steam was about 6 knots. She left England on March 26, 1857, and arrived at Esquimalt on November 9, 1857. She was relieved by H.M.S. Hecate on January 28, 1861. Walbran, op. cit., p. 384. (19) Captain James Charles Prevost, 1810-1891, held the rank of commander on tins station in H.M.S. Portland, the flagship of Rear-Admiral Fairfax Moresby, in the early 1850's. He received his captaincy in 1854 and two years later was appointed to command H.M.S. Satellite. When the San Juan Island boundary crisis arose, he was appointed first British Commissioner and was at this time engaged in work in this connection. (20) This screw corvette, 21 guns, 1,462 tons, was built at Devonport, 1855-56, and commissioned by Captain J. C. Prevost on September 30, 1856. She left England on December 23, 1856, and arrived at Esquimalt on June 13, 1857, where she remained until July 30, 1860. Victoria Colonist, March 26, 1861. (21) Presumably Albert Cuyp, 1620-1691, the most famous of a Dutch family that produced two generations of painters. 1951 First Impressions 93 the left. In steaming up one fine reach at a spot 20 miles fr the entrance of the Channel (vide above) to the Frazer, my attention was at once arrested to it's [sic] fitness, in all probability, for the site of the first, if not the Chief Town in the Country. Further study of that ground as well as other sites has now convinced me that it is the right place in all respects. Commercially for the good of the whole community, politically for imperial interests & military for the protection of & to hold the country against our neighbours at some future day, also for all purposes of convenience to the local Government in connection with Vancouver's Island at the same time as with the back country. It is a most important spot. It is positively marvellous how singularly it is formed for the site of a large town (not a small one) to be defended against any foreign aggression. It is not adapted for a small military position, such as wd be required for a mere military or naval post or depot. The features are too extensive for that. It is a case of detached Earth-works and intrenched Camps. A Military Man wd delight in it. And all these military arrangements cd be made quickly at any time and not in the very slightest degree interfere with commercial & private interests. The uninitiated wd scarcely know any works were there "A ditch here & a bank there " Is this what Colonel Moody calls a strong place? In " war costume " how different! woods felled points outwards— Marshes inundated—muzzles of a few guns staring you in the face just where you thought yourself most secure—I have written the Governor a strong letter on the subject,22 wh he promises to send to the Colonial Office. I hope both these observations & that letter may be shown to Sir John Burgoyne23 as soon as possible. It must needs be some time before the explanatory surveys can accompany any Military Report & in the meanwhile no time shd be lost in adopting the site. In a few months it may be too late. The site is not only convenient in every respect but it is agreeable & striking in aspect. Viewed fr the Gulf of Georgia across the meadows on entering the Frazer, the far distant giant mountains forming a dark background— the City wd appear throned Queen-like & shining in the glory of the midday sun. The comparison is so obvious that afterwards all hands on board the Plumper, & indeed everyone joins in thinking the appropriate name wd be " Queenborough "24 We all thought for a time, of "Alexandrina," Victoria being already engaged for the Capital of Vancouver's Island, (paltry place in comparison) but it sounds so long. / don't dislike it however, & think, it wd answer well, with a little practice it tips off the tongue quickly : Al'exan'dri'na! Try— The Governor very properly however says, it is his intention to take instructions from Home about the Name & hopes her (22) Moody's letter to Governor Douglas regarding the site of the capital of British Columbia is dated January 28,1859, and was written from H.M.S. Plumper. It appears in Papers relative to the Affairs of British Columbia, Part n, London, 1859 [Cmd. 2578], pp. 60-61. (23) Sir John Burgoyne, 1782-1871, was one of the most distinguished of the Royal Engineers. From 1845 until 1868 he was Inspector-General of Fortifications. Dictionary of National Biographv, Vol. VII (1886), pp. 342-344. (24) Douglas always used the name Queensborough and Moody, Queenborough; a disagreement that continued until the new name was officially proclaimed. 94 Willard E. Ireland Jan.-Apr. Majesty may be induced to name it.25 I trust it will be some Royal word, stamping the country as our beloved Queen's own land. A standard for her loving subjects in this distant corner of the earth. A mark to our neighbours over the frontier that the Queen's sceptre extends here. God bless her. Americans flood us & give names in all directions. It will require much perseverence and determination on our parts to prevent | Lytton " becoming fixed at " Lyttonville " or " Lytton City "26 The latter is not bad, if it was not so intensely American. The Govr has given the name to a town wh will become very important at the junction of the Thompson & the Frazer. The first large bold mountain to wh it will apply well I sh call " Mount Bulwer ".27 Bulwer is a good sounding name for a Mountain Lytton wd be appropriate to a River, the Lytton—I sh do all I can to persuade the Gov1 to consent to the Thompson River being called the Lytton & give Mr Thompson something else.28 It is not too late. The whole of the grand valley of the Frazer between Fort Hope & Fort Yale I propose to call " Glen Albert "29—It sounds well, & it is impossible to describe how gloriously beautiful it is, and some Mountain, with summit always in sunshine I sh call "Albert"—There is no lack of choice of fine Mountains for all the distinguished men of the day. To return again fr the above digression. I warn you my letters will be often written in a rambling way. If I have to study what I say the charm, to me, will be gone. Better write an official letter at once. We reached the new Town of Langley in the evens & Captn Grant30 at once put into my hands some letters he had recd fr the Magistrate at Fort Yale31 so alarming and so urgent in their (25) The Queen's decision was announced to Douglas by the Colonial Secretary, the Earl of Carnarvon, in a dispatch dated May 5, 1859. Papers relative to the Affairs of British Columbia, Part II, p. 86. The proclamation giving effect to this decision was issued on July 20, 1859, and read, in part ". . . the town heretofore called and known as Queensborough, and sometimes as Queenborough . . . shall from henceforth be called and known as New Westminster." (26) Douglas gave the Colonial Secretary's name to the town at the junction of the Fraser and Thompson Rivers. "As a merited compliment and mark of respect, I have taken the liberty of naming the Town of ' Lytton' after him." Douglas to Carnarvon, November 11, 1858, private, MS., Archives of B.C. (27) This name was never perpetuated in this way. (28) Admittedly David Thompson never saw the river that bears his name in British Columbia. His name was assigned by Simon Fraser while on his famous descent of the river in 1808. "These Forks, the Indians call Cnmchin, and are formed by a large river, which is the same spoken of so often by our friend the Old Chief. From an idea that our friends of the Fort des Prairies department are established upon the source of it, among the mountains, we gave it the name of Thompson River." Simon Fraser, " Journal of a Voyage from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast, 1808," in L. R. Masson, Les Bourgeois de la compagnie du Nord-Oeust, Quebec, 1889, premiere serie, p. 183. (29) This name was never perpetuated in this way. (30) Captain J. M. Grant led the second section of the Royal Engineer detachment to British Columbia. These men were mainly carpenters. They arrived at Victoria on November 8,1858, on the steamer Cortez [Victoria Gazette, November 9, 1858] and a week later went on to Fort Langley [ibid., November 16, 1858]. They were thus the first of the detachment to reach British Columbia and were present at the inauguration of the colony on November 19th. (31) P. B. Whannell had been appointed Justice of the Peace at Yale to assist Richard Hicks, the resident Assistant Crown Commissioner, and arrived there on First Impressions 95 nature that I had no option but instantly to go there & to take the detachment of R.E.'s with me. The Magistrate implored Military assistance. Judge Begbie32 most fortunately was with me, & entirely coincided in the necessity. The notorious Ned McGowan,33 of Californian celebrity at the head of a band of Yankee Rowdies defying the law! Every peaceable citizen frightened out of his wits!—Summons & warrants laughed to scorn! A Magistrate seized while on the Bench, & brought to the Rebel's camp, tried, condemned, & heavily fined! A man shot dead shortly before!34 Such a tale to welcome me at the close of a day of g[rea]t enjoym'. (Winter & hard frost tho' it was) We quickly made our arrangements, hired passages in the only River Steamer,35 embarked that night & long before daylight we were steaming away up the River. The Men (22 in number) of course delighted, looking up the locks of their Rifles & Revolvers—The Judge & myself grave & thoughtful, but the Judge the most pugnacious of the two. I seriously believe I was the most peaceable man on board— Old Soldiers don't play at Soldiering—The weather was exceedingly severe, & finally we were all frozen in at a point fr whence we cd get neither up or down the River. Various were the plans discussed. At last a very fine fellow of the H.B. Company who knew the country well, & tough & hardy by practice as a piece of whipcord or a Mountain Ash, volunteered to push on with 2 Indians & bring intelligence—I availed myself of his services— He is an Ogilvy36 by descent, a gentleman, and a worthy scion of the " House November 17, 1858. Douglas evidently knew little of his previous career, for he was an adventurer par excellence. His claim to having been a captain in the Victoria Yeomanry Cavalry in Australia was denied by the commanding officer of that unit, who stated further " that a person of the name of Whannell, who for some time held a situation in the Customs Department here, absconded from this Colony in the month of November, 1856, accompanied by the wife of a resident in Melbourne whose name I have not learned, leaving his own wife and family behind totally unprovided for." James H. Ross to C. Standish, May 9, 1859, in F. W. Howay, The Early History of the Fraser River Mines, p. 58. He came to British Columbia after a sojourn in California, where, according to Hicks, he had kept "a low liquor-shop at Shaw's Flat, California." Hicks to Douglas, June 3, 1859, ibid., p. 22. (32) For details of the career of Matthew Baillie Begbie see Sydney G. Pettit, "'Dear Sir Matthew': A Glimpse of Judge Begbie," and "Judge Begbie in Action," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, XI (1947), pp. 1-14, 113-148 (33) For an autobiographical sketch see Narrative of Edward McGowan . . . , San Francisco, 1917, a reprint of the original 1857 edition. A short sketch of McGowan's career is to be found in Howay, The Early History of the Fraser River Mines, pp. xiv-xvi. McGowan remained in the colony until March, 1859. (34) On December 24, 1858, Bernard Rice was shot and killed in a saloon by a man named Foster. A garbled version of this incident is to be found in Victoria Gazette, January 8, 1859. (35) The steamer Enterprise, owned by Captain Thomas Wright, had been built in 1855 for the Willamette River trade and brought to the Fraser in July, 1858. She was 115 feet long, 22 feet wide, and carried 80 tons of freight. Captain Wright took her off the river in the fall of 1859. For further details see Norman Hacking, op. cit., loc. cit., pp. 272-273, 279. (36) John Drummond Buchanan Ogilvy was then in charge of Fort Hope for the Hudson's Bay Company. Subsequently he joined the colonial service and was . 96 Willard E. Ireland Jan.-Apr. of Airlie" A splendid fellow for an irregular Cavalry Corps formed fr among the Rocky Mountain Prairie Indians who are all mounted. He has lived some time among them & knows them well—His manner has unconsciously become chieftain-like & it is quite a sight to see him tell his tales of Flood & Field—He stands erect in a superb attitude, his voice is measured & sonorous and his words are most telling. His clear grey eye is steady in its gaze & full of manly truth—His moustache & peaked beard are "a la cavalier." His reputation for judgment and discretion combined with steady firmness has gained him a position of trust as the H.B. Agent at Fort Hope. I hope to get him made a J.P. With scarcely an exception the H.B. Men are fine fellows. Fr among their young men especially I shd always look for sub-agents. Out young Cavalier returned in a few days & brought me intelligence that matters had come to a pause, and that in his opinion it had been greatly exaggerated, but still fr the character of Capt" Whannel, it was very probable an outbreak of a very serious nature might take place at any moment. In fact we had reason to believe that the turning of a straw might lead to his being " lynched " He is a man overboiling with zeal, without the slightest personal fear, & raging under a sense of outraged dignity. Ogilvy, in the dead of the night, walked thro' & among what may be termed the rebel's camp, looked in at the windows of the huts, saw them gambling round the fires, heard their conversations, & was never questioned—The dogs bothered him most—They suspected him— The very night he came back to us a thaw began wh enabled us to push on to Fort Hope. I there left the soldiers, determining to go alone up the River to the scene of disturbance, & to quell it all quietly, if it were possible—I had great confidence in myself & always consider Soldiers as the very last dire necessity—Their presence also often exasperates. Intelligence reached me at Fort Hope that the Govr had sent on the Plumper & some Marines to Fort Langley below in case I might want a reinforcement. I had written to him about it.37 (I forgot to mention above that Fort Langley was also in a disturbed state38—many riotous Americans, fr across the Frontier—2 men found recently shot in the neighbourhood & no possibility of enforcing the Law) The intelligence was brought to me by L< Mayne,39 customs officer at Bella Coola, where he was murdered April 11, 1865. Victoria Colonist, May 24, 1865. (37) "I received your note of the 6th on the evening of the 7th Instant, and immediately made requisition on Captain Prevost as Senior Naval Officer present for an Expeditionary Force of 50 Marines and Seamen, commanded by one or more Officers to be forwarded by Her Majesty's Ship Plumper to Fort Langley from whence they will proceed to join you at Fort Hope or elsewhere subject to your further orders." Douglas to Moody, January 10, 1859, MS., Archives of B.C. (38) " Several outrages had been perpetrated at Fort Langley by parties of bad characters upon residents of the town, and the newly appointed magistrate for that district was anxiously expected, in order to regulate affairs." Victoria Gazette, January 15, 1859. (39) Lieutenant Richard Charles Mayne, second son of Sir Richard Mayne, the Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police of London, was born in 1835. He entered the Royal Navy in 1847 and came out to this coast as a lieutenant in H.M.S. Plumper in 1857. Promoted to commander in August, 1861, he returned to England. In 1879 he retired as rear-admiral and died in 1892. In 1862 he 1951 First Impressions 97 R.N. Son of Sir Richd Mayne, in London. I detained him with me, & attached him as an Aide de Camp & Confidential Officer. The Judge, of course, went up with me. We stopped at some of the Mining Bars, I conversed in a friendly way with all, asked about their prospects, wished them well & so on, scarcely alluded to the disturbances above & in fact acted in a manner to subdue all excitement & to allow information to go forward that I was coming up in this quiet peaceable way. Ned McGowan, I discovered afterwards has his scouts out and exact intelligence of all my movements fr the very first—The scenery was very grand all the way, & as " Bar " succeeded " Bar " with Miners all at their work at their " Rockers" & Sluices gathering in the Gold dust, it had a very lively cheerful look. The blue smoke fr their log Cabins curled up among the trees, & fr the brink of the River when Fires were on the Bank. The trees being chiefly Cedar and Black Spruce contrasted with the dazzling Snow. The River was alternately "Rapids" & "Still-water" reflecting every thing—Reflecting cottages, blue smoke, trees, mountains, & moving figures. A scene full of life. The sun shone splendidly over all—In Summer it must be enchanting- It was the Tyrol all over in scenery—This magnificent Valley I call " Glen Albert"—It extends fr a few miles below Fort Hope to the defiles above Fort Yale, a distance of about 20 miles. It was impossible not to be deeply struck with the circumstances that our conversations all the way up were with Englishmen (stanch Royalists) Americans (Republicans) Frenchmen, very numerous, Germans in abundance, Italians, several Hungarians, Poles, Danes, Swedes, Spaniards, Mexicans, & Chinese. As I sat in the boat the flood of thought that passed thro my brain is not to be described. I was deeply moved that it pleased the Almighty Ruler of the Universe to bring these various nations together under the protection of our Queen, & you will readily believe that I prayed very earnestly to Him to endow me, for Jesus' sake with wisdom & prudence & to guide me in the matter before me. • I prayed for His blessing on all our ways & for peace. My heart was overflowing with earnest love for all these manly energetic fellows—On arriving at Fort Yale in the evens, the River Bank was crowded, & McGowan was in the crowd, & the Hill's Bar (the rebels) men were nearly all there (this I learnt there) They gave me a Salute, firing off their loaded Revolvers over my head—Pleasant—Balls whistling over one's head! as a compliment! Suppose a hand had dropped by accident! If it was to try my nerves they must have forgotten my profession. I stood up, & raised my cap & thanked them in the Queen's name for their loyal reception of me—It struck the right cord, & I was answered by 3 long loud cheers—I passed down their ranks, saying something friendly right & left—As I lay down at night I thought my work was over & that I had but little to do of any real consequence. But it was not to be so easily settled—The Govr had written me a despatch to dismiss Mr Perrier40 the J .P. at Hill's Bar & to post up notices at Hill's published Four Years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island, which dealt with (40) George Perrier was appointed Justice of the Peace at Hill's Bar in June, 1858. [Douglas to Lord Stanley, July 26, 1858, MS., Archives of B.C.] Prior to his arrival in the colony he had been a sailor. His selection is an indication of 98 Willard E. Ireland Jan.-Apr. Bar & Fort Yale publicly announcing the fact. This was to be in addition to the legal investigations that were to take place—I talked it over with Judge Begbie—It appeared to both of us rather a sharp proceeding, & I felt very much inclined to take on myself to postpone it until further enquiry. But when I reflected he really was not fit for his post any more than Captn Whannel I thought I had better do it at once & meet the storm. I did so immediately '& the " hubbub " began, & I felt I had to sit my micklesome steed warily—To rule a fierce democracy is no joke at any time be their numbers small or great—Ned McGowan in great excitement struck a ruler of the opposite party in the face—many persons were in evident terror, & one gentleman who desired to bring me information sent me word that he was besieged in his house. I knew that no indignity wd be offered to either Judge Begbie or myself—but fr the intelligence we recd fr all quarters it was very evident that to go on with the legal proceedings in a way to ensure the Peace not being broken it was necessary to bring up the detachment of R.E.'s fr Fort Hope, & I was most anxious that not even a spark shd get alight, that all shd be at once crushed, and an example be shown at [sic] to what we cd do. I ordered up to Fort Hope the Marines (30) fr Langley & some Seamen with 2 Field Pieces—Remember Hill's Bar is naturally a very strong place easily defended—Their numbers were considerable, among them Military men who had served under General Scott41 in the Mexican Wars, all armed & knowing how to use their arms. When Whannel was captured & carried off to Hill's Bar the rioters threw out skirmishers under a Major Dolan42 (a real Major) & lined the high opposite bank of the river fr whence they commanded the passage of the river. It must have been beautifully done, & showed Will (I have ordered the trees that gave them cover to be cut down) The language of the Town was violent & these excitable fellows were getting their blood up—I despatched L' Mayne R.N. with 2 Indians in a light canoe—They started in the dark & pulled hard— The R.E.'s had gone to bed when he arrived—In an hour they were up & on the water under Capt" Grant—By Mayne I had sent very careful written instructions to Grant as to his movements—in obedience to my orders he brought with him also a few picked Cornish Miners on whom the difficulty Governor Douglas faced in securing suitable British subjects as his administrative officials. As a result of his acts which resulted in the incident being described, Perrier was dismissed. " Mr. Justice Perrier appears to have acted most indiscreetly in taking proceedings against a brother Magistrate and I have therefore suspended him from office and written off his name from the list of Justices of the Peace for the time being." Douglas to Newcastle, January 10, 1859, MS., Archives of B.C. (41) General Winfield Scott was born in 1786 and had a long and honourable career in the United States Army. In 1846 he took over command in the Mexican War and pushed it to a successful conclusion. His political enemies for a time damaged his reputation, but he was subsequently reinstated in public esteem. In 1852 he ran for President of the United States and was defeated by Franklin Pearce. At the age of 73 he was sent out to the Pacific Northwest in connection with the San Juan Island boundary dispute in 1859. (42) Major Thomas Dolan was originally a faro-dealer at Fort Yale who later turned to mining. He left the river with Ned McGowan in the spring of 1859 and went to New Orleans, where he enlisted with General William Walker in the famous forays into Nicaragua. Victoria Colonist, October 18, 1860, and May 30, 1951 First Impressions 99 I knew I cd depend. These few were selected fr among 200 Volunteers— I sent orders that Ogilvy, in a small Canoe, was to precede the party, just keeping ahead reconnoitring in case of ambuscade fr the banks. To a military advance, if opposed, Glen Albert is full of danger. The night was intensely cold, but a clear moonlight—To have marched thro' the woods in the deep snow & thro' the thick underbrush wd have been impracticable, the boats therefore were exposed while the woody banks were deep in shade. It was only " sound " & occasionally landing at suspicious places if necessary that wd guide Ogilvy & his party of 2 Indians. (I must not forget a fine fellow named Macdonald43 who accompanied him) Their senses are habitually kept alive to sound & sight. You may imagine how much I thought of Ogilvy, to give him the post of honour, viz. the post of danger. The Hill's Bar Men had stopped the Canoes going down when they seized Whannel, & they well knew the strength of their ground. Just at the Bar is a rapid difficult current to struggle up & the only channel is close to the Bar. I had thought of this, & by my orders Grant landed below on the opposite side—At Break of day the Hill's Bar Men saw the detachment filing past between the trees on the opposite bank & they ran down shouting & firing off their rifles. It might have been & probably was only a bravado. Grant says he heard no bullets, but he told me nothing cd be finer than the conduct of the Civilians one & all. The Cornish Men did not even turn their heads or utter a syllable, they just marched steadily on but with a look of a very determined character, while on the opposite side of the River all was shouting & excitement. I walked down to meet them after their bitterly cold night's march, Ogilvy & Macdonald in the advance & quite in their element, you saw " enjoyment" on their faces—With respect to my own good fellows I have only to say they are " Royal Engineers" that is surely enough. They were the same men Sir Edward so kindly addressed off Cowes when they embarked under Parsons in La Plata Steamer.44 Please tell him this. He will know what I mean. They are not likely ever to forget his address—Of course hot Coffee & breakfast were soon ready for them—Heaps of Rowdies were present when I inspected them & dismissed them to Barracks a temporary accom[m]odation, sleeping on the floor in the Court House—Fr the moment of their arrival everything began to change & to brighten up. Alarm vanished & Hill's Bar Men were full of assurances to everybody that they were & always had been loyal men, & that to say otherwise was to libel them. However odd it may appear, (43) Possibly one of the sons of Archibald McDonald, and, indeed, it may even have been Ranald MacDonald. (44) In the course of this address, Lytton had said: "The enterprise before you is indeed glorious. Ages hence industry and commerce will crowd the roads that you will have made; travellers from all nations will halt on the bridges you will have first flung over solitary rivers, and gaze on gardens and cornfields that you will have first carved from the wilderness; Christian races will dwell in the cities of which you will map the sites and lay the foundations. You go not as the enemies, but as the benefactors of the land you visit, and children unborn will, I believe, bless the hour when Queen Victoria sent you forth her sappers and miners to found a second England on the shores of the Pacific." The Life of Edward Bulwer, first Lord Lytton, by his grandson, London, 1913, vol. ii, p. 293. < mte, I' 100 Willard E. Ireland Jan.-Apr. I have no doubt whatever they thought they were. It requires to live among these people to understand them well—Their notion of what is loyal & our notion is rather different, & personal acts of violence even to murder are only called and only considered " difficulties " That is the word. When one man coolly [sic] shoots another in broad daylight, waylaying him for that purpose, & then finds it convenient to absent himself for a short time. The world says (I mean their world, their public society) " so & so " has gone, he has had a " difficulty " with " so & so." Ned McGowan himself told me afterwards in general conversation that when on the point of leaving California to come here " a gentieman "! stepped up to him & said " I have a personal difficulty with you Sir " & fired at him when standing close to him. The Ball passed through his clothes close to his side! Ned McGowan was a Judge in California & barely escaped by precipitate flight fr being hung for his alledged misdeeds by the Vigilance Committee. Well! they all saw I took a totally different view of their conduct to what they did. They had a meeting & respectfully & earnestly invited me to be present as they wished to address me. After telling them I shd make no reply to their address, & that the Law shd have it's [sic] course & their declaring that all who had offended the law wd be present to stand their trial at the hour at wh they had been summoned before Judge Begbie (after the Sappers came one constable was quite sufficient to execute the summons anywhere, not I believe fr fear exactly, but because their eyes were opened for the first time to see that in the Queen's dominions an infringement of the Law was really a serious matter, & not a sort of half joke as in California) (my good friends the Miners are new to this sort of thing, they are learners & have to be taught) After declaring the above I went to the Meeting accompanied by Judge Begbie, nothing cd be more respectful than our reception. It began with 3 cheers for the Queen, 3 for Governor Douglas, & 3 for myself. They then began their address, & after proceeding very well for some time the address began to comment on Whannel the J.P. of the district. I instantly rose & stopped it, saying I wd not allow any comments of that kind on any individual in my presence, especially on a Magistrate. They were a little taken aback (again you see they had to learn) apologized, retired for an hour, amended their address, & in addition one man in a red shirt, formerly an Alderman of San Francisco45 made me an admirable speech, extremely clever & in the best possible taste & feeling—-They all cultivate the art of speaking, & some speak very well—The address was a long defence, explanation and apology, nothing particularly clever in it—The next day the trial came off in the Court House—it was very crowded—the miners armed to the teeth—McGowan armed—the only unarmed men were the Judge & myself—I wd not even have my " Orderly " & the Sappers were removed to the further end of the Town. Ned McGowan pleaded guilty, & made an exquisitely beautiful speech, so neat, such few words, all to the point, nothing discursive, no " bunkism," no nonsense of any kind, admirable for (45) Judge Begbie in his report to Governor Douglas dated February 3, 1859, which gives his version of the whole incident, gives this man's name as Wilson. The report is reprinted in F. W. Howay, The Early History of the Fraser River (JBC LIBRARY 1951 First Impressions 101 what he left out as well as for what he said—It was in fact a very clever & very gentlemanly speech—dignified and yet respectful—Begbie inflicted the greatest fine he cd & caused him to enter into recognizances to keep the peace—He also delivered a very manly address what you might expect fr an Englishman who has a high courage—He gave it to McGowan very heavily, & stripped bare all their false definitions of right & wrong. The fine was paid down at once & recognizances entered into, and all was at an end. Then came a series of investigations by Begbie & myself. It wd take up far too much space to tell you the particulars. We have done so to the Govr however. There can be no doubt f' the gross corruption & pusilanimous conduct of a Mr Hicks,46 a Gold Commissioner & Magistrate, a miserable creature. The bold, insane, reckless zeal, & utter ignorance of Capt" Whannel who is incorruptible, full of courage, and despotic as a Czar— the total want of an effective police—the organization of a Vigilance Committee of California, for their self-defence (as Gov' had not sufficient Police & force at hand) against the Hill's Bar Men & having among them numbers of the Vigilance Committee of California who hunted after McGowan to hang him—the presence of McGowan (Hill's Bar is only Wt miles distant f1 Yale) ruling a band of determined men who positively seem to idolize him.47 There can be no doubt to the above combination of circumstances is to be attributed the past disturbances & I look upon it as a most merciful interposition of Divine Providence that I came among them at the time I did and that His Grace was upon me enabling me to act as I did, guiding me in His goodness, & causing these poor fellows to look upon me as a friend. By this influence I was able to turn their attention to a proper respect for and obedience to the Law. I shd mention to you also, my dear Friend, that the day after my arrival at Fort Yale was a Sunday & I sent round to invite everybody to meet me at Divine Service in the Court House—It was the 1st time in B. Columbia that the Liturgy of our Church was read.48 The first time that we know of that people had assembled together for Public Prayer of any kind in the Colony49—To me God in His mercy granted this (46) Richard Hicks was appointed Assistant Commissioner for Crown Lands at Yale at the same time as Perrier became the Justice of the Peace at Hill's Bar. [Douglas to Lord Stanley, July 26, 1858, MS., Archives of B.C.] His correspondence at this time is published in F. W. Howay, The Early History of the Fraser River Mines, pp. 1-22. Judge Begbie referred to him as " a weak and corrupt magistrate." Ibid., p. 39. (47) Judge Begbie's analysis of the situation was as follows: "As to the origin of the outrages, it appeared that Yale and its vicinity are chiefly inhabited by citizens of the United States of N.A. more or less connected wth California; and, like other Califomians, deeply imbued with party spirit; and, like all United States citizens, very fond of political excitement and meetings, particularly when they conceive that some legal right has been infringed. Yale is chiefly inhabited by partisans of the ' Vigilance Committee'; Hill's Bar by partisans of the ' law and order' party in San Francisco." Ibid., p. 38. For details of the San Francisco situation see F. M. Smith (ed.), San Francisco Vigilantes Committee of 1856, San Francisco, 1883; and James O'Meara, The Vigilantes Committee of 1856, San Francisco, 1887. (48) Moody himself read the service according to Begbie's report. (49) Moody's claim may be correct. Rev. William Burton Crickmer came out to British Columbia at the same time as Moody [Victoria Colonist, January 1, 102 Willard E. Ireland Jan.-Apr. privilege. The room was crowded full of Hill's Bar men as well as others, old grey bearded men, young eager eyed men, stern middle aged men, of all nations knelt with me before the throne of Grace. My heart was in the utterance I gave to the beautiful prayers of our Liturgy. When it was concluded, I gave them a few words in wh I must have expressed my affection for them, & I prayed God to bless them & to prosper them in all their labours. Can any one say how much this solemn meeting may have influenced their better conduct at the close of affairs. Let us hope it did! I have since heard that at one of the Bars a Log Hut is now building as a Church, being built by the Miners themselves, no Clergymen is there among them! Oh! for some of England's Gentlemen, young & ardent as Ministers of God's words. How many Curates there are of ample private means, to whom pay wd be nothing, I mean Cadets of good families, warmhearted, generous, noble as well as pious, full of faith & real humanity in Christ, who burn to serve their Master's Cause. Let a few such men come here, & take post against the enemy of those Miner's Souls. Take post at intervals along the lovely Banks of the glorious River of Gold. Such fine fellows as these Miners wd win their best affections. They are emphatically Men, and they are Men without a friend at hand. If it please God I sh visit them as often as I possibly can but they need someone to dwell among them as a Clergyman, & the Missionaries to send among them must be men of a particular stamp. The day after the trial I told the Hill's Bar Men I wd now come & see them & go over their works & make their acquaintance, on the distinct understanding there shd be no demonstration of any kind whatsoever (I now feared their excess of loyalty they are so impulsive) But my health unfortunately broke down the following morning—The excessive cold the daily wet feet, cold up to my knees in snow & sludge, sleeping on all manner of things. All the time I was at Yale, I slept on three boxes in a passage! (My Orderly & the Judge side by side on the floor) very bad indigestible food &c. &c. and not a little pressure of thought on my brain, all combined upset me at the last—The whole party Judge & Soldiers had had cholic & diarrhea more or less fr the continued exposure, bad living with constant cold & wet & I had escaped hitherto. I suppose " Mind " had kept my body going but when all was quiet I broke down—Almost fainted & became vulgarly sick, our medical man, one lent from a Man of War, immediately insisted on my lying on a bed made up. Begbie, Mayne (who had retd to me) and Brue50 [sic] who had also come up the country went to Hill's Bar 1859], and he may have spent some time in Victoria before going to Fort Langley, where he performed Divine service in the newly constructed church for the first time in April [Victoria Gazette, April 26, 1859]. The date of his arrival at Fort Langley is not known, nor is there any proof that service was conducted in any other building prior to the event described by Moody. There is every reason to believe that Rev. R. J. Staines may have performed Divine service when he visited Fort Langley from Fort Victoria, but this was before the establishment of the colony. (50) Chartres Brew reached Victoria after a most exciting series of adventures on November 8, 1858, in the same ship that brought Captain Grant and the second section of the Royal Engineers. He came out as Inspector of Police and had a long and honourable career in the colonial service until his death May 31, 1870. See Margaret A. Ormsby, " Some Irish Figures in Colonial Days," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, XTV (1950), pp. 64-71. 1951 First Impressions 103 & were very well recd. So much disappointment was expressed at not seeing me that I determined to call on my return down the River. I now ordered the Marines up to relieve the R.Es, & sent the latter down to Langley to their work. The Marines I thought it prudent to leave for a short time. The following day in dropping down the River I called at Hill's Bar and was very properly recd everywhere. The men all busy at work. Ned McGowan pressed me to enter his Hut gave me an excellent Glass of Champagne! The best I have almost ever tasted, & with me drank her Majesty's health! He gave me a very great deal of useful information & I seriously entertain the hope I may convert him into a valuable subject of the Crown eventually, but he needs watching. He assured me the difficulties wd always be fr acts of violence arising i' personal quarrels only, never f1 any opposition to the Gov' except what might arise on the spur of the moment & which some judgment on the part of the Magistrate might generally if not nearly always, avoid. He urged me to put down the excessive gambling that exists—He stated that it is a regular business, certain professed gamblers who do nothing else, go fr place to place among the Miners & fasten to them like Blood-suckers and are the source of all the mischief. That they had some at Hill's Bar that were beyond his controul [sic] but that our conduct had frightened them off now. The day after the trial they all decamped up the River & he assured me I wd have to follow them up in the Spring. How odd all this must appear to you in England. Our journey down the River was far more charming than our journey up. At Fort Hope I picked up the Seamen & we all went down the River together & went on board the "Plumper" off Langley—I retd with an immense amount of valuable information, knowledge of the people, the river, & the prospects of the country. As you may suppose my enquiries on every subject were incessant. Be assure[d] that among all her Majesty's Colonies there is not a finer one or one with more valuable resources than this, and as a dwelling place for Englishmen few in any way can compare with it. The Gold is in extraordinary abundance, River mining is scarcely thought of now. The workings go on a mile back fr the River, & up to the farthest north we hear daily of fresh discoveries. It seems to us incredible that people fr home do not come out & this is attributed to the influence of the American Press who do all they can to run it down, while Americans at the same time are literally streaming into it. It will be an American Country before long, if not neutralized by the presence of many Englishmen coming out at once—Now for a few words about the new Town of Langley—I dare scarcely enter on the subject with the freedom I wd wish, I wd have to say so many severe things. I will try & put it into a few facts & leave you to draw your own deductions. First, I will mention my own Officer Capt" Grant, earnestly protested against it & urged I wd soon be on the spot. His advice was set aside, the Town was laid out, & the lots sold. I know money was sorely needed & this sale brought grist to the Mill. No public announcement of any kind was made that this was to be the chief town, but public Officers bought Lots, among them Capt" Grant 104 Willard E. Ireland Jan.-Apr. himself, who firmly believes it is to be the chief town.51 A Court House & Jail was promised besides a Church & Parsonage and these are being built or about to be built at this moment.52 The prevailing opinion is that it is to be the Chief Town. It is on the Frontier side of the River, a level country easily crossed, a sort of road now exists. American Soldiers come up to ours & try to fraternize smuggling of every kind goes on—The Town may be said to be an American Town with it's-[sic] port at Semiamoo in American territory & if the Chief Town of the Country is to be at that spot, Semiamoo,53 American, cannot fail to be the Chief port of the district, Americans will be, I believe they now are the chief holders of lots. There are no Military features towards the frontier of wh to take advantage to cover & protect the Town in time of War. At any moment the Americans cd & wd have their grip on the very throat of B Columbia; the site itself, in itself, is not bad for a Town & that is it's [sic] sole recommendation. By not at present selling any more lots, nor any rural lots between it & the Frontier it's [sic] progress wd be at once arrested & for ever, for all commercial interests wd centre too strongly at the better place for British interests namely Queenborough, & Semiamoo wd die. The new town of Langley abuts close on in fact adjoins the 10 mile claim of the H.B. Company—You have instructed the Gov' to deal liberally with the H.B. claims & Sir Edward in so (51) The first notice regarding the sale of lots at the Langley townsite was issued under the signature of J. D. Pemberton, Surveyor-General for Vancouver Island, on October 1, 1858 [enclosed in Douglas to Lytton, October 12, 1858, Papers relative to the Affairs of British Columbia, Part II, p. 2]. Douglas' report of the sale was sent to the Colonial Office in a dispatch dated November 29, 1858. " The first operation disposing of public lands in British Columbia took place here [Victoria] on the 25th instant. ... The spot selected for sale was the site of a former establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company, known as' Old Fort Langley.' ... On the whole it is a place to which public attention was strongly directed as being a very advantageous site for a commercial town. I therefore directed that it should be surveyed, and laid out into convenient lots for sale. . . . The highest price obtained for single lots was $725, and about 187 lots were sold on the first day's sale, and 155 lots on the second day, the whole yielding a sum of about 13,0001, on which a deposit of 10 per cent, was paid down, and the remainder is to be paid in the course of a month, or the lots will be resold." Ibid., p. 37. (52) " I propose building a small church and parsonage, a court-house, and gaol immediately at Langley, and to defray the expense out of the proceeds arising from the sale of town lands there." Douglas to Lytton, December 14, 1858, /iia\,p.45. (53) The following description of the An taken from the Victoria Gazette, August 13, 18 East, is the Bay of Semiahmoo, around the shores of which two towns of the same name have recently been laid off. One is on a ' spit,' or narrow tongue of land, which projects into the Bay, about one mile and a half long, and from a quarter of a mile to a few yards in width. . . . The ' town ' on the spit . . . consists of six frame houses and about a dozen tents. All the frames are used as stores and eating and drinking houses. . . . Directly opposite, and about a mile and a half distant across the water, is the town of Semiahmoo No. 2. . . . There are three or four frame houses finished, and two or three others in the course of construction, and some few tents. . . . The projected trail or wagon road, to connect the town with Fort Langley, is to start immediately from the rear, and it is said that an excellent wagon road can be cut for less than $10,000, passable at all seasons. The distance is about twenty miles." 1951 First Impressions 105 doing acts both wisely & justly—They deserve every consideration I freely confess, I came out somewhat prejudiced agst them, I now think the Gov' of England are much indebted to them, & their Servants are worthy enter- prizing men, keen at making a bargain, & occupied in accumulating wealth. That is their business, & they persue [sic] it with Will, prudence, forethought & energy & if they get to windward of the Gov' it may perhaps be thought a laudable victory. I do not grudge them in the least all the gain they may get by the juxtaposition to Langley of their rich claim—By all means do not withhold it—That does not influence me—My objections are strong " Imperial Interest" objections to the locality—I have urged the matter very earnestly on the Gov' in a military point of view & he has promised to send my letter home—He admits all my facts, so does Judge Begbie, approves of my policy, and we have drawn up a proclamation in wh it is stated that a town is to be laid out (at my " site") wh is to be the port of Entry & Capital of B. Columbia & that lots may be exchanged. But the proclamation is not made public yet, & day after day passes.54 If it is stated to Colonial Office that the matter has gone too far, it will be an error. Scarcely any buildings of consequence are up, except a building intended to receive some of my men, built I presume by the Govr's orders, certainly with his sanction. I trust a " cry " will not be raised that it is not too far gone to change the site. A " cry " is easily got up. At present the public only wish to know wh is to be site. They are ready for either. Why the announcement is postponed I know not, every day increases the evil. I am sorry, very sorry for it—The people pester me, & comment on the Gov'. Suspicions of the most odious kind are rife. Now, observe, unless a very decided order comes fr Sir Ed, Langley will be adopted. Among other extreme inconveniences by the delay will be extra cost when the "Thames City"55 arrives. I ought now to be preparing for their reception & I don't know what to do. If Queenborough is to be the place then the site for the Barracks & Engineer Stores must be in the neighbourhood. If at Langley they must be in that neighbourhood. If built at Queenborough now they wd never answer for Langley, & vice versa, & then by any change money wd be thrown away. It is very perplexing—If I feel this on Gov' account, what must others feel on their private accts? I hope Sir Ed's orders will come by return of post. In the mean while B. Columbian interests pine & Vancouver with Victoria flourishes. Fr Langley I went in the Plumper to Burrard's Inlet & afterwards to Semiamoo to notice the Boundary Line & to Point Roberts. The loss of the latter is a serious thorn in our side— A smuggling town is being built on the American portion & by & bye there will be a Citadel of the Is' Class. Depend on it the Military considerations affecting the Capital or principal Town at the entrance of the Frazer is of the very greatest weight & shd take the lead. It is in vain to hope to get (54) The Proclamation embodying these provisions was finally issued by Governor Douglas on February 14, 1859. Douglas to Lytton, February 19, 1859, Papers relative to the Affairs of British Columbia, Part II, pp. 65-66. (55) The Thames City, 557 tons, commanded by Captain Glover, brought the main body of the Royal Engineers to British Columbia with Captain H. R. Luard in charge. She sailed from Gravesend on October 10,1858, and reached Esquimalt on April 12,1859. m 106 Willard E. Ireland Jan.-Apr. P' Roberts P the Americans I fear. This loss makes it more important than ever that we shd not yield in the matter of the Water boundary between the Islands—I have, of course, heard all that is to be said on the subject, & I confess the matter seems to me to be very simple as a matter of fairness & equity. First we have no right whatever to P' Roberts, that is a clear case—Secondly, the terms of the treaty are very general as to the " line going down the middle of the Channel" " between the Mainland & Vancouver's Island "—The Channel may very fairly (taking a broad view) be taken to mean the whole width between & having within it sundry Islands. We show that the Channel " proper "—the Channel that all sailing Vessels wd naturally take—is between the Islands & the Mainland—This wd give us all the Islands—The Americans declare that the Channel wh separates Vancouver's Island f the Main[land] is the Channel next to Vancouver's Islands & that the other islands properly belong to the Mainland!! This wd give the Americans all the Islands! It appears to me neither of these definitions cd have been in the mind of the Framers of the Treaty nor do they represent a just reading of the treaty. If the middle of the whole space between Vancouver's Island & the Mainland be taken as the proper boundary it will cut across Orcas Island, a fine large Island—I wd propose to give up our share of Orcas for P' Roberts—I feel perfectiy certain f' what I know of America & Americans & I know them now for the 2nd time in my life, & I have noted the growing & changing phases of their national Character, I am quite certain if we hold on with determination to the middle boundary we sh get our own way & perhaps by throwing some sop to them we shd get the whole of the Islands. There are very few of them who do not believe they will eventually get the whole country, & it wd not be worth a war to stand out for a portion now. I trust & believe they will be mistaken as to their getting the whole country—I hope it may be united some day P Canada as a great nation forming in some federal manner an integral portion of the whole Empire of wh it is now a Colony—Say what we may & explain away as we please politically Colonies do not feel as if they were integral portions of the empire. I have lived a great portion of my life among Colonies & know the feeling wh (perhaps insensibly) moves them at that disagreeable phrase to them "Dependency"—Colonists are sensitive people—I don't despair after a Federal Union of the N. American Colonies shd have been brought to pass, to see a very satisfactory sort of Federal union of all the British Empire. It may appear to be only a name, but names & words are things of tremendous force at times, dissolving or uniting Policies with extraordinary power—Sometimes slowly, sometimes explosively—I studied the Military features of the country very carefully while at Semiamoo—As soon as I got back again, the Gov', Begbie & I set to work to lay the foundations of the Colony of B. C. & we work together very satisfactorily—Poor Gosset56 is, on the whole, behaving very well towards (56) Captain William Driscoll Gosset, R.E, held the appointment as Colonial Treasurer and Postmaster of the Colony of British Columbia. He had formerly served as Colonial Surveyor in Ceylon and arrived at Victoria in the same ship that brought Colonel Moody. Gosset and Douglas were in disagreement over almost every issue that arose, and the latter's opinion of his official was extremely Captain William D. Gosse 1951 First Impressions 107 me. He has fallen foul however of the Gov' and got a sharp reproof- He has managed to offend everybody already—We all really think his illness in Ceylon must have been a very serious matter. He is quite impracticable, I fear, altogether mistaking his position. Poor fellow, he is beginning at last to look upon me as his best friend. By & bye I trust to turn that feeling to good ace', for the service but he is so uncertain that one can never reckon on his being in the same frame of mind for 2 days together. If I was bona fide Gov' of any Colony I wd not mind having him as my treasurer, he wd then recognize me as his Master as I know all the twists of his Mind and all his good & valuable points & I feel sure I cd manage him if he was fairly under my orders. Still I cannot wonder at everybody being irritated with him. You remember I promised to spin you a long yarn, I have done so I hope it will not be voted a bore. Some evens read it when quiet at home & you have nothing particular on his [your] mind. You will see by all the blunders that I have felt quite at home in writing to you. It is verily a letter written amidst 10,000 distractions, & snatched at the intervals of business Never do I believe did a man " work " under greater disadvantages than I am now doing—No Office, no Clerks, a very tiny house full of my dear Children but whose shouts sometimes "fun" sometimes " wailings" do not tend to compose the thoughts. I hope sincerely it may soon cease, & that I may receive orders as to our future location P the Gov— Remember me most affect* to your dear Son, oh! what wd I not have given to have had him with me, but God has willed it otherwise for some wise & good purpose to both of us—I am sure he will not forget me any more than I sh ever forget him. Remember me most kindly to y' dear Wife, I am sure she will be interested in my rambling story. Finally remember me most kindly (were it not for the wide difference in our positions, I wd say affect*) to my Chief—Sir Edward Lytton—& believe me my dear Friend to be Your's [sic] faithfully (signed) R. C. Moody— Arthur Blackwood Esqre Colonial Office. low; I My experience of Captain Gosset, has not been happy. Except as a mere Treasury Clerk, he has been of no use to me. As a financial officer he was valueless. I have invariably found him defective in judgment. His temper is capricious, and I cannot recall a single instance of any useful suggestion made by him. I could never rely on his cordial co-operation in combined measures, and I am moreover persuaded that he encouraged disaffection, and wilfully misrepresented my government, through the public Press, both in this Country and abroad. In short, I believe him to be politically faithless and unprincipled." Quoted in R. L. Reid, The Assay Office and the Proposed Mint at New Westminster (Archives Memoir No. VH), Victoria, 1926, p. 96. A summary of his career is to be found in ibid., pp. 92-96. The; NOTES AND COMMENTS BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION nual meeting of the Association was held in the Hotel Gros r, Van- 1 Friday, January 19. In the absence of the President, the chair was taken by Mr. D. A. McGregor, Second Vice-President. Captain C. W. Cates, Chairman of the Vancouver Section, welcomed the members to the annual meeting and in particular the three representatives from the Victoria Section. The greetings of this latter section were expressed by its Chairman, Mr. H. C. Gilliland. The President's report was read by the Secretary, Miss Helen R. Boutilier, at the conclusion of which a resolution of appreciation to Mr. Campbell for his services as President and an expression of regret that his recent illness had made it impossible for him to be in attendance was unanimously adopted. The Secretary's report made particular mention of the special meetings held in both Victoria and Vancouver to mark the centenary of the establishment of British government on the Pacific Coast. Although membership had declined throughout the year, nevertheless both sections had had active programmes. The Treasurer's report indicated a bank balance of $335.30, but a marked decline in membership had to be recorded—383 as compared with 466. Of these, 122 were affiliated with the Victoria Section, 138 with the Vancouver Section, and 123 were members-at-large. The delay in the publication of the Quarterly was felt by many to be a major contributing factor to the decline in membership, and the Editor in his report expressed the hope that regular publication would soon be achieved again. Total circulation for the Quarterly is in excess of 450. The forms prepared for distribution by the special Anthropological Committee were presented and approved for circulation. A resolution urging the formation of a Provincial Historic Sites and Monuments Board was presented from the Vancouver Section and unanimously endorsed. The many years of service of Miss Inez Mitchell, of the staff of the Provincial Archives, who has been responsible for the preparation of the index to the Quarterly, was recognized in a resolution conferring an honorary membership. The presidential address, entitled The Kootenay Mail: Revetstoke"s Second Newspaper, was read for Mr. Campbell by Dr. Margaret A. Ormsby. By virtue of his long association with this newspaper, Mr. Campbell was able to give many interesting facts relating to earlier events in the Revelstoke district. The text of the address is printed in this Quarterly. The report of the scrutineers was then presented. A total of 103 valid ballots was returned to the Honorary Secretary. The new Council met immediately after the adjournment of the annual meeting, when the following officers were elected;— Honorary President - President - First Vice-President - Second Vice-President • Honorary Secretary - Honorary Treasurer Hon. W. T. Straifh, K.C. Major H. Cuthbert Holme! Mr. D. A. McGregor. Mrs. R.B. White. Miss Madge Wolfenden. Mr. H. C. Gilliland. 110 Notes and Comments Jan.-Apr. Members of the Council— Mr. E. G. Baynes. Mr. J. K. Nesbitt. Miss Helen R. Boutilier. Dr. Margaret A. Onnsby. Rev. John Goodfellow. Dr. W. N. Sage. Councillors ex officio— Mr. Burt R. Campbell, Past President. Mr. H. C. Gilliland, Chairman, Victoria Section. Captain C. W. Cates, Chairman, Vancouver Section. Mr. Willard E. Ireland, Editor, Quarterly. ■ Victoria Section A regular meeting of the Victoria Section was held in the Provincial Library on Thursday evening, November 16, with the Vice-Chairman, Mr. H. C. Gilliland,. presiding. The speaker on that occasion was Mr. Wilson Duff, Provincial Anthropologist, who had chosen as his subject Fraser Valley Indians at Work. This description of the old life of the Indians indicated that it was a busy one, characterized by a close integration of his work with his art, his religion, and his social life. The fishing carried on by the Indians on the Lower Fraser in the 5-mile stretch above Yale was used as an illustration of their aboriginal work. Fishing was not just a means of livelihood, but an exciting experience involving a seasonal migration and social contact with old friends and new. The continued seasonal fishing carried on at this spot to this day and the yearly migration to the hop-fields of the Fraser Valley and across the Border into Washington are indications of the lasting appeal of this form of life. Mr. Duff also showed two delightful coloured films taken by himself of the Indians fishing in the Lower Fraser Canyon and of hop-picking in the valley. Dr. D. L. McLaurin moved a most hearty vote of thanks to the speaker. The annual meeting of the Victoria Section was held in the Provincial Library on Tuesday evening, December 12. Owing to the unavoidable absence of the Chairman, Mr. H. C. Gilliland, Vice-Chairman, presided and opened the meeting by expressing the thanks of the Section to the Provincial Government for the use of the reading-room of the Provincial Library as a meeting-place. The annual report of the Secretary, Mr. F. Henry Johnson, was read and approved, and Miss Madge Wolfenden presented the Treasurer's report, which showed the financial standing of the Section to be creditable. The report of the scrutineers of the ballots for the election of the Council was accepted. The speaker of the evening was Mr. James K. Nesbitt, popular Victoria journalist, who spoke on The Life and Work of Emily Carr. This was not the usual biographical study, but a delightful tribute to a great artist, illustrated with anecdotes typical of the many facets of her character and of the wide variety of experience encompassed by her life. Major H. Cuthbert Holmes expressed the appreciation of the audience. The new Council met immediately following the adjournment of the annual meeting, at which time the following officers were elected:— Chairman Vice-Chairman - Honorary Secretary Honorary Treasurer - Members of the Council— Miss Kathleen Agnew. Mr. R. P. Bishop. Mr. A. F. Flucke. Mrs. Kenneth Drury (co Mr. Wilson Duff (co-opt The first regular meeting of th - - Mr. H. C. Gilliland. Mr. F.Henry Johnson. - Mr. R. E. Potter. Miss Madge Wolfenden. Dr. D. L. McLaurin. Major H.T. Nation. Miss Hazel Sargent. Miss K. Graham (co-opt.). Mr. Willard E. Ireland (ex officio). year was held in the Provincial Library Tuesday evening, January 16^ when, despite inclement weather, a large audience s in attendance to honour the speaker on that occasion, Mr. B. A. McKelvie. veteran journalist and prolific writer on the legend, lore, and history of this McKelvie chose as his subject Ways and Wars of Colonial Times. as spectacular in ot solely because our native people 1 is to be found in the wise policy hce on respect for law and equal s a master in the enforcement of in recounting the story of th Prov While Indian troubles in the early days wi as they were south of the Border, the reason i were milder or less warlike. Rather, the rea of the Hudson's Bay Company, with its insi justice for the Indians. Governor Douglas this policy. Mr. McKelvie's primary interes Victoria Voltigeurs—the first local defence force on Vancouver Island. The group was formed by Chief Factor Douglas in the first instance to satisfy Governor Blanshard's desire to have some military force at his disposal. Made up of French-Canadians, one-time servants of the Hudson's Bay Company, this force was really a sort of rural police. They were established as an outpost village on the shores of Selkirk Water in Victoria harbour. Their subsequent use by Governor Douglas in connection with Indian outbreaks was also brought out. Mr. McKelvie was at his best in depicting the colour, the anxiety, the bravery, and the humour of the various clashes with the Indians on Vancouver Island, through all of which emerges the wise and understanding nature of James Douglas. Mr. B. C. Bracewell fittingly expressed the thanks of the meeting. A regular meeting of the Section was held on Thursday evening, February 15, in the Provincial Library, at which time Mr. Willard E. Ireland read portions of an article written for this Quarterly by Mr. G. Hollis Slater entitled The Career of Rev. Robert John Staines: Pioneer Priest, Pedagogue, and Political Agitator. During the past few years much additional information has come to light on this the first clergyman of the Church of England to reside on Vancouver Island. The results of Mr. Slater's researches in this connection have already appeared in this Quarterly. The appreciation of the meeting was expressed by Mr. B. A. McKelvie and transmitted by letter to Mr. Slater, who unfortunately was unable to be present for the reading of his paper. The meeting of the Section in March was preceded by the unveiling of a plaque commemorative of the entry of British Columbia into Canadian Confederation. This ceremony took place on Friday evening, March 9, in the rotunda in front of the Legislative Chamber in the Parliament Buildings, after which the members 112 Notes and Comments Jan.-Apr. moved into the Provincial Library, where Dr. W. N. Sage, British Columbia and Yukon representative on the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, read a paper entitled British Columbia and Confederation, which is published in this issue of the Quarterly. Mrs. Kenneth Drury moved the vote of thanks to the speaker on this occasion. The Chairman presided at the regular meeting of the Section on Thursday evening, April 26, in the Provincial Library, when Mr. Cecil Clark, formerly Deputy Commissioner of the British Columbia Provincial Police, spoke on The History of the British Columbia Police. Mr. Clark joined this force in 1916 and was with it until its disbandment in 1950, so was eminently qualified to speak of the long and honourable career of this force. It had its origin in the gold-rush days, when in 1858 Chartres Brew of the Royal Irish Constabulary arrived in the colony to organize a similar force for British Columbia. On November 19, 1858, he became the Chief Inspector of Police, a title which he retained until 1866, when it was changed to Superintendent of Police. The efficiency of the force is attested by the excellent state of order that prevailed under most difficult conditions in a new country in the throes of a gold-rush, with thousands of new-comers from all parts of the world. J. H. Sullivan succeeded Brew in 1872 and was Superintendent until 1875, when he lost his life in the sinking of the steamship Pacific. His successor was Charles Tod, the last to do battle with Indians in the Saanich area. H. B. Roycroft was the next Superintendent. Each succeeding Superintendent seemed to encounter peculiar difficulties in his tenure of office. Superintendent Roycroft had to face the Oriental riots and excitement of Canadian Pacific Railway construction days, whereas his successor, Frederick Hussey, found stagecoach robberies and train robberies were his particular problem. The next Superintendent was Colin Campbell, for whom labour troubles, emphasized by the Nanaimo coal strike, were the chief worry. W. G. McMynn followed; he was on the force for thirty-eight years and, like all other Superintendents, had worked his way up from the ranks, a practice which contributed in large measure to the esprit de corps of the force. J. H. McMulIen was the next Superintendent, and he was responsible for the introduction of scientific police work, the use of shortwave radio communication, and many other new features. Thomas Parsons, John Shirras, and Roger Peachey were the last three Superintendents. The British Columbia Provincial Police was the oldest territorial force in North America and had the highest physical requirements of any force in Canada. Mr. Clark, as well as outlining the history of the force, recounted several of the major cases they had solved, which gave ample evidence of the skill and efficiency of the organization. Miss J. E. M. Bruce thanked Mr. Clark for a most informative and interesting address. Vancouver Section The regular meeting of the Vancouver Section was held on Tuesday evening, November 14, in the Hotel Grosvenor, with Mr. George Green presiding. The speaker on that occasion was Dr. W. N. Sage, head of the Department of History at the University of British Columbia, who had chosen as his subject Canada at the Mid-century. Sir Wilfrid Laurier had claimed that the twentieth century belonged to Canada, and the first fifty years have been a period of amazing 1951 Notes and Comments 113 development and achievement in which, in effect, British colonials have grown up to become full Canadians, despite the fact that the outward trappings of nationalism in the way of a national flag and anthem are lacking. The speaker was able to present several contrasting aspects of Canada of 1900 and Canada of 1950. In the intervening years two world wars, in which Canada had played a significant role, had produced a complete change in outlook. At the beginning of the century Canada, with the tradition of peaceful relations with her neighbours well established and basking in the security of the Pax Britannica, stood almost apart from the international scene. The mid-century, however, found her right in the midst of world affairs, playing an important part, not only as a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations, but as a full member in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as well as the United Nations. Canada's position had changed in many other respects, for she had become one of the great trading nations of the world, with greatly increased resources, wealth, and population. The passing of fifty years has seen a slow but steady growth of national unity, albeit a unity in diversity. The appreciation of the meeting was tendered to Dr. Sage by Dr. G. H. Raley and Mr. Noel Robinson. The annual meeting of the Section was held in the Grosvenor Hotel on Tuesday evening, December 12, with Mr. George Green in the chair. In an interesting oral report, Mr. Green outlined the activities during his term of office and took the opportunity to thank Mr. E. G. Baynes for his continued generosity in providing a convenient and comfortable meeting-place. The Secretary and Treasurer also presented their reports. The report of the nominating committee was received and adopted, as follows;— Honorary Chairman Mr. E. G. Baynes. Chairman Captain C. W. Cates. Vice-Chairman Mr. J. E. Gibbard. Honorary Secretary - Mr. Don. Buchanan. Honorary Treasurer Rev. F. G. St. Denis. Members of the Council— Mr. D. H. Elliott. Miss K. H. McQueen. Rev. G. Forbes. Miss Eleanor Mercer. Mr. D. W. McGregor. Dr. W. N. Sage. The speaker on this occasion was Erna C. von Engel-Baiersdorff, F.R.A.I, curator of the Anthropological and Pateontological Departments of the Vancouver Museum and formerly associated with the Vienna Natural History Museum. Her address, Prehistoric Anthropoids and Prehistoric Man, was originally delivered in Pecs, Austria, before the International Federation of University Women, and to it had been added accounts of later discoveries down to the present. The speaker, a pupil of the famous anthropologist, Sir Arthur Keith, was eminently competent for the task she had undertaken, which dealt with anthropological discoveries through the ages. The earliest discovery in Egypt was the lower jaw-bone of an anthropoid ape, estimated to be 35,000,000 years old, and from this slim evidence the picture of a full-grown ape little larger than a new-born human child was pieced together. The story of other fossil-ape discoveries was told, which hint at man's origin culminating in the discovery of a few skull fragments in 114 Notes and Comments Jan.-Apr. m England, suggesting the existence of primitive man living there 500,000 to 1,000,000 years ago. The shape of modern man became more clear as of 30,000 years ago, as established by the more complete fossils, tools, and even works of art discovered in the Cro-Magnon caves in France. Madame Engel-Baiersdorff stressed that apes were kin to man only and not ancestors, tracing the story told by bone fragments to the better documented times a few thousand years ago. "Over fifty years of liquid history," sometimes turbulent, generally salty, always entertaining, were covered by Captain F. W. Pamphlet in his talk SS. "Beaver," given to the Vancouver Section at its meeting held in the Grosvenor Hotel on Tuesday, February 20. His narrative was essentially a personal one, relating to his own adventures and those of his family, going back to 1830, when they had first become established at Fort Vancouver. Captain Pamphlet's mother was born at Fort McLoughlin on Milbank Sound in 1836—the year incidentally which witnessed the arrival of the Beaver on this coast. Subsequently the Pamphlet family moved north from Oregon Territory to Fort Victoria with the transfer of the Hudson's Bay Companys' headquarters to Vancouver Island. Captain Pamphlet's father, Captain Tom Pamphlet, first saw Burrard Inlet "in 1854 in the S.S. Otter while in search of Cowichan Indians involved in murders the previous year. In 1856 he sailed the inlet in S.S. Beaver, and in 1860 became her skipper, carrying mail between Victoria and Nanaimo. The Beaver was sold by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1874 to a group of Victoria merchants, Stafford, Saunders & Morton Company, and engaged as a coastwise freighter and tug under various owners until her destruction "for the last time" off Prospect Point in 1888. She was first sunk in 1883 in the Narrows while towing for the Moodyville Mills, beached with the aid of floats and taken to Cook's Ways, Victoria, where she lay for two years before being again placed in service. Her last skipper, 1878-1888, was Captain George Marchant. Of Captain F. W. Pamphlet's numerous anecdotes, the most. significant for Vancouver residents might be entitled " Captain Tom and .the Holdin' Bottom." Joseph Stamp, of Alberni lumber fame, in 1863 decided that Brockton Point in Stanley Park would be an ideal site for a lumber mill. The machinery was brought in on scows, the rafts for pile-driving assembled, and everything prepared for the founding of an industrial empire over the heated protests of Captain Tom Pamphlet, who claimed there was " no holdin' bottom." Came the following day and the seat of empire had vanished with the tide. Captain Tom grabbed a rowboat and after two hours of "town planning" proposed the site of Hastings Mills at the foot of Dunlevy Street, where it remained for many years. Captain Pamphlet emphatically denied that the " walking beam" in Stanley Park is a relic from the Beaver. Only four steamers on the coast had " walking beams"—S.S. Enterprise, S.S. Olympia, S.S. Amelia, and S.S. Yosemite. The Beaver was a " side lever engine " built by Bolton & Watt and had one of the first steam-engines in history. Efforts were made to salvage her after she ran aground off Prospect Point. Americans offered to buy the wreck to place her on view in Tacoma. Captain C. W. Cates' father offered to raise her for $600, but no financial settlement could be reached with the owners, and by 1892 the Beaver had : tendered to Captain Pamphlet Captain C. W. Cates was the speaker at the meeting of the Section held in the Grosvenor Hotel on Tuesday evening, March 27, on which occasion the Vice- Chairman, Mr. John E. Gibbard, presided. In addition to being a recognized authority on Indian lore, Captain Cates is a member of the Provincial Advisory Committee on Indian Affairs and is much interested in the social and economic problems of the Indians of this Province to-day. Captain Cates first became interested in Indian mythology while working with the Indians in his father's stevedoring business, and much of the information in his address The Legendary History of the B.C. Coast Indians was gathered at first hand. In common with many cultures, that of the coastal Indians includes stories of a great flood inflicted on their ancestors as a punishment for evil living. There are certainly numerous evidences on the North Shore of calamity in recent geological times. Twice, according to Captain Cates, glaciers covered the Lower Mainland and extended as far south as Oregon. Benches on the North Shore are in reality old beaches, probably depressed by the ice. Stumps have also been found there in alluvial gravel 200 feet below the surface. Apparently the area witnessed vast floods when glacial lakes, left by the retreating ice, broke through their retaining barriers and covered the landscape with huge deposits. Many may have already been established on the Coast when these tremendous events transpired. According to legends, the gods visited pestilence and drought on the Salish Indians in the interests of spiritual salubrity, but no one could take the hint, so a great flood descended upon the Lower Mainland. Only two canoes weathered the rising water: one containing an uncle and his nephew was tethered on Mount Garibaldi and the other found refuge on Mount Baker. There are also stories of a decline in civilization and a great hero from Point Grey named Hi, who with supernatural powers strove to arrest this decline. Stories of this hero are common along the Coast. The Indians had a very rigid caste system. Their ruling members or royalty were either descendants of the hero or his deputies. The senior member of each royal family had a " talking staff," which at meetings was the symbol of lineage and authority. Captain Cates displayed at the meeting a replica of a " talking staff" made from yellow cedar. Potlatches were held by the chief to choose his successor and to refer his choice to the tribal council for approval. The size of the party and the number of gifts bestowed on the guests were the index of royalty —the more royal the party, the more royal the host. All Indians respected the dignity of royalty, although apparently at a considerable degree of sharp personal discomfort for a royal personage if he were captured in war. He was not forced to live the degraded life of a captive but was dispatched on the spot, bis head being an honoured trophy. Potlatches, in addition to their dynastic function, also had their literary aspects. They were a time for story-telling. Many of these stories concerned animals. The mink, for instance, had a very bad character from coast to coast. According to legend, as told by Chief Scow to Captain Cates, the mink was originally a man whose father was the sun and whose mother was a woman. He used to visit his father on condition that he must not disturb the clouds. This he did in defiance of his father's orders and was thrown out of heaven 116 Notes and Comments Jan.-Apr. as a mink. The Indian was an easy-going fellow, dependent on bountiful nature and ruled by an aloof aristocracy which lost power when the white people came. One of his favourite pastimes, particularly among the Haidas, was wife-hunting. These captive wives handed on to their offspring the old legends of their parent clan, and thus a common mythology grew up along the Coast in spite of the barrier of tongue and the absence of writing. Mr. A. P. Woolacott moved a hearty vote of thanks to Captain Cates. YUKON HISTORICAL SOCIETY During the past ten years several perfunctory efforts have been made to form an Historical Society in Whitehorse, but with little success. In the early winter of 1950 Mr. F. R. Arnot, Canadian Immigration Inspector, called a meeting to discuss the formation of a society, and the decision was reached to proceed with the organization of the Yukon Historical Society. Its objects were: " The collection and preservation of all items and historical documents of cultural and educational value pertaining to the Yukon Territory and eventually to display same in a museum for the information of the general public." George Black, P.C, K.C, a member of the executive, assumed responsibility for securing the necessary papers for incorporation. There are twenty charter members, and the following are its first officers:— President Mr. A. F. Arnot. Vice-President Mrs. W. S. Copland. Secretary-Treasurer Mr. W. D. MacBride. Several committees have been formed and already a fair amount of material has temporarily been stored away in anticipation of the time when a museum building will have been acquired. KOOTENAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Late in the fall of 1950 the decision was reached by a group of interested citizens in the Nelson region to organize a Kootenay Historical Society, and to that end a provisional committee for the Nelson Branch was set up, as follows:— Chairman Mr. Ross Fleming. Secretary Mrs. B. Miller. Treasurer Mr. R. R. Brown. Members— Mr. Boyd C. Affleck. Mrs. Vincent Fink. Mr. John Applewhaite. Mrs. C. H. Hamilton. Mr. G. Benwell. Mrs. James McGregor. Mrs. R. H. Dill. Mrs. W. J. Sturgeon. Mr. Howard Thurman. When the general membership has reached a satisfactory number, permanent officers and a Board of Directors will be elected. In the meantime active steps are being taken to collect historical material relating to the Kootenay country, and an excellent exhibit was arranged for display at the time of the fall exhibition. The Nelson City Council has granted the Society use of a building for head- 1951 Notes and Comments 117 quarters, and it is anticipated that soon a flourishing organization will be under THE MONTANA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY This Quarterly is happy to welcome still another local history publication in the Pacific Northwest with the appearance of Volume I, No. 1, of The Montana Magazine of History for January, 1951. Published by the Historical Society of Montana, which was founded in 1865, its editor is Albert J. Partoll, and the subscription rate is $3 per year. Judging by the calibre of the articles in the first issue and the excellence of its format, Montanans may well be proud of this periodical. An interesting ceremony took place on Friday evening, March 9, in the rotunda in front of the Legislative Chamber in the Parliament Buildings, Victoria, on the occasion of the unveiling of a bronze plaque commemorating British Columbia's entry into Canadian Confederation. Major H. Cuthbert Holmes, President of the Association, was in charge of proceedings and called upon Dr. W. N. Sage, British Columbia and Yukon representative on the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, to make the formal presentation of the plaque. Dr. Sage, in a few well-chosen words, described the purpose of the Board and read the inscription. British Columbia Becomes a Province of Canada, 1871. To this land of mountains, lakes, rivers, islands and inlets came explorers, fur traders, gold seekers and settlers. During the middle years of the nineteenth century the Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia were founded and the Stikine Territory was organized. These colonies were united in 1866 as British Columbia which became the sixth Province of the Dominion on 20th July, 1871. Hon. Joseph William Trutch was the first Lieutenant-Governor and Hon. John Foster McCreight the first Premier. The Honourable W. T. Straith, K.C., Provincial Secretary and Minister of Education, accepted the plaque on behalf of the Government of British Columbia and unveiled it. At the conclusion of the ceremony those present proceeded to the reading-room of the Provincial Library, where an address was delivered by Dr. Sage. A NOTE ON "COAL-SEEKERS ON PEACE RIVER, 1903" The following additional information on several points mentioned in the diary of J. S. Leitch, as edited by Dr. W. N. Sage and published in the British Columbia Historical Quarterly, XIV (1950), pp. 83-108, has been provided by Mr. A. F. Buckham, Nanaimo, B.C.:— " In this article, J. S. Leitch says that the chief of the party of coal-seekers was a civil engineer named Davies, who had been in the area before 1896 as a member of 'what was probably the first Dominion Government geological survey in that part of B.C.' (p. 83). A trail encountered by the coal-seekers is referred to as the ' Du Pont trail of 1896' (p. 101). " The Government expedition with which F. de C. Davies was connected was one sent out by the Department of Railways and Canals with which department he was apparently still connected in 1903. During the rush to the Klondike gold- fields an agitation was started for the construction of a railway from a point on an existing Canadian railway (the nearest point was Edmonton), and also one from a Canadian port on the Pacific, both to reach the Yukon via Canadian territory solely. In response to this agitation, the department sent out parties to survey such routes in 1898,1899 and 1900. The parties were headed by John S. O'Dwyer, engineer-in-charge, and also V. H. Dupont and C. F. K. Dibblee. During the season of 1898, Dupont proceeded from Edmonton to the junction of the Finlay and the Parsnip, the commencement of Peace River proper, thence returning he located a route for a railroad along the south bank of the Peace easterly for about 200 miles to the eastern boundary of British Columbia. This was the party of which Dupont was a member. • The parties did do some geological work, for they took notes on and collected specimens of the rocks encountered on behalf of the Geological Survey of Canada. Indeed, the next year, 1899, Dupont made the first recorded discovery of coal in the Groundhog coalfield, northwest of Hazelton. G. M. Dawson, Director of the Geological Survey, from Dupont's 1899 work, added a large area of Cretaceous rocks to the geological map of Canada and predicted that large and important coalfields would be found in the Groundhog area. " The official publications concerning these surveys are in the following annual reports of the department, which were also published in the Sessional Papers of the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada:— "Annual Report, Department of Railways and Canals, for the fiscal year from July 1,1898, to June 30, 1899, Ottawa, Queen's Printer, 1900. "Annual Report, Department of Railways and Canals, for the fiscal year from July 1, 1899, to June 30,1900, Ottawa, Queen's Printer, 1901. "Annual Report, Department of Railways and Canals, for the fiscal year from July 1,1900, to June 30, 1901, Ottawa, King's Printer, 1902." CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE Burt R. Campbell, Past President of the British Columbia Historical Association, has been associated with the printing trade and newspaper publishing in this Province for well over half a century. Now a resident of Kamloops, B.C., he is active in the affairs of the Kamloops Museum Association, as well as being associated with the Okanagan Historical Society. Thomas Dunbabin, now a resident of Ottawa, Canada, served for several years as Press Attache to the office of the High Commissioner for the Commonwealth of Australia in Ottawa. Andrew Forest Muir, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of History at Daniel Baker College, Brownwood, Texas. As a graduate student in American History of Rice Institute, Houston, Texas, he spent some time as an educator in the Hawaiian Islands, later returning to the University of Texas, where he obtained his doctorate. 1951 Notes and Comments 119 He has contributed several articles to the Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Walter N. Sage, Ph.D., is head of the Department of History at the University of British Columbia and the British Columbia and Yukon representative on the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. F. H. Soward is a professor in the Department of History of the University of British Columbia and Director of International Studies at that institution. Wilson Duff is anthropologist of the Provincial Museum at Victoria, B.C. THE NORTHWEST BOOKSHELF Copy-book of Letters Outward &c begins 29th May, 1680 ends 5 July, 1687. Edited by E. E. Rich, with an introduction by E. G. R. Taylor. Toronto: The Champlain Society; and London: The Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1948 Pp.xli.415.xv. James Isham's Observations on Hudson's Bay, 1743, and Notes and Observations on a Book Entitled "A Voyage to Hudson's Bay in the Dobbs Galley," 1749. Edited with an introduction by E. E. Rich, assisted by A. M. Johnston. With a joint letter from the Chairman of the Champlain Society and the Chairman of the Hudson's Bay Record Society. Toronto: The Champlain Society; and London: The Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1949. Pp. cv, 352, xv. The appearance of James Isham's Observations brings to an end the collaboration between the Champlain Society and the Hudson's Bay Record Society that has produced twelve excellent volumes from the treasure-house of Canadian history to be found in the Archives of the Hudson's Bay Company in London, England. That this has been a mutually profitable and advantageous association cannot be gainsaid, and it is equally gratifying to realize that the publication programme of the Hudson's Bay Record Society will in no way be impaired by the cessation of the joint publication plan. Considering the vast amount of material pertinent to Canadian history in the London Archives of the Company, in terms of the long range of years as well as of the large territory involved, it was only to be expected that all volumes would not be of equal interest to all regions. The Pacific Northwest, however, has fared particularly well in this respect, although neither of the two volumes under review is of any great local significance. The volume of Letters Outward, despite the terminal dates specified in the copybook itself, actually contains letters from 1679 to 1694. Consequently, it constitutes an excellent supplement to the three volumes of minutes already published, es of Company procedures, plans, and tech- which in effect gave only the ba niques. The letters pi more intelligible many of the di is recorded as minutes. The period under ist critical that the Hudson's Bay Company had to face. Not only was it meeting all of the problems inherent in the founding of a grand commercial undertaking that was being operated by remote control from London, but it was hampered internally by disloyalty, if not dishonesty, on the part of some of its employees, and externally by the active and frequently all too successful competition from New France. This series of letters ends at probably the darkest moment in the Company's history—the Bay posts of Albany, Rupert, and Moose had been seized by the French and the surviving personnel transported by the rigorous overland route to New France. The selection of Dr. Eva Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Geography of the University of London, to write the introduction to this volume was a most happy British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. XV, Nos. 1 and 2. 121 ii. p 122 The Northwest Bookshelf Jan.-Apr. )f Company affairs at this juncture necessarily implies cartographical research. While this volume deals primarily with a series of disasters, there was at least one glimmer of hope, for Henry Kelsey's penetration north of Churchill and in the Nelson River area was undertaken between 1689 and 1692. These were important undertakings that promised well for the future, but unfortunately nothing of any consequence appears in the Letters Outward concerning them, and one can only hope that subsequent volumes will prove to be more informative. As usual, the material has been ably edited. The concise biographical sketches that are so extremely useful have been continued and, in addition, there is an excellent dictionary of posts. The two items from the pen of James Isham that comprise the twelfth volume of the publications of the Hudson's Bay Record Society give ample evidence not only of the wealth of material deposited in the Company's archives but also of the wisdom of making these resources more easily accessible. Indeed, it probably would have been greatly to the benefit of the Company in the mid-eighteenth century had their own officials, to say nothing of the general public, been aware of the existence of these two manuscripts, for at that time not only was authentic information concerning the Hudson Bay region lacking, but misinformation was all too freely available, thanks largely to the activities of Arthur Dobbs and Henry Ellis. The introduction, in this instance, has been contributed by E. E. Rich, who, as general editor of the series for the Hudson's Bay Record Society, has been amazingly self-effacing hitherto. It is admirable in every respect. Not only does it provide a careful summary of the governorship of Sir Bibye Lake during the critical year 1742-43 and the necessary detail concerning James Isham's career in the Bay region, but it is particularly valuable for the clear and concise sketch of the events leading up to Arthur Dobb's attack upon the Hudson's Bay Company that culminated in the Parliamentary Inquiry of 1749. Neither the Observations nor the Notes are lengthy documents, but they are at tunes surprisingly detailed and also, incidentally, quite self-revealing. While they do contain considerable information of interest to historians, as for example Isham's advocacy of the establishment of posts in the interior country contrary to the Company's policy of clinging to the shores of Hudson Bay, by and large the students of natural history have gained the most. Isham was a pioneer in the description of the flora and fauna of this portion of North America and, indeed, as the editor has pointed out, " Isham made a genuine and original contribution to knowledge" in his descriptions of birds. Anthropologists have not fared quite so well. There are many interesting passages descriptive of Indians and Indian life and useful illustrative sketches, but frequently they are disappointing largely because of Isham's lack of appreciation, if not of understanding, of that which he was observing. He was in the employ of a company engaged in trading furs, and that necessarily was his first consideration. Nowhere is this more clearly illustrated than in the vocabulary of English and Indian words and sample conversations that he included. Useful and all as they are—and certainly unintentionally revealing of Company practices—as an aid to linguistic studies they cannot but be a disappointment because of the very narrowness of their coverage. Of more than passing interest is the anthropological material extracted from 1951 The Northwest Bookshelf 123 Andrew Graham's "Observations on Hudson's Bay," written in 1775, included Five years elapsed between the writing of the Observations and the Notes, and while in so far as subject-matter is concerned they are complementary, one distinction should be borne in mind—the former were a voluntary effort whereas the latter were produced at the Company's request to refute statements published in Henry Ellis' A Voyage to Hudsons Bay. For that reason the decision to include still another Isham document was a wise one. Appendix A contains Isham's journal of occurrences at York Factory during the period that the Dobbs Galley and the California were in the Bay. This is more than a diary, for it includes letters that passed between Isham and the captains of the two ships, William Moor and Francis Smith. As is to be expected, the editorial work for both of these volumes is of a high order and the same fine standard of book-making is in evidence. Willard E. Ireland. Victoria, B.C. Arthur Carrie, the Biography of a Great Canadian. By Hugh M. Urquhart, with a foreword by Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts. Toronto: J. M. Dent and Sons (Canada) Ltd., 1950. Pp. xix, 363. Maps and ills. $5. This painstaking and revealing biography was a labour of love for its author. Begun in 1934 shortly after Currie's death, delayed by the dismaying gaps in the records which Colonel Urquhart managed to fill in in large part by personal interviews, laid aside for five years by the pressure of military duties in the Second World War, completed under the strain of increasing ill-health which resulted in the author's death before his book appeared in print, it stands as a fitting memorial to Canada's greatest soldier, who deserved better treatment than he received at the hands of his countrymen. That Currie was a really great soldier was known and recognized before this biography appeared. Smuts, who was in a position to know, wrote in his discerning foreword, " He may not have had the flair of a Foch, but I do not see why he could not have adequately filled the role of any of the other leaders on our side, if he had been given the authority." Three of his superiors, Generals Alderson, Byng, and Haig, were warm in their praise of his leadership and supported his rise in rank. Three future field marshals of the British Army who served on his staff were equally warm in their appraisal of Currie as they knew him. Colonel Urquhart gives ample evidence for Currie's qualities as a leader, and himself sums it up as being based upon "common sense and a balanced outlook." The man never lost his head in a crisis, even as nasty a one as the second battle of Ypres, and never accepted unthinkingly the policies of his superiors, as he showed at Passchendaele. As Sir Arthur once said, " Things that some people might call genius I would call common sense, and many things we were ordered to do I would call foolishness." It was this independence of judgment which made possible Sir Robert Borden's indictment of the policies of Sir Henry Wilson, C.I.G.S., at a meeting of the Imperial War Cabinet in June, 1918. The voice was Borden's but the views were Currie's, supplied at the Prime Minister's m 124 The Northwest Bookshelf Jan.-Apr. request, and they had a marked effect upon Lloyd George, who later even thought of making Currie commander-in-chief, with Sir John Monash, of the Australian Army, as his chief of staff. That Currie had defects of personality, whch kept him from being idolized by his soldiers, was known by every " old sweat" who served in France. Here again Colonel Urquhart is equally frank and fair in his judgment and gives chapter and verse in support of the criticism. Had Sir Arthur possessed the temperament of a Robert E. Lee, or, in his own command, of a Cy Peck, he might have been spared in later days the sharp criticisms which he received from angry veterans that were utilized by others for baser reasons. He might also have been given by the Government and the people of Canada a warmer welcome home than the coldly official one received. What was not known in detail before this biography appeared was the extent of the intrigues which developed against Currie during the war. Even before it he had tangled with the Minister of Militia, Sam Hughes, but had managed to hold his ground and win that ebullient politician's confidence. To that was due his first war-time appointment as commander of the Second Brigade, an appointment which released him from a civilian career that had ended in a humiliating financial crash. But Currie's firm refusal to promote the Minister's son beyond the rank he believed him capable of filling, and his determination to keep politics out of his brigade, his division, or his corps, made Sam Hughes an implacable enemy and caused him endless worry. The cabal which formed in London, and which found an ally on occasion in Lord Beaverbrook, used every possible weapon against Currie, from his legacy of debts of civilian life to his alleged wastefulness of his troops' lives. His enemies failed in their purpose, but the story of their efforts makes painful !>.*•!?''< and disgraceful reading. In a sense Currie's life after his return to civilian life was an anticlimax. He laboured diligently as Principal of McGill University, and his biographer works equally hard to make a satisfactory assessment of his efforts but with the same lack of complete success. He was deeply respected by the officers who had served under him—some of whom sponsored this volume—but he had to launch a libel suit almost ten years after the war to defend his military reputation. His death in 1933 was overshadowed by the clouds of difficulties that the depression had caused. With the passage of time, more and more of his countrymen will agree with Colonel Urquhart that Currie was a great Canadian. F. H. Soward. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. Petroglyphs of Central Washington. By H. Thomas Cain. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1950. Map and ills. $1. This attractive little paper-bound volume assembles most of the recoverable data on the Indian rock pictures of Central Washington, extending northward to the Canadian Border the area covered by such systematic surveys. Its title is somewhat misleading, largely because it reflects the present confusion of terminology on this subject. A petroglyph is generally accepted to be any figure " carved, incised, pecked, or abraded into the rock surface " (p. 4); a pictograph 1951 The Northwest Bookshelf 125 " any figure developed by the use of color" (p. 4); but no general term embracing both has yet gained general acceptance. Cain suggests petrography as the inclusive term, but balks at using it in the title because of its geological connotation. Neither does he use it often in the text, preferring pictography—e.g., " the two basic types of pictography" (p. 4). Considering this confusion of terminology and the fact that his survey includes 257 pictographs and only 152 petroglyphs, it is difficult to see why Cain used the title he does. The survey covers forty sites through the centre of Washington from the Canadian Border, along the Columbia River and its tributaries, almost to Oregon; and the description of these sites takes up the largest single section of the book. Forty-six text figures based on field sketches show the rock pictures, and the location and character of the sites are described. This reviewer would have liked to see a rather fuller description of each site, specifically notes on the size of the figures and a list of the names which Cain applied to each element for purposes of analysis. A second large section discusses the distribution of fifty of the most common design elements. Here the subjective element looms rather large, as the writer has grouped under admittedly arbitrary names—e.g., "spoked wheel," "sunburst"—design elements which are seldom identical in detail, and has analysed the distribution of each group. Thirty of the elements are plotted on small maps, the other twenty are briefly noted, and a chart at the end of the book analyses the distribution of these fifty elements over the forty sites. The remaining quarter of the book is given over to a discussion of pictographic art, general considerations, and conclusions. Rock paintings can be studied from the view-point of the motivations that produced them or from the view-point of art and the diffusion of art styles. In one case it is the reason they were done that is of primary interest; in the other it is the picture per se. Similar designs may hot always carry the same cultural implications. Ethnographic accounts indicate that in local areas such as the Interior of British Columbia at least pictographs were used to record powerful supernatural experiences and other events of importance in an individual's life. However, there is no assurance that they were so motivated elsewhere. Failing further ethnographic information, Cain's study and others like it can throw some tinuity of motifs and methods of execution " show them not to be mere doodling. Pains were taken to place the work in " an attractive and conspicuous spot" (p. 5). In this observation Cain seems to ignore cases like Site 3, where it had been "necessary for the artist to work lying flat on his back" (p. 8). Rock pictures were placed at definite types of places, usually near habitation sites. Pictographs and petroglyphs were made at the same type of sites and employed the same design elements. It is interesting to note that these last two conclusions are the opposite to what J. H. Steward reported in Petroglyphs of California and Adjoin ing States. The analysis of the design elements and their distribution fails to bring to light any design areas or local art styles. Cain does distinguish three petrographic areas in Washington, but these are based on the medium employed rather than the design elements themselves. The first of these is the north central part of the State, where the sites are exclusively pictographic; the second and third are the 126 The Northwest Bookshelf Jan.-Apr. geographic centre of the State along the Columbia River, where exclusive petro- glyphic and combined pictographic and petroglyphic sites respectively are found. This situation, he admits, might be largely due to the type of rock present in these Certain of the design elements link the art style of this area with other areas to the south and the west. Cain finds the style here " merely an extension of the lower Columbia petroglyphic art " (p. 49) and adds that " the forms in this whole area show a striking similarity to the petrography of Oregon, which has been shown to be related to the appearances in the Great Basin to the South " (p. 54). He deplores the lack of published information on the known wealth of rock pictures in the Interior of British Columbia, which precludes any comparisons in that direction. As for a comparison of his area with the pictographs of the British Columbia Coast, Cain states with a certainty, which this reviewer, for one, does not share, " In no case is it possible to show the slightest connection between the two" (p. 49). Further and more detailed conclusions, which will carry profound implications of culture contact and diffusion, will have to await further detailed surveys in such areas as the Interior of British Columbia. This little volume is a step in that Wilson Duff. At the time of the creation of the United Nations in San Francisco the University of California hit upon the happy idea of publishing a series of volumes upon its member nations which would make clearer their backgrounds, policies, and purposes. This volume, the tenth in the United Nations Series, is a credit to Professor George W. Brown, of the University of Toronto, who was its editor, and his twenty-five contributors. Co-operative book-making is no easy art, and it says much for Mr. Brown's patience and tenacity that he has succeeded in assembling the most balanced account of Canada that has yet appeared. The editor divided the volume into six sections, dealing respectively with the Setting, Historical Background, Economy, Political and Constitutional Scene, Social and Cultural Institutions, and External Relations. By this arrangement the reader is able to get a broad survey of Canadian development which covers topics not often adequately described, such as Local Government, the Social Services, the Cultural Pattern, and Religion and Religious Institutions, the latter coming rather unexpectedly from Professor A. R. M. Lower. To read R. M. Dawson on the constitution, D. G. Creighton on the genesis and integration of the Dominion, J. B. Brebner on the North Atlantic Triangle, and H. A. Innis on fundamental and historic elements in the Canadian economy, is to obtain from the acknowledged authority in the field a concise exposition which often represents the distillation of his work in several previous books. In addition to his editorial duties, Mr. Brown contributed a thoughtful introduction in which he 1951 The Northwest Bookshelf 127 summarizes Canada's problem as having to meet simultaneously "the baffling difficulties of geography and sectionalism, the necessity of developing and harmonizing two types of culture, and the problem of reaching political maturity within a complex and rapidly changing network of external relations." In his judgment, Canada has been most successful in her material and institutional development, but there are hopeful signs in recent times of " a maturing cultural development." The volume includes maps, illustrations, a select bibliography, and an index. Regrettably, but in keeping with the publishing trend, the foot-notes are at le back. F.H. S BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Organized October 31st, 1922 PATRON His Honour Clarence Wallace, Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. OFFICERS, 1951 Hon. W. T. Stratth Honorary President. Major H. Cuthbert Holmes - - - President. Burt R Campbell Past President. D. A. McGregor 1st Vice-President. Mrs. R. B. White 2nd Vice-President. Miss Madge Wolfenden - - - Honorary Secretary. H. C GnxrLAND Honorary Treasurer. MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL E. G. Baynes. Miss Helen R. Boutilier. Rev. John Goodfellow. J. K. Nesbitt. Dr. Margaret A. Ormsby. Dr. W. N. Sage. WnxARD E. Ireland H. C. Gilliland Captain C. W. Cates OBJECTS To encourage historical research and stimulate public interest in history; to promote the preservation and marking of historic sites, buildings, relics, natural features, and other objects and places of historical interest, and to publish historical sketches, studies, and documents. MEMBERSHIP Ordinary members pay a fee of $2 annually in advance. The fiscal year commences on the first day of January. All members in good standing receive the British Columbia Historical Quarterly without further charge. Correspondence and fees may be addressed to the Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. THE BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY JULY-OCTOBER, 1951 BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Published by the Archives of British Columbia in co-operation with the British Columbia Historical Association. EDITOR Willard E. Ireland, Provincial Archives, Victoria. ASSOCIATE EDITOR Madge Wolfenden, Provincial Archives, Victoria. ADVISORY BOARD J. C. Goodfellow, Princeton. . T. A. Rickard, Victoria. W. N. Sage, Vancouver. Editorial communications should be addressed to the Editor. Subscriptions should be sent to the Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. Price, 50(( the copy, or $2 the year. Members of the British Columbia Historical Association in good standing receive the Quarterly without further charge. Neither the Provincial Archives nor the British Columbia Historical Association assumes any responsibility for statements mac BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY "Any country worthy of a future should be interested in its past." Vol. XV Victoria, B.C., July-October, 1951 Nos. 3 ani CONTENTS Labour and Socialism in British Columbia: A Survey of Historical Development before 1903. By John Tupper Saywell 1 Archibald Menziei Trophies. By Richard H. Dillon 1 Fur-trade Biographies: An Index. Compiled by T. R. McCloy , . 2 Notes and Comments: British Columbia Historical Association, 2 Okanagan Historical Society! 2 Kamloops Museum Association 2 cal Society 2 icDonald's Monument, Toroda Creek, State of Washington 2 A Note on " George Mason, Priest and Schoolmaster " 2 Contributors to this Issue 2 The Northwest Bookshelf: Peter Skene Ogden's Snake Country Journals, 1824-25 and 1825-26. By Margaret A. Ormsby 2 The History of Canada or New France by Father Frangois Du Creux, SJ. By Walter N. Sage 2 Ravenhill: The Memoirs of an Educational Pioneer. Kolehmainen and Hill: Haver By Willard E. Ireland Some Modern Historians of Br By Walter N. Sage Papers Read before the Histt Series HI, No. 6. By Willard E. Ireland— LABOUR AND SOCIALISM IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: A SURVEY OF HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT BEFORE 1903* Human organization pre-dates recorded history; indeed, it may be said that organization for economic, social, or political ends appears to be one of the characteristic, if not innate, features of human behaviour. Organization for specific economic ends, however, such as the amelioration of industrial abuses, is a product of the modern economic system and has risen and acquired prominence only within the last two centuries. In short, the labour movement, so-called, is a product of that rather popular phenomenon to which so much has been attributed—the Industrial Revolution. It was motivated, if not necessitated, by the " concentration of labor in urban centers and the changing economic position of the worker."1 The quarter-century following the Napoleonic Wars witnessed increased and often militant activity in both Great Britain and the United States—activity that was clearly reflected in the early appearance of craft unions in Upper and Lower Canada. In England intensive organization occurred among skilled tradesmen, while simultaneously Robert Owen and others sought to unite labour on a broader national front. Roughly the same pattern was followed in the United States, although more emphasis was given to town and city guilds. In retrospect, how- , ever, this early activity appears to have been relatively irnimportant; it was ill-nourished and short-lived, for neither labour nor capitalism was sufficiently advanced to stimulate and sustain a strong labour movement. On the contrary, it was the period following the mid-century conflicts that witnessed the emergence of modern trade-unionism. This movement cannot be discussed here; perhaps it is sufficient to state simply that the foundations of the national and international labour organizations that exert such a weighty influence to-day were laid in this era. In many ways the federation of the British North American colonies was a result of the economic changes that transformed international * This essay won the Alan Boag Scholarship at the University of British Columbia in 1951. The scholarship is awarded on the recommendation of the Heads of the Departments of Economics and History and the Director of International Studies for the best essay or report on some aspect of socialism. (1) Harold Faulkner and Mark Starr, Labor in America, New York, 1944, p. 39. 130 John Tupper Saywell July-Oct. society during the latter half of the nineteenth century, for historical scholarship has revealed that the creation of the Canadian nation arose in part from the failure of the individual colonies to solve the problems posed by the new age of industrialism. During the three decades following Confederation the young dominion took on much of its present complexion and arrangements: the population increased by over one million; Sir John A. Macdonald's National Policy had as its declared object the economic integration of a diversified nation; behind the protective shield of the National Policy, "Maritimers" struggled, with mixed success, to substitute modern industry for their archaic wood, wind, and water economy; subsidized by a substantial tariff, manufacturing developed in Eastern Canada; and the Canadian Northwest, opened at last to direct communication with the world market, steadily increased in population and productivity. In July, 1871, after four years of indecision, the Crown Colony of British Columbia chose federation with Canada in preference to annexation to the United States or the maintenance of the status quo. To-day the moment and difficulty of that choice may escape us, for it appears only natural and proper that this Province should be a part of the Canadian nation. Yet for some years it appeared possible—to some, I inevitable—that the Pacific slope would become American. In choosing as they did, the colonists cut the tried and proven ties, both economic and social, that had linked them to the United States in favour of an unknown quantity. For many years the wisdom of their action remained in question, as federation did not become a reality until new bonds of steel were united at Craigellachie in 1885. This economic union inaugurated a phenomenal process of development in British Columbia which reached its peak during the buoyant prosperity of the " age of Laurier": fishing, mining, and lumbering underwent vigorous expansion; population increased by 500 per cent before the turn of the century; almost overnight hitherto unknown mineral claims mushroomed to prominence as prosperous urban centres; and, as a result, the political, economic, and social structure and long-standing balances became sadly disarranged. The history of British Columbia is varied and interesting, full of charm and local colour; but in it are visible the same forces that characterized the history of Eastern Canada—the fur, mining, and settlement frontier, the struggle for representative and responsible government, and the often contrary pulls and conditioning influences of empire and repub- 1951 Labour and Socialism in British Columbia he. Yet by 1900 the main lines of this development had been determined and the necessary choices made. Thus, within a narrow and definitive span of fifty years, the student of history has spread before him a graphic and vivid picture of human behaviour. Limited in time and space, our observations can be piercing and our facts verifiable, although our analysis may never permit generalization or profundity. Nevertheless, the value of this two-dimensional limitation outweighs its defects and in so doing justifies this regional study. Until 1858 British settlement on the Pacific Coast was in the main confined to Vancouver Island and peopled by British immigrants. The discovery of gold in that year occasioned a sudden transformation. Thousands of Americans deserted the waning riches of the Sacramento Valley to seek their fortunes on the lucrative sand-bars of the Fraser River. The greater proportion of this alien population retreated before the onslaught of the depression six years later, but only to return again near the turn of the century, when British Columbia once more began to reap the bounties of nature. Although the American invasion was far more spectacular, it was neither as large nor as constant as the immigration of British stock. The following figures give some indication of the extent of immigration into the Province between 1881 and 1901:— Year TotatPopulatton Britisb-born A-r.ericar.-bon, 1881 ■ . 49,459 98,173 178,657 5,783 20,163 30,630 6^567 These facts are of great importance in such a study as this, for with him the immigrant brought the influence of his social, economic, and political environment. Toward the end of the century the penetration of the Americans can be used in part to explain the outburst of radicalism. Thirty-five years earlier the British influence can be seen in the origin of the labour movement. L. G. Reynolds has stressed the attachment of the British immigrant to his union and has quoted one as having said:- born are quoted in L. G. Reynolds, The British mic adjustment in Canada, Toronto, 1935, p. 298; >e found in R. H. Coats and M. C. Maclean, The in Canada, Toronto, 1943, p. 56. 132 John Tupper Saywell July-0 Jnionism is bred right into your blood over there. I was born into it myself; I ieen a member for thirty-five years. I can't conceive of any c: vhich I would leave the union; if I became a multi-millionaire tor Upon his arrival in Canada the immigrant would immediately join the ■ union of his calling, although the adjustment involved was often very difficult; or, if such an organization was not present, he would exert his energies toward its creation, for the absence of a union left " him with a temporary sense of loss, a feeling of a gap in his occupational environ- It was the British influence that resulted in the organization of labour- almost simultaneously with the beginning of industrial, activity in the colony. A strike in the Nanaimo coal mines in 1861, although shortlived and futile, reveals the existence of organization at this early date.5 Two years later the first craft union appeared, apparently in imitation of a British union of the same name.6 From 1864 to 1871 the recurrent depressions were accompanied by constant agitation among the coal- miners on Vancouver Island for steadier work, healthier working conditions, and higher wages. Such organizations as did exist were necessarily small, fragmentary and local in scope. The economic foundations upon which the larger industrial union was to be erected had yet to arrive. The seventies represent a decade of steady growth—a period in which the bases for a strong and concerted trade-union movement were laid. British Columbia federated with Canada, the Canadian Pacific Railway slowly and intermittently pushed across the continent, and the Province recovered, for a short while only, from the depression. It was not until the 1880's, however, that an accumulation of factors resulted in large- scale labour organization. New elements appeared—elements that breed and nourish discontent, such as the concentration of capital, the large- scale and often ruthless exploitation of labour, recession, and unemployment. In addition, increasing competition from Oriental labour, although often more imaginary than real, aggravated the working-class, and labour leaders advised organization in what was considered to be (3) L. G. Reynolds, op. cit., p. 163. (4) Ibid., p. 173. (5) Victoria British Colonist, October 4 and 10, 1861. (6) This union, the " Journeymen and Shipwrights Association of Victoria and Vancouver Island," was formed " to protect their rights, regulate the number of hours to work, and the amount of wages they shall accept." Ibid., February 17, 1863. 1951 Labour and Socialism in British Columbia 133 righteous self-defence.7 Anti-Oriental agitation was to remain a prominent feature of the labour movement for fifty years; in fact, it has not entirely disappeared to-day. Thus labour was confronted with new problems which demanded new or vastly improved types of organization. Three distinct, yet interrelated, trends can be seen as labour attempted to meet the new challenges. The first was simply an increased tendency to establish craft unions. By 1890 few were the occupations that had not organized on this level. These unions agitated for improved conditions, but met with little success because of the narrowness of their application. The second outstanding feature of the period, the appearance of the Order of the Knights of Labour, tended to give unity and direction to what had hitherto been a rather vague and disorganized movement. The first local of the Knights was established in Victoria in 1884,8 and . branches rapidly spread throughout the Province. The order had originated as a secret society of craftsmen in Philadelphia immediately after the Civil War, and while other non-secret organizations of a similar type were weakened by public and official opposition, the Knights continued to grow. The period between 1878, when the order came into the open, and 1886, when it reached its peak, represents nearly a decade of steady expansion, but by 1890 its strength had been dissipated by a series of futile and endless struggles. In its origin and during the decade of success the Knights emphasized a form of fraternal co-operation and devoted much of their time to the discussion of social and economic problems, although on occasion they did become extremely vocal. The cause of the order's downfall can be partly explained by the fact that after several disastrous strikes in 1886 other unions were becoming increasingly conservative, whereas the Knights were forsaking their early moderation in favour of a more aggressive and radical policy. (7) The actual adverse effect of the Oriental is somewhat difficult to ascertain. After having made an intensive examination of the relevant material, one is inclined to believe that labourites exaggerated the evils resulting from their presence. The Orientals became the scapegoat, however, and the blame for every malady was at one time or another placed upon them. The first legislation attempting to limit immigration was introduced into the Legislative Assembly in 1872 but failed to pass. The question then became an annual issue, both in Victoria and, after 1878, in Ottawa. British Columbia legislation was continually disallowed by the Federal Government, and it was not until 1885, following the report of a Royal Commission, that the Dominion Government instituted restrictive legislation. Cf. Charles J. Woodsworth, Canada and the Orient, Toronto, 1941, passim. (8) Victoria Colonist, March 4, April 19, and December 19,1884. 134 John Tupper Saywell July-Oct. There was a time-lag of many years both in the rise and decline of the order in British Columbia. The Knights immediately introduced a programme of benevolent fraternalism and social education in the Province. By 1885 the organization was of sufficient strength and wealth to publish a very respectable journal, the Industrial News, which stated in the first issue:— ... it will be published in the interests of the laboring classes, that is, the wage earners of the community for their social, moral and intellectual betterment. It will advocate a reduction of the hours of labor, that the toiling masses may have an opportunity to improve their minds, to beautify their homes, and to take that place in society which, from their numbers and importance, they are entitled.' Although the existence of the Knights was rather short, its importance should not be underestimated; the locals fought with all the fervour of crusaders; the ideas of organization, unity, and solidarity among the working-class were greatly enhanced; and, above all, a dynamic urge was given to unionism that remained long after the Knights had vanished. Two other innovations of the 1880's merit attention, although their influence was not great until the following decade. The first was the affiliation of many unions with the American Federation of Labour, formed in 1886 by Samuel Gompers and P. J. McGuire. Both in organization and in policy the American Federation of Labour differed radically from the Knights: it was organized as a loose confederation of national and local unions, whereas the latter body was one big union with subordinate assemblies; and it rejected at the outset the radical philosophy possessed by the Knights in its waning years, preferring a policy of collective bargaining to either direct or political action. Prior to 1890 the printers, shipwrights, and ironmoulders, only to mention a few, became affiliated with the American Federation of Labour. The second was the establishment of city labour councils and affiliation with the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada.10 For many years, however, workmen on the Pacific Coast were not at all enthusiastic about the Congress, as both the personnel and the philosophy were furnished by Eastern Canada.11 During the long recession from 1887 to 1896 the labour movement slumbered and little organization took place. Nevertheless, two factors . (9) Victoria Industrial News, December 26, 1885. (10) The first was established in Vancouver in 1889, and within a year Victoria and New Westminster had followed suit. 1951 Labour and Socialism in British Columbia 135 served to unify and solidify the ranks of labour. Oriental immigration, which has been discussed above, was the first cohesive element. The universal demand for the nine-hour day' was the second. The " nine- hour movement," which occurred in Eastern Canada during the seventies, received little attention by the press in British Columbia, and its progress is thus difficult to follow. In fact all the Victoria Colonist had to report was: " Victoria Trades Unions commemorated the first anniversary of the nine-hour day of labor, yesterday, in the hope of next year celebrating the accomplishment of eight hours."12 This hope failed of fulfilment, however, although the eight-hour movement received more publicity and public sympathy than did its predecessor. Late in 1890 a broad organization of all unions known as the British Columbia Federated Labour Congress was established to fight in concert for the eight-hour day. The movement transcended the realms of labour, and even the sanctity of the church offered no escape from the hue and cry. In fact, it was among the clergy that the matter was most strongly and consistently pressed. Bishop John Nicholas Lemmens of the Roman Catholic diocese of British Columbia and Alaska spoke with emotion to his congregation. Let me in conclusion exhort you to cultivate the spirit of work, to be closely united among yourselves, and to be sincerely attached to your religious duties. Labor, Union, Religion—this should be the motto of every working man. Labor will give you a proud independence, union will be your strength, and religion will be your consolation, comfort and dignity.13 Still another clergyman exclaimed: " Friends, let us remember that this is Christ's religion to undo heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go free and that we break every yoke."14 By 1890 the relations of labour and management were rapidly approaching a crisis, as both parties became aware of the power of the well-organized trade-union. A strike among the Nanaimo coal-miners in 1877 was settled only when the Government dispatched a company of militia and several armed vessels to restore order.15 Strikes were (12) Victoria Colonist, May 2, 1890. (13) Ibid., July 22, 1890. (14) Ibid., July 29, 1890. The speaker was Rev. P. McF. Maclean, pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Victoria. (15) On this incident see " Return to an Address of the Legislative Assembly for copies of all correspondence, Orders in Council, and other documents whatsoever, in relation to the Miners' strike at Nanaimo, and to the dispatch of a body of armed volunteers, or militia, to the District of Nanaimo, in the spring of 1877," British Columbia Sessional Papers . . . 1878, Victoria, 1878, pp. 525-535, and E.O.S. Scholefield and F. W. Howay, British Columbia from the earliest times to the present, Vancouver, 1914, Vol. II, p. 388. 136 John Tupper Saywell July-Oct. numerous in the mid-eighties—the carpenters in 1884 for the nine-hour day, the employees on the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 for better conditions and higher wages, and so it went in every trade and every district. The nature of the strikes slowly changed. Union demands were agreed upon, placed before the operators by a union committee, and negotiated; strike funds were regularly collected, and if a strike became necessary, it was carried out with a niinimum of friction and a maximum of efficiency. The increasing seriousness of the situation was evidenced by a changed attitude on the part of the Provincial Government. Hitherto, the Government had been apathetic unless it became necessary to assist the management to suppress strikes. By 1893, however, Victoria officialdom concluded that some legislative remedy was necessary, and early in the session introduced a Labour Disputes Bill.16 This was composed of three parts: the first advocated the establishment of a Bureau of Labour Statistics, whose purpose would be the collection and dissemination of data concerning labour; the second provided for the formation of a Bureau of Conciliation; and the third recommended the organization of a Board of Arbitration, which would act if conciliation failed and if both parties agreed to submit the dispute to it.17 Members of the Cabinet became quite enthusiastic over their own legislation, and in introducing the measure the Provincial Secretary, Lieutenant-Colonel James Baker, who was also the sitting member for East Kootenay, somewhat hypocritically exclaimed:— In fact, sir, we have only to lift that veil of selfishness and luxury, which partially obscures the moral vision of plutocracy, and then to look out with a clear gaze ■ upon the battle field of capital and labor; and ah! what a melancholy spectacle meets our view! We see there the dead and the dying of starvation, we hear the agonized cries of the wounded in heart, the wounded in mind and the wounded in spirit, praying to be released from a world which offers so little hope of rest and comfort to their weary souls, and beyond all these we see, yonder in the distance, some half starved ranks of labor struggling in the fight, in the hope that, perchance, they may win for themselves, what? The bare necessities of life! Shall we not stretch forth the right hand of fellowship to such as these? With God's help, I will endeavour to do so by moving sir, that this bill be read a second time, now.t8 (16) British Columbia, Journals of the Legislative Assembly . . . 1893, Victoria, 1894, p. 8. (17) This Statute was entitled "An Act to provide for the establishment of a Bureau of Labour Statistics, and also of Councils of Conciliation and of Arbitration for the settlement of Industrial Disputes," and forms chapter 21 of the Statutes of the Province of British Columbia . . . 1893, Victoria, 1894, pp. 97-108. (18) Quoted in Victoria Colonist, February 8,1893. 1951 Labour and Socialism in British Columbia 137 Sustained applause followed this speech and, after the opposition members had politely asked whether an election was forthcoming, the Bill was rapidly passed. Labour received the measure with mixed suspicion and criticism. In view of the Government's attitude in the past, many doubted its sincerity, while others criticized the failure of the Cabinet to consult organized labour. A Bureau of Labour Statistics was set up almost immediately, but many unions were reluctant to co-operate,19 largely because no labour men were represented on the Bureau. In an attempt to secure a settlement, the Cabinet called a meeting late in 1893. The differences were apparently irreconcilable, and the legislation soon descended into the limbo which yawns for the unfit and defective.20 The year 1896, a date momentous in Canadian history, may be said to have marked the end of the first phase of the labour movement in British Columbia. For several decades the movement had followed a fluctuating but progressive process of evolution; strikes had been few in number and local in effect; political activity had been restricted and largely unsuccessful; and the conservative tradition of British unionism had been studiously imitated. In the decade following 1896, however, a variety of factors transformed the labour picture: American influence became predominant, socialism appeared, and direct action and political activity increased in tempo. As the shadows of the long recession lifted, the " summons of British Columbia became insistent" and American capital and labour flooded the Province.21 These labourers brought with them their unions and their political philosophies, which, with few exceptions, were socialistic. Socialism found virgin, yet fertile, ground in British Columbia. Conditions were extremely favourable to its birth and nourishment. (19) The correspondence between the Government and the trade-unions in British Columbia is'printed in a "Return to an Order of the House for a Return showing: 1. The names and addresses of all persons to whom the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Labour Statistics applied for such statistics, the replies and information thus obtained: 2. A detailed statement of the expenditure incurred in connection with the working of the ' Bureau of Labour Statistics and Industrial Disputes Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1893,'" in British Columbia Sessional Papers . . . 1894, Victoria, 1894, Part I, pp. 1005-1012. (20) See Victoria Colonist, November 29, 1893; Vancouver News-Advertiser, December 6, 1893. (21) M. L. Hansen and J. B. Brebner, The Mingling of the Canadian and American Peoples, Toronto, 1940, p. 236. 138 John Tupper Saywell July-Oct. Trade-unions were strong and united. Workers had grown impatient with the failure of their attempts to secure remedies by both direct and political action. Above all, the sudden expansion of capitalistic enterprise.and the apathy of the Government necessitated strong instruments of coercion if reforms were to be secured and maintained. Socialism appeared first in 1895, when Kootenay miners affiliated with the Western Federation of Miners. The Western Federation of Miners, formed in Montana in 1893, was based on a militant socialistic philosophy and soon became impatient with the pacific "wages and hour" unionism of the American Federation of Labour. In 1902 Eugene Debs achieved control, and almost immediately the American Federation of Labour swung toward revolutionary action via the political method. In the same year the Western Labour Union, an auxiliary body created by the Western Federation of Miners, became the American Labour Union and soon exceeded the Western Federation of Miners in its radical outlook. The American Labour Union at once adopted the principles of the Socialist Party of America and sent agents into British Columbia—an action which resulted in a serious outburst of strikes and brought in its wake dissension in the ranks of labour. In many instances this radical unionism was opposed by the organization then in existence and did not achieve either permanent or temporary success. Frequently, however, both the Western Federation of Miners and the American Labour Union penetrated an unorganized area or overcame existing bodies and gained an immediate, although -short-lived, ascendancy.22 With but one exception, the many strikes that took place in the first three years of the twentieth century were directly related to the presence of these American associations.23 The majority of the strikes and walkouts occurred among the miners where the Western Federation of Miners was secure in control. Several examples may be cited. In 1901 over one thousand men, organized as a local of the Federation at Rossland, struck for union recognition and, although strike-breakers were imported, remained off work for six months. The Western Federation of Miners moved into the Fernie area when it opened in 1902 and struck several (22) By 1899 there was a sufficient number of W.F.M. locals to permit the formation of a district union. By 1901 there were eighteen branches. In 1902 another district was established among the coal-miners on Vancouver Island. Cf. H. A. Logan, Trade unions in Canada—their development and functioning, Toronto, 1948, p. 159. (23) The exception was the strike among the Fraser River fishermen in the seasons of 1900 and 1901. 1951 Labour and Socialism in British Columbia 139 months later for union recognition. Within a month an agreement had been arranged by a committee of the British Columbia Mining Association: the union was recognized by the operators, wages were increased, and better working conditions were promised.24 In 1903 a series of strikes began in the Vancouver Island collieries, also organized by the Western Federation of Miners. Ladysmith miners struck for recognition, Nanaimo miners refused to accept a wage reduction, the Cumberland mines closed as a result of a strike, and the Wellington local demanded union recognition. With the exception of Nanaimo, where a settlement was soon reached, the strikes were in vain; the operators imported Oriental and white strike-breakers and dismissed most of the men. As a consequence, the Western Federation of Miners suffered a decline and henceforth restricted its activities to metalliferous workers, leaving the collieries to the United Mine Workers of America, a body affiliated with the American Federation of Labour.25 Undoubtedly the most serious strike was that of the United Brotherhood of Railway Employees in February, 1903. The Brotherhood had been formed in Oregon in 1902 and, like the Western Federation of Miners, was affiliated with the American Labour Union. For a short time the Brotherhood confined its activities to clerks, baggagemen, and other personnel previously unorganized, but soon it attempted to expand and to establish a radical unionism among all railway employees. The strike in 1903 arose ostensibly from the unfair dismissal of several employees, although the evidence is strong to support the thesis that union recognition was the fundamental reason. Negotiations with the railway officials proved to be futile, and within a week the entire transportation system was at a standstill as the longshoremen, teamsters, messengers, and other craft unions struck in sympathy. Many locals of the Western Federation of Miners, not already on strike, joined in the general protest, and for several weeks the industrial economy of the Province was immobile. The end was almost inevitable, for the forces arrayed against the Brotherhood were too strong. The wealth of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the power and influence of the Dunsmuir interests, the open hostility (24) " Report of the Executive Committee, Province of British Columbia," Report of the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Convention of the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada, Ottawa, 1903, pp. 29-32. (25) Canada, Department of Labour, Report on Strikes and Lockouts in Canada, 1901-1912, Ottawa, 1913, p. 44. 140 John Tupper Saywell July-Oct. of the Federal and Provincial Governments, and the definite antagonism of many powerful non-socialistic unions and federations created an overpowering opposition. Nevertheless, the strike endured for several months and ended only after the leading agitator had been mysteriously shot, other figures jailed, and an anti-union, anti-socialistic Report had been presented to the Dominion Government by a Royal Commission.26 The Commission had been established to investigate the disastrous series of strikes in British Columbia. The Honourable Gordon Hunter, Chief Justice of British Columbia, was its head. Rev. Elliot S. Rowe, a Christian socialist who appeared to undergo a change of principle when offered the lucrative seat, completed the two-man board. The late W. L. Mackenzie King, then Deputy Minister of Labour, served as secretary. The Report revealed that the Commissioners did not understand the true significance nor magnitude of the working-class movement nor the nature of socialism. Lengthy testimonials showed that the penetration of socialism into the trade-unions had resulted in sharp divisions within the ranks of labour—divisions intensified by the demands of the socialists for not only direct, but also for political, action.27 The manner in which the investigations were carried out led one prominent socialist to comment that it " was not an investigation but that the W.F. of M. and kindred international organizations were on trial,"28 and after reading the Report one is inclined to agree. The Commissioners obviously supported the contentions of the managers and lectured the union leaders for imperilling the sovereignty of Canada. The general tone of the Report can, perhaps, best be seen in the conclusions reached by the Commissioners. They emphatically condemned the sympathetic strike and the strike for union recognition, as well as the boycott and picketing; they recommended that strikes resulting from the employment of nonunion labour should be made punishable by law; they denounced all international unions and attacked unions with leftist philosophies and a programme of political action, for such bodies plotted the overthrow of the state; and, finally, they advocated the legal prohibition of socialism Ottawa, 1903. The Minutes of Evidence to the Department of Labour the following year. (27) Minutes of Evidence, Royal Commission on Industrial Disputes Province of British Columbia, Ottawa, 1904, pp. 326 ft"., 587 ff, 645-670. (28) H. A. Logan, op. cit., p. 160. ty that the legitimate desire of a body 1951 Labour and Socialism in British Columbia 141 and all socialistic literature.29 At one point the Commissioners remarked:— ... it is not beyond the bounds of pos of workingmen to establish a proper m illegal and unworthy ends by plausible leaders who are in the pay of foreign capitalists, and that a union may be persuaded into a strike by unprincipled men for no other purpose than to cripple or destroy Canadian industry for the benefit of its rivals.30 All in all, the complexity of the situation was much too much for the Commission. In a mood of deep pessimism the members concluded:— ... we feel quite free to admit that, while much good can be accomplished se legislation, the labour problem, so-called, is incapable of final solution, and it will be with ui Nevertheless, the general failures of 1903 marked the beginning of the end for the more radical unions in British Columbia. A reaction set in against the Western Federation of Miners, the American Labour Union, and the Brotherhood of Railway Employees, and all showed a sudden decline. In its report to the Trades and Labour Congress in 1903 the British Columbia executive declared that it believed that the majority of the men favoured the old-line unions but that they had " temporarily stepped aside and allowed the political socialists to run their course."32 Although radicalism was for the time discredited, a legacy remained, which was to have its effect in a later day, as is pointed out by H. A. Logan:— The story of their turbulent and pretentious stand in British Columbia is interesting as being the first of the radical movement finding a field of operations in the West and threatening the complacency of the main movement of Canadian unionism. While the two organizations formally withdrew, doubtless the impression left upon the labour philosophy of the province had a bearing upon subsequent radical movements that were to find favour in this section of Canada.33 Meanwhile, the failure of direct action was in some ways compensated for by the success of political action. (29) Report of the Royal Comn ;h Colun a, Ottawa, 1903, p (30) Ibid., p. 75. (31) Ibid., p. 77. (32) Report of the Proceedings of the . and Labor Congress of Canada, Ottawa, 190 (33) H. A. Logan, op. cit., p. 298. 142 John Tupper Saywell July-Oct. At first socialism found its chief strength among the radical unions discussed above. There had been for many years, however, a tradition of political action on the part of labour, and socialism served only to give stimulus, direction, and organization to this activity.34 Early in 1898 the Socialist Labour Party was established by Arthur Spencer, a member of the Canadian Socialist Party, who had recently arrived in British Columbia. Both the party and its economic arm, the Socialist Trades and Labour Affiance, were ineffectual and, to quote William Bennett, the labour historian, it" never amounted to anything."35 A year later, possibly in reaction to the Socialist Labour Party, more moderate labour elements formed the Labour Party, which advocated the eight-hour day, compulsory arbitration, public ownership of basic industries, the single tax, and Asiatic exclusion.36 Two incidents point to the increasing influence of the labour movement in the political sphere shortly before the nineteenth century had run its course. In 1898 Nanaimo sent Ralph Smith to the Legislative Assembly on an Independent Labour ticket.37 During the session of 1899 the administration of Charles Semlin, under the guiding hand of Joseph Martin, passed two measures designed to placate labour. The first measure, later declared ultra vires by the Federal Government, prohibited Orientals from placer-mining. The second sought to limit under- (34) As early as June 28,1882, the Victoria Colonist reported that seventy-five working-men in Victoria met to select candidates for the forthcoming Dominion and Provincial elections. Four years later an attempt was made by labour to put candidates in the field in Victoria, Nanaimo, and New Westminster. One labour leader stated: "... the time has come when the toiling masses should have representatives on the floor of the house of assembly" [Ibid., May 28, 1886]. Labour candidates actually ran in Victoria and Nanaimo under the banner of the Workingmen's Party but met with little success. Cf. Victoria Industrial News, June 5, July 3 and 10, 1886. (35) William Bennett, Builders of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1937, p. 135. Bennett, a native of Greenock, Scotland, was a former member of the Glasgow Independent Labour Party. He came to Canada in 1905 and allied himself with the Socialist Party of Canada. Subsequently, he became one of the founders of the Communist Party of Canada and, still later, of the Labour Progressive Party. He died in Vancouver, December 31, 1949. Vancouver Sun, December 31, 1949; Vancouver Province, January 3,1950. (36) William Bennett, op. cit., p. 136. (37) In this election Smith defeated W. W. Walkem by a handsome majority. Since 1895 Smith had been agent at Nanaimo for the Vancouver Island Coal Miners' Union and in September, 1898, was elected president of the Dominion Trades and Labour Congress at its convention held in Winnipeg. 1951 Labour and Socialism in British Columbia 143 ground work in mines to eight hours a day.38 Both Acts, although well meant, failed in their purpose. By 1900 a temporary split in the Socialist Labour Party had been healed, and the United Socialist Labour Party was formed. In the spring of that year, delegates from throughout the Province attended a convention in Vancouver held to select candidates and agree upon a programme for the June election. The party recognized the importance of the trade- union as a " carrier of the gospel § and called upon all socialists" to join the unions of their respective trade or calling and assist in building up and strengthening the trade union movement, to educate your fellow unionists on questions of socialism and the labor movement on economic and political lines."39 Branches were established in every part of the Province. The Lardeau Eagle, owned and edited by R. P. Pettipiece and published at Ferguson, became the champion of the new party and soon was regarded as the semi-official socialist journal. In 1902 Pettipiece and George Wrigley, editor of the socialistic Citizen and Country, published in Toronto, amalgamated their journals and issued a new paper in Vancouver, the Canadian Socialist.40 H. A. Logan, in his comprehensive history of trade-unions in Canada, has commented:— ... the center of political actionists during the later years of the century shifted' unmistakably to the newly organized West. British Columbia, in particular, dissatisfied with the failure of the congress to get results at Ottawa, was calling at one (38) For the correspondence relating to these Acts see "Return to an Order of the House for copies of correspondence between the Government, or any member thereof, and the Dominion Government, or any member thereof; also, all correspondence between the Government of British Columbia and any person or persons, miners' or mine-owners' unions, relating to the enforcement of the provisions of section 4 of an Act intituled ' Inspection of Metalliferous Mines Amendment Act, 1899,'" British Columbia Sessional Papers . . . 1900, Victoria, 1900, pp. 463-483; and "Report in regard to a Petition addressed to the President of the United States by certain residents of Atlin, complaining of recent mining legislation of this Province, which Petition is referred to in the Report of the Minister of 485-486. (39) William Bennett, op. cit., p. 137. (40) Vancouver Western Clarion, January 12, 1907. The Canadian Socialist eventually became the Western Socialist, and in 1903 the Nanaimo Clarion was merged with it to become the Western Clarion. Publication was suspended at the end of 1903, but revived again in January, 1905, under its former name. 144 John Tupper Saywell time for an : composed of This was truer than even Logan realized. For example, there were only six Votes in the negative from British Columbia when in 1900 the Trades and Labor Congress questioned the desirability of political action. Eastern Canada, on the other hand, and particularly Quebec, stoutly and successfully opposed any such measure.42 Two years later the Vancouver Trades and Labour Council withdrew in disgust from the Congress.43 Although local historians have almost unanimously agreed that the issue of the 1900 Provincial election was the alleged unconstitutional action of the Lieutenant-Governor, Dr. Thomas R. Mclnnes, an intensive investigation has revealed that candidates appealed to their constituents on platforms more earthy and realistic.44 Joseph Martin, in an attempt to secure a working-class mandate, embraced a policy which ordinarily should have assured his success. His efforts failed, however, for two reasons: first, Martin was not a popular man in labour circles as a result of the unfortunate consequences of the " Eight-hour Act"; and, second, labour itself organized for the election, thus causing a split vote which inevitably resulted in the return of a conservative faction led by James Dunsmuir, the coal and railway magnate. The United Socialist Labour Party appealed to the electorate on a broad programme which included direct legislation, such as the referendum and the recall, and extensive government ownership. In Vancouver a mass meeting of moderates led to the formation of Hit Independent Labour Party and the formulation of a set of principles demanding a universal eight-hour day, a wide programme of government inspection, government ownership of all extractive industries, and the abolition of property qualifications for members of the Legislative Assembly.45 The new parties were unsuccessful, for, in the absence of party lines, all candidates were able to appeal directly to labour without compromising their colleagues. Only in Nanaimo City was a labour candidate, Ralph (41) H. A. Logan, The history of trade-union organization in Canada, Chicago, 1928, p. 59. (42) Proceedings of the Sixteenth Annual Session of the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada, Toronto, 1900, p. 18. (43) N. J. Ware, Labor in Canadian-American Relations, Toronto, 1937, p. (44) J. T. Saywell, "The Mclnnes Incident in British Columbia," British Columbia Historical Quarterly.XN (1950), pp. 141-166. (45) Vancouver Province, April 28 and May 5,1900. 1951 Labour and Socialism in British Columbia 145 Smith, victorious; although in Nanaimo South, John Radcliffe trailed James Dunsmuir by only twenty-four votes. In Vancouver both socialist and labour contenders polled a slight but significant proportion of the total vote. Later in the year, liberal and labour elements fused in order to send Ralph Smith to Ottawa, and the vacant Provincial seat was easily won by J. H. Hawthornthwaite, an ardent, aggressive socialist. Nevertheless, the political power, kinetic and potential, of the working-class had been seen. Martin and Hawthornthwaite never passed up an opportunity to'remind many of the members that they sat in the Assembly with a pledge, largely unfulfilled, to labour. These tactics were not without success: more attention was paid to the problems of Oriental immigration; Hawthornthwaite secured the passage of a Workmen's Compensation Act;46 and Martin shepherded a Trade-union Bill through the Assembly.47 Political groupings weakened in the face of (46) "An Act respecting Compensation to Workmen for Accidental Injuries suffered in the course of their Employment," Statutes of the Province of British Columbia . . . 1902, Victoria, 1902, pp. 313-322. It is significant that this Bill passed through the successive legislative stages with considerable debate, partially as a result of the delaying tactics of the Cabinet. The third reading was carried without division. British Columbia, lournals' of the Legislative Assembly . . . , 1902, Victoria, 1902, pp. 41, 59,72, 75, 77,91,92, 111, 113,116. (47) "An Act to amend the law relating to Trade Unions," Statutes of the Province of British Columbia . . . 1902, Victoria, 1902, pp. 285-286. This Act is of extreme importance in trade-union history, not only in British Columbia, but similar to those that made necessary the passage of the Trades Disputes Act in Great Britain in 1906, but it will be noted that the Provincial Statute was passed four years earlier. From July to November, 1901, about one thousand miners at Rossland, organized as a local of the Western Federation of Miners, struck for higher wages and union recognition by the Le Roi Mining Company. In October the company sued the union for damages and asked for an injunction to restrain local unions from attempting to persuade others not to work for the company; tbe company was particularly annoyed when members of tbe union succeeded in getting imported strike-breakers to cease work. The Courts awarded $12,500 and costs to the company and a receivership was established [Le Roi Mining Co. v. Rossland Miner's Union, 1901]. Following this decision in British Columbia, protests were made regarding the law relating to trade-unions as they were later in Britain following the Taff Vale decision. Martin's legislation was a direct response to these protests and in general provided simply that no trade-union was to be liable in damages for any wrongful act in connection with a labour dispute unless such act had been authorized or concurred in by the members of the union or by its officers acting within their powers under the rules of the union. Cf. Canada, Department of Labour, Trade Union Laws in Canada, Ottawa, 1935, pp. 75-83; Labour Gazette, Ottawa, 1904, Vol. V, pp. 303-306, 433. . 146 John Tupper Saywell July-Oct. these measures, and it is significant that they were passed by the nearly unanimous support of the representatives of mining and industrial areas. Members of the Cabinet, on the other hand, unanimously opposed both Both labourites and socialists profited by the mistakes and weaknesses revealed in the 1900 election and set about to reorganize, solidify, and enlarge their respective political parties. The Socialist Party, through the pages of the Western Socialist, advertised an extensive and more elaborate programme of desired socialistic aims.48 j The Independent Labour Party also attempted to achieve new vigour and more members. It became increasingly apparent, however, that if the working-class was to be successful in securing control of the government, a solid and unified front must be established. Thus in 1902, at the Kamloops convention, an effort was made to gather the scattered groups of trade-unionists, labourites, socialists, and other reformers into one political organization. Sixty-three delegates representing over fifty industrial and political organizations assembled at Kamloops in April, 1902, at the invitation of the local of the Western Federation of Miners.49 Although there is an absence of contemporary records, it is apparent that an undercurrent of conflict permeated the entire convention; that is, conflict between the socialists who had been intrumental in calling the meeting and anti-socialistic labour elements. The election of officers brought the question immediately to the foreground, and only after a considerable amount of jockeying were the moderate elements able to (48) Vancouver Western Clarion, January 12, 1907, states the platform as follows: Direct legislation; proportional representation; abolition of property qualifications for voters and candidates in municipal elections; abolition of cash deposits for candidates at Provincial elections; adult suffrage; a minimum wage law fixing wages at not less than $2 per day for adults; the reduction of the hours of labour in all trades to forty-four hours a week; all coal mines to be owned and operated by the Government in the interests of the people; a graduated land tax similar to that in existence in New Zealand; free medical attention to all needing such; employment of unemployed labour on useful productive work; scientific and practical management of fisheries, forests, and waterways in the interests of the Province; the extension of the powers of the municipalities; the education of children under 14 years of age to be free, secular, and compulsory, with text-books, meals, and clothing to be supplied to children out of public funds when necessary; municipalization and public control of the liquor traffic; abolition of the poll and personal property tax; and no more bonusing private individuals or corporations with land (49) For a good report on this convention see J. Castell Hopkins, The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1902, Toronto, 1902, pp. 86 ff. 1951 Labour and Socialism in British Columbia 147 prevent complete socialist control. The outcome of the convention was the creation of a new party, the Provincial Progressive Party, neither the Labour nor Socialist Party being considered a broad enough title. The platform of the Progressive Party was a conglomeration of planks, which reflected its heterogeneous origin and basis.50 Two interesting resolutions were passed by the convention: one asserted that nonpayment of wages should be made a criminal offence, and the other pledged the support of the party only to those candidates who gave it a signed and undated resignation of their seats.51 Among the policies endorsed by the party were appeals to the labourer, the artisan, the small fanner, and the farm-labourer. If this attempt to secure order out of chaos was to prove successful, there seemed little that could stand and bar the way to the marble halls and oaken desks of the legislative buildings. The press, ever wary of backing the wrong horse, doubted the power and permanency of the Progressive Party; that is, with the exception of the Sandon Paystreak, which triumphantly declared that the party would soon I clean up the mess that is now being made at Victoria."52 Early in May the executive issued a manifesto describing its policy as one of progressive reform, denouncing the existing political factions and incompetent policies, and in particular condemning the past practices of handing over wholesale the natural resources of the Province to corporations and speculators. The existence of the Provincial Progressive Party was short. Internal dissensions and external pressures soon caused it to break wide apart. Undoubtedly the conflict between socialists and moderates, then disrupting many unions themselves, was the main reason. Socialists denounced (50) The platform ran as follows: Gradual shifting of all taxes from the producers to the land; government ownership of railways and communication systems; government establishment and operation of smelters and refineries; woman suffrage and abolition of all property qualifications; no taxation of farms, improvements, or stock; land to be held by actual settlers; 10 per cent of all public lands to be set aside for educational purposes; education to be free and secular and compulsory up to 16 years of age; compulsory arbitration of labour disputes; prohibition of Asiatic immigration; pulp-land and forest leases to contain a reforestation provision; reservation of all known coal areas for the future establishment of state-owned mines; municipal control of the liquor traffic; right to a referendum in all cases of valuable subsidies or franchises; free transportation for Judges and members of the Legislature; election-day to be a public holiday with four hours free from service for each employee. (51) J. C. Hopkins, op. cit., p. 86. 148 John Tupper Saywell July-Oct. the platform as being too mild; others attacked it for being too radical. The attempt to make it palatable to all failed ignominiously. One by one, socialist groups left the Progressive Party, and early in 1903 these bodies coalesced to reorganize the old Socialist Party. " Labour produces all wealth and to labour it should justly belong " ran its manifesto and " in order to free the workingman from his slavery to the capitalist the wage system must be abolished and to this and other ends labour must take the reins of government away from capital."53 An election platform was adopted demanding the transformation of all capitalist property into " the .collective property of the workingman," a thorough and democratic organization and management of industry by the workers, the gradual establishment of production for use and not for profit, and the conduct of public affairs in such a manner as to promote the interests of the working-class alone.54 Other groups continued to support the Progressive Party but remained powerless in the face of increasing disintegration. This disintegration resulted not only from the withdrawal of the socialists, but also from the introduction of party lines into the Province at this time. For the first time in the history of British Columbia, true political parties, organized and disciplined, based on a definite philosophy and spiritual unity, became a feature of political life. As a result, many moderates in the Progressive Party were drawn into the vortex of Liberalism, while simultaneously the Socialist Party was attracting the radicals. The year 1903 marks the end of an era and the beginning of another in British Columbia. Socialism reached a peak in that year among the trade-unions. So, too, did 1903 mark the zenith of the political activity of the Socialist Party. The Socialists chose nine constituencies in which to run, and after the smoke and din of battle had subsided, they emerged victorious in only two, of them: J. H. Hawthornthwaite and Parker Williams were successful in Nanaimo and Newcastle respectively. Slocan elected an independent socialist running under a Liberal banner, William Davidson. Elsewhere throughout the Interior the Socialists polled an appreciable proportion of the vote and quite clearly proved themselves to be the second strongest group in the mining regions of the Interior.55 (53) J. C. Hopkins, The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1903, 1951 Labour and Socialism in British Columbia 149 In Vancouver, Labour and Socialist candidates together polled more votes than did the Liberal ticket, although both parties were far off the pace set by the triumphant Conservatives. Nevertheless, despite this rather mediocre showing, the movement was not without significance. Richard McBride assumed office with but a precarious hold on the reins of government, and a somewhat anomalous situation arose when McBride found it necessary to court a few Socialists in the Legislative Assembly. Critics of McBride denounced this" labour alliance," but, distasteful as it may have been, the Premier was powerless. Furthermore, the Government was not ignorant of the promises made to labour by many members of the Legislative Assembly, Liberal and Conservative alike. In short, it was apparent that henceforth it would be political suicide to blatantly ignore the new elements that had so recently gained entrance to the political arena. Thus within a generation a new and dynamic force had arisen in British Columbia. It has been possible to trace its evolution with a substantial, but varying, degree of accuracy and completeness. Clearly visible were the external influences, moulded and conditioned by the local setting.. In the early period British influence was predominant, and only near the end of the century did the Province succumb to the almost irresistible magnetism of the United States. During the era surveyed, the Pacific Coast of Canada was in many ways a part of the North American frontier, the story of which has for so long been monopolized by American historians. Like the American frontier, from which indeed came many of its ideals and practices, British Columbia was fresh and idealistic, buoyantly self-confident and self-assertive, somewhat scornful of the older society, indifferent to its lessons, and impatient of its restraints and delays. The pronounced radicalism in British Columbia can, in part, best be explained against the background of the frontier, although one must be wary of the many limitations in the employment of this analytical instrument. Even so, the frontier hypothesis provides a meaningful clue to the origin and development of the labour movement and socialism, and perhaps the reason for their sudden, but temporary, decline, for by 1903 the first stage in frontier development had also largely passed. Yet in their wake these early movements left a tradition a tantalizing minority o 9 vo es, in Fernie by 95, and o forth. It is e that the fact that only i Fern e and Greenwood were a I irge number of ejected was of some impo tance. Throughout the Province s a whole only es were rejected, 68 of the mbein g in Fernie and Greenwood . 150 John Tupper Saywell of radicalism and of progressivism which has become the legacy of the present generation of working-men and reformers in British Columbia. John Tupper Saywell. Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. ARCHIBALD MENZIES' TROPHIES Late in 1790 Archibald Menzies penned a note (now in the Sutro Library, San Francisco) to his friend and patron, Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society:— Sir Joseph About three o'clock this afternoon I saw Capt. [Henry] Roberts—he told me that some new arrangements had taken place yesterday at the Treasury in consequence of which he resigned the Command of the Discovery to Captain Vancouver (formerly 1st Lieut, of her) who is to sail with her immediately—he believes before Christmas—Captain Roberts is to have another Vessel, & to go out in the Spring—but he could not say whether I was to go with him, or in the Discovery— I need not observe the necessity of obtaining this information soon, that if I go in the latter, I may have some time to equip for the voyage. Sir Joseph Yours Sincerely A, Menzies 14 Broad St. Wednesd. Eveng. It is not to be wondered that a feeling of urgency can be detected in this note. For nearly a year Menzies had been anticipating an appointment as naturalist in an expedition to be sent to the Northwest Coast of America. In 1789 the British Admiralty had projected a scientific expedition to the South Seas and the Pacific Northwest under Captain Henry Roberts, who had accompanied Captain James Cook, R.N., on his last two voyages. To this end, arrangements were made to acquire the sloop Discovery, then under construction, and by April, 1790, she was evidently ready for sea. But at that very time difficulties with Spain flared into prominence, largely as a result of the memorial presented to the British Parliament by John Meares. The resulting " Spanish Armament," although an impressive demonstration of British naval strength, forced the abandonment of the projected scientific expedition. Later, after the signing of a treaty with Spain on October 28, 1790, a new expedition to the Pacific Northwest was organized, the purposes of which were to " receive back, in form, a restitution of the territories on which the Spaniards had seized, and also to make an accurate survey of the coast, from the 30th degree of north latitude north-westward toward Cook's river; and, further, to obtain every possible information that could be collected respecting the natural and 151 152 Richard H. Dillon July-Oct. political state of that country."1 Captain George Vancouver was appointed to the command of this expedition, and the Discovery was assigned to him, and Lieutenant W. R. Broughton took over command of the armed tender Chatham. Menzies very carefully outlined his position at this time in an early entry in his journal:— At this time I had been upwards of twelve months retained by Government to go out as Naturalist on that Expedition planned for Captain Roberts, but as a state of tedious suspence was more intolerable to me, than the hardships of a long Voyage or the dangers of traversing the wildest Forests, I requested leave of the Treasury to go out as Surgeon of the Discovery, promising at the same time that my vacant hours from my professional charge, should be chiefly employed in their service, in making such collections & observations as might tend to elucidate the natural history of the Voyage, without any further pecuniary agreement than what they might conceive me entitled to, on my return—My chief objects being a desire to complete my servitude in the Royal Navy & the pleasure of exercising my profession,—and as two assistant-surgeons were allowed the Discovery, I trusted I should have time sufficient on my hands to perform my promise to their satisfaction—and by that means cheerfully devote to the service of my Country that experience I had already gained in a long circumnavigation & particularly on that Coast where those Vessels were to direct their course & perform However, Menzies did not have to sail as surgeon, for, thanks to the interest and influence of Sir Joseph Banks, he soon had his appointment as naturalist in the Discovery. Edward Smith, in his Life of Sir Joseph Banks, states that this appointment was the fulfilment of Menzies' heart's desire, although his later relations with Vancouver- terminating in his arrest by that doughty captain for " insolence and contempt "—may have cooled his enthusiasm somewhat.3 (1) Captain George Vancouver, A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World . . . performed in the years 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793,1794, and 1795, London, 1798, Vol. I, pp. x-xi. For further details on the history of this expedition see George Godwin, Vancouver: A Life, 1757-1798, New York, 1931, pp. 24-35; and C. F. Newcombe (ed.), Menzies! Journal of Vancouver's Voyage, (Archives of British Columbia, Memoir No. V), Victoria, 1923, pp. (2) Quoted in C. F. Newcombe, op. cit., p. xvi. (3) Edward Smith, The Life of Sir Joseph Banks, London, 1911, p. 143. Evidently Banks had serious misgivings as to the probability of conflict developing between Menzies and Vancouver, for his last letter to Menzies, written August 10, 1791, stated: "How Captain Vancouver will behave to you is more than I can guess, unless I was to judge by his conduct toward me,—which was not such as I am used to receive from persons in his situation. ... As it would be highly 1951 Archibald Menzies' Trophies 153 At the request of Lord Grenville, Sir Joseph Banks furnished Menzies with his instructions, working diligently to cover every conceivable field of interest. Soho Square 22d February 1791. Sir, The Business on which You are employed being of an extensive Nature, as it includes an investigation of the whole of the Natural History of the Countries you are to visit, as well as an enquiry into the present state and comparative degree of civilization of the Inhabitants you will meet with, the utmost degree of diligence & perseverance on Your part will be necessary, to enable You to do justice to your employers and gain credit to yourself. The following instructions you will consider as a guide to the outline of your conduct, but as many particulars will doubtless occur in the investigation of unknown Countries, that are not noticed in them, all such are left to your discretion and good sense, and you are hereby directed to act in them as you shall judge most likely to promote the In all places where the Ship in which you are embarked shall touch, & the Commander shall make a sufficient stay, you are to pay a particular regard to the nature of the soil, and to note down its quality, whether clay, sand, Gravel, Loam, &c. and how it is circumstanced in regard to Water. You are to remark particularly the size of the Trees that grow upon it, whether they stand in thick close Groves, or seperate [sic] and distant from each other. You are to consider also, as far as You are enabled to do by the productions, the probable Climate, and whether, should it at any time hereafter be deemed expedient to send out settlers from England, the Grains, pulse, & Fruits cultivated in Europe are likely to thrive, and if not, what kind of produce would in your opinion be the most suitable. As far as you find yourself able, you are to enumerate all the Trees, Shrubs, Plants, Grasses, Ferns, and Mosses you shall meet with in each Country you visit, by their scientific Names, as well as those used in the language of the Natives, noting particularly the places where each is found, especially those that are new or particularly curious. You are also to dry specimens of all such as you shall judge worthy of being brought Home, particularly those of which you shall procure, either living plants, or seeds, in order that the Persons who are employed in examining the Plants You furnish to His Majesty's Gardens at Kew, may be assisted in ascertaining their Names and qualities. Whenever you meet with ripe seeds of Plants, you are carefully to collect them, and having dried them properly, to put them up in paper packages, writing on the out side, or in a corresponding List, such particulars relative to the Soil & Climate where each was found, and imprudent in him to throw any obstacle in the way of your duty, I trust he will have too much good sense to obstruct it." Ibid., p. 143. Certainly every effort was made to make Vancouver fully aware of the importance of the work being undertaken by Menzies, for the Admiralty was requested to issue specific instructions to him in this connection. See Draft to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, dated at Whitehall, February 23, 1791, CO. 5, Vol. 187, Transcript, Archives of B.C. I 154 Richard H. Dillon July-Oct. the mode of culture in your Opinion likely to succeed with it, as you may think necessary to be communicated to His Majesty's Gardeners; and you are to forward these packages directed to me for His Majesty's use by every convenient opportunity that shall occur, dividing them, for safety's sake, into Duplicates, as often as you shall judge needfull. When you meet with curious, or valuable plants which you do not think likely to be propagated from seeds in His Majesty's Garden, you are to dig up proper specimens of them, plant them in the glass frame provided for that purpose, and use your utmost endeavours to preserve them alive 'till your return, & you are to consider every one of them, as well as all seeds of Plants which you shall collect during the Voyage, as wholly & entirely the property of His Majesty, & on no Account whatever to part with any of them, or any cuttings, slips, or parts of any of them, for any purpose whatever but for His Majesty's use. As soon as you shall have provided yourself with living plants, & planted them in the glass frame before-mentioned, you are at all times when the ship shall be watered to acquaint the Commanding Officer, what Quantity of Water you judge necessary for their support and preservation, by the Week or Month, in order that he may be enabled to make a competent provision of that Article for their future maintenance and nourishment. In all your excursions on shore, you are to examine with care and attention the beds of Brooks, and Torrents, the steep sides of Cliffs and all other places where the interior strata of the earth are laid bare by Water, or otherwise; to remark the Nature of the Earth and Stones of which they are composed, and if among them you discover ores, or metals, or any mineral substances which bear a resemblance to such things; or any beds of Coals, Lime Stone, or other matters, likely in Your opinion to prove useful to Mankind. You are to collect & preserve Specimens of them carefully, noting the exact spot on which each was found, and you are also to examine the pebbles and sand brought down by the Rivers, and Brooks from the Inland Country, and to collect and bring home samples of such as you suspect to contain Mineral substances, even tho' so minute as not to be discoverable but by a Microscope. At each place where you land, you are to inform yourself as well as you are able, what sort of Beasts, Birds and Fishes likely to prove usefull, either for Food, or in Commerce, are to be found; and pay particular attention to the various ways of catching them in traps, or otherways used by the Natives; you are to pay particular attention to every part of the Natural History of the Sea Otter, and to learn all you are able to concerning the Wild Sheep said to be found in the inland Countries, and if in your power to procure a skin of one of them for your employers, you are also to note particularly all places where Whales or' Seals are At all places where a friendly intercourse with the Natives is established, you are to make diligent enquiry into their manners, Customs, Language & Religion, and to obtain all the information in your power concerning their manufactures, particularly the art dyeing, in which Savages have been frequently found to excell, and if any part of their conduct, civil, or religious, should appear to you so unreasonable as not to be likely to meet with credit when related in Europe, you are if you can do it with safety & propriety, to make yourself an Eyewitness of it, 1951 Archibald Menzies' Trophies 155 in order that the fact of its existence may be established on as firm a basis as the Nature of the enquiry will permit. You are to keep a regular Journal of all occurrences that happen in the execution of the several Duties you are entrusted to perform, and enter in it all the observations you shall make on every subject you are employed to investigate; which Journal together with a compleat [sic] collections of specimens of the Animals, Vegetable and Minerals you shall have obtained, as well as such curious Articles of the Cloths, Arms, Impliments [sic] and manufactures of the Indians as you shall deem worthy of particular Notice, you are on your return to deliver to His Majesty's Secretary of State for the Home Department, or to such Person as he shall appoint to receive them from You. Mr. Alexr. Menzies.4 Specific as these instructions are in certain respects, nevertheless they did leave Menzies wide discretionary power. This display of confidence on the part of Sir Joseph Banks no doubt stemmed from his personal acquaintance with Menzies, dating from 1786, when the latter sent him specimens from his botanizing activities while on the Halifax Station as surgeon in H.M.S. Assistance5 and also from the fact that Menzies had already visited the Pacific Northwest in 1787 and 1788. On that occasion Menzies was serving as surgeon in the Prince of Wales under Captain James Colnett in a trading expedition sponsored by Richard Cadman Etches and associates.6 Banks was quite prepared to put to advantage this previous experience, for prior to the issuance of the instructions to Menzies he had written to him for information on items suitable for the Pacific Northwest trade and had received the following reply:— Sir Joseph I have here subjoined agreeable to your request, a list of such articles as I think will answer best for trading on the West-coast of N. America; but any Vessel going there ought to be supplied with two Black Smiths & a Forge together with the necessary Utensils for working Iron, Copper & Brass into such forms as may best suit the fickle disposition of the Natives. (4) Joseph Banks to Alexr. [sic] Menzies, February 22, 1791, enclosed in Draft to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, dated at Whitehall, February 23, 1791, CO. 5, Vol. 187, Transcript, Archives of B.C. (5) C. F. Newcombe, op. cit., p. viii. (6) For details concerning this earlier visit of Menzies to the Pacific Northwest, see F. W. Howay (ed.), The Journal of Captain James Colnett aboard the Argonaut from April 26,1789 to Nov. 3,1791, Toronto, 1940, pp. xi-xxii; C. F. Newcombe, 156 Richard H. Dillon July-Oct. At Nootka we found Copper the article most Sought after & in this we were deficient, having little or none aboard.—At Prince William's Sound the Natives prefered [sic] Iron & put very little value on Copper or any thing else—they were so over stocked with Beads as to ornament their Dogs with them.—At Queen Charlotte's Isles & Banks Isles, Iron, Cloth, Beads with Brass & Copper trinkets answered best.—At Cape Edgecombe, Iron Frying-pans—Tin Kettles—Pewter basons [sic] and beads formed the chief articles of Trade.—Ornamental lofty caps covered with Brass or Copper would be good presents for the Chiefs & Warriors.—I have the honor to be with due respect Sir, your most obedt. Humbl Servt Arch. Menzies Broad Street April 4th 17907 The fist appended to the letter includes bar iron, iron rods, hoops and wires; case knives; fish-hooks, harpoons and fishing-lines; axes, adzes, and saws; nails and gimlets, brad-awls, files, rasps, scrapers, and bodkins; needles; frying-pans; tin in sheets, tin kettles, pots, jugs, etc.; tinder-boxes; pewter pots and basins; copper and brass in sheets, in medals, kettles and goblets, rods and wire, and in bracelets, earrings, and other trinkets; also buttons, thimbles, and spoons. Other items contained in the list are daggers and old bayonets; horsemen's caps, " caps in the form of Mitres externally covered with Brass or Copper & ornamented with hair or feathers of difft. colours"; Scotch tartan and parti-coloured blankets; tobacco (five casks of leaf); muskets, powder, shot and ball. Sir Joseph, not content with Menzies' list added one of his own and noted the quantities desired of each item. For example, he wished fifty soldering-irons, thirty pieces of scarlet cloth, twenty augers, 20,000 gun flints, ten grindstones, and a myriad of other trade articles. These manuscripts, recently uncovered in the Banks Papers of the Sutro Branch, California State Library, bring researchers into closer touch with the men who first explored and exploited the Canadian Pacific littoral. Menzies, of course, spent most of his time pursuing botanical specimens, up to and including Sequoia sempervirens—ihe ageless, mammoth redwood. However, Botanist-Surgeon Menzies also acquired numerous artifacts which he knew would be of interest to Banks. One of the recently found manuscripts is a memorandum entitled A catalogue of Curiosities & natural productions brought home in his Majesty's Sloop Discovery from the North West Coast of America & the South Sea Islands by Mr. Archibald Menzies. (7) MS., Sutro Branch, California State Library, San Francisco, Calif. 1951 Archibald Menzies' Trophies 157 From Otaheite [Tahiti]: Prai, or complete Mourning Dress; Taoma or Breast Plate; Feather Pendants of a large canoe; Stone Adzes; Basket curiously wrought of Cocoa Nut fibres; Mat of the finest kind; a' Bag of Matting; a number of paterns [sic] of the different kind of cloth manufactured by the Natives; Bows and Arrows; A collection of shells; Lines of finely platted human Hair; Fish Hooks. From the Sandwich Islands: Feather Helmet; Feather Tippets or small Cloaks; Feather Necklaces; A large assortment of curiously stained & painted Cloth showing the different Paterns [sic] & dresses worn by the Natives; Cloth- Beaters for Manufacturing the same; Bows and Arrows; Wooden War Club; Stone War Club; Spears or Javelines [sic]; different kinds of Fans; Fly Flaps—the handles ornamented with human bone & tortoise shell; Wooden Bowls & a quantity of Gum—from the Dooe Dooe Tree; Variegated wicker-worked Hat; Bracelet of Boar's Tusks; Anklets of Pig's Teeth; Hemp prepared from a Species of Nettle; A quantity of fishing lines made of the above Hemp; Platted Rope for rigging their Canoes—made of the same Hemp; Fish Hooks; Necklaces of Shells; Necklaces of platted Human Hair &c; Shells worn on the women's wrists; Platted rope for lashings to their Canoes from Cocoa Nut fibres; Two small rolling stones finely polished; a large Calabash; Two curious wicker-worked Baskets—one of them lin'd with a Calibash [sic]; A number of fine Mats curiously variegated with different figures; plain Mats of different kinds. From Nootka: A Dress wrought from the inner bark of the American Arbor- Vitae; Bows & Arrows; Fish Hooks; The Head and two Skins of a New Species of Mustella. From Cross Island: A curiously wrought dress of woolen interwoven on one side with Fur; A Chiefs Leather War Dress curiously ornamented with Porcupine Quills; Baskets so close worked as to contain water; A small carved Idol; Carved 'throwing Sticks for heaving their Darts & Harpoons. From New Georgia: Bows & Arrows; A large bone war club inlaid & ornamented with Shells; Knives made of Silicious Stones; An Iron Knife as made by the Natives; Bone Dagger; A carved chopping Instrument; Two Skins of the Brown Tyger. From Port Trinidad: Bows Arrows & Quiver; Fish-hooks; Tobacco Pipes; A Musical Instrument; A Head Dress curiously wrought & variegated; A feathered fillet or head band; Hemp, supposed to be the same as Indian grass; Fishing lines made of the above Hemp; Ear Ornaments; Baskets of different kinds, some curiously variegated & so closely worked as to hold water. From Cook's Inlet: Harpoon completely furnished with Lines & different kinds of Barbs; Darts completely furnished with Lines & Barbs; Throwing Sticks for heaving their Darts &c; Bows & Arrows; A model of their Hunting Canoe completely furnished with all the Implements for Hunting the Sea Otter; Leather Bags beautifully fringed & ornamented with Needle work; A small bunch of split Sinews as manufactured for making their different lines & ropes; Platted sinew lines curiously ornamented for their Harpoons; Platted sinew lines for their Darts; Sinew lines differently platted for their Canoes; A quantity of small sinew fishing lines; A Basket; Camlico or Frocks made from the finer Membranes of the Intestines of Marine Animals & so ingeniously put together & sewed as to keep the Natives perfectly dry in wet weather; A pair of Boots & garters curiously 158 Richakd H. Dillon July-Oct. ornamented—a present of a Chief at the head of the Inlet; Tusk of the Moise or Sea Cow; Leather Dagger Case ornamented with Porcupine Quills; Ornamental fringes for the Chief's War Dress; Lip Ornaments worn by the Men in their lower lip; Ivory studs worn as lip ornaments by the women; Two Skins & two Horns of the wild Mountain Sheep; Two Skin Dresses—animal unknown. From the N W Coast of America: A Skin of a new species of Antilope [sic] from California; Two Skins & a Horn of an Animal supposed to be a Wild Goat with very fine wool from Lat. 52° 72'; Some of the wool of the above animal which the Natives spin & weave with Dresses; Halibut Fish-hooks; Beaver Skin- supposed variety; Two large Sea Otters preserved in Spirits; Two young Sea Otters preserved in Spirits; Different kinds of Baskets finely worked & curiously variegated from Sta. Barbara California; A netted Bag from the same place; Wooden Combs curiously carved from the Northern parts of the Coast; Wooden War Stays from Banks's Isles; A set of gambling pins from the same place; A Cake of the Bread of Columbia River; A Cake of the Bread made of the Inner Bark of the Pines from the Northern parts of the Coast; Spoons from different parts of the Coast; A Collection of Birds preserved in Spirits from California &c; A Collection of Fishes & Reptiles preserved in Spirits. [Miscellaneous Items]; A Box of Fossils containing 103 different kinds, mark'd & numbered from New Georgia; A Box of Fossils from the Northern parts of the Coast of America & Lavas from the Owhyhee mark'd & numbered from 1-80; A Collection of Fossils from New Zealand & New Holland; A Box of Shells from New Zealand; A small Box of Fossils from Chili—containing the Gold & Silver Oars [sic] of that Country; A copious collection of dry'd Plants from the different places visited during the Voyage; A Collection of live Plants from North West Coast of America, California & Chili, already sent to Kew; A large Collection of Seeds from the same places as also from the Sandwich Islands.8 Menzies' list of 112 items or groups of items was inspected carefully by Banks, who checked certain numbers and wrote in pencil at the end of the paper: "Specimens of as many of those marked as can be spared." He then forwarded the list to the Duke of Portland,9 who acknowledged its receipt as follows:— Whitehall 12th February 1796 Sir I have had the honor to receive and lay before the King your Letter of the 3d instant inclosing Catalogue of Curiosities & natural Productions brought home in his Majesty's Sloop Discovery from the North West Coast of America & the South Sea Islands by Mr. Archibald Menzies and his Majesty has signified to me his pleasure that the said curiosities & natural productions should be deposited in the British Museum—excepting the Collections of live plants & Seeds, the former of which you mention as having been already sent to Kew—and such of the Seeds (8) MS., Sutro Branch, California State Library, San Francisco, Calif. (9) William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, third Duke of Portland (1738-1809), was at this time Home Secretary. Archibald Menzies' Trophies Sir Joseph Banks Bart.K.B.W Archibald Menzies continued an active life in the field of medicine after retiring from maritime life and, in addition, pursued his botanical interest as a member and later as President of the Linnean Society. He lived to be 88 years of age, with probably the high point of his career being bis voyage with Vancouver and his discoveries on that expedition. As can be seen from the catalogue of his collections, he was much more than a botanist or natural historian. He might well be described as a pioneer anthropologist in the study of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Richard H. Dillon. Sutro Branch, California State Library, San Francisco, Calif. (10) MS., Sutro Branch, California State Library, San Francisco, Calif. EARLY DAYS ON SALTSPRING ISLAND The Indians of Cowichan looked at the island, noted the knob of rock that thrust itself upward out of the massive southern elevation to dominate the near-by countryside and wove their legend around it. Chvlan, they called it, meaning " facing-the-sea "; and because few trees or shrubs grew on its rounded.summit, they told themselves that this must be one of the resting-places of Swdquawa, the Thunderbird, where he paused in his flight from the ocean to his home among the inland In the manner of their traditional mode of thought, the Indians saw the mountain, not as an up-surge of natural forces, but as a man transformed by Haylse, the supernatural being who, accompanied by bis associates, Raven and Mink, had roamed the earth in mythical times, altering the features of the landscape to suit his whims. In time other details were added to the legend, and the story was told of how CMan aided another man-transformed-into-a-mountain, who lived on an island to the south, in ridding the area of a sea-monster that lurked off the northern tip of the Saanich Peninsula and swallowed many unlucky Indians passing by in their canoes. The man on the island to the south threw a great rock at the monster, but overshot his mark so that the rock landed on the beach at Maple Bay. Seeing what had happened, Chu'an called to the other mountain to improve his aim, with the result that a second rock struck the monster squarely, breaking his jaw and rendering him no longer a menace to the coastal inhabitants. As with so many other parts of the British Columbia coast, the history of Saltspring Island begins with a report by James Douglas of the Hudson's Bay Company. Unhappily this report is not available, but Douglas mentioned it in a dispatch to Archibald Barclay, secretary of the company, dated May 16, 1853. Many such [salt] springs exist on an island in the Canal de Arro, which I formerly examined and reported on to the Governor and Committee. ... I shall direct Mr. Pemberton's attention to the subject as the discovery of salt on this island would be of the greatest importance and become a wealth to the country.1 The earliest published map of the area shows it as Chuan Island. This was merely a simple sketch made to accompany Governor Douglas's (1) Douglas to Barclay, May 16, 1853, MS., Archives of B.C. 162 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. "Report of a Canoe Expedition along the East Coast of Vancouver Island." The voyage was undertaken in 1852, and the report with the accompanying map was subsequently published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for the year 1854.2 Joseph Despard Pemberton, Colonial Surveyor from 1851 to 1864, mentioned the island several times in his official correspondence, referring to it as " Tuan or Salt Spring Island." The altered spelling of the first name is probably due to the difficulty of accurately reproducing the Indian sound. The mountain, which was, of course, the only feature to which the Indian name applied, is marked on all Pemberton's maps as Mount Tuan. On a map accompanying Captain Walter Colquhoun Grant's "Description of Vancouver Island," written in 1856, the name Salt- spring Island appears,3 but in 1859 this was officially changed to Admiral Island by Captain George Henry Richards, who conducted the coastal surveys from 1857 to 1863. This name, as well as that of Mount Baynes and Ganges Harbour, was given to honour Rear-Admiral Robert Lambert Baynes, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Station of the Royal Navy at the time, and of his flagship, H.M.S. Ganges. Despite this, " Saltspring " became the popular name, and in 1906 superseded "Admiral" as the official designation.4 As to the mountain, it suffered a further, though less noticeable, change of name. On later maps the | n " was changed to " m " and it became Mount Tuam.5 (2) This account was in reality a dispatch of Governor Douglas's, dated August 27, 1852, and was communcated to the Society by the Colonial Office and read at a meeting held February 28, 1853. Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, XXTV (1854), pp. 245-249. (3) Captain W. C. Grant, "Description of Vancouver Island," Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, XXVII (1857), pp. 268-320. (4) Captain J. T. Walbran, British Columbia Coast Names, 1592-1906, Ottawa, 1909, p. 436. The spelling " Salt Spring " frequently occurs, but according to the Geographic Board of Canada and the British Columbia Gazetteer this is incorrect and properly should be one word. (5) How this occurred is not known, but there are two coincidences worth noting in connection with the latter name. J. D. Pemberton was an Irishman who studied engineering at Trinity College, Dublin, and became assistant engineer with the Great Southern and Western Railway of that country. [See H. S. Sampson, "My Father, Joseph Despard Pemberton: 1821-93," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, VIII (1944), pp. 111-125.] On a branch line of that road lies the busy market town of Tuam, the seat of an Archbishopric since 1152, chartered by James I and an important centre of retail agricultural trade. The second coincidence appears in the reminiscences of Edward Mallandaine, one of the original Saltspring Island landholders, who came to the colony at the outbreak of the 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 163 At no point did the history of Saltspring Island show even a trace of those swift surges of commercial and industrial expansion which so many communities experience at one time or another during their development and which add touches of drama and romance to what otherwise might be a prosaic recounting of mundane events, strung together in chronological order. Saltspring Island is simply the story of pioneer agricultural settlement, from the first somewhat unenthusiastic pre-emptions of unsurveyed land by would-be settlers whose limited resources would supply them with nothing better—through long years of struggle with a rugged terrain that yielded only grudgingly to the axe and plough, and an insecurity of life and livelihood that gave rise to many tensions and frictions—to an island community, self-respecting and in many ways self-sufficient. It is the story of determined farmers, in a period when contact with the outside world meant a struggle of a day or more over trackless hills to the nearest boat-landing and governmental authority was distant and not too interested in a polyglot of squabbling settlers and their problems, who seized their little parcels of land, endured solitude, sometimes privation, and not infrequently danger from animal and human enemies, and who finally established themselves in a firm agricultural security. .Neither the fur trade nor the gold-rush nor the railroad boom so much as touched the shores of Saltspring Island, and the inhabitants were little affected by these events. Even the miners, those ubiquitous wanderers who have played so large a part in the development of the Province, probed only briefly and casually at the meagre mineral deposits of the island. Taken as a whole, the natural resources of the island symbolize solid mediocrity. There was a little of this and a little of that—a few minerals, a few fertile areas, a little building-stone, a little marketable timber—but no outstanding blessings that could bring rewards disproportionate to the labour involved. The story of Saltspring, like that of many another pioneer settlement, is the story of sheer hard work, redeemed only by the equable climate and the natural beauty of the island. The gold-rush of 1858 to the Fraser River, which left so many lasting effects on the two British colonies of Vancouver Island and British gold-rush in 1858. Describing the encampment of himself and two associates on an island in the mouth of the Fraser River he says: "... a friend of Thompson's, Tuam by name, an Irishman, put in an appearance with a bottle of whiskey." [Edward Mallandaine Reminiscences, MS., Archives of B.C.] These two items may have no bearing on the changing of Mount Tuan to Mount Tuam, but are nevertheless interesting. 164 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. Columbia, may also be held indirectly responsible for the settlement of Saltspring Island. The months following the subsidence of the gold fever saw thousands of erstwhile immigrants leave the country to return to their former homes in the United States. The boom which had followed the flood of gold-seekers, and which had turned the tiny port of Victoria from a primitive fur-trading community into a thriving town of many thousands of inhabitants, seemed due to collapse. Despite the general exodus of miners and business-men, a substantial number of persons, many in semi-indigent circumstances, remained. Britishers, Americans, Frenchmen, Germans, Australians, and men from Canada and the eastern maritime colonies lingered in Victoria in the hope that by some forlorn chance they might acquire the wherewithal to take up land and become self-sufficient residents of the colony. For most of these immigrants, the official price of land—1 pound sterling per acre with no pre-emption rights—was prohibitive, and as the winter of 1858-59 wore on, many who would willingly have remained in British Columbia if the opportunity had been offered emigrated or returned to the United States, where land could be purchased at the nominal price of $1.25 an acre or could be obtained in free grants for agricultural settlement. Nevertheless, the residual increase in population was considerable, although no one could foresee how long this would continue, and many were pessimistic over the probable complete extinction of the community at no very distant date. At best, the merchants and professional men of the town saw a retrogression to the former state of a mere trading-post unless there was immediately established a permanent agricultural population to support the newly founded business and industrial enterprises. Thus there arose an impelling need for a more reasonable method of providing fanning lands for those who wished to settle in the colony. A popular demand for land reform, unheard of since the abortive efforts of Rev. R. J. Staines in 1853,6 was once more voiced in the press and by petition to the Government. In July, 1859, Governor Douglas wrote to Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Secretary of State for the Colonies, saying:— . . . There has been much agitation lately at this place on the subject of the sale price of country land, which up to the present time has been maintained at the official rate of One pound sterling per Statute Acre. . . . [This price] is con- (6) See G. Hollis Slater, " Rev. Robert John Staines: Pioneer Priest, Pedagogue, and Political Agitator," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, XTV (1950), pp. 209 ff. 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 165 sidered too high and has become a constant subject of complaint with the people of this colony. . . . Public meetings have lately been held at this place for the purpose of getting up petitions and bringing to bear upon the Government an influence sufficiently powerful to forward that object.7 In this dispatch Douglas reviewed the distressing plight of a number of immigrant petitioners who " in consequence of detentions on the way hither, and the obstacles encountered since their arrival in this colony " found they had no hope.of becoming permanent residents unless they were allowed to settle on public lands free of the purchase price for at least twelve months. The petition mentioned suggested that the price of settlers' land should be reduced to $1.25 an acre, payable in four years. Douglas informed Lytton that he had rejected both suggestions but had compromised by lowering the initial instalment from 5 shillings to 1 shilling per acre, with payments to be arranged " so that the actual price of land, and the period at which the respective instalments fall due remain unaltered."8 Although during the earlier days of the colony Douglas had disapproved of cheap land, holding the opinion that it would create a rash of speculation and an inordinate rise in the price of labour, he later came to realize that something had to be done to encourage immigration and settlement. He was fully aware of the competition offered by the land policy of the United States, and on more than one occasion pointed out to the Colonial Office the need for radical changes in the land-disposal system in the colonies.9 Unfortunately, the Governor was handicapped in his efforts to effect any sweeping change in the land system in so far as Vancouver Island was concerned by the fact that legal adjustments in connection with the revocation of the original grant to the Hudson's Bay Company were still in process of settlement. In November, 1859, he complained to the Duke of Newcastle:— . . . No official announcement has been yet made to me of the revocation of the grant. I have at present therefore no power either to grant a legal Title or to make sales of Public Land, and I am in consequence placed in a position of extreme During the spring and summer of 1859 rural districts were being formed and surveys were being prosecuted with all practicable dispatch. Each district comprised sixteen square blocks of 1,000 acres each, (7) Douglas to Lytton, July 20, 1859, MS., Archives of B.C. (8) Ibid. (9) Douglas to Newcastle, March 10, 1860, MS., Archives of B.C. (10) Douglas to Newcastle, November 24, 1859, MS., Archives of B.C. 166 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. subdivided into 100-acre lots. In July of that year J. D. Pemberton, the Colonial Surveyor, reported to the Governor that some 80,000 acres in the Cowichan and Nanaimo districts had been subdivided at an average cost of approximately one-third of a cent per acre.11 The first step toward the actual lowering of land prices was taken at the suggestion of Pemberton, who proposed that 200 of .the 100-acre lots which could not be disposed of at the regular price and, in addition, some 20,000 acres scattered throughout the surveyed areas, but of a quality too inferior to wanant dividing into regulation lots, should be put up for auction at the upset price of 4 shillings and 2 pence per acre. In forwarding this suggestion with his approval to the Colonial Office, Governor Douglas hastened to explain that he had given his sanction to the sale of land " as a special and exceptional case, in no wise affecting the sale price of other public lands in this colony."12 Under the heading " Cheap Lands," the British Colonist made the following comments on the proposed sale:— ... this concession comes with bad grace,—after the government has driven thousands of British Subjects and others who wanted land to take refuge in the United States ... still cheap land we hail as a step in the right direction. But it does not go far enough to suit us . . . public lands ought to be open to pre-emption ... on condition of actual residence and the cultivation of a certain number of acres with improvements; and a reasonable period allowed to pay for the land.'3 During the following month the cry for a lower price for land and the establishment of a pre-emption system continued unabated. Governor Douglas, however, despite his avowed sympathies with the land-seekers, remained adamant on the question of making any basic change in either the price or the method of disposal of public lands.14 (11) Pemberton to Douglas, July 22, 1859, Correspondence of the Lands and Works Department, MS., Archives of B.C. (12) Douglas to Lytton, July 19, 1859, MS., Archives of B.C. (13) Victoria British Colonist, June 13, 1859. It should be pointed out that no part of Saltspring Island was included in this sale. The areas involved were North Saanich, South Saanich, Esquimalt, Metchosin, and Sooke. Victoria Gazette, July 16, 1859. (14) As late as July 13, in replying to a group of immigrants who had approached him on the subject of cheaper lands and a pre-emption system, Governor Douglas stated emphatically that the price of land had been fixed by the Crown and could only be altered by the same authority; that his only power lay in modifying the instalment payments. In the matter of unsurveyed lands he was willing to exercise his authority to the extent of allowing settlers to go on the land with a reduced payment of 1 shilling per acre, no further payments to be required 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 167 About this time a group of would-be settlers nominated a committee, headed by a Victoria lawyer, John Copland,15 to apply for permission to take up land in the Cowichan district. Claims script for that area having already been issued, the committee was offered unsurveyed lands in the Chemainus district,16 and on July 18 a party of thirty persons set out to explore the area which included certain portions of Saltspring Island. It was soon apparent that there had been at least an unofficial change in policy, for the Government instituted a make-shift pre-emption system which allowed settlement of the unsurveyed lands at Chemainus and Saltspring Island without even an initial instalment.11 Between July 26 and 30 settlement rights were granted to 241 persons, twenty- nine of whom sought lands on Saltspring Island. On July 26 Pemberton acknowledged an application from John Copland on behalf of these twenty-nine persons, in which he stated:— I acknowledge to have received from you the names of 29 persons, list of whom is hereto annexed for whom you are agent and who apply through you for permission to settle on the unsurveyed lands of Tuan or Salt Spring Island, their reason being want of funds to settle on surveyed lands elsewhere in which cases an immediate installment is required. The Permission asked for I am empowered to give and am further to state distinctly that after the survey of the lands in question shall have been made, pre-emptive rights in those of the number stated, who shall have effected most improvements in the way of Buildings, fencing, or cultivation on any government section shall be recognized, and that the sections shall be laid out continuously with and as portion of the same network which until the land had been surveyed. This, it was expected, would not take place until the following year. Nevertheless, the inference was that unless instructions to the contrary were received from the Colonial Office, and admittedly this was expected in the near future, the price of land when surveyed would still be £1 per acre. See Victoria Gazette, July 14,1859. (15) John Copland was a young man of good family from Edinburgh, Scotland, where he had spent four years serving his law apprenticeship with James Duncan. Having passed his examinations at the University of Edinburgh, he left home for the colonies, spending six years in Australia before coming to Vancouver Island in 1858. Victoria British Colonist, December 24,1859; July 7,1862. (16) JiM., July 13, 1859. (17) Whether this was Pemberton's idea, which in view of later developments and the fact that previous changes in land-sales regulations had been made at his suggestion it seems most reasonable to assume, and whether Governor Douglas had given his approval to all the details of the scheme, is not known. Certainly the policy was never officially proclaimed, nor was its authorization sought from the Imperial Government. Moreover, later references to pre-emption measures in Douglas's letters to the Colonial Office carry an inference of his unwillingness to admit to a former scheme having been in operation. extends over the adjoining Country at Cowichan. I am further empowered to delay the survey of that portion of Tuan Island on which these persons shall settle for [left blank] years or until requested at an earlier period to survey and issue titles by the majority of the holders at the future time alluded to. Provided that as soon as the lands are surveyed immediate payment at the rate and on the terms that shall then exist or immediate forfeiture of the same and improvements shall Further conditions prohibited the occupation of Indian lands and reserved the right of the Government to resume any portion of the lands that might be needed for public purposes. The same terms were made applicable to the 212 persons who wished to settle in the Chemainus area.19 During the next few months two more groups applied for pre-emption rights on Saltspring Island through John Copland. The first of these, numbering thirty-two persons, was made up largely of recent immigrants from Australia. Pemberton granted them permission to settle on the same conditions as had been laid down for the first group, stating that there were "still remaining unoccupied tracts of good land on Salt Spring Island."20 On December 8,1859, Copland forwarded the names of an additional fifty-six persons who desired to take up land on the island. Pemberton may have suspected that a number of these applicants were local Victoria residents with little intention of occupying their claims, who planned to make some improvements and in time, when surveys had been made, to sell at a profit. Having designed the scheme for the benefit of bona fide settlers, the Colonial Surveyor had no intention of permitting it to be used for speculative purposes. Consequently, in permitting the members of this larger group to claim land on the island, he added two more terms to those that had been laid down the July previous: that when occupation ceased, all title to the land should (18) Pemberton to Copland, July 26, 1859, Correspondence of the Lands and Works Department, MS., Archives of B.C. See also Pemberton to Messrs. Sparrow, Manly, and Wright, July 30, 1859, ibid. (19) Copland's connection with the larger Vancouver Island group was severed shortly after he had applied for the twenty-nine Saltspring Island pre-emptions, owing to his disagreement with the other members of the committee and his insistence that he was the " only proper representative of the petitioners." A second public meeting by the Chemainus group appointed the other three committee members—Sparrow, Manly, and Wright—as their sole agents. Victoria British Colonist, August 19, 1859. (20) Pemberton to Copland, September 19,1859, Correspondence of the Lands and Works Department, MS., Archives of B.C. L. 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 169 cease, and that no person could sell his land without first obtaining a licence to do so.21 By the end of 1859 some 117 persons had applied for and received permission to settle on Saltspring Island without payment of any kind, under an unofficial pre-emption system limited to unsurveyed land in the Chemainus and Saltspring Island districts. In the rather confused circumstances of Vancouver Island affairs it may have been that Pemberton was permitted to exercise his own judgment to some extent in dealing with public insistence on a less restrictive land policy. Until December 12,1859, there appears to have been no conespondence on the subject between the Governor and the Surveyor-General. On that date Pemberton wrote to Douglas officially suggesting certain pre-emption measures, the main points of which, in the case of Chemainus and Saltspring Island, had been in operation for nearly five months. The Governor was reminded that a good deal of inferior land containing, however, many fertile spots had been continually rejected even when offered for sale at the upset price of 4 shillings and 2 pence per acre. Pemberton went on to say:— ... I would therefore earnestly and respectfully suggest that these sections ... be thrown open to pre-emption, believing that many persons who now wish to occupy land at a distance at Saltspring Island for instance or Chemainus, would thereby be induced to seek out and occupy the fertile spots alluded to and that an impetus would be given to settle up lands which although near Victoria are too wild to sell at present.22 The rules of pre-emption, as contained in Pemberton's original letter, were as follows:— 1. The sale of lands as heretofore at 4s 2d per acre to be discontinued. 2. Single men allowed to pre-empt 100 acres, married men with families 200 acres in the manner and on the terms hereafter described. 3. Any person wishing to occupy a particular piece of land can easily ascertain at the Land Office whether the land has been sold or not. 4. If not, such person shall furnish to the Surveyor-General a statement in writing to the best of his ability of the boundaries and quality of his claim and on his paying a fee of 10 shillings to the Colony his statement will be filed and his name enrolled in a register to be kept at the Land Office for the purpose. 5. Priority of Registration will be prima facie evidence in favour of a settler if when the government survey is being made two or more persons shall occupy and 170 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. vacated for three months, re-registration shall on application take place and the original registration be cancelled. 7. An occupier can transfer by simply effecting a fresh registration at the Land Office, paying as before a fee of 10 shillings to the Colony. 8. Payment will not be required nor the government survey made before a majority of registered claimants in any district shall apply for indentures—if they do so within two years from the date of this notice. 9. The price shall not exceed five shillings an acre payable as the authorities shall then direct. 10. These rules shall be applicable to the following districts, viz: Esquimalt; Metchosin; Sooke; Lake; N. Saanich; Highland; and to the lands not reserved for government purposes.23 When Douglas dispatched Pemberton's suggestions to the Colonial Office with his approval, he pointed out that the scheme was to be a provisional one only and that pre-emption was to be limited to specific categories of land. There appears to have been no attempt to obtain official authorization for the Saltspring Island and Chemainus preemptions. The Governor wrote:— ... It is further necessary for me to state for your Grace's information, that the proposed pre-emption measure is not intended for general application, and will be restricted in its operation exclusively to surveyed districts of the Colony after the valuable land of such Districts has been sold on the usual terms of £ 1 sterling an acre, and when the residue of the land cannot be sold on any terms.24 Apparently the Governor still felt that the uncertain legal circumstances surrounding land tenure in the island colony precluded the pre-emption of lands which might at some future date bring the regulation sale price. Thus Chemainus and Saltspring Island were not to be included in the scheme and remained, in a manner of speaking, beyond the pale of official policy. The sanction of the Colonial Office was contained in two dispatches dated February 21 and June 28, I860.25 Although there appears to have been a mistaken idea cunent in the colony that the regulation sale price of land had been reduced, such was not the case. In November, 1860, J. D. Cusheon, a prominent Victoria businessman, wrote to the Surveyor-General stating that the Governor had given him permission to purchase 1,000 acres of land on Saltspring Island at $1.25 an acre. He had expended $3,300 in having the land improved, maintaining a crew of sixteen men there for four months, clearing land, cutting 3 miles (23) Ibid. (24) Douglas to Newcastle, December 17, 1859, MS., Archives of B.C. (25) Douglas to Newcastle, April 25, 1861, MS., Archives of B.C. L_ 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 171 of road to a wharf-site at Ganges Harbour, and erecting a permanent family dwelling. He was anxious to pay for the land and to receive title.26 The reply of B. W. Pearse, the Acting Colonial Surveyor, makes it clear that, as far as Douglas was concerned, the situation regarding land sales had not altered appreciably. Cusheon was told that he could " occupy on the pre-emption system adopted in Salt Spring Island " 200 acres, but that the sale price of land which had not yet been offered for sale at public auction was still £1 an acre.27 It was not until February, 1861, when the sale price of land in the adjacent Mainland colony of British Columbia had been reduced officially to 4 shillings and 2 pence an acre, that Douglas, accepting at its face value the former suggestion of the Colonial Office that practices adopted in one colony should be established in the other, issued a proclamation lowering the sale price of country land on Vancouver Island to the same figure. A month later, following the same line of reasoning, the pre-emption system existing on the Mainland was extended to " the whole of Vancouver Island and its dependencies."28 Thus a full eighteen months elapsed between the first allowance of pre-emptive rights by Pemberton and the official proclamation of the new policy. It appears that on occasion the unofficial pre-emption of land at Chemainus and Saltspring Island caused the Government some embarrassment and, in some measure, was responsible for the chaotic state of land recording found to exist there at the time Provincial surveys were made following British Columbia's union with Canada in 1871. Shortly after the initial occupation of the Chemainus and Saltspring Island pre-emption claims a confused situation arose as to the legal status of the settlers. On October 4,1859, during a debate in the House of Assembly concerning the period of residence required for franchise qualification, Pemberton declared that the Chemainus settlers (which included those on the island) had no legal title to the land they occupied and that they were, in effect, mere squatters—on sufferance through the kindness of the Government in allowing them to take up land without payment.29 The issue was taken up immediately by Copland. After confronting the Surveyor-General with his own letter of July 26 setting (26) J. D. Cusheon to Pemberton, November 20, 1860, Correspondence of the Lands and Works Department, MS., Archives of B.C. (27) B. W. Pearse to J. D. Cusheon, November 28, 1860, ibid. (28) Douglas to Newcastle, April 25, 1861, MS., Archives of B.C. (29) Vancouver Island, House of Assembly, Journals, October 4, 1859, MS., Archives of B.C. 172 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. out the regulations, the lawyer was able to state in a letter to the British Colonist10 that the Surveyor-General had assured him that the settlers were in legal possession of their land with the right to the franchise, providing the stipulated period of residence in the colony had been met. That Governor Douglas was aware of the confusion which might attend the proclamation of an official pre-emption system, particularly in so far as the two special areas were concerned, is shown in a letter sent by the Colonial Secretary to Pemberton a few days after the proclamation of March 21,1861. With reference to the recent Proclamation throwing open the lands of Vancouver Island to pre-emption, I have to instruct you to decline to record any claims that may be preferred to lands lying in the Districts of Salt Spring or Admiral Island and Chemainus as those lands were subject to pre-emption under a previous arrangement the claims arising out of which must be adjusted and settled before the present system can take effect.31 In May, 1861, Pemberton published a list of the names recorded as landholders on Saltspring Island, and signified that he would register these names as bona fide settlers under the terms of the recently proclaimed " Land Act."32 This meant that if the land was considered to have been surveyed, the settlers would have to make an immediate payment. Sometime earlier a superficial tracing of the claims around St. Mary Lake had been made for the Government by John Tait, and a map of the north-east coast settlement had been drawn by someone for the purpose of registration. The issue appears to have revolved around the question as to whether either of these could be considered official surveys.33 Whether from a desire to see justice done or from a desire to embarrass Douglas and Pemberton since he was associated with the anti- Government faction of the time, Copland immediately drew up a formal protest, stating that the settlers on the island were fully authorized in their legal occupation by Pemberton's letter of July 26, 1859, and that the regulations of the new pre-emption system could not be applied nor could payment be demanded until a majority of the settlers requested and obtained proper surveys as provided for in the original regulations.34 (30) Victoria British Colonist, October 5, 1859. (31) W. A. G. Young to Pemberton, March 28, 1861, Correspondence of the Lands and Works Department, MS., Archives of B.C. (32) Victoria British Colonist, May 18, 1861. (33) Ibid., May 24, 1861. (34) Copland to Pemberton, July 6, 1861, Correspondence of the Lands and Works Department, MS., Archives of B.C. 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 173 What reply Pemberton made to this statement is not known, but that no particular steps were taken to clear up the matter is evidenced by a reference in the report of the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works as late as 1874. The position of settlers' claims upon this Island is most confusing, and in no From the archives of this Department I gather that, in the early part of 1860, a number of persons settled on this Island; consequently, prior to any Land Preemption Proclamation in the Province. Some of these settlers were permitted to take possession of, and occupy, 200 acres; others, 150 acres; and, subsequently, others recorded 100 acres of land. Until the past summer, no regular system of surveys had been made on the Island; . . . Several disputes, and more than one law suit, have arisen out of these complications. I am so informed by Mr. Green, the gentleman who surveyed a portion of the Island this summer, that the Pre-emption Record Map, in the Land Office, shows an extensive acreage of land that has no existence, and as it is recorded by settlers, who claim that they are entitled to their acreage in that locality, it is impossible to say where these difficulties will end.35 From this we may infer that the Colonial Government had been only too willing to let future generations of Civil Servants untangle the ravelled skein of Saltspring Island land claims. The early settlement on Saltspring Island presented a picture of mixed nationalities and colour. A large number of the pioneer farmers that came to the island during the first two years were negroes—a remnant of the extensive group that migrated to Vancouver Island from California and Oregon.36 Among these were Louis Stark and his wife, (35) Report of the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works of the province of British Columbia from the 1st December, 1873, to the 31st December, 1874, Victoria, 1875, pp. 148-149. An example of the complications is to be found in the case of E. J. Bittancourt, full details of which are to be found in " Return to an Address of the Legislative Assembly praying for a copy of the Petition of Estulon Jose Bittancourt to the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, concerning a piece of land to which said E. J. Bittancourt lays claim, together with all correspondence and documents connected with and relating to said Petition," British Columbia Sessional Papers, 1875, pp. 657-663. (36) This group, which has been variously estimated as numbering between four and eight hundred, came to Victoria in several contingents in the spring of 1858, just prior to and during the gold-rush immigration. The objective of the negroes, however, was not gold, but simply to escape from the racial discrimination that was appearing in California. Unfortunately, public interest in their migration was swamped in the hurly-burly of excitement attending the gold-seekers. See F. W. Howay, "The Negro Immigration into Vancouver Island in 1858," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, HI (1939), pp. 101-113. A. F. Flucke July-Oct. Sketch-map of Saltspring Island. 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 175 Sylvia, both former slaves;37 Abraham Copeland and his son-in-law, W. L. Hanison;38 the three Jones brothers, John, William, and Ellas;39 William Robinson, destined to be the first settler killed on the island by Indians; and Armstead Buckner. Four Portuguese—Manuel An- toine and Estalon Jose Bittancourt and John and Delarvo Norton—were among those that came to find new homesteads on the island. Others were English, American, and men from Canada and Australia. Edward Mallandaine, who later became well known in Victoria for his private school, and John Patton Booth, who eventually became Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, were among the first arrivals. The early pre-emption claims were all at the north end of the island and rather widely dispersed. The Bittancourts claimed the sections in the immediate vicinity of Vesuvius Bay, while the Starks and William Robinson went a little to the north, near what is now Broadwell Mountain. Several other negroes—Copeland, Harrison, Buckner, and Jones —as well as the Portuguese Norton brothers took up claims along the eastern and southern approaches to St. Mary Lake and southward to where the fingers of Ganges Harbour and Booth Bay almost meet. John Booth's land lay to the east and south of the narrow canal that bears his name. This group of holdings later became known as Central Settlement. North of St. Mary Lake, along the sea-frontage facing Houstoun Passage, Jonathan Begg, Edward Walker, and Henry Sampson laid out adjoining farms and formed Begg's Settlement. Edward Mallandaine went farther afield to stake his land, just west of the L-shaped promontory known as Walter Hook.40 (37) Louis Stark was the son of a slave master and one of his slaves. As a youth he worked as a barber on the Mississippi River steamers. Later he moved to Oregon, and from there to Victoria and later to Saltspring Island. [Victoria British Colonist, March 1, 1895.] Sylvia Stark was born a slave in Missouri and later moved to Oregon. [Sidney Review and Saanich Peninsula Gazette, November 15, 1944.] (38) According to his grandson, E. L. Harrison, Abraham Copeland at one time owned property in Indianapolis, Indiana, where the Central Station now stands. From there he emigrated to London, Ontario, with his son-in-law, W. L. Harrison, and later came to Victoria via Panama. (39) Mr. E. L. Harrison states that the three Jones brothers had all graduated from an eastern college in 1856. John remained on the island, but William and Elias followed the gold-rush to Barkerville. (40) See Pre-emption Record Map, Saltspring Island, British Columbia, Department of Lands. 176 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. The first group of Saltspring Island settlers—seventeen in number- left Victoria on July 27, 1859. By November 22 forty settlers were reported to be on the island, many of whom had already begun to erect buildings in preparation for permanent settlement. Two weeks later an additional fifty-six persons applied for pre-emption rights, but it is doubtful whether or not all of them made immediate claims. One of the first white women to reside on the island was Mrs. Henry Lineker, who, according to the testimony of her daughter, Mrs. Thomas Griffiths, arrived there on November 5,1859. The widow of a Captain Cape, of Sydney, Australia, she had emigrated to San Francisco with a party of her countrymen and later moved to Victoria during the Fraser River gold-rush. There she married Henry Lineker and took up residence on his farm at Ganges Harbour. Mrs. Joseph Akerman was another of the early white women to come to the island. She arrived at Victoria on January 10, 1863, aboard the Robert Lowe, being one of the thirty-six immigrant girls brought out from England for domestic service in the colony. She was then Martha Clay and within a few months of her anival in the colony she married Joseph Akerman and went with him to his holding in the valley between Burgoyne Bay and Fulford Harbour. A short time later Mrs. George Mitchell came to settle in the same area. She had come to the colony on board the Scottish barque Kincaid and, as in the case of Mrs. Akerman, was married within a few months of her arrival.41 No sooner had settlement taken place than the elections of 1860 gave the new arrivals an opportunity of showing their political colours. Considering the financial straits of many of the settlers and the illiteracy of many others, it was almost inevitable that the man who had ananged the settlement, who was himself a landholder and who had become the unofficial champion of the inhabitants, should be the first person nominated to represent the island in the House of Assembly. The British Colonist of December 20,1859, earned a card addressed to John Copland, nominating him as a candidate for election. It was signed by Edward Mallandaine, Edward Walker, A. Stenhouse, John Gordon McKay, F. P. Gerry, C. Reed, J. D. Cusheon, Fielding Spott, William Brown, and W. Bond.42 (41) Sidney and Islands Review, October 7, 1926. For obituary notice concerning Mrs. Akerman, see Victoria Colonist, December 17, 1933. For reminiscences on early days and pioneers of the island generally see Margaret Walter, Early Days among the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Victoria, 1946, pp. 16-35. (42) Victoria British Colonist, December 20, 1859. 1951 Eakly Days on Saltspring Island 177 The political squabbles which were being earned on in Victoria between the group supporting the so-called " Family-Company-Compact " and the reform element led by Amor de Cosmos, owner-editor of the British Colonist, were reflected in the scattered settlements of Salt- spring Island. Copland, who had associated himself with the anti- Government faction, was supported editorially by the Colonist at every opportunity. After the manner of elections in those early days the battle waxed loud and long. Many a harsh word was said on both sides, and the Government was accused of conniving at open malpractice in the setting-up of the election machinery. Actually the reason the election was handled in such an unsatisfactory manner seems more likely to be found in the muddled circumstances sunounding the settlement of the island rather than in any deliberate attempt on the part of the Government to impede the franchise. Prior to the election a register of voters was opened at Victoria, but due to the remoteness of the island under the transportation facilities of the day and the consequent lack of postal service, only the nonresident landholders—those living in the immediate vicinity of the capital —were aware of this. When it was realized that the islanders knew nothing of the register, De Cosmos raised the cry that a local registry office should have been established.43 As a result, the register was opened again, but according to Copland's later complaint this was done only after the official voters fist had already been posted and without public notice having been given. The young lawyer claimed that this had allowed a certain amount of undercover campaigning to aid the ■ government candidate," J. J. Southgate, a Victoria merchant, most of whose support came from the Chemainus settlers.44 Early in January an editorial in the British Cobnist claimed that no opposition had been offered to Copland until it had been discovered that he had no intention of supporting the leader of the Government group, George Hunter Cary. The editorial went on to say, somewhat truthfully, but no less pretentiously:— If any other man than a resident there had a claim to be elected by that constituency it is Mr. Copland. But for his efforts in chartering a vessel to explore the island, getting a pre-emptive system established and securing the franchise to the settlers, there would have been no Salt Spring Island.4' (43) Ibid., November 25, 1859. (44) Ibid., January 5, 1860. (45) Ibid., January 5, 1860. 178 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. On the other hand, Copland's handling of the settlement scheme had made him one or two enemies.46 Several veiled threats and insinuations as to his former reputation when residing in Australia were tossed his way from the British Colonist's rival, the Victoria Gazette.41 There are one or two indications, if some credence is given to Copland's story, that perhaps unorthodox attempts were made to secure his defeat. The Government had appointed Jonathan Begg as Returning Officer and had set the date of the election for January 13. Copland claimed that when he approached the Colonial Secretary to make certain of the election date, he had been told that it would not be held until January 20. As late as the day the election was held, the British Colonist commented, evidently from information received earlier: "Although quite a number of electors live here [on the island] not a word has been dropped as to the day on which the elections would be held."48 Considering the dispersed holdings of the settlers, the lack of communication between them, and the fact that no community centre, not even a school-house, had been established, the almost outright accusation that the Returning Officer had deliberately posted the election notice on an uninhabited shack deep in the woods only three days before the election, instead of the regulation six, does not seem quite justified.49 Nevertheless, it is evident that Copland's desire to play the part of a ■ champion of the masses" on Saltspring Island did not increase his popularity with the governing clique and those supporting it.50 George Hunter Cary, the Attorney-General, who attended the election in support of J. J. Southgate, caused even more ill feeling by openly congratulating his man on winning the election even before it had taken place. When Henry Lineker, spokesman for the resident settlers, protested this, Cary is said to have replied with an oath that the whole affair was a mass of irregularities and illegalities; that " the bunglers in (46) The following extract is from an undated and unsigned letter in the Archives of B.C. concerning this election: "... whether Messrs. Southgate and Sparrow were induced to stand by the Government we cannot of course say, but we think after the conduct of Mr. Copland in the matter of the settlement, Government . will obtain great applause for putting forward any respectable man who may keep out Mr. Copland." (47) Victoria Gazette, December 23, 1859; January 6, 1860. (48) Victoria British Colonist, January 14, 1860. (49) Ibid., January 19, 1860. (50) No doubt Copland's quick defence of the settlers' possessory and franchise rights the previous October had not endeared him to the governing officials. 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 179 town had done it," but that the settlers might as well stop protesting, vote for Southgate and " forget it."51 Of the ten men who had nominated Copland, only one of them, Edward Mallandaine, was able to vote in the election owing to the muddled system of registration.52 A protest was drawn up on the spot, signed by fifteen settlers, and handed to the Returning Officer. The protest took exception not only to the lack of notification regarding the initial opening of the voters register and its subsequent reopening, but also to the manner in which the notice of election had been given and " other informalities and illegalities."53 The fracas drew considerable attention, partially because Copland threatened to sue G. W. Heaton, High Sheriff of Vancouver Island, for illegally opening the voters register the second time, thereby, in the lawyer's opinion, causing him to lose the election.54 Begg, the Returning Officer, was questioned regarding the circumstances of the election in a letter from Governor Douglas and replied that he had " held the election in due form," adding, however, that the lack of regular postal communication between the island and Victoria was "sevearly [sic] felt" by the settlers.55 Nothing came of the protesting. Copland's threat to sue the High Sheriff, which was largely bluff in an attempt to mtimidate Heaton into an out-of-court settlement, was never carried out. J. J. Southgate entered the House of Assembly as representative of Salt- spring Island, and the matter closed with the satisfied report of Governor Douglas to the Colonial Office that:— There was a close canvas and a keen contest in nearly every District represented, and it is gratifying to observe that the returns exhibit the names of so many of the most intelligent and respectable gentlemen in the colony.SS With the settlement securely established and a representative in the House of Assembly, the Saltspring Island settlers buckled down to the work of turning their wilderness acreage into profitable farms. The land was not eminently suited to agriculture, the largest part of the island being fit only for grazing purposes, but by August, 1860, there were nearly seventy resident landholders hard at work, clearing, ploughing, and fencing their properties.57 Many of the settlers had considerable (51) Victoria British Colonist, January 19, 1860. (52) Saltspring Island Election Papers, 1860, MS., Archives of B.C. (53) Victoria British Colonist, January 17, 1860. (54) Copland to Heaton, January 20, 1860, MS., Archives of B.C. (55) Jonathan Begg to Douglas, January 20,1860, MS., Archives of B.C. (56) Douglas to Newcastle, January 25, 1860, MS., Archives of B.C. (57) Victoria British Colonist, August 23, 1860. 180 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. acreage planted with barley, oats, and potatoes, and were engaged in raising cattle, pigs, and other smaller stock which would be likely to find a ready sale in the Victoria market. The Salt Spring Island Agricultural Association had been formed, with Jonathan Begg, Henry Lineker, J. Elliot, Jacob Francis, John.Booth, and John Ussher as directors.58 Nor was the island entirely lacking in commercial and industrial undertakings. Jonathan Begg had opened a store on his farm in December, 1859, and in connection with his ambitious scheme of operating a nursery of fruit-trees, ornamental shrubs, and flowers, he boldly advertised in the Victoria Directory of 1860:— SALT SPRING ISLAND STORE, POSTOFFICE AND NURSERY The subscriber will keep constantly on hand a choice stock of Flour, Groceries and Provisions Dry Goods, Hardware, Etc. Which will be sold cheap for cash or exchanged for country produce. The subscriber has also commenced a Nursery of Fruit and Ornamental Trees, together with Hedgings, Roses, Flowers, etc., on his farm at Salt Spring Island where he hopes to be able to supply those favouring him with orders on the best of terms. J. Begg.59 The Saltspring Island Stone Company, which had been formed to quarry the massive beds of sandstone lying close to the shore from Vesuvius Bay north to Houstoun Passage, was another promising venture. A report in the British Colonist in March, 1860, stated that the stone was suitable for all building purposes, being of a dark-grey colour and easily worked. It could be laid down in Victoria at $8 per ton.60 The company, as originally formed, consisted of five men—H. Elliot, William Senior, Robert Leech, E. Williams, and John Lee. The last named was a building mechanic who handled the sales and construction work in Victoria, while the other four operated the stone-quarry on the J. D. Cusheon's 1,000-acre development, previously mentioned, promised to become the largest on the island. Unfortunately, Cusheon abandoned his plans; a reference to the property in 1863 stated that it had 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 181 been unoccupied for over a year.62 Living conditions on the island were typical of pioneer life in many parts of the Pacific Northwest. Regular - and safe postal services were lacking almost entirely, making it necessary to send mail to Victoria via Nanaimo and New Westminster.63 Until wharves were erected at Begg's Settlement and at the stone-quarry, there were no loading facilities of any kind, and, consequently, bringing in provisions, particularly during the winter, was subject to the vagaries of wind and weather. The Bittancourts ran a small schooner occasionally, sailing when they could and rowing at other times, but to reach Victoria by canoe took anywhere from one and a half to three days, depending on wind and tides. By 1861 the negro population in the Ganges Harbour area—Central Settlement—had grown considerably. Rev. Ebenezer Robson, a Methodist missionary, made his first visit to the island in February, 1861, and reported that of the twenty-one houses in the district, all but four were occupied by coloured families.64 The winter of 1862 gave the settlers a bad time. In December, 1861, there were twenty-two claims occupied on the north side at Begg's Settlement. With others being taken up along the nanow strip of fertile land between Burgoyne Bay and Fulford Harbour and the promise of roads to connect the communities, the future of the island appeared hopeful.65 But in May of the following year less cheering news was reported. The severe winter had killed off nearly 100 head of cattle, and many of the settlers had been dangerously low in provisions. These conditions, combined with the inaction of the Government in the matter of postal services, had reduced the number of residents by one-third.66 But Government and the elements were less sinister obstacles to settlement than the threat of Indian hostility. In the decade from 1860 to 1870 a series of incidents took place which kept the settlers in a constant state of fearfulness. Besides conducting massacres amongst themselves, the Indians murdered several settlers and robbed many others. From the beginning the Cowichan tribesmen, although showing no really dangerous attitudes, repeatedly told the settlers that they had no right to be on the island. This seems to have been more particularly the case with regard to the negroes, whom the Indians insisted on (62) Victoria British Colonist, April 9,1863. (63) Ibid., May 1, 1860. (64) Ebenezer Robson Diaries, February 19 and 21, 1861, MS., Archives of B.C. (65) Victoria British Colonist, August 8, 1861; February 3, 1862. (66) Ibid., May 5, 1862. 182 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. regarding as inferior to themselves, with no claim to the respect normally shown to the whites. Thus they robbed the negroes' houses and crops without compunction. The settlers, on their part, claimed that the natives had never lived on the island prior to the settlement but had established a village there afterwards solely as an argument in their claim for compensation for the land. Presumably the settlers were right, since no records or evidence of a previous permanent native occupation exist. Nevertheless, the Indians did use the island for hunting and fishing purposes and maintained that some of their people were buried there.67 Several disturbing incidents occuned shortly after the settlers first arrived. Some of these did not involve the local Cowichan tribes at all but arose from the threatening habits of the more aggressive northern Indians. Having spent the winter in Victoria feasting and potlatching, these people frequently raided the outlying farms that lay in the paths of their homeward journeys. July, 1860, saw the first really terrifying incident take place. This was the famous " Ganges Harbour Battle," between a large group of Cowichans encamped at the head of the bay and some dozen or more Indians from the north. Henry Lineker, acting as spokesman for the settlers in demanding adequate protection by the Government, described the event in a letter to Governor Douglas. He told how a party of twelve or more Bella Bella Indians on their way to Victoria had brought a white settler from the north end of the island to Ganges Harbour, where they were savagely attacked by the Cowichans and all but one slaughtered or taken prisoners.68 The incident took place so close to Lineker's •house that he sent his wife and family into the woods for safety, fearing that the Cowichans in their excited mood might turn on them. Fortunately, this did not occur, and, in fact, the Indians showed no animosity toward the white people. Governor Douglas, reporting the matter to London, stated:— The latter [the settlers] though greatly alarmed suffered no molestation whatever from the Victorious Tribe, who, before leaving the settlement expressed the deepest regret for the affray, pleading in extenuation that they could not control their feelings, and begging that their conduct might not be represented to this government in an unfavourable light.69 (67) R. C. Mayne, Four Years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island, 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 183 Nevertheless, such affairs constituted something of a menace to the safety of the settlers, while the depredations of the natives going to and from their homes farther north were a constant source of friction and potential danger. The need for a resident Justice of the Peace was raised by Rear- Admiral R. L. Baynes in his report to London concerning the Ganges Harbour battle. In defence of his remissness on this point, Governor Douglas pointed out that it was his policy to appoint Justices of the Peace " from the respectable class of Settlers, in compliment to them as well as with the view to economising the Public Revenue," and to pay them a nominal fee of £1 per day while in session. In the case of Saltspring Island, however, the Governor explained " none of the resident settlers . . . having either the status or intelligence to serve the public with advantage in the capacity of local justices, no appointment was simply for that reason made."70 The Governor went on to state that he had seen no urgent cause to pay out £500 a year on the appointment of a regular Stipendiary Magistrate for the island, nor did he feel that a mere Justice of the Peace could have had any effect in preventing the Indian battle. On the contrary, he declared, interference by a lone official might have precipitated an attack on the white settlers. Nevertheless, he agreed that as soon as a suitable person could be found, he should be appointed to the position.71 But unfortunately two more murders and several robberies were to occur before determined efforts were made to accomplish this end. On May 10, 1861, some twenty canoes of Haida Indians from the Queen Charlotte Islands landed near the northern settlement to camp for the night. Entering Jonathan Begg's storehouse, they stole blankets, provisions, and clothing. In the early hours of the morning they con-' tinued on their way. The gunboat H.M.S. Forward was ordered to seek out the ringleaders, and after a lively encounter the commander, Captain C. R. Robson, secured their anest.72 Savage hostility broke out in April, 1863, when a man named Brady and his companion, Henley, were attacked on a small island near Salt- spring Island. Henley survived the attack but Brady was badly wounded and died later.73 This appeared to have been the work of the Lumal- (70) Ibid. (71) Ibid. (72) Victoria British Colonist, May 15 and 22, 1861. (73) Ibid., April 9 and May 8, 1863. 184 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. chas, a group living on the islands immediately to the north of Saltspring. A few days later another tragedy took place. A German settler, Frederick Marks, travelling with his 15-year-old daughter, took shelter from a brief storm on Saturna Island. It was known that there were numerous canoes of Indians in the vicinity, and when the man and girl failed to appear, a search was instituted.74 At the time the two bodies could not be found, but on the strength of information provided by other Indians, H.M.S. Forward was sent off in pursuit of the murderers. Their hiding- place proved to be not Saltspring Island, as many of the terrified settlers believed, but Kuper Island, still uncomfortably close on the other side of Houston Passage. There an open gun battle ensued between the Forward and the villagers.75 For several weeks an uneasy atmosphere prevailed among the island settlers, but fortunately the Indians of Cowichan Bay and Chemainus took no part in the affair, and soon those encamped on Saltspring and Galiano Islands dispersed to their homes for the summer. The murder of Marks and his daughter created a stir of indignation in Victoria and Nanaimo.76 Governor Douglas could no longer put off ■ the appointment of a Justice of the Peace and forthwith issued the following commission::— To all whom these presents shall come or whom the same may concern: Greeting Know ye that reposing special confidence in the Integrity, Loyalty, and Ability of John Peter Mouat Biggs I do hereby constitute and appoint him the said John Peter Mouat Biggs to be Justice of the Peace in and for the District of Salt Spring Island, including the settlement of Chemainus—To have and to exercise within the District aforesaid all and every the powers appertaining and belonging to that office accord- I ing to the Law during pleasure and for so doing this shall be his Commission. In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand and the Public Seal of the Colony of Vancouver Island at Victoria in the said Colony this twelfth day of May a.d. 1863.77 Major Biggs was certainly of the class of" respectable settlers" favoured by Douglas for public appointments. A man of means and education, he had purchased land at Chemainus following his retirement from twen- (76) Victoria British Colonist, May 13, 1863. (77) W. A. G. Young to J. P. M. Biggs, May 12, 1863, Correspondence of the Colonial Secretary's Department, MS., Archives of B.C. 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 185 ty-five years of military service in India.78 Within a few days of his appointment, Major Biggs anested an Indian, ostensibly for harbouring one of the murderers of the settler Marks and his daughter, but the episode had an air of official action taken for the sake of forestalling public censure, and, besides, Biggs was not a resident of the island, where, in the eyes of the settlers, the greatest need for a law official existed.79 Spring after spring, when the Indians were moving from Victoria to their home villages, stopping on the way to gather roots and berries on their traditional preserves, complaints arose concerning their habit of thieving from farmers' crops.80 But much more serious to the struggling settlers was the slaughter of their live stock. In March, 1867, John Maxwell reported five beeves missing in one month.81 The Indians were not always the culprits in these cases, since white cattle thieves were not by any means unknown. Nevertheless, the two groups often worked hand in glove, and the cry for retribution and law enforcement was directed generally against the native population. In March, 1868, violence flared again. William Robinson, a coloured man living on the north-west side of the island, was found shot to death. The murderer had evidently fired from close range and had then proceeded to rifle the cabin.82 Eight months later a second murder took place in the same area. Giles Curtis, another negro, was found with a gunshot wound in his temple and his throat cut with a butcher knife.83 The settlers, now thoroughly aroused, petitioned the Government to exercise some protective measures, pointing out that unless such incidents were stopped, it would be necessary for them to take the law into their own hands or else leave the island.84 When a little later one of the settlers reported that while he and his family were walking around their farm, some Indians in a canoe had fired on them, the Government could no longer delay. Following a strong editorial in the Victoria British Colonist on April 13,1869, John Morley, Justice of the Peace for Cowichan, anested an Indian, presumably for the murder of William Robinson fifteen months earlier. Unfortunately, there were indications that (78) Victoria British Colonist, May 13 and 22, 1863; October 24, 1864. (79) Ibid., May 22, 1863. (80) Ibid., March 12, 1864. (81) Ibid., March 27, 1867. (82) Ibid., March 24, 1868. (83) Ibid., December 21, 1868. (84) Ibid., December 25,1868. 186 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. this again was a scapegoat anest, and a number of protests against the man's conviction were lodged by reputable settlers and Indians.85 Since the death of Robinson the Saltspring Island inhabitants had continued to press for the appointment of a resident official. Not only were the settlers themselves fearful of Indian reprisals, but such hired labour as there was refused to remain in the vulnerable districts. Louis Stark, the only settler remaining in the area where Robinson and Curtis had been murdered, wrote to J. W. Trutch, explaining that because of the threat of Indian trouble he had been forced to move bis family and could no longer find men to work on his farm. He requested that his pre-emption rights be transfened to a piece of land on the north-east side of Ganges Harbour.86 But the pleas of the settlers were of little avail. It was not until 1872, following Governmental reorganization arising from the entry of the colony into Canadian Confederation, that Henry Sampson became constable of Saltspring Island.87 By this time, however, Indian depredations were becoming less serious, and within the next decade, as white settlement extended, they disappeared entirely from the southern part of the coast. The unauthorized pre-emption scheme under which a majority of the original settlers on Saltspring Island took up their land was certain to cause more confusion when, on March 21,1861, the limited pre-emption regulations of the previous month were extended to " the whole of Vancouver Island and its dependencies." This gave rise to the previously mentioned instructions of Governor Douglas to the Colonial Surveyor that he should decline to record any claims on the island or in the Chemainus district until adjustments had been made. Another grievance suffered by the bona fide settlers sprang from the fact that the original rule of " no occupation—no title " had not been impartially applied.88 Moreover, pre-emptors who had left their claims with the genuine objective of earning money to stock their farms or to carry out improvements were in danger of being dispossessed or of having their claims jumped. In July, 1861, Jonathan Begg complained to the Colonial Surveyor that many of the persons named as registered pre-emptors on the list published the previous May had deserted their claims or had taken up (85) Ibid., June 5, 7, and 30, and July 3, 1869. (86) Louis Stark to J. W. Trutch, November 3, 1869, MS., Archives of B.C. (87) Minutes of the Executive Council of British Columbia, April 22, 1872, MS., Archives of B.C. (88) Jonathan Begg to Pemberton, July 25,1861, Correspondence of the Lands and Works Department, MS., Archives of B.C. 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 187 others and that many non-resident owners had merely erected log huts on their properties as token gestures and had left the island, contributing nothing to the community work of the settlements. Begg suggested the appointment of a resident land recorder to watch the claims and to grant permission to the owners to leave their holdings for temporary periods. He also suggested that a definite minimum acreage of land to be brought under cultivation should be established as a requisite to continued title.89 There was definite need for some system whereby pre-emptors could take employment elsewhere in order to earn money to improve and pay for their acreage, but at the same time any such system tended to favour those absentee owners who had no intention of settling on the land permanently. Nevertheless, the Land Proclamation of 1862, besides consolidating the three proclamations of the previous year, broadened the non-occupation clause to allow pre-emptors who wished to leave their holding to put in licensed substitutes, the only stipulation being that no pre-emptor could act as a substitute for another pre-emptor.90 On at least one occasion official action was taken following the infraction of this rule on Saltspring Island. Jacob Francis, who owned a pre-emption near the head of Fulford Harbour, obtained a licence for a. substitute occupier. The substitute, however, soon tired of his undertaking and moved back to Victoria, whereupon Francis, during the temporary absence of the Colonial Surveyor, illegally obtained another licence in favour of H. W. Robinson, a neighbouring pre-emptor. When Pemberton returned and discovered this action, he immediately cancelled Francis's claim.91 As the election of 1863 drew near, the settlers, recalling the previous election embroglio, sent a number of letters to the Government asking that a Court of Revision be held on the list of qualified voters. According to the British Colonist, this Court of Revision, due to the lack of postal facilities, was almost as farcical as the plans for the election of 1860 had been. The Court was held at the farm of J. D. Cusheon, which had been uninhabited for over a year and was " just about the most inconvenient location that could have been selected." Since few of the settlers had been notified, no one attended the Court, and hence no changes were made in the voters fist.92 When the elections were (89) Ibid. (90) Vancouver Island Land Proclamation, 1862. (91) Pemberton to J. Francis, May 12, 1864, Correspondence of the Lands and Works Department, MS., Archives of B.C. (92) Victoria British Colonist, April 2 and 9, 1863. J 188 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. held in July, three men were nominated—G. E. Dennes, a Victoria solicitor; J. T. Pidwell, a Victoria merchant and secretary of the Horticultural Society; and Edward Mallandaine. Both Pidwell and Mallandaine were property-owners on the island, but when the vote went in favour of Dennes, Mallandaine decided to support him.93 Dennes continued to represent Saltspring Island for the next three years. But in 1866, having gone into bankruptcy, he lost the seat and was replaced by Pidwell.94 In 1864 a second revision of the voters list took place under more favourable circumstances. Mallandaine and several residents attended the Court of Revision, and a number of persons to whom objections were made were struck off the list, including Pidwell and three of his supporters. As revised, the list contained thirty-nine By 1864 the Victoria British Cobnist was able to report favourably on the progress of the island. The mail steamer Fideliter was making fairly regular runs to Vesuvius Bay; many of the settlers were having considerable success growing tobacco; the number of cattle had risen to more than 500; and two settlers by the names of Brian and Griffin reputedly possessed the largest nursery of fruit trees in the whole colony.96 By this time the Government had set aside 100 acres near Central Settlement for school and other public purposes, and some aid had been given whereby the settlers were able to build a school-house.97 This had been completed and a school was being conducted on a private basis by John C. Jones, one of the educated negroes on the island who held a first-class teaching certificate from the University of Ohio. In May, 1864, the residents of Ganges Settlement appealed to Governor Kennedy through Jones and another negro, Frederick D. Lester, to have the teacher's salary paid by the Government "there being 18 children between the ages of 5 and 16 years who are destitute of any opportunity of attending day school."98 Although the Governor's reaction to the request was favourable, it was several years before this anangement was (93) Ibid., July 29, 1863. (94) Ibid., April 24, 1866. (95) Ibid., June 7, 1864. (96) Ibid. (97) Report of John Jessup, Superintendent of Education, to the Minister of Lands and Works, April 15, 1874, MS., Archives of B.C. (98) J. C. Jones and F. D. Lester to Kennedy, May 18, 1864, MS., Archives of B.C. 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 189 concluded. For the next five years Jones continued to operate the school privately whenever he could find time to leave his fanning labours, and in order to accommodate the few children at Begg's Settlement, he divided his time, making frequent trips to that community to hold school in an abandoned log cabin. With the mail steamer calling at Vesuvius Bay and a rough road connecting that settlement with the farms south of St. Mary Lake, the complaints from these two districts lessened considerably. But the farmers at Begg's Settlement on the north-east shore were still isolated. In the spring of 1865 Dennes, in his capacity as member in the House of Assembly, obtained an audience with the Governor on behalf of Edward Mallandaine and Jonathan Begg, who came forward with the request that the steamer Fideliter should call at the north-east settlement as well as at Vesuvius Bay. It was pointed out that land communication across the intervening mountainous country was extremely difficult and that the hauling of produce to the wharf at Vesuvius Bay was well nigh an impossible task.99 The Governor refened the problem to the Vancouver Coal Company at Nanaimo, whose representative suggested that a trail be cut from Begg's Settlement across the narrow northern tip of the island to the stone-quanies on Houston Channel, where the coal company's steamer could call on her way to and from Nanaimo. Further than this the Governor could promise little help, other than attempting to anange for an extra trip by the Fideliter once a fortnight during the summer months.100 From the beginnings of settlement the need for regular religious services had been keenly felt by many of the settlers, especially those with wives and children. From February, 1861, onward the island had been visited periodically by the Methodist missionary Rev. Ebenezer Robson. In his diary he gives the following interesting account of his first visit:— lues. 19. Left early in a canoe with 2 Indians for Salt Spring Island. Had a pleasant trip down. Was hailed when landing by a young man Graharh alias Bitts one of the settlers, who invited me to spend the night in his house. (Graham, Dumbraine, Dr. Jno. Hall) Wed. 20. Last night we supped on clams and potatoes and this morning breakfasted on pancakes and bread. Visited all the houses on the East side of the Island 7 in all and when through with that took canoe and went around the south point into Ganges Harbour when after dark I came to the house of Mr. Lenneker [sic]. (99) Victoria British Colonist, March 9, 1865. (100) Henry Wakeford to Dennes, March 28, 1865, Correspondence of the Colonial Secretary's Department, MS., Archives of B.C. 190 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. Thursday, 21 Feby 1861. After breakfasting at Mr L's I visited all the houses in the settlement save 3 There are in the settlement 21 houses on the same number of claims 4 of the houses are inhabited by white people and the remainder by coloured people. I preached in the house of a coloured man in the evening to about 20 persons all coloured except 3 and one of them is married to a coloured man. Went back to my lodgings after service which made about 18 miles walking during Friday 22. Left early and paddled against a strong wind till about IOY2 a.m. when we rounded the southerly point and hoisted sail after about 2 hours sailing we came to an Indian house on Salt Spring Island and as our canoe was not sufficiently large to Endure the gale we hired an Indian with a large canoe and took ours in towe [sic]. As soon as we had started from shore the wind which was very strong carried the canoe forward with such speed that it became unmanageable— the Indians could not keep it to its course and instead of running up the channel we ran across and were obliged to come to under the shelter of an Island. After a short rest we started again. The wind was blowing in a gale the Indian in charge of the canoe became terrified his squaw began crying, the sail was carried away from the mast and finally the owner of the canoe refused absolutely to go further. This was about 8 p.m. so we went on shore in the cove of an island and camped for the night. I supped on boiled herring & potatoes and lay down to sleep on a wet mat and covered myself with a shawl during the night the rain frequently awoke me by pattering down on my head. Sat. 23. Early in the morning we took a very plain breakfast and then started with a high wind for Nanaimo when we arrived soon after 11 a.m.lM The following year the Church of England added Saltspring Island to Rev. R. L. Lowe's ecclesiastical district of Saanich, and at irregular intervals this clergyman visited the island whenever the opportunity arose.102 At such times church services were held on any opportune occasion and under any available shelter. The lack of communication between the farms prevented the settlers from forming a united congregation, and the desire was expressed for regular services at a definite place of worship. Rev. W. S. Reece, another Anglican clergyman to visit the island at a little later date, gives the following information:— ... held a Mission service which was well attended seeing that it occurred on a Wednesday, in the morning and with but little previous notice. There was a general expression of willingness on the part of the settlers to attend a weekday service rather than be without any at all, and many wished it were possible for the Church to take up ground on a Sunday and have some one resident among them . . . promised to visit them occasionally which I was enabled to do four times during the year.'03 (101) Ebenezer Robson Diaries, February 19 to 23, 1861, MS., Archives 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 191 In 1865 the Methodist Church took the matter in hand and directed Rev. Ebenezer Robson to hold services at Central Settlement school- house once a month. He was followed later by Rev. Thomas Crosby and Rev. E. White. Four years later the Church of England adopted the same practice and sent Rev. W. S. Reece, resident clergyman at Cowichan, to hold monthly services on the island.104 None of these men were residents of the island, and it was at no little inconvenience, indeed often with hardship, that they continued to minister to the religious needs of the settlers in all seasons of the year. Under the limited communication and transportation facilities of the period, the Saltspring Island settlers were far removed from the turmoil of events that continually stined the capital of the colony. Yet these sleepy communities, with their pioneer farmers eking out a bare livelihood on the scattered areas of fertile ground and rocky brush-covered hillsides, reflected the changing circumstances of the passing years. Their fortunes rose and fell, though less noticeably, with those of Victoria, Nanaimo, and the Fraser River towns. They felt the rush to the Cariboo and to the Big Bend on the Columbia in the desertion of their less determined inhabitants and the arrival of new immigrants to take up the abandoned claims. At one time during the Cariboo " rush " the name of the island was commemorated in Salt Spring Creek, far in the Interior, where the five men—H. Elliot, William Senior, John Lee, Robert Leech, and E. Williams—who once worked the stone- quarries at Vesuvius Bay gambled on the lure of gold.105 The islanders felt the pinch of the depression that caught the colonies after the decline of the Cariboo diggings. Their representative followed Amor de Cosmos in favouring an immediate union with British Columbia.106 When the times became more stringent and debate waxed hot and heavy on the subject of Confederation, they sent Mifflin W. Gibbs, the outstanding negro of the colony and a member of the executive of the Confederation League, to represent them at the Yale Convention of 1868.107 In 1869 they gave an overwhelming majority of votes to De Cosmos in his fight against Robert Lowe on the same issue.108 (104) E. F. Wilson, Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Victoria, 1895, p. 23. (105) Victoria British Colonist, August 6, 1861. (106) Ibid., January 26, 1865. (107) Ibid., September 9, 1868. See also Mifflin W. Gibbs, Shadow and light, an autobiography . . . , Washington, D.C., 1902, pp. 59-111 passim. (108) Victoria British Colonist, November 17 and December 3, 1869. . 192 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. Under the reorganization of the Government following Confederation, Saltspring Island became part of the Electoral District of Cowichan, to which were allotted two members. The island's first representative was John Patton Booth, one of the original settlers and one of the more vocal inhabitants. One of bis first acts on behalf of his constituency was to reply to a circular letter from the Provincial Secretary asking for information as to the monetary requirements of his district. Booth's demands were modest. He asked for $1,000 "to make a road connecting the different settlements together; some portions of the inhabitants being entirely debaned from all use of the steamer as a means of conveying freight for want of a road," and another $1,000 " for school purposes, two schools being required to accommodate the children on this island."109 The problem of road connections had indeed been a thorn in the side of the settlers from the beginning. Booth's reply indicates that in twelve years of occupation relatively little had been accomplished toward providing the means whereby the individual holdings might have been knitted into a communal whole. Following the passage of the " Road Act" of 1860, Jonathan Begg, J. D. Cusheon, and John Tait had been appointed Road Commissioners.110 According to the Act every male resident above 18 years of age and every person who held any landed interest within a road district—any area containing twenty-four landholders—was bound to perform six days' labour on the public highways. Residents who possessed working-horses or oxen and carts were to supply these for two days a year.111 Complaints from the settlers indicate that the regulations had not been applied strictly to the nonresident owners. This left the burden of the work on the local farmers. Moreover, many of the less fortunate settlers were hard-pressed to make ends meet, let alone improve their holdings or to set funds aside to cover the eventual pre-emption payments. In 1862 Begg wrote to Governor Douglas pointing out that much as a few leading roads were needed, the most of the settlers were too poor to be able to devote their time to road-making, and in consequence he suggested that the Commissioners be empowered to open such roads as were most urgently required by (109) J. P. Booth to A. Rocke Robertson, December 15, 1871, MS., Archives of B.C. (110) Jonathan Begg to W. A. G. Young, November 19, 1862, MS., Archives of B.C. (111) "Road Act, 1860," Vancouver Island Laws. 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 193 allowing the settlers to make payments on their land-holdings by working on the roads.112 Six months later Begg again wrote to the Governor stating that since neither of his colleagues had been residents of the island for the past year, the Commission had not functioned and no road work had been accomplished.113 At his suggestion, Cusheon and Tait were replaced by Edward Walker and John Booth.114 However, his former suggestion regarding payment to the settlers for their road work seems to have been quietly ignored. At the best of times there seems to have been a certain amount of mutual distrust between the different communities of settlers on the island, and the question of roads always brought to light diverse opinions, which increased the distrust and at times created an atmosphere of open hostility. Although racial antagonism as such did not flourish on the island, the needs of the coloured people were sometimes resented or brushed aside by the rest of the inhabitants. Some indication of this is shown in a complaint addressed to the Chief Commissioner of Land and Works, J. W. Trutch, by Louis Stark, a hard-working negro and one of the original settlers. Stark needed a road from his farm on the north-east side of Ganges Harbour to the Central Settlement school- house, where he could connect with the road leading to the boat-landing at Vesuvius Bay. By his own efforts he had made a road of 2 miles, but could go no farther without permission to cross the claims of Armstead Buckner and John Norton. Another mile and a half of road would have taken him to the boat-landing.115 B. W. Pearse, the Acting Commissioner of Lands and Works, instructed the road foreman at Cowichan, M. M. Titus, to lay out the necessary right-of-way, making an agreement with Stark for the latter to fell the timber. This Stark did, completing the work on a Saturday. Although expressly forbidden to carry out road work on Sunday, some of the settlers, during church service, decided to proceed with the road, but instead of carrying it all the way on the agreed line, they took it only part of the way to within half a mile of the school, at which point they forsook the line and canied the road to a barn belonging to one of the (112) Jonathan Begg to Governor Douglas, May 5, 1862, MS., Archives of B.C. (113) Jonathan Begg to W. A. G. Young, November 19, 1862, MS., Archives of B.C. (114) W. A. G. Young to Edward Walker, November 28, 1862; W. A. G. Young to Jonathan Begg, November 28, 1862, MS., Archives of B.C. (115) Louis Stark to B. W. Pearse, September 15,1870, MS., Archives of B.C. 194 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. settlers who already had a road to his house. Stark's letter explaining the situation to Trutch strikes a pathetic note as it relates the events;— This Sunday bisness was all don and dated monday and now I am call on to acknolge an agreement that I had nothing to do with or loos the work that is don. This road do not come to the mouth of the boat road by fifty yeards. ... I beg leave sir to make my gratefull acknolegement to you, and Mr. Pirce for having don that which was fair and rite so fair as you knew and if i loos my labour predgerdis and unfair play is the caus and that too bad to describe. The Sunday party road is a half moon circle from creek to the bairn that is the road that I refused to cut it would be madness in me to ask government to cut sutch a road as that. A sentral road is all that we ask for and let us make little roads and Fortunately, instances such as the above occurred quite infrequently. On the other hand, the conflict which boiled to the surface at the at the time an attempt was made to unify the island communities under a Municipal Council cut across colour lines, involving instead the prejudices and animosities of men and women, few of whom had any coherent plans for the future of their island home but who held widely divergent views as to what constituted the minimum needs of the settlements in the matter of public works. With the weight of debt lifted from the colony by its. entry into Confederation, a number of the residents of Saltspring Island felt that larger things were in store for the island. In 1869 a local Board of School Trustees had been formed, consisting of John Booth, Abraham Copeland, and Thomas Griffiths. On their petition the Central Settlement school had been taken over by the Government, with an annual salary of $500 granted to John C. Jones, the coloured teacher.117 Burgoyne Bay had become a thriving settlement, and for several years two partners—John Maxwell and James Lunney—had been shipping better than twenty head of cattle per month to Victoria.118 As a great need existed for a loading-wharf, these two men agreed to give up 3 acres of their land for that purpose, providing that the Government would grant it to a group of trustees for the mutual benefit of the settlers. When the scheme was approved, Thomas Williams, John Maxwell, and Frederick Foord became trustees of the wharf property.119 J. C. Sparrow had also shown his community spirit /es of B.C. ) John Maxwell and James Lunney to B. W. Pearse, June 18, 1868, MS., i of B.C. ) Thomas Williams to B. W. Pearse, July 7, 1871, MS., Archives of B.C. 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island | 195 by giving up an acre of his land on which to erect, with Government aid, a school for the twenty-one children of the settlement.120 In the opinion of several of the more ambitious settlers the time had come for the island to be incorporated as a municipahty, and a petition was dispatched to the Government asking that Letters Patent be issued.121 Since the petition was endorsed by the necessary two-thirds of the male freeholders, the request was granted, and, consequently, the Government Gazette of January 4, 1873, carried the notice of incorporation, which read in part:— The said Municipality shall be called and known by the name and style of " The Corporation of the Township of Salt Spring Island." The said Municipality shall comprise all that parcel of land known as Salt Spring Island. The Council shall consist of Seven Councillors.122 Ten days later the municipal elections were held, with the following results:— T. C. Parry, Warden. Frederick Foord, Treasurer. Henry W. Robinson, Clerk. Joseph Akerman, Assessor. Charles McDonald, Collector. J. C Crane. John C. Jones.123 The first Council meeting was held on January 30, 1873,124 and some time later a set of municipal by-laws was drawn up.125 During the next year the incorporation of the island brought to light a radical division of the island residents. On the one hand, there were the typical pioneer farmers, independent, self-sufficient, and, for the most part, lacking formal education, who had no wish to be organized, preferring to cultivate their wilderness farms in relative solitude and seeking no more Government gifts than a road or two to give them access to markets. Their attitude was, to a large extent, summed up in that portion of Louis Stark's letter previously mentioned: "A sentrel road is all that we ask for and let us make little roads and pigtrails to come to it by our own labour." On the other hand, there were the more (120) Report of John Jessup, Superintendent of Education, to the Minister of Lands and Works, April 15, 1874, MS., Archives of B.C. (121) Minutes of the Executive Council of British Columbia, September 18, 1872, MS., Archives of B.C. (122) British Columbia Government Gazette, January 4,1873. (123) Victoria Colonist, January 16, 1873. (124.) Ibid. (125) Letters and Papers referring to Saltspring Island, MS., Archives of B.C. Certain of the early by-laws are reproduced in an appendix to this article. 196 A. F. Rucke July-Oct. ambitious settlers, sincere, if too hopeful, in their desire to forward the rapid development of the communities. Their plans for the future of the island included the establishment of themselves in positions of authority and local eminence. Within a year of the proclamation of the incorporation a petition was addressed to the Legislative Assembly asking that the Letters Patent be cancelled.126 The protest seems to have been led by two brothers, E. and H. Pimbury, who had come from England to take up a large tract of land in the vicinity of Mount Tuam, remote from the other settlements. In a letter to the Victoria Colonist, a " well-wisher " of the municipality accused those leading the movement for incorporation of having obtained the signatures of many of the settlers who were unable to read and who consequently were unaware of the implications of the petition.127 This accusation does not seem to have been entirely justified, although it is true that most of the less educated settlers appear to have sided with those opposing the actions of the Municipal Council. The objections to incorporation were outlined in two other letters to the newspaper— one a anonymous contribution and the other signed by Daniel O'Connell. In the latter the Councillors were referred to as " would-be statesmen " and " New York Tweeds." The anonymous writer stated that already, within a year, the Council had incurred a debt of $300 " which must be paid by about thirty poor settlers—the remainder having little or no property to tax."128 Daniel O'Connell's letter went on to say:— I must allow we fear taxes, but there are seven men here who don't [presumably the Councillors], a very good reason why, for they have little or nothing to tax. If municipal laws are allowed to continue on Salt Spring it will make a bad state of affairs, for they are squandering in all directions and worse than all, they have run the island into debt ... and as the seven say they have nothing to tax the burden must fall on the ones who have.12' It is difficult to tell where justifiable condemnation ends and mere jealous bickering begins. The greatest objection was directed against the action of the Councillors in passing by-laws to remunerate their own offices. E. Pimbury sent a letter to the Lieutenant-Governor in January, 1874, which included documents signed by Theodore Trage, H. Spieker- man, William Walsh, Michael Gyves, John Cairns, and John Maxwell, (126) Victoria Colonist, December 25, 1873. (127) Ibid., January 17, 1874. (128) Ibid., February 5, 1874. (129) Ibid., February 15, 1874. 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 197 charging the Councillors with violating the " Municipal Act" of 1872.130 The letter was referred to the Attorney-General, and the complainants were advised to take the matter to the Supreme Court of the Province,131 but this course of action was evidently beyond the means of the protesting group, and for the next seven years municipal affairs on the island went on in a state of watchful hostility. Following the municipal elections of 1881, the hostility took an active form. Some nineteen settlers from the Burgoyne Bay-Fulford Harbour district banded together and at a cost of more than $100 brought suit against Henry W. Robinson, the Council Clerk and Returning Officer, and his two associates, Charles Honel and Henry Rogers, for malpractice during the election. It is significant that none of the defendants appeared in Court and no effort was made to contest the suit. As a result, the election was declared null and void, and the Returning Officer was charged with the costs.132 Amidst the petty jealousies, heated tempers, and flying accusations and recriminations the protesting settlers appeared to have had the weight of justice on their side. The decision of Mr. Justice J. H. Gray in the matter of the election suit helped to place their case in a more favourable fight. One month later the nineteen settlers laid the whole affair before the Lieutenant-Governor in Council in a petition which condemned the behaviour of the Justice of the Peace, Frederick Foord, and the Clerk of the Municipal Council, Henry W. Robinson. It was claimed, among other things, that they had run the municipal affairs almost entirely by themselves; that they had kept the accounts of financial matters from the knowledge of the taxpayers; and that they had committed many hregularities during the election, including common assault.133 Foord's report to the Lieutenant-Governor denied the accusations and stated that his position as Justice of the Peace had no connection with ids position as a Councillor. He, in turn, accused the petitioners of perjury (130) E. Pimbury to J. W. Trutch, January 15, 1874, MS., Archives of B.C. The protesting settlers appear to have confused one of the disqualifying conditions referring to Municipal Councillors, i.e., " being in receipt of any allowance from the Municipality," with the legal right of the Council to pass by-laws establishing their own stipends as provided in sections 8 and 12 of the " Municipal Act" of 1872. Another complaint that the municipal area had not been divided into wards (131) Ibid. 198 A. F. Flucke July-Oct. during the election suit and of not attending any of the Council meetings. Further, he claimed that the whole disturbance was the result of the settlers attempting to escape taxation, and he labelled the Pimbury brothers as the chief instigators.134 The Government of the day took no action in the matter, apparently hoping that the furore would subside in due course.135 But a year later it erupted again; this time with the charges directed against the Reeve, John P. Booth, for retaining his position without election when no others were nominated to oppose him and for being a "puppet" of the Councillors who had continued to function in office despite the absolute refusal of the settlers to have anything to do with them.136 The feelings of most of the island inhabitants were probably best expressed in a letter to the Victoria Colonist in February, 1883:— There is no doubt that we have forfeited our municipal charter by neglecting to comply with the law; and the general feeling seems to be that we are well rid of what has been a great source of trouble and ill-feeling.137 John Booth himself, in a letter to the Premier, William Smithe, wrote in much the same vein:— I believe Mrs. Booth informed you of the mess we have got into here as regards our municipal Council. . . . There seems to be an impression among some of the people here that you are going to wind the whole thing up and do away with it altogether. Should you have any such intentions and can see your way clear to do so, I do not think any one will object, providing the government take charge of and keep in order our wharves and roads. Our two wharves are in a dangerous condition at present, and if not attended to before long will probably fall. . . . MS., Archives of B.C. (135) The Victoria Colonist seized this opportunity to denounce roundly what it evidently felt pleased to consider as Government connivance in an obviously unlawful situation, heading its news report" Reign of Terror on Salt Spring Island " and declaring editorially: "... Justice need not be expected from the existing government. But their time is happily growing very very short, and when the • People shall have reasserted their rights, how the feathers of the birds of prey will fly! " Victoria Colonist, May 28, 1882. (136) Ibid., February 13 and April 10, 1883. Following Mr. Justice Gray's decision that the 1881 election was null and void, a second election had been held at which there was no contest, a majority of the settlers apparently refusing either to vote or to put up opposing candidates for the Council. The result of the fiasco was that the Reeve, John Booth, and the former Councillors continued to discharge their duties. Victoria Standard, April 2, 1883. (137) Victoria Colonist, February 13, 1883. 1951 Early Days on Saltspring Island 199 Please give the matter your serious consideration as soon as possible because if we have to start things running again there is no time to lose.'38 The impression among the people proved to be conect. On May 12, 1883, assent was given to an Act passed by the Provincial Legislature " to Annul the Letters Patent establishing a Municipality on Salt Spring Island." Whereas it has been found that the working out of the municipal system on Salt Spring Island, under the present Letters Patent, is impracticable: And whereas no application to surrender such Letters Patent has or can be made, and it is expedient to cancel the said Letters Patent: Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:— , 1. The Letters Patent bearing date the 23rd day of December, a.d. 1872, creating the Corporation of the Township of Salt Spring Island shall be and are hereby cancelled, and the said Corporation dissolved from the date of the passing of this Act. . . .139 Thus ended Saltspring Island's experiment in managing its own affairs. The time had not been ripe—communal unity on the island had not been sufficiently developed for such an enterprise to be successful. Lethargy, plus resentment of any local authority, on the one hand, and the overly ambitious designs of the Councillors with their impolitic disregard for the feelings of the settlers, on the other hand, had frustrated what might have been a creditable attempt at municipal independence. A. F. Flucke. Toronto, Ont. (138) John P. Booth to William Smithe, January 26, 1883, as reproduced in the Victoria Colonist, April 3, 1883, with a covering letter by the Premier indicating that he had Booth's consent to publication of the letter. (139) Vict. 46, Chap. 22, Statutes of the Province of British Columbia . . . , 1883, Victoria, 1883, p. 89. A. F. Flucke APPENDIX Road Resolved that standing Committees on roads shall be made and their duty shall extend through the whole Municipal year, and it shall be their duty to inspect and report to the Council where money is required to be laid out, and the probable amount and one Inspector, shall be on each committee to be chosen by the Council. Pgof And that the pay of Officers and Committee men be defined as follows, Clerk two seventy five per day, $2.75. Road Master two dollars seventy five cents per day, $2.75. Road Inspector two dollars seventy five cents per day #2.75. Committee men two dollars seventy five cents per day $2.75. Road men two dollars twenty five cents per day $2.25. No road Overseer shall be entitled to more than two twenty five per day $2.25 the same as other men when working less than four men. Or three men and team. And that a man and his team receive the amount of four dollars per day $4.00. And that the Council shall not be responsible for any damage. By Law for the improvement of Cattle it shall not be lawful for any to Buns Bull to run at large during the Months of April May and June of each year, any person violating this By Law shall be fined five dollars for every offence. on outside ^ ^^ ^ t"le ^Ut^ °^ "le ^~0!l^ wsPector ^rom tlme to ^^ road to call public meetings in their respective districts ten days notice committee being given of such meetings at which they shall cause two persons other than members of the Council to be selected who shall, in connection with the Road Inspector, constitute a committee to determine what portions of the different roads most urgently need repair and the probable cost of the same. The Inspector shall be exofficio Chairman of the Committee on Road Inspection and shall duly report the result of its inspection to the Council. In case of disagreement between the Inspector and the other two Committeemen the matter in dispute shall be referred to the Council before proceeding with the work. License No person or persons within this Municipality selling or tradeing [sic] with goods, wares, merchandise or vending Liquors without a License shall pay a fine of not less that ten dollars, or (140) This undated copy is endorsed by H. W. Robinson, Clerk, and Thos. C. Parry, Warden, and bears the official seal of " Salt Spring Island Municipality," and . is to be found in Letters and Papers referring to Saltspring Island, MS., Archives L. Early Days on Saltspring Island 201 more than twenty five dollars, for each and every offence to be recovered in a summary way before a Justice of the Peace. There shall be Public places in this Municipality Known as Follows. Borgoyne [sic] Bay School House, and Borgoyne [sic] Bay Wharf, Central School House, and Vesuvius Bay Wharf, and at Begg Settlement School House, and that a Bulletin Board shall be placed at each Public place for to post Municipal notices. Any person or persons tearing down or defacing any public notice shall on conviction incur the penalty of not more than twenty five dollars fine, to be recovered in a summary way before a Justice of the Peace. Whereas it is expedient that the provision for calling out the Statute Labor as provided in the municipal amendment Act of 1879 shall be put in force in the Municipality of Salt Spring It is hereby enacted » That every person over eighteen years of age resident within the ' municipality of Salt Spring Island shall be liable for two days work annually. d- For the purpose of this Act the Municipality shall be divided into six districts To Wit | All that portion known as the North Settlement shall form one district and be known as district No. One. ?- All that portion of the Municipality facing Cowichan Bay having an outlet at the Wharf situated near the Messrs. Pimburys shall form one district and be known as district No. Six. A. F. Flucke sf On the first Saturday in May at the hour of noon all those liable ' to perform Statute Labor shall assemble at their respective places of Meeting and shall elect some one of their number to act as Road Master and shall also decide what portions of their respective roads it is most desirable to lay out the Statute Labor upon and also when it may be most convenient to call out statute labor Provided always that it shall be completed before the 15th. June. Immediately after his Election the Road Master shall notify the Clerk of the Council in writing of the fact of his election. S A Notice posted by the Road Master at the respective places of Meeting one week previous to the day when the Statute Labor is to be performed shall be deemed sufficient notice to all persons within the district. 6th. The defaulters shall pay the sum of three dollars $3.00 to the Collector who shall Report default to the next ensueing meeting of the Council. 7th. in case any district fails to Elect a Road Master the Council at its next meeting shall appoint a Road Master for the defaulting district who shall proceed in all matters and have the same power as though he had been Elected in the district. 8«>. The Places of Meeting shall be for district No. One, the School House, District No. Two, at the School House, District No. Three at Mr. Foords, for District No. Four, at the School House, District No. Five at Mr. Meinerstoffs, and for District No. Six at Messrs Pimburys. "to- This By Law shall be known as the Statute Labor By Law. FUR-TRADE BIOGRAPHIES AN INDEX to the Biographical Sketches Contained in the Appendices of Volume XXII of the Publications of the Champlain Society Volumes I to XII of the Series Issued in Both the Publications of the Champlain Society, Hudson's Bay Company Series and the Publications of the Hudson's Bay Record Society Compiled by T. R. McCloy FOREWORD In 1934 when Dr. W. S. Wallace edited Documents Relating to the North West Company for the Champlain Society, he included as an appendix A Biographical Dictionary of the Nor'Westers. This addition to the volume proved to be a very useful one, and four years later, when the Hudson's Bay Record Society began their series of publications, they mcluded similar biographical appendices. As a result, we have in Documents Relating to the North West Company and the twelve volumes issued jointly by the Champlain Society and the Hudson's Bay Record Society a valuable but scattered group of biographical sketches relating to the early fur trade in Canada. This index has been prepared as a convenient key to these, and it is hoped it will facilitate their use. Each entry consists of the individual's name, his approximate dates in parentheses, and a volume and page reference. The dates have been supplied for the purpose of identification, and with a few exceptions are based on information contained in the sketches. The volume reference, in roman numerals, refers to the volume numbers shown in the list of volumes indexed. For example, XXIL496 refers to XXII: Documents Relating to the North West Company, page 496. LIST OF VOLUMES INDEXED The Publications of the Champlain Society XXH. Documents Relating to the North West Company. Edited with introduction, notes, and appendices by W. Stewart Wallace. 1934. The Publications of the Champlain Society, Hudson's Bay Company Series, and The Publications of the Hudson's Bay Record Society (References apply to both series.) I. Journal of Occurrences in the Athabasca Department by George Simpson, 1820 and 1821, and Report. Edited by E. E. Rich, with an introduction by Chester Martin. 1938. n. Colin Robertson's Correspondence Book, September 1817 to September 1822. Edited with an introduction by E. E. Rich, assisted by R. Harvey Fleming. 1939. III. Minutes of Council, Northern Department of Rupert Land, 1821-31. Edited by R. Harvey Fleming, with an introduction by H. A. Innis. 1940. IV. The Letters of John McLoughlin from Fort Vancouver to the Governor and Committee. First Series, 1825-38. Edited by E. E. Rich, with an introduction by W. Kaye Lamb. 1941. V. Minutes of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1671-1674. Edited by E. E. Rich, with an introduction by Sir John Clapham. 1942. VI. The Letters of John McLoughlin from Fort Vancouver to the Governor and Committee. Second Series, 1839-44. Edited by E. E. Rich, with an introduction by W. Kaye Lamb. 1943. VH. The Letters of John McLoughlin from Fort Vancouver to the Governor and Committee. Third Series, 1844-46. Edited by E. E. Rich, with an introduction by W. Kaye Lamb. 1944. VIH. Minutes of the Hudson's Bay Company 1679-1684. First Part, 1679-82. Edited by E. E. Rich, with an introduction by G. N. Clark. 1945. LX. Minutes of the Hudson's Bay Company 1679-1684. Second Part, 1682-84. Edited by E. E. Rich, with an introduction by G. N. Clark. 1946. X. Part of Dispatch from George Simpson, Esqr., Governor of Ruperts Land, to the Governor & Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company, London. Edited by E. E. Rich, with an introduction by W. Stewart Wallace. 1947. XI. Copy-book of Letters Outward &c. Begins 29th May, 1680; ends 5 July, 1687. Edited by E. E. Rich, assisted by A. M. Johnson, with an introduction by E. G. R. Taylor. 1948. XII. James Isham's Observations on Hudsons Bay, 1743. Edited with an introduction by E. E. Rich, assisted by A. M. Johnson. 1949. Fur-trade Biographies FUR-TRADE BIOGRAPHIES: AN INDEX Abraham, John (fl. 1674-1689), XI:370-3. Adams, Joseph (fl. 1815-1822), 1:428,11:203. Albemarle, Christopher Monk, 2d Duke of. See Monk, Christopher, 2d Duke of Albe- Albemarle, George Monk, 1st Duke of. See Monk, George, 1st Duke of Albemarle. Albin, Onesiphorus (fl. 1681-1687), IX:317-8. Allan, George Traill (fl. 1830-1861), VI:383-4. Anderson, Alexander Caulfield (1814-1884), VL384-6. Andries, George Peter (fl. 1818-1823), 1:428. Annance, Francois Noel (fl. 1820-1834), m:426. Arlington, Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of. See Bennet, Henry, 1st Earl of Arlington. Askin, John (17397-1815), XXII:425. Auld, William (fl. 1790-1830), 11:203-5, Back, Admiral Sir George (1796-1878), 1:428. Baleau, Antoine (fl. 1818-1821), 1:428. Ballenden, John (18107-1856), DI:426-7. Bannerman, James (fl. 1775-1794), XXH:425. Barclay, Archibald (d. 1855), VI:386-7. Barnston, George (1800-1883), 111:427. Baron, George (d. 1686), VIII:318-9. Bayly, Charles (d. 1680), V:209-13. Beioley, Joseph (17857-1859), H:205, XXH:425. Bell, John (1799-1868), 111:427-8, XXU:425-6. Bennet, Henry, 1st Earl of Arlington (1618- 1685),V:213-5. Berkeley, George, 1st Earl of Berkeley (1628- 1698),VIII:331-2. Bernard, Francois (fl. 1817-1821), 1:428. Bernard, Jean Baptiste (fl. 1811-1849), X:247. Bethune, Angus (1783-1858), 11:206, XXH:426. Bibeau, Francois (fl. 1815-1821), 1:428-9. ' Bibeau, Paul (fl. 1820-1821), 1:428-9. Bird, George (d. 1856), 111:428, XXII:426. | Bird, James (17737-1856), 1:429. e, Jan (17997-1864), JH:428-9. uel (17857-1841), 1:429-30, Blondeau, Maurice Regis (1734-1809), XXIL427. Blondin, Pierre (fl. 1797-1821), 1:430. Bond, William (fl. 1672-1691), XL373-7. Bouc, Charles W. (fl. 1816-1833), 111:429. Bouche, Paul. See Lamallice. Bouche, Wakan (fl. 1816-1824), 1:430. Boucher, Paul. See Lamallice. Boulton, Henry (fl. 1819-1825), 111:429. Bourassa, Vital (fl. 1815-1824), 1:430-1. Bourke, John Palmer (fl. 1812-1823), 11:206-7. Boyer, Charles (fl. 1767-1795), XXJJ:427. Boyle, Hon. Robert (1627-1692), VHI:332. Bradley, John (fl. 1679-1689), VJJJ:332-3. Bridgar, John (fl. 1678-1687), XI:377-80. Brisbois, Charles (d. 1847), 111:429-30. Brown, John M. (fl. 1821-1824), 10:430. Brown, William (17907-1827), 1:431. Bruce, William (d. 1781), XXIL428. Bruce, William (d. 1849), VII:309. Bunn, Thomas (1764-1853), 1:431-2. Cadot, Jean Baptiste (fl. 1723-1803), XXII:428. Cadot, Jean Baptiste (1761-1818), XXH:428. Cadot, Michel (1764-1836), XXU:429. Cameron, <Eneas (17577-1822), XXn:429. Cameron, Angus (17827-1876), JH:430-1, XXU:429. Cameron, Duncan (17647-1848), 1:432, XXU:429-30. Cameron, John Dugald (17777-1857), H:207, XXH:430. Cameron, Ronald or Ranald (fl. 1793-1817), XXJJ:430. Campbell, Colin (1787-1853), 1:432, XXII:431. Campbell, John Duncan (1773-1835), 1:432-3, XXH:431. Campion, Etienne (1737-1795), XXH:431-2. Carless, Joseph (fl. 1839-1847), VL387-8. Carteret, Sir George (d. 1680), V:215-8. Cayenne. See Grogne, Cayenne. Chaboillet, Charles (1772-1812), XXU:432. Chaboillez, Charles Jean Baptiste (1736- 1808), XXII:432. Charles, John (fl. 1799-1844), H:207-9. Charles, Joseph (d. 1836), 111:431. Chastellain, Jacques (fl. 1816-1821), 1:433. Chaurit, Francois (fl. 1815-1821), 1:433. 1:433-5 Clarke, John ( XXH:432-3. Clayton, Sir Robert (1629-1707), VJH:333-5. Clouston, Robert (17937-1850), 1:435. Clouston, William (fl. 1812-1843), 111:431. Cobbie, Walsall (fl. 1676-1682), VHI:335-6. Cochran, Patrick. See Corcoran, Patrick. Colleton, Sir Peter (d. 1694), V:218-9. Coltman, William Bacheler (d. 1826), 1:435, XXII:433. Colvile, Andrew (1779-1856), 1:435. Connolly or Conolly, William (1787-1849), H:209, XXII: 433-4. Cook, Joseph (d. 1848), 111:432. Cook, William Hemmings (17687-1846), IH:432-3. Cooper, Anthony Ashley, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (1621-1683), V:219-22. Corcoran, Patrick (fl. 1811-1822), 1:435-6. Corry, Thomas (d. 1792), XXH:434. Cowie, Robert (17957-1859), XXH:434. Cox, Ross (1793-1853), XXH:434. Cradock, Richard (fl. 1679-1689), VHI:336. Craven, William, Earl of Craven (1606-1697), V:222-4. Cudworth, John (fl. 1680-1691), VJH:336. Cumming, Cuthbert (1787-1870), XXH:435. Cunningham, Patrick(1789?-1831), 11:209-10. Davis, John (d. 1824), XXII:435. Dears, Thomas (fl. 1797-1836), 1:436. Dease, Charles Johnson Watts (fl. 1797-1863), 111:433, XXIL435. Dease, Francis Michael (1786-1864), IH:433-4, XXH:435. Dease, John Warren (1783-1830), 111:434, XXJJ:435-6. Dease, Peter Warren (1788-1863), 111:434-6, XXIL436. Decoigne, Francois (fl. 1798-1818), H:210. Dejarlois, Antoine, senior (fl. 1792-1821), 1:436. Delonee, Joseph (fl. 1816-182 Delonee, Louis (fl. 1815-1821 . Depuis or Detour, Louis (fl. 1815-1821), 1:436. Deschambeault, George (1806-1870), HI:436. Des Groseilliers, Medard Chouart, Sieur. See Groseilliers, Medard Chouart, Sieur des. Detour, Louis. See Depuis, Louis. Dobie, Richard (17317-1805), XXH:436. Douglas, Alexander (fl. 1818-1824), HI:436-7. cCloy July-Oct. Douglas, Sir James (1803-1877), VH:309-14. ' Dowie, Kenneth (17987-1866), XXH:436. Draper, Thomas (fl. 1670-1681), VHI:336-7. 1 Dr&x; Lady Margaret (d. 1683), V:224-5. Dumain, Francois (fl. 1815-1821), 1:436-7. Dumain, Michel (fl. 1815-1821), 1:436-7. , Dumoulin, Rev. Joseph Severe Nicolas (1793- 1853), 1:437. Duncan, Alexander (fl. 1824-1848), IV:343. j Eales, WilUam (fl. 1829-1838), IV:344. Ellice, Alexander (1743-1805), XXH:437. Ellice, Edward, senior (1781-1863), 11:210-1, XXU:437-8. Ellice, James (d. 1787), XXIL438. Ellice, Robert (d. 1790), XXIL438. Erlandson, Erland (17907-18757), HL437-8. ] Ermatinger, Charles Oakes (17807-1853), I XXII:438. Ermatinger, Edward (1797-1876), H:211-2, I XXH:438-9. inger, Francis (1798-1858), H:212-3, I ), 1:436. XXH:4: Ermatinger, Lawrence (d. 1789), XXII:439. I Faries or Ferris, Hugh (1779-1852), 1:437, I XXn:439. Feistel, Anthony or Antoine (fl. 1819-1828), 437. Felix, Michel (fl. 1818-182: Ferris, Hugh. See Faries, Hugh. Finlay, Jaco (d. 1828), XXIL439. Finlay, James (d. 1797), XXII:44( Finlay, James (1766-1830), XXII: Finlay, John (1774-1833), XXH:< Finlayson, Duncan (17967-1862) XXIL441. Finlayson, Nicol (1794-1877), HI:438-40, XXH:441. Finlayson, Roderick (1818-1892), VL388-9, XXH:441. Fisher, Alexander (17837-1847), HI: XXIL441. Fisher, Henry (fl. 1816-1855), 111:440-1 Fleming, Thomas (fl. 1818-1825), 111:441-2. Fletcher, John (1787-1844), XXTL442. Flett, George (17757-1850), 11:213. Foorthe, Dannett (fl. 1661-1674), V:225. Foorthe, John (fl. 1668-1674), V:225-6. Forest or Forrest, Grant (fl. 1820-1827), 1:438. Forrest, Charles (d. 1851), VL389-90. Fur-trade Biographies Forrest, Grant. See Forest, Grant. Forsyth, George (1755-1806), XXH:442. Forsyth, James (1759-1843), XXH:442. Forsyth, John (1762-1837), XXH:442. Forsyth, Joseph (1764-1813), XXII:442-3. Forsyth, Thomas (1761-1832), XXH:443. Franchere, Gabriel (1786-1863), XXH:443. Franklin, Sir John (1786-1847), 1:438. Fraser, Alexander (17617-1837), XXH:443-4. Fraser, Colin (d. 1867), X:248-9. Fraser, Paul (17977-1855), X:249-50, XXH:444. Fraser, Richard Duncan (17837-1857), XXH:444. Fraser, Simon, senior (fl. 1766-1804), XXn:444. Fraser, Simon, junior (d. 1796), XXII:444. Fraser, Simon (17607-1839), XXH:445. Fraser, Simon (1776-1862), XXH:445-6. French, John (fl. 1683-1687), IX:319-20. Frinque or Paul, lean Baptiste (fl. 1819-1821), 1:438. Frobisher, Benjamin (17427-1787), XXH:446. Frobisher, Benjamin (1782-1819), 1:438-9, XXII:446. Frobisher, Joseph (1740-1810), XXU:446. Frobisher, Thomas (1744-1788), XXH:447. Gagnon, Louis (fl. 1797-1821), 1:439. Gairdner, Meredith (d. 1837), IV:344. Gale, Samuel (1783-1865), 1:439. Garland, Thomas (fl. 1678-1687), XL380-1. Garry, Nicholas (1781 or 2-1856), 1:439. Gaudorie, Pierre (fl. 1815-1821), 1:439. Gerrard, Samuel (1767-1857), XXIL447. Giasson, Ignace (fl. 1818-1822), 1:440, H:213-5. Giasson, Jacques (1747-1808), XXH:447. Gillam, Capt. Zachariah (d. 1682), V:226-30. Gillespie, George (1772-1842), XXH:447. Gillespie, Robert (1785-1863), XXU:447-8. Gorst, Thomas (fl. 1668-1680), V:230. Grant, Charles (fl. 1780-1784), XXH:448. Grant, Charles (1784-1843), XXH:448. Grant, Cuthbert (d. 1799), XXU:448. Grant, Cuthbert James, Warden of the Plains (1796-1854), 1:440, XXH:449. Grant, David (d. 17977), XXII:449-50. Grant, James (d. 17987), XXn:450. Grant, James (fl. 1805-1827), XXH:450. Grant, John, of Montreal (a. 1809), XXn:451. Grant, John, of Each XXII:4: (1749-1817), Grant, Peter (1764-1848), XXH:451. Grant, Richard (1793-1862), HI:442, XXH:451. Grant, Robert (1752-1801), XXII:451-2. Grant, William, of St. Roch (1741-1805), XX1L452. Grant, William, of Three Rivers (1743-1810), XXH:452-3. Grave, Lieut. John Costellow (fl. 1827-1839), IV: 344-5. Gregory, John (17517-1817), XXH:453. Greill, Joseph (fl. 1817-1822), 1:440. Griffith, Sir John (d. 1677), V:231. Grignon, Amable (fl. 1817-1823), 1:440. Grogne, Cayenne [Pierre Leroux, surnamed Kay-Yah or Cayenne] (fl. 1818-1821), Groseilliers, Medard Chouart, Sieur des (b. 1618),V:231-6. Guiboche, Louis (fl. 1815-1835), IH:442-3. Guillaume, Francois (fl. 1818-1821), 1:441; Gunn, Donald (1797-1878), 1:441. Halcro, Joshua (d. 1825), n:215. Haldane, John (d. 1857), 11:215-6, XXH:453. Halkett, John (1768-1852), 1:441. Hallett, Henry (17727-1844), XXH:453^t. Hallowell, James (17487-1830), XXn:454. Hallowell, James (1778-1816), XXH:454. Hallowell, William (1771-1838), XXH:454. Hamlyn, Richard Julian (fl. 1824-1832), X: 250-2. Hanwell, Henry, junior (d. 1834), IV:345. Hargrave, James (1798-1865), XXII:454-5. Harmon, Daniel Williams (1778-1845), XXH:455. Harper, John (fl. 1818-1821), 1:441. Harriott, John Edward (1797-1866), H:216-7, XXH:455. Harrison, Benjamin (1771-1856), X:252-3. Harvey, Daniel (fl. 1840-1850), VL390-1. Hayes, Sir James (d. 1693), IX:320-7. Hayward, Nicholas (fl. 1677-1685), VUT:338. Heath, WiUiam (fl. 1832-1846), IV:345-6. Heney, Hugh or Hughes (1789-1844), XXH:455-6. Henry, Alexander, author of Travels and Adventures (1739-1824), XXII:456. Henry, Alexander (d. 1814), XXH:456. Henry, Alexander (d. 1813?), XXH:456. T. R. McCloy Henry, Robert (17787-1859), 1:441-2, XXH:456-7. Henry, Robert (fl. 1813-1824), 1:442, XXH:457. Henry, William (17837-18647), 1:442, XXH:457. Heron, Francis (1794-1840), 1:442, XXH:457. Heron, James (fl. 1812-1857), 1:442-3, XXK:457-8. Heurter, Frederick Damien (fl. 1816-1820), 11:217. Hiffier, William (fl. 1811-1814), 11:217-9. Hodgson, John (fl. 1774-1815), H:219-20. Holmes, John Pocock (17837-18587), n:220-l. Holmes, William (d. 1792), XXH:458. Howard, Joseph (d. 1797), XXH:458. Howse, Joseph (1773-1852), 11:221-3. Hughes, Guy (d. 1824), XXIL459. Hughes, James (1772-1853), XXII:458-9. Humphreys, Charles (fl. 1833-1846), VL391-2. Hungerford, Sir Edward (1632-1711), V:237. Hutchison, John (fl. 1816-1837), H:223-4. Inglis, John (d. 1822), XXH:459. Isbister, James (fl. 1803-1821), 1:443. Isbister, Thomas (fl. 1810-1821), 1:443. Isham, James (17167-1761), XH:318-25. Kay-Yah. See Grogne, Cayenne. Keith, George (17857-1859), 1:443,5001:459. Keith, James (1784-1851), 1:444, 5001:459. Kennedy, Alexander (17817-1832), 11:224-5. Kennedy, John Frederick (1805-1859), IV:346. Keveny, Owen (d. 1816), 1:444, H:225-8. Kirke, Sir John (fl. 1664-1685), V:237-8. Kittson, William (d. 1841), 111:443. Klyne, Michael (fl. 1798-1835), 111:443-4. Knipe, Johann Frederick (d. 1822), 1:444. Lafontaine, Louis (fl. 1820-1821), 1:444. Laframboise, Michel (fl. 1810-1841), 10:444. Lafrenier, Charles (fl. 1816-1821), 1:445. Lagimoniere, Jean Baptiste (fl. 1801-1843), 0:229. Lamallice [Paul Boucher] (fl. 1819-1822), 1:445. Lane, William Fletcher (fl. 1794-1863), 0:229-30, 5001:459-60. Langtry, Lieut. Joseph Millar (d. 1862?), IV:346-7. Larocque, Francois Antoine (fl. 1801-1815), XX0:46O. Larocque, Joseph Felix (17877-1866), 1:445, : XX0:46O. La Ronde, Louis Denis de. See Ronde, Louis Denis de la. Laserte, John (fl. 1815-1821), 1:445. Laserte, Louis (fl. 1816-1821), 1:445. Laserte, Pierre (fl. 1816-1821), 1:445. Le Blanc, Pierre (17827-1838), 01:444-5. Leith, James (1777-1838), 1:446, 5001:460-1. Lemoine, Jean Baptiste (fl. 1817-1818), 0:230. Leroux, Laurent (17587-1855), 5001:461. Leroux, Pierre. See Grogne, Cayenne. Lesieur, Toussaint (fl. 1784-1799), 5001:461. Leslie, Hugh (fl. 1813-1827), 0:230. Letten, John (d. 1688), VIII:338-9. Lewes, Adolphus Lee (d. 1856), VI:392-3. I Lewes, John Lee (fl. 1791-1853), 1:446-7. Linton, John (1800-1835), 1:447. Livingstone, Duncan (d. 1828), 1:447. Logan, Robert (d. 1866), 11:228-9. Lowe, Thomas (fl. 1824-1872), VI:393. Lucas, Richard (fl. 1678-1686), IX:329-31. McAulay, Aulay (fl. 1815-1823), 1:447-8. McBean, John (d. 18547), 1:448, XX0:461. McBean, William Scott (fl. 1818-1826), 1:448. McBeath, George (17407-1812), XX0:461-2. McCormick, Charles (d. 1790), X50L462. McDonald, Alexander (fl. 1817-1828), 1:448. ' McDonald, Angus, "A" (d. 1861), VL393-4. McDonald, Angus, "B" (fl. 1838-1874), ', McDonald, Archibald (17857-1853), 1:448-9, j X:253-8, XX0:462-3. McDonald, Finan (1782-1851), XX0:463. j McDonald, John, "Le Borgne" (1770-1828), 1:449, 5001:463-4. McDonald, John, of Garth (17747-1860), 1:449-50, XXIL464. McDonald, John, "B" or "Le Grand." See McDonell, John, "B." McDonald, Neil (fl. 1813-1823), 1:450. Macdonell, £neas (d. 1809), 5001:464. Macdonell, Alexander Greenfield (d. 1835), XXIL464-5. 1951 Fur-trade Macdonell, Allan (fl. 1799-1843), 01:445-6, XX0:465. Macdonell, lohn (1768-1850), 5001:465-6. McDonell, John, "fl" or "Le Grand" (1782- 1834), X:258-9, 5001:464. Macdonell, Miles (1769-1828), 0:232, 5001:466. McDougald or McDougall, George (fl. 1815- 1849), 1:450, 5001:467. McDougald or McDougall, John (fl. 1813- 1823), 1:450. McDougall, Alexander (fl. 1799-1814), XX0:466. McDougall, Duncan(fl. 1810-1817), XX0:466. McDougall, George. See McDougald, George. McDougall, James (17837-1851), XX0:467. McDougall, John. See McDougald, John. McFarlane, John Stewart (fl. 1810-1824), 0:231. McGUl, Andrew (1756-1805), 5001:467. McGill, James (1744-1813), 5001:467-8. McGill, John (1746-1797), 5001:468. McGillis, Angus (d. 1811), XX0:468. McGillis, Donald (fl. 1786-1817), XX0:469. McGillis, Hugh (17677-1848), 5001:468-9. McGillivray, Archibald (fl. 1803-1816), 5001:469. McGillivray, Duncan (d. 1808), XX0:469. McGillivray,Iohn(1777?-1855),XX0:469-7O. McGillivray, Joseph (17907-1832), 1:450-1, XX0:47O. McGillivray, Simon, senior (1783-1840), 1:451, XX0:47O-1. McGillivray, Simon, junior (1790-1840), 1:451, XX0:471. McGillivray, Hon. William (17647-1825), 1:452, XX0:471-2. McGillivray, William (17967-1832), X:259-60, XX0:472. Mclntoch, William. See Mcintosh, William. Mcintosh, Angus (17567-1833), XX0:472. Mcintosh, Donald (17737-1845), 0:232-3, 5001:472. Mcintosh or Mclntoch, William (1784-1842), 1:452, XX0:472-3. McKay, Alexander (d. 1811), 5001:473. McKay, Donald (fl. 1786-1810), 5001:473. McKay, John Richards (fl. 1800-1876), 01:446-7. McKay, Thomas(1796?-1849 or 50),IV:347-9, 5001:473-4. McKay, William (1772-1832), XX0:474. Mackenzie, Sir Alexander (1764-1820), 1:452-3, XX0:474-5. McKenzie,AIexander(1767?-1830), 5001:475. McKenzie, Alexander (1794-1828), 01:447, 5001:475-6. McKenzie, Andrew (d. 1809), 5001:476. Mackenzie, Benjamin (18077-1837), 01:447-8. McKenzie, Charles (1774-1855), 5001:476. McKenzie, Daniel (17697-1832), 5001:476. McKenzie, Donald (1783-1851), 0:233, XX0:477. McKenzie, Henry (17817-1832), 1:453, XX0:477. McKenzie, James (d. 1849), 5001:477-8. McKenzie, Kenneth (d. 1817), 5001:478. McKenzie, Hon. Roderick (17617-1844), 1:454, 5001:478-9. Mackenzie, Roderick, senior (17727-1859), 1:453-4, 5001:479. McKenzie, Roderick, junior (1791-1830), 1:454, 5001:479. McKenzie, Roderick(fl. 18O4-1821),XX0:479. McKenzie, Roderick(fl. 1818-186O),XX0:479. McKinlay, Archibald (fl. 1831-1882), VL-394-5. Mackintosh, William. See Mcintosh, William. McLellan, Archibald (d. 1820), 5001:479-80. McLeod, Alexander (d. 1809), XX0:48O. McLeod, Alexander Roderick (17827-1840), 111:448-50, XXII:480. McLeod, Archibald Norman (fl. 1796-1837), 1:454-5, XXII:480-1. McLeod, Joh a (fl. 1816-1824), 1:455 XX0:481. McLeod, Joh a (fl. 1816-1842), 1:455 XX0:481. McLeod, John, fRoss (1788-1849), :455-6 XX0:481. McLeod, Normand (d. 1796), XX0:481-2. McLoughlin, David (1821-1903), VL395-6. McLoughlin, John (1784-1857), 0:233-5, 5001:482. McLoughlin, John, junior (1812-1842), VL396-7. McLoughlin, Joseph (d. 1848), IV:350. McMillan, James (17837-1858), JH:450-1, 5001:482-3. McMurray, Thomas (d. 1795), 5001:483. McMurray, Thomas (17797-1849), 1:456, XX0:483. McNeill, William Henry (1801-1875), V0:314-8. McPhail, John (fl. 1832-1853), VH:318. McPherson,Murdock(1796?-1863),X50I:483. McTavish, Alexander (17847-1832), 01:451 " XX0:484. McTavish, Donald (d. 1814), 5001:484. McTavish, Dugald (1817-1871), VL397-8, XXII: 484. McTavish, James Chisholi XXII:484-5. McTavish, John (d. 1852), 5001:485. McTavish, John George (d. 1847), 1:456-7, 5001:485. McTavish, Simon (1750-1804), XX0:485-6. McVicar, Robert (fl. 1812-1830), 1:457. McVicar, Walter (fl. 1820-1823), 1:457. Magnion, I. Baptiste (fl. 1815-1821), 1:458. Malhiot, Francois Victor (1776-1840), XX0:486. Manson, Donald (fl. 1798-1858), 1:458. Maroy, Pierre (fl. 1816-1821), 1:458. Martin, Louis (fl. 1820-1821), 1:458. Masta, Raymond (fl. 1785-1821), 1:458-9. Matthey, Frederick (fl. 1816-1824), 0:235. Meese, Henry (d. 1682), Vni:339. Michel, Chanawaimthow, "Grand Michel (fl. 1 1-1821), 1:459. m, Christopher (d. 1770), X0:325-34. Miles, Robert Seaborn (17957-1870), 1:459, XX0:486-7. Millington, Francis (d. 1693), V:238-9. Missenden, Samuel (fl. 1685-1689), 50:381-2. Mitchell, David, junior (d. 1809), 5001:487. Moffatt, George (1787-1865), 0:235-6, XX0:487. Monk, Christopher, 2d Duke of Albemarle (1653-1688), V:239. Monk, George, 1st Duke of Albemarle (1608- 1670), V:240-l. Montour, Nicolas or Nicholas (17607-1808), IV:350-1, XX0:487-8. Moor, William (fl. 1737-1747), 501:334-6. Morrison, William (1785-1866), 5001:488. Mowat, Edward (fl. 1806-1833), 1:459. Munden,SirRichard(1640-1680),VOI:339-40. Munro, Henry (17707-1854), 5001:488. Mure, John (d. 1823), XXII:488-9. Murphy, John (17977-18847), 0:236-7. Neile, Sir Paul (fl. 1640-1684), V:241-2. Nixon, John (fl. 1679-1685), IX:331-3. Nolin, Jean Baptiste (1777-1819), XXH:489. Nolin, Louis (fl. 1815-1818), 0:237-8. r Brian (fl. 1680-16: Oakes, Forrest (d. 1783), XX0:489. Obichon, Pierre (fl. 1797-1821), 1:459. O'Brien, John (fl. 1833-1851), VL398-9. O'Dogherty, William St. George (fl. 1819- 1828), 1:460. Ogden, Peter Skene (1794-1854), 0:238, XX0:489-9O. Ogilvy, John (17697-1819), XXH:490. Outlaw, John (d. 1698), XL383-5. Oxley, Jonas (fl. 1819-1821), 1:460. Pambrun, Pierre Chrysologue (1792-1841), IV:351-2, XX0:49O. Pangman, Peter (17447-1819), XX0:49O-1. Parker, William (17607-1831), XX0:491. Paterson, Charles (d. 1788), 5001:491. Paul, Jean Baptiste. See Frinque, Jean Bap- Payette, Francois (fl. 1814-1844), IV:352-3. Peers, Henry Newsham (1821-1864), V0:318-2O. Pelly, George (1791-1866), IV:353. Pelly, Sir John Henry, 1st Baronet (1777- 1852), VI:399-401. Pensonnant, Louis Leon (fl. 1818-1823), 1:460. Peon, Louis. See Pion, Louis. Perrault, Jacques, (fl. 1816-1821), 1:460. Perrault, Jean Baptiste (1761-1844), 5001:491-2. Perren or Perring, Joseph (fl. 1817-1823), V0L34O. Phipps, Thomas, junior (fl. 1679-1687), 50:385-7. Phyn, lames (1742-1821), XX0:492. Piche, David (fl. 1818-1821), 1:461. Pion or Peon, Louis (fl. 1813-1825), 01:452. Pond, Peter (1740-18077), XX0:492. Porlier, Jacques (1765-1839), XX0:493. Portman, John (d. 1683), V:242. Power, Richard (d. 1681), VI0:34O-1. Pretyman, William (d. 1687), V:243. Prevost, Toussaint (fl. 1817-1821), 1:461. Pritchard, John (1777-1856), 0:238-9, I 5001:493. Fur-trade Biographies Radisson, Pierre Esprit (16367-17107), V:243-9. Rae, William Glen (18097-1845), IV:353-5. Richardson, John (17557-1831),"5001:493-4. Roberts, Edward (d. 1874), VL401-2. Robertson, Colin (17797-1842), 1:461-3, XXIL494. Robertson, James (fl. 1805-1830), 0:239. Robertson, John (d. 1828), 0:239-40. Robinson, Sir John (1625-1680), V:250-l. Rocheblave, Pierre Rastel de (17647-1840), XX0:494-5. Rochleau, Francois (fl. 1816-1821), 1:464. Roi, Joseph (fl. 1818-1823), 1:463. Ronde, Louis Denis de la (fl. 1815-1822), 1:463-4. Ross, Alexander (1783-1856), XX0:495. : Ross, Charles (d. 1844), VL402-4,5001:495. Ross, Clarke (fl. 1818-1823), 01:452-3. Ross, Donald (17947-1852), 111:453, 5001:496. Ross, John (d. 1787), XX0:496. Ross, William (17807-1855), XX0:496. Rowand, John, senior (1787-1854), 0:240-1, ■ XXIL496. Ryan, William (fl. 1829-1836), IV:355. St. Dennis, Amable (fl. 1815-1823), 1:464. St. Dennis, Hyacinthe (fl. 1819-1822), 1:464. St. Germain, possibly Pierre (fl. 1818-1821), 1:464. St. Germain, Venant or Venance Lemaire (1751-1821), XX0:496-7. Sandford, Ezbon (d. 1682), LX:333-4. Sandford, Robert (fl. 1680-1686), XL387-8. Sayer, John (17507-1818), 5001:497. Scarborough, James Allan (d. 1855), IV:355-6. Scott, John (fl. 1800-1825), 10:453-4. Selkirk, Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of (1771- 1820), 1:464-5. Semple, Robert (1777-1816), 0:241. Sergeant, Henry (fl. 1683-1689), 50:388-91. Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of. See Cooper, Anthony Ashley, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury. Sharp, George (d. 1800), XXIL497. Shaw, Angus (d. 1832), 1:465-6, XX0:497-8. Shepard, Thomas (fl. 1668-1681), V:251-2. Simpson, jEmilius (d. 1831), 01:454-5. Simpson, Alexander (b. 1811), VI:404-6. Simpson, Sir George (1786 or 7-1860), 1:466-7. Simpson, Thomas (1808-1840), 01:455-6. Sinclair, Thomas (fl. 1824-1834), 10:456. Sinclair, William (17947-1868), 01:456-8. Sinclair, William, junior (1827-1899), VII:320-1. Siveright, John (17997-1856), 111:458, XX0:498. Small, Patrick (d. 18107), XX0:498-9. Small, Patrick (17857-1846), XX0:499. Smith, Edward (d. 1849), 1:468, XX0:499. Smith, Francis (fl. 1737-1747), X0:336-7. Smith, William (d. 1843), 0:242. Snodie, Adam (fl. 1801-1832), 0:242. Soucisse, Joseph (fl. 1818-1821), 1:468. Spence, Joseph (d. 1856), 1:468. Spencer, John (fl. 1790-1863), 1:468-9. Steel, James (fl. 1839-1842), VL406-7. Stewart, Alexander (d. 1840), XX0:499. Stewart, Andrew (17897-1822), 11:242-3, XXII:499. Stewart, John (fl. 1816-1824), 01:458-9. Stuart, David, (17657-1853), 5001:500. Stuart, lohn (1779-1847), 1:469, 5001:500. Stuart, Robert (1785-1848), XX0:5OO-1. Sutherland, Daniel (17567-1832), XX0:5O1. Sutherland, James (1778-1844), 1:469-70, XX0:5O1. Swain, James, junior (fl. 1814-1822), 0:243. Swain, Thomas (fl. 1793-1821), 1:470. Swan, John Pearson (d. 1829), TV:356. Tait, Peter (fl. 1809-1821), 1:471. Taylor, George (fl. 1819-1844), 01:459. Thain, Thomas (d. 1832), XX0:5Ol-2. . Thomas, Charles (fl. 1808-1830), 1:471. Thompson, David (1770-1857), XX0:5O2. Thompson, Edward (fl. 1737-1749), 501:337-8. Thompson or Thomson, John (d. 1828), 1:471, 5001:502-3. Thompson, Joseph (fl. 1674-1679), VTU: 341-2. Thomson, John. See Thompson, John. Thomson, Robert (d. 17957), 5001:503. Thorburn, William (fl. 1789-1805), 5001:503. Tibeau, Joseph (fl. 1786-1821), 1:471. Tod, John (1791-1882), 10:459-60. Verner, Hugh (fl. 1679-1695), 50:391-3. Vignau, Luc (fl. 1818-1823), 1:472. Vincent, Thomas (17767-1832), n:244-5, 5001:504. Vyner, Sir Robert (d. 1688), V: 252-4. Wadden, Waden, Wadin or Waddens, Jean Etienne (d. 1781 or 2), 5001:504. Walker, Nehemiah (fl. 1670-1685), IX:334-7. Walker, Thomas (fl. 1752-1785), XX0:5O4-5. Walker, William, senior (fl. 1670-1687), IX:337-9. Wedderburn, Andrew. See Colvile, Andrew. Wentzel, Willard Ferdinand (fl. 1799-1832), 1:472, X5OI:505. Weymans, Gerrard (fl. 1677-1687),V0I:342-3. Whitman, Joseph (fl. 1819-1821), 1:473. Williams, William (d. 1837), 1:473, XX0:5O5. Wills, John (d. 18147), 5001:505. Wilson, Andrew (d. 1835), 01:460-1. Work, John (17927-1861), IV:356-8. Wren, Sir Christopher(1632-1723),V0I:343-5. Yale, James Murray (17967-1871), 1:473-4, XX0:5O5. Yonge, William (1631-1708 or 9), IX:339-42. NOTES AND COMMENTS BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Victoria Section A regular meeting of the Victoria Section was held in the Provincial Library on Monday evening, May 21. The speaker on that occasion was Miss Flora Burns, who spoke on The Hon. William John Macdonald, Pioneer of '51. The one hundredth anniversary of Macdonald's arrival in Victoria fell in the month of May, and it was particularly fitting that his granddaughter should outline his career for the meeting. Miss Burns had access to his personal diary and also to the files of the Victoria Colonist so was able to give an unusually well-rounded picture. W. J. Macdonald arrived on May 14, 1851, in the second annual ship from England, the Tory. He was then 22 years of age, and with him came the first large group of settlers to the new colony. He had come out in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company and within a month was sent to the San Juan Islands to start a salmon- fishery. He performed many services for the Company, not the least of which was the organization and training of the voltigeurs, as the local militia were called. In 1857 he married Catherine Balfour Reed and built his first home, "Glendale Cottage," near the site of the present Union Club. With the discovery of gold, thousands of people poured into Victoria, and Macdonald had to assume many additional responsibilities—Collector of Customs, Postmaster, Gold and Road Commissioner, as well as Captain of the Militia. Frequently his wife and her sister had to assist him in the clerical work. In 1858 he resigned from the Company's service and joined his father-in-law in business, and the following year he began his political career as the elected member in the Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island for Sooke. In 1862, at the age of 33, he retired from business and devoted the rest of his life—fifty-three years—to the service of his country in civic, Provincial, and Federal fields. In 1866 he became Mayor of Victoria. At first opposed to Confederation, he later became one of its strongest advocates and was chosen as one of the first Senators from British Columbia. He was then 42 years old, and he served for forty-five years in the Upper House. He was honoured and respected by both parties and let no prejudice influence his judgment as to what he considered best for the rising young nation. He built "Armadale," a beautiful home on 30 acres overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This became a Mecca for friends and visitors for forty years, and there his three sons and three daughters grew to maturity. Senator Macdonald passed away on October 25, 1916, a beloved and honoured Canadian. Mr. B. A. McKelvie most aptly expressed to Miss Burns the appreciation of the meeting for her paper. The centenary of the arrival of still another pioneer was commemorated by the Section on Saturday afternoon, June 23, when Wing Commander and Mrs. L. de S. Duke entertained at their home, " Mplton Combe." More than 100 members of the Association and descendants of J. D. Pemberton were present on that occasion, 214 Notes and Comments July-Oct. which was presided over by Mr. H. C. Gilliland. Mr. Willard E. Ireland, Provincial Librarian and Archivist, was the speaker for the event. In his address, A Tribute to Joseph Despard Pemberton, particular emphasis was laid upon the energy and activity of Pemberton. No sooner had he arrived but he was busily at work surveying the countryside. To accomplish this, he had to travel up and down the coast by Indian canoe and through the bush on foot. Previous to his arrival in the colony, the Governor had employed Walter Colquhoun Grant as surveyor, but his services proved completely unsatisfactory. Such was far from being the case with Pemberton, for, shortly after his arrival, surveys were under way and soon maps and plans were ready for transmittal to London, to the intense relief and pleasure of Governor Douglas. While Pemberton's qualifications as a civil engineer were of the highest order, it is a tribute to his skill that surveys he performed from 1853-55 were so accurate that years later, when rechecked by the Hydrographic Branch of the Royal Navy, they were found to be only 50 feet out in 100 miles. Pemberton journeyed from England to Vancouver Island in 1851 by way of the Isthmus of Panama and returned that way for a short visit in 1855. On his second voyage out at the end of that year he tested the Nicaragua route, making notes and comparing the relative advantages. Pemberton was interested in, and participated in, every phase of life in the new colony with an enthusiasm that was characteristic of the man. He drew plans for churches and school-houses, visited sites for bridges and lighthouses and drew the requisite plans. When the Legislative Assembly was established in 1856, he was a representative from Victoria. While busily engaged in his multifarious activities of exploring and surveying, somehow he found time to make copious notes— country, statistical, topographical, and economic—which he assembled for publication in London in 1860 as Facts and Figures relating to Vancouver Island and British Columbia, the first well-balanced account of the region. Pemberton visited England again in 1863 to secure dredging equipment for the Government and even took diving lessons in order to test properly the diving apparatus. During this visit he married Teresa Jane Grautoff, and they travelled to Vancouver Island in company with the new Governor, Arthur Edward Kennedy, and family. Shortly after his return to the colony, Pemberton retired as Surveyor-General and withdrew from public life, devoting himself to private affairs. In 1893 he died suddenly while out riding. His interest in Victoria was remembered in his will, for one of his bequests made possible the building of the Pemberton Gymnasium at Central School. Mr. R. A. Wootton extended the appreciation of the gathering to Mr. Ireland, and Mrs. H. R. Beaven, daughter of J. D. Pemberton, graciously thanked the Association for its assistance in celebrating the centenary of the arrival of her father. At the conclusion of this portion of the programme, which took place in the beautiful garden of a home located on part of the original Pemberton estate, the guests partook of a sumptuous buffet supper. Of particular interest was the presence of such a large number of descendants of Pemberton. Mrs. Beaven and Mrs. H. Deane-Drummond are his only surviving daughters, and there were a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren also present. The annual field-day of the Victoria Section was held on Saturday afternoon, August 25, and took the form of a basket picnic to Weir's Beach, Metchosin. It was a warm summer day, and smoke from the near-by forest fires made it relatively 1951 Notes and Comments 215 simple to recapture the spirit of 100 years ago, when the first permanent settlers took up residence in the region, whose memory the meeting was to commemorate particularly. Mr. Robert A. Wootton was the speaker on the occasion and drew together much of the early history of the area and particularly of its early settlers Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Blinkhorn and their niece, Martha Cheney Ella. The name "Metchosin" is connected with pilchard-oil and may be translated as "the place of the oil," reference being presumably to the smell of the oil. After the Strait of Juan de Fuca had been penetrated, this area was a favourite stopping-place as it offered one of the first protected harbours. The Spaniard Quimper in 1790 was the first navigator to be in the vicinity, and in near-by Parry Bay there are the remains of earthen fortifications of unknown origin. Governor Douglas established his own farm, "Ferncliffe," in this region. Captain James Cooper was the first owner of land, and the first permanent settlers were the Blinkhoras, who had arrived in the colony in the Tory in May, 1851. Travel to and from Victoria was originally by canoe, but soon there was a cleared trail and eventually a road. The first church, St. Mary's, was built in 1873, the corner-stone having been laid on July 4. Two yean earlier a school had been established. Originally the quarantine station established in 1884 was at Albert Head, but it was later removed to its present site at William Head. Robert DeVere Weir was also one of the early settlers, and his descendants were hosts to the Association. Other early settlers mentioned were the Fishers, Helgesons, Pears, and Wittys. Mr. F. H. Johnson, Vice-Chairman, expressed the thanks of the gathering to the speaker. The first meeting of the Section in the fall season was held on Tuesday, September 25, in the Provincial Library with Mr. F. H. Johnson, Vice-Chairman, presiding. Mr. C. P. Lyons, author of Milestones on the Mighty Fraser and a member of the staff of the British Columbia Parks Service, gave an illustrated lecture on Milestones in Ogopogoland. In an informal manner he explained the coloured slides, as in imagination he took his audience from Hope to Princeton over the new highway, with side-trips to Copper Mountain and other excursions illustrating the flora and fauna and geological eccentricities of the district. The whole region from Spences Bridge through the Nicola and Similkameen Valleys to Keremeos and on to Penticton was covered, with beautiful slides of many of the scenic and historic spots. Mrs. Gwladys Welsh moved a vote of appreciation to Mr. Lyons for a most interesting and informative address. A regular meeting of the Section was held on Thursday evening, October 18, in the Provincial Library, on which occasion Mr. W. W. Bilsland, Research Assistant in the Provincial Archives, was the guest speaker on the subject The History of Atlin. There have been many gold-rushes in British Columbia, but except for those to the ban of the Fraser River in 1858 and to the creeks of the Cariboo in the 1860's little is really known of the part which the gold-rushes played in the exploration and development of the Central Interior and northern extremities of the Province. As an offshoot of the Klondike excitement of 1897-98, one of British Columbia's richest and least-known goldfields—the Atlin area—came into prominence, flashed brightly for a period of approximately ten years, and then gradually settled back into an obscurity which has lifted only for a brief period in the 1930's. Solitary prospectors were in the Atlin area prior to 1898, but the first serious attempt at mining carried on by Fritz Miller and his party in the spring and summer 216 Notes and Comments July-Oct. of 1898 led to an influx of 3,000 people to the region in the fall of that year and the appearance of several cities of tents in 1899. To-day the few people who have visited Atlin find it hard to believe that over 10,000 miners extracted $800,000 in gold in 1899 from the creeks flowing into Lake Atlin. It is also difficult to realize that by 1905 Atlin had a communal and social structure which had most of the amenities found in contemporary Vancouver or Victoria. In the history of the Atlin gold-rush it is possible to see in a space of fifty years a picture of the pattern of gold-rushes the world over: the first strike, the influx of the individual miners, the boom period, the gradual exhaustion of the shallow workings, the appearance of the large hydraulic and quartz-mining companies, the clash between the free miners and the large interests, the gradual exodus of the pioneer prospectors and miners to new fields, and the settling-down of the camp to large operations. Atlin's early development was seriously hampered by an almost incredible series of legislative and legal difficulties, by ignorance of the topography of the area prior to 1899, by a lack of adequate transportation facilities—solved only by the aeroplane in the 1930's and by a link with the Alaska Highway in 1949—and by two world wars which drastically curtailed gold-mining. To-day, however, Atlin's goldfields, almost deserted and abandoned since 1942, are again attracting the attention of large mining interests and may once more prove to be a profitable mining venture. Mrs. Henry Esson Young, widow of Atlin's first representative in the Legislature at Victoria, and herself an early resident of the town, moved a very hearty vote of thanks to the speaker, in the course of which she added several interesting and amusing personal anecdotes. Vancouver Section A meeting of the Vancouver Section was held in the Grosvenor Hotel on May 1, at which Mr. Kenneth A. Waites was the speaker on the subject Vancouver's School Days. Mr. Waites summarized the history of the Vancouver area up to the establishment of the first school at Moodyville in 1872. Granville School had sixteen pupils enrolled, and was close to the old Hastings Mill, from which it took its popular name. Its first teacher was Miss Georgia Sweney. The next milestone was the establishment of the Vancouver School District following the incorporation of the city in 1886. The School Board's first assignment was to find accommodation for an additional ninety-five pupils in a two-room school on Cordova Street in January, 1887, but by the end of the term the enrolment in the new school had increased to 285. From that day to this the Board has been under constant pressure to find school facilities for a rapidly expanding population. By 1940 the school system numbered 67 schools, 1,200 teachers, and 40,000 pupils. The first high school was established in 1890 on the Central School site under the principal- ship of Robert Law with an enrolment of thirty-one. The speaker traced the regional development of the present city, using the establishment of schools in each area to show the progress of settlement outwards from the down-town area. He also outlined the major changes in the school curriculum and paid tribute to Alexander Robinson, Superintendent of Education for the Province, who placed the educational system on a firm foundation. The appreciation of the meeting was tendered to Mr. Waites by Mr. A. P. Woolacott, seconded by Mr. J. A. Byron. The first meeting of the Section in the fall season was held on Tuesday, October 2, in the Grosvenor Hotel, on which occasion Dr. W. N. Sage, Head of the Depart- • ment of History at the University of British Columbia, was the speaker. His subject was David Thompson's Exploration on the Columbia. Dr. Sage stressed that only David Thompson's meticulous accuracy for mathematical detail saved him from oblivion. According to J. B. Tyrrell, he was the nineteenth century's greatest explorer and its most brilliant surveyor, and this opinion was based on a retracing of Thompson's footsteps a century later, which evoked from Tyrrell only marvel at the accuracy of his markings. The speaker touched lightly on Thompson's background in the Old Country, thus accounting for the traits which aroused the curiosity of Tyrrell and impelled him to edit Thompson's Narrative—a feat of no mean achievement in historical research. Thompson was born in London in 1770 of Welsh parents and orphaned soon after birth. At the age of 7 he became a charity boy at the Grey Coat School for poor children, where he remained until he was 14. Originally intended for the Royal Navy, he received training in algebra, geography, and navigation. At 14 he was apprenticed to the Hudson's Bay Company, remaining with them thirteen years, serving first under Samuel Hearae at Fort Churchill. Thompson entered the service when rivalry with the North West Company was becoming increasingly bitter. The Hudson's Bay Company, after remaining a century on Hudson Bay and holding a monopolistic grip on trade coming to tidewater, now had to change its policy completely by setting up posts in the Interior in order to protect its lines of supply from its rivals. This called for explorers as well as traders. At the age of 17, Thompson led his first expedition and founded his first post amongst the Piegans near Calgary. There he learned their language. In 1789 he returned to Cumberland House, meeting Philip Tumor, a trained astronomer and surveyor hired by the Company at the instance of the British Government. Thompson spent the winter of 1790 studying under Tumor; thenceforward he was first and foremost a geographer and surveyor. The Hudson's Bay Company refused to recognize Thompson's attainments, and in 1797 he threw in his lot with the North West Company. His first assignment with his new employers was to locate the 49th parallel from the Lake of the Woods to the " source of the Mississippi." Under the auspices of this Company, Thompson really started his life's work. The great question was the penetration of the Rocky Mountains. Alexander Mackenzie in 1793 had reached tide-water at Bella Coola, while a year previously Robert Grey had discovered the mouth of the Columbia. In 1805 Lewis and Clark explored the middle waters of the Columbia, going down the Snake River to the mouth of the Columbia. In 1808 Simon Fraser had descended the river bearing his name. But between the Fraser and the Middle Columbia lay a vast territory completely unexplored which the North West Company intended to claim for itself. Thompson was named senior officer for this task. In 1807 the first pass south of the Peace River was discovered and Kootenay House founded on Canal Flats. Lake Windermere country was explored to the source of the Columbia; the Kootenay River followed south to Kootenay Falls and north again to Kootenay Lake, and from thence he returned overland to Kootenay House. In 1808, after a trip to Fort William for supplies, Thompson explored part of the present State of Washington as far south as Bonner's Ferry, going from there up Clark's Fork to Lake Pend d'Oreille, establishing Salish House. In 1810 Thompson 218 Notes and Comments July-Oct. was ordered to reach the mouth of the Columbia before John Jacob Astor, who was sending an expedition around the Horn. In order to avoid the Piegans, Thompson went north of Rocky Mountain House, finding the Athabaska Pass, near Jasper, • and wintered at Big Bend'in what is now British Columbia. From there he proceeded overland to Salish House and then by canoe to Kettle Falls. Below Kettle Falls he built a boat and descended the Columbia, only to find the Astorians already in possession of its mouth on his arrival on July 15,1811. Thompson did not remain long on the coast; by September 10 he was at Arrowhead and the following day within 2 miles of Revelstoke; by September 18 he was back at Big Bend, where he wintered. The next year was spent in developing posts on the Upper Columbia, and in the summer of 1812 he was at Fort William. Never again was he to return to the Rockies. For twenty-eight years he had explored the West, twenty-five of them as a surveyor. His last act was to prepare a map for the International Boundary Commission after the War of 1812. He died in 1857 at the age of 87 in complete poverty and lay in an unmarked grave until 1927. The vote of thanks to the speaker was proposed by Mr. D. A. McGregor, seconded by Captain C. W. Cates. OKANAGAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY The annual meeting of the Okanagan Historical Society was held in the Orange Hall, Kelowna, on May 2, with the President, Mr. J. B. Knowles, in the chair. Representatives from four of the five branch societies were present and reported on the activity of their respective organizations. Mr. Knowles stated that the material for the fifteenth Annual Report was being gathered and gave promise that it would be up to the usual high standard and of unusual local interest. He made an appeal for new and younger members to assist the parent organization by joining the various branches. The principal speaker was Rev. D. M. Perley, of Kelowna, whose address touched on matters relating to Okanagan Valley history. The election of officers for 1951-52 was announced, as follows:— Honorary Patron - His Honour Clarence Wallace, Lieutenant- Governor of British Columbia. Honorary Preside t - Hon. Grote Stirling, P.C. President - - J. B. Knowles, Kelowna. First Vice-Preside t - D. J. Whitham, Kelowna. Second Vice-Presi lent - Mrs. R. B. White, Penticton. Secretary - - Dr. J. C. Goodfellow, Princeton. Treasurer - - Major H. R. Denison, Vemon. Editor - Dr. Margaret A. Ormsby, Vancouver. Assistant Editor- - Mrs. R. L. Cawston, Penticton. Directors— North- Burt R. Campbell, Kamloops. G. C. Tassie, Vemon. J. G. Simms, Vemon. Middle—. F. M. Buckland, Kelowna. Mrs. D. Gellatly, Westbank. Jas. Goldie, Okanagan Centre. 1951 Notes and Comments 219 South- Captain J. B. Weeks, Penticton. G. J. Rowland, Penticton. H. D. Barnes, Hedley. At large- Mrs. G. Maisonville, Kelowna. Miss K. Ellis, Penticton. Mr. J. H. Wilson, Armstrong. Mr. F. L. Goodman, Osoyoos. Mr. A. K. Loyd, Kelowna. The annual meeting of the Kelowna Branch of the Okanagan Historical Society was held on Friday evening, April 20, in the board room of the B.C. Tree Fruits Ltd., Kelowna. The meeting was an informal one, with much reminiscing on old times in the valley. Some discussion took place concerning the local museum. This Branch has been active throughout the year and has contributed greatly to the success of the parent organization. Officers elected for the year 1951-52 are as follows:— President H. C. Collett. Vice-President J. B. Knowles. Secretary-Treasurer - - - - L. L. Kerry. Directors- Mrs. D. Gellatly. Mrs. G. D. Fitzgerald. Mrs. G. Maisonville. Nigel Pooley. E. M. Carruthers. F. M. Buckland. J.D.Whitham. The annual meeting of the Penticton Branch of the Okanagan Historical Society was held in the library of the high school on Tuesday, March 20, under the chairmanship of Mrs. R. B. White. Old-timers and comparative new-comers were regaled with some of Penticton's colourful past. Mr. A. S. Hatfield, pioneer of forty-four years' residence in Penticton, told of many of his experiences as a mail- carrier in earlier days and also in connection with customs difficulties when there was no permanent office provided. Mr. Frank McDonald recalled the days when Summerland was more important than Penticton as a cultural and sport centre. Mr. McDonald came to the area shortly after the turn of the century and was long interested in musical organizations and gave many interesting details concerning the first municipally sponsored band. The third speaker, Mr. Wallace Mutch, dealt principally with the early days of the fruit-growing industry and brought for examination by the members of the Branch the first journal and ledger kept by the South Okanagan Fruit Growers' Exchange. The officers for the 1951-52 season were elected as follows:— President H. H. Whitaker. First Vice-President .... R.L. Cawston. SecondVice-President- - - - A.S.Hatfield. Secretary H. E. Cochrane. Treasurer Captain J. B. Weeks. Directors- Mrs. R. B. White. Mrs. H. H. Whitaker. Miss Kathleen Ellis. 220 Notes and Comments July-Oct. Later, at a meeting held on Wednesday, May 28, Mrs. H. H. Whitaker spoke to the Branch on her reminiscences of earlier days in Penticton. She recalled many of her impressions of the community after her arrival by boat in the early years of the century. Mr. W. Arnott, who once pre-empted the land where Kaleden now stands and later sold it for $1,000, also contributed his experiences in the early days. The first annual meeting of the Armstrong Branch of the Okanagan Historical Society was held on Thursday afternoon, April 12, in the United Church Hall under the chairmanship of Mr. J. H. Wilson. At this meeting Mr. A. E. Sage, one of the first members of the parent body in the valley and Vice-President of the Branch was made an honorary member. Mr. Wilson reviewed the year's activity in his annual report and commented on contributions from the region being prepared for the forthcoming Annual Report. The officers elected for 1951-52 are as follows:— President J.H.Wilson. Vice-President J. E. Jamieson. Secretary-Treasurer - - - - Arthur Marshall. Directors— Mrs. Myles MacDonald. Mrs. D. G. Crozier. Charles LeDuc. H. A. Fraser. Arthur Young. Other Branch Societies' officers are as follows:— Vemon Secretary-Treasurer .... Major H. R. Denison. Directors— G. E. McMahon. J. G. Heighway. Burt R. Campbell. President - - - - Vice-President Secretary-Treasurer - Directors- Albert Millar. N. V. Simpson. - - F.L. Goodman. - George J. Fraser. A. Kalten. Mrs. Albert Milla Dr. N.J. Ball. KAMLOOPS MUSEUM ASSOCIATION The annual meeting of the Kamloops Museum Association, held in the City Hall on Friday evening, February 23, was the occasion of considerable justifiable congratulation, for a number of outstanding accomplishments were recorded in the various reports presented to a fairly well attended meeting. Financially the affairs of the Association reflect a healthy condition, for expenditures totalled only $313.42, whereas the revenue amounted to $651.97, including a civic grant of $200 and a donation from Mrs. J. S. Burris of $100. However, the Treasurer pointed 1951 Notes and Comments 221 out that a great deal of the balance had already been committed. When it is noted that this Association during the current year had only twenty-seven active members, an increase of ten over the previous year, it is even more amazing that so much could be reported as accomplished. The highlight of the year was the moving of the old fort building from the park to a permanent site on the museum property. This was done in May, 1950, with the active co-operation of the Public Works Department of the city. A contract for the necessary electric work was let and, when completed, the fort building was fixed up with exhibits and opened during the evenings for tourist and other visitors. This old building is said to have been built in 1821 as a fur-storage quarters at Fort Kamloops. It was originally constructed of hand-hewn squared timbers, morticed and grooved to fit, with the interstices filled with mud and moss. The original door fittings are still in use. The timbers had been rescued many years ago by the late David Powers, and in 1937, at the time of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Anniversary Celebration at Kamloops, the building was rebuilt in Riverside Park and fitted up as a museum. Later, when the Library-Museum Building was given to. the city by Mrs. J. S. Burris, the exhibits were removed to the newer building. Now the old fort building has been once again fitted up as a museum on its new site and houses a great number of fascinating exhibits, including the bell and wheel from the steamer C. R. Lamb, a granite hand-mill made by Cariboo gold-seekers, an ox-team yoke from freight-hauling days on the Cariboo Road, to say nothing of the photographs, Indian artifacts, mineralogical and natural history specimens. The constitution of the Association was revised to permit the addition of patrons as a new membership class. Mr. Burt R. Campbell's report on the photographic collection noted that although numerically there had not been as many additions, yet a number of very valuable collections had been donated, including the Beresford Women's Institute collection of Kamloops South District and the R. B. A. Cragg collection on Falkland and North Kamloops. The President, R. G. Pinchbeck, had made a fine contribution in identifying many of the photographs in the Carment collection. The House Committee, through its Chairman, R. B. A. Cragg, in addition to noting the moving of the old fort building and its rehabilitation, indicated many other alterations to existing facili- ' ties and reported progress in the negotiations with the Federal and Provincial Government mapping services in respect to securing air photographs of the vicinity. Many other gifts, too numerous to be detailed here, were gratefully acknowledged by the various departments of the museum. Attendance at the museum during the year increased from 1,610 to 1,951, and it was noted that more and more local residents were availing themselves of the opportunities afforded to them by this excellent Association. Owing to an aggravated eyesight condition, Mr. Burt R. Campbell, one of the founders of the Association and a sterling supporter of it for many years, who had served for more than six terms as President, declined renomination. A resolution expressing the Association's appreciation of his long and valued service was proposed by Right Rev. Frederic Stanford, Bishop of Cariboo, and Alderman Helen J. Millward and enthusiastically endorsed by the meeting. The election of officers for the year 1951-52 resulted as follows:— Notes and Comments President R. G. Pinchbeck. Vice-President .... Alderman Helen J. Milli Secretary-Treasurer - - - - Mrs. Earl Robinson. Committee Chairmen— T.S.Keyes (Natural History). R.B. A. Cragg (House). CARIBOO HISTORICAL SOCIETY The first annual meeting of the Cariboo Historical Society was held on Saturday evening, August 25, in the cafeteria of the new high school, Quesnel. For some time there has been considerable agitation and interest evinced in the project, and on July 4 the organization was registered officially under the " Societies Act." The objects of the association are to gather together historical relics now held in private hands with the ultimate goal of a local museum in mind, to compile an authentic history of the Cariboo country, and to preserve its old documents and records. It is hoped that branch societies will be formed elsewhere in the numerous communities in the district. Mr. D. J. Whitham, first Vice- President of the Okanagan Historical Society, was present at the meeting and gave most useful advice as well as much encouragement in the new undertaking. The election of officers resulted as follows:— Honorary Patron .... John A. Fraser. Honorary Patroness - - - - Mrs. A. M. M. Earley. President W. Alvin Johnston. Vice-Presidents George Johnston. Robert Barlow. J. B. Hutchcroft. Secretary Mrs. W. C. Spear. Treasurer - Mrs. J. B. Hutchcroft. Historian , W.B.Morris. Directors— Two-year term- Alfred Tregillus, Barkerville. W. C. Spear, Quesnel. Mrs. W. Broughton, Alexandria. One-year term— W. Eric North, Wells. Dr. A. H. Bayne, Williams Lake. A. S. Vaughan, Quesnel. The Quesnel Branch of the Cariboo Historical Society held its organization meeting in the elementary-school annex late in September. Over forty interested residents of the district were in attendance, and prior to the election of officers Mr. Ralph Chetwynd showed films taken at the organizational meeting of the parent body. It was proposed that regular meetings be held at the call of the executive and, when the opportunity presented itself, that a museum should be established. Joint efforts with other branches would be made to restore and preserve such historic sites as the Barkerville cemetery and the Government 1951 Notes and Comments 223 buildings at Richfield. It was also agreed that local officers of the parent body should be ex officio executive members of the Quesnel Branch. The officers elected are as follows:— Honorary Presidents - - - - J.A.Kennedy. Dr. G. R. Baker. President C.H.Allison. Vice-President George E. Johnston. Secretary Mrs. George Syder. Treasurer LenRolph. Executive Committee— Steve Hilborn. Arthur Brown. Mrs. J. A. Maclure. Mrs. D. Madeley. Under the auspices of the Committee on Historical Sites of the State Parks and Recreation Commission of Washington an interesting programme was carried out on Friday and Saturday, October 26 and 27, with the official dedication and acceptance of a number of historical sites in Stevens County in Eastern Washington. On October 26 a luncheon was held at Kettle Falls, when Mrs. Ruth E. Peeler, Vice-Chairman of the State Parks and Recreation Commission, was the speaker. In the afternoon, ceremonies took place at St. Paul's Mission, with Bishop Charles D. White as principal speaker. In the evening a banquet was held at Colville, and Dr. C. S. Kingston, Department of History of the Eastern Washington College of Education, gave the main address and Dr. Louis R. Caywood, Archaeologist, National Parks Service, made a report on the excavations at Spokane House. On Saturday a luncheon was held at Curlew, Ferry County, and then a dedicatory service was held in the Indian cemetery at Toroda, on the Kettle River, to mark the grave and honour the memory of Ranald MacDonald, one of the most colourful figures of the early fur-trade days, whose varied experiences took him as far afield as Japan. The speaker on that occasion was Mr. Joel E. Ferris, of Spokane, President of the Eastern Washington State Historical Society. Because of the considerable interest in Ranald MacDonald's career in this Province, Mr. Ferris' address is published in full. Ranald MacDonald: In Memoriam We stand to-day at the grave, so many years neglected, of an unique, colourful, and historic character, Ranald MacDonald, whose life-story is not that of a man who had wealth, political or social position or leadership, and who was not accorded recognition during his lifetime—a man who died disappointed and in poverty. Disappointed, but not embittered, that the manuscript of his life's history did not find a publisher; and in poverty because he cared little for money or comforts, he was content to pass his last years in this lovely and historic Colville country which he had known so well in his early years. He died near where we are gathered to-day to dedicate this historic marker or monument to his memory and which we believe will stand a reminder of his life, his courage, his 224 Notes and Comments July-Oct. will to explore forbidden Japan, and of his later years of adventure and of his final years leading a gentle life in this valley. We will not have time to recount the many elements and incidents that make Ranald MacDonald one of the famous and unique characters of our great Pacific Northwest. Born in 1824, his father was Archibald McDonald, of a famous and prominent Scottish family, at that time clerk (an important position) for the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort George, formerly Astoria, on the Columbia River where it flows into the great Pacific Ocean. Fort George was later moved and became the historic Hudson's Bay Company post, Fort Vancouver, across the Columbia from the present city of Portland, Oregon, and the centre from which the Company ruled a vast empire with its outlying trading-posts. Archibald McDonald fell in love with the youngest daughter of Chief Com- Comly, a Chinook Indian chief, a man of great power and prestige and a great leader, the owner of hundreds. of slaves and an aristocrat in his own right. Princess Raven was her name. One writer tells of her marriage as taken from Ranald's own written memoir or story:— " Under a canopy of blue, edged by the deep green of the trees, a furry carpet had been laid. This luxurious pathway was made from sea otter and prime beaver skins. It was a royal carpet used only by Com-Comly on state occasions, and when he entertained notable paleface visitors a guard of three hundred slaves stood at attention on either side of the passage. They were picturesquely clothed in hats and coats trimmed with gold braid, but their nether portions were innocent of trousers. " At the approach of the wedding party, which was composed of men from Fort George and the bridegroom, together with a group of Indians, preparations were hastened, and there was a noticeable commotion around that part of the lodge which was occupied by the beautiful Princess Raven. | Robed in her bridal trappings of white buckskin, the princess emerged from the royal lodge, and then with a simple ceremony Com-Comly handed his daughter over to the waiting bridegroom, the handsome Archibald McDonald. As the young lovers joined hands they received a blessing from the Chinook Chief, who was known as a mighty warrior and whose word was law." Princess Raven, after her marriage, took the name of Princess Sunday. On February 3, 1824, Ranald MacDonald was born, and a few months later his mother died and he was given to the care of his aunt, Carcumcum. A year later Archibald McDonald married Jane Klyne, a young Swiss girl of high character. Young Ranald's father was transferred to various posts, becoming a more important and valuable Hudson's Bay man and with increasing responsibilities, at Fort George in 1824, Fort Vancouver in 1825, Fort Langley on the Fraser River in 1828, where he was chief trader, and at Fort Colville in 1838. His father had great pride and interest in his first-bom and did not neglect Ranald for the numerous other children bom by his second wife. The boy Ranald attended a school at Fort Vancouver conducted by John Ball. His father took him on many long trips to the Company posts. Ranald, in his later years, retained a clear picture of Fort Colville as it was when his father was in charge of this, the highest, post on the Columbia River. It was the centre of a large Indian trade, including the great Kootenay country and the Upper Columbia to 1951 Notes and Comments 225 the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The location above Kettle Falls was a favourite resort of the Indians for salmon-fishing. Ranald thus pictured it:— "The site of Fort Colville was a beautiful flat—about ten square miles- surrounded by mountains of moderate height, with celebrated buffalo grass and other finest herbage for cattle. The Fort, a fine one in the model of the times in the Indian country, had high wooden walls—12 to 18 feet in height; and bastions, with cannon and gallery, inside, all around, was a veritable citadel of safety. ■ Here, during 4 or 5 years, with younger half brothers, under the tenderest, and best of parental care, I spent what I consider to have been the very happiest days of my life; in a world of our own; singularly isolated from the haunts of men; where only the occasional Aboriginal, with silent step, with his furs for sale, and our (the Company's own) ' Despatch' to and from the East and West in the Spring and Fall, in hurrying way, with single paddle boat (of eight for crew), with a passenger or two, broke the solitude. To this might be added the annual arrival from below, viz: Spokan, of the annual supplies ... for the Post." A modem writer who knew Ranald in his old age quotes him as giving this " The nearest court of justice was 600 miles away. There were forty servants of the Company, including all kinds of clerks, artisans, interpreters and a swarm of Indian domestics. It was a great distributing post for the smaller agencies of the Company. There were two mills, and the store houses were bristling with furs, skins and merchandise. Two brigades came in twice a year, consisting of about fifty men, bringing eight or nine boats, the supplies for the Company, and returned with furs to Vancouver . . . where they were shipped to England. Whenever these brigades journeyed, gathering up furs from the distant stations, the few travellers who were daring enough to go about in those days attached themselves to the column and received protection. The trails of the Pend d'Oreilles, Kootenais, the Flatheads, Coeur d'Alenes, Cayuses—centred in this valley, and here they came with pack-horses almost hidden under the loads of beaver, otter, mink, marten, lynx, bear, wolverine, and buffalo hides, humps and tongues, and the first salmon of the season, (which was) the royal fish, and his majesty, the governor, got it. There was no money, but beaver was the standard of value . . . twenty beavers, for a horse." Archibald McDonald wished his son to have a more advanced education, and in 1838, when Ranald was 14, sent him to far-off Fort Garry, a long journey to the Red River at Winnipeg. Ranald, though young in years, was grown up, and his father was impatient at his school progress and at his restless nature and development. The boy, while at Fort Garry, saw the great figures of the Hudson's Bay Company who came from far-off Montreal, Quebec, Fort William on Hudson Bay, and from London. His father decided to send him to Eastern Canada for an apprenticeship in business, and at St. Thomas a friend of his father, Mr. Ermatinger, took the young Ranald in charge and in his employ. Ermatinger was a merchant, banker, and member of Parliament. Ranald rebelled at the routine of a clerk's work. He was popular among the young people of the leading families and at the Ermatinger home, where he lived. He learned the amenities of social life and was received in the fine homes of St. Thomas. He was tempted by fast 226 Notes and Comments July-Oct. companions at times and behaved as many boys or young men of 17 do. In his heart was the spirit of adventure and exploration and a yen and a desire to see ' the world and to travel the high seas, so he slipped away, or ran away, and as he wrote many years later:— " With grip sack in hand, I walked forth into the darkness of an unsympathetic world; alone . . . with barely enough scrip for the hour." He made his way on foot and by river-boats to New Orleans and then to New York, where he sailed on a whaling-vessel, the Tuscany, bound for London. His life was that of a wandering sailor. He sailed the high seas; at one time in his life as a sailor he found himself on a ship where the crew mutinied, and on another ship as one of the crew of a slave-running vessel. The great adventure in Ranald MacDonald's life, and one that makes him an historic character, was his decision to enter Japan, the Hermit Kingdom, which excluded all foreigners, an exclusion that was real and its violation invited prison, or even death. He sailed on a whaling^ship, the Plymouth, with the purpose of in some way carrying out this plan. Ashley Holden, long a student of Japanese history and a brilliant writer on the Spokesman-Review, will tell you in a few moments of that fascinating adventure and chapter in the life of Ranald MacDonald. On his release from Japan he lived a life of adventure by land and by sea; he visited London and Australia, where he worked at gold-mining. Later he found his way to Rome, to Paris, and far-off lands. Home ties and affection and loyalty for his father drew him back to Canada. His father had prospered and retired in 1844, moving first to Montreal and then to St. Andrews on the Ottawa River, where he had a sizeable estate and was a man of prominence. Always sad at his first-bom son's absence and wanderings, he died in 1853, and upon his tombstone these words were carved: "One of the Pioneers of Civilization in Oregon." Ranald came home too late to see his father, and soon his restless spirit drew him to the West—into the country where we live—which he had known as a boy. He arrived in the Cariboo country in 1859. He engaged in mining with a half-brother, undertook the building of toll-roads and operated a ferry on the Fraser River and lived an active life and finally, after ' many years, came to be with his cousin Angus at Fort Colville and in this historic and beautiful country passed his last years. He took up a piece of land as a homestead and eked out a meagre existence. He never married; his home was an old log cabin. For many months he occupied his time in writing a most remarkable history or chronicle of his life, and in attempting unsuccessfully to secure a publisher for it. In a letter to Malcolm McLeod, he wrote:— 11 yearn for nothing more than to live according to the whims of my nature. If I need meat for my dogs, in the foothills there is plenty of game. If it is flour that I lack, there is a store at the nearest settlement. My books furnish diversion, and in my solitude I am free to write and meditate." Of his last days, one writer says: "The same kind Providence which had looked after Ranald throughout his adventuresome life now guided his less vigorous footsteps. He could no longer push into the unfrequented places and straggle with those who had youth and strength. Opportunities there were, plenty of them, and his discerning eyes saw and recognized each one, but he had neither the strength nor the desire to avail himself of them. Actual wealth he no longer 1951 Notes and Comments 227 possessed, but he did have contentment, that elusive thing which he had never been able to possess in his active days." Another writer notes: "His life's work was nearly done, and in the evening of his years he gazed across the wide- sweeping mountains and the verdant valleys which to his dim eyes were faintly outlined against the setting sun. There were a few old retainers of the Hudson's Bay Company around Fort Colville and they ministered to Ranald's small needs. He dreamed of the days of the past, of the songs of the voyageurs, and of the sound of the wind among trees long since felled. ... The miracle of spring awakened the hills and valleys around old Fort Colville. The aged man had thought that he might not see the resurrected world, with its carpet of bird-bills and buttercups, and the soft green leaves of the maple and the chaparral. But he enjoyed the long days of spring and, as the season advanced, he saw the hazel bushes setting their fruit. Basking in the sun, he observed the squirrels laying away their store of nuts. To himself he said: 'I alone make no provision for the coming winter. This is the end of my adventure.'" So on August 24, 1894, his earthly life came to an end, his adventure was over, and resting in the arms of a relative he said " Sayonara "—Farewell. Here where we stand rests the body of this unique character, representing the spirit of adventure, the spirit of the pioneer. In his body, long since crumbled to dust, flowed the blood of a great Indian chief or king, and that of a long line of Scottish leaders and nobles. To Ranald MacDonald we pay tribute; we are glad his resting-place is properly marked; and to him we say on this day in October, 1951, A NOTE ON "GEORGE MASON, PRIEST AND SCHOOLMASTER" In the preparation of his Short History of Christ Church Cathedral (Victoria, 1951), Major F. V. Longstaff, a keen student of the early ecclesiastical history of this Province, had occasion to search the records in the Synod Office vault in Victoria, and there he found clarification concerning the connection of Rev. George Mason with the diocese, which is of considerable interest. ■ In the first Parish Vestry and Committee Book is to be found the record of a Vestry Meeting on April 21,1878: 'The Bishop announced that he was intending to leave the diocese in May for a year's absence, and that he proposed to appoint the Reverend George Mason of Nanaimo as his Locum Tenens as Rector of the Cathedral (Parish), and that this would involve an increase of the amount to be contributed by the Cathedral congregation towards the stipends of officiating clergy during the coming twelve months of $250. This announcement was received with satisfaction by the meeting.' " In the Synod Office vault there has recently come to light an old, large book or register which, for want of a better title, might be called the Declaration Book of the Diocese wherein are recorded the full declarations made by each clerk in Holy Orders who is constituted Dean or Archdeacon. Under date June 6, 1878, there is a long entry by Bishop Hills: '. . . Be it known unto you that on the date of the date here of George Mason clerk M.A. to be collated and instituted to the dignity of Dean of Christ Church, Victoria, within our Diocese and jurisdiction of British Columbia. . . .' There follows a separate full declaration by Mason dealing with his undertaking to use in full the services as laid down in the Book of 228 Notes and Comments Common Prayer, a precaution taken, presumably, as a result of the difficulty that had just been concluded with Rev. E. Cridge. This declaration concludes with a signature as 'Assistant Minister in the parish of Christ Church Victoria, 6th June, 1878.' The next entry in this register under date June 26, 1880, records the resignation of Dean Mason. " The assumption is that Mason had to have legal power to sign papers and to hold monies and that the Bishop discovered, at the last moment, that to do so Mason had to be fully collated and instituted as Dean. Normally this appointment would have been a permanent one but it is fairly clear that Mason was instituted in a temporary capacity in order that he could be in charge of the whole of the diocese during the absence of the Bishop in England. " The Proceedings of the Synod for 1880 show that the Venerable G. Mason was then Archdeacon of Vancouver (Island) and Assistant Rector of the Cathedral (Parish). The same entry is given in the Proceedings for the Synods of 1881 and 1882. From 1860 until 1879 there were only two Archdeaconaries—Vancouver (Island) and Columbia (British). The Archdeacon of Columbia was always shown as Rector of Holy Trinity at New Westminster but that of Vancouver was given as rector of different parishes or missions, e.g. St. Johns' Church, Cowichan Mission, St. Paul's Esquimalt Church. " It is important to remember that Bishop Hills had been his own Dean and Rector since 1875 when the Rev. Edward Cridge refused obedience for which the Bishop withdrew his license to hold the office of Dean or to preach in the diocese. Bishop W. W. Perrin was also his own Dean and Rector. The second separate and permanent Dean was Rev. A. J. Doull who was instituted on June 15, 1910." CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE John Tupper Saywell, M.A., is a graduate of the University of British Columbia who was employed for some time as a special research assistant on the staff of the Provincial Archives. He is at present proceeding with his doctoral studies at Harvard University. Richard H. Dillon, a previous contributor to this Quarterly, is Research Librarian at the Sutro Branch of the California State Library located in San Francisco. A. F. Flucke served for two years as a special research assistant in the Provincial Archives and is at present attending the School of Library Science at the University of Toronto. *#f3i»- T. R. McCIoy is at present on the staff of the Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa, in the Library Division. Formerly he served on the staffs of the Provincial Library in Victoria and of the Library of the University of British Columbia. Margaret A. Ormsby, Ph.D., is a member of the Department of History of the University of British Columbia. A former Past President of the British Columbia Historical Association, she is at present a member of the Council of the Canadian Historical Association and editor of the Okanagan Historical Society's Annual Report. Walter N. Sage, Ph.D., is head of the Department of History of the University of British Columbia and a frequent contributor to this Quarterly. Vera Drury is the Honorary Secretary of the Victoria Section of the British Columbia Historical Association. THE NORTHWEST BOOKSHELF Peter Skene Ogden's Snake Country Journals, 1824-25 and 1825-26. Edited by E. E. Rich assisted by A. M. Johnson, with an introduction by Burt Brown Barker. London: The Hudson's Bay Record Society, 1950. Pp. txxix, 283. For the first time, this volume of the Hudson's Bay Record Society makes available in printed form Peter Skene Ogden's journal of his 1824-25 expedition to the Snake country. It also contains the full version of the 1825-26 journal, an abridgment of which appeared earlier under the editorship of T. C. Elliott in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, Volume X, pages 335 to 365. The appendices contain the journal kept by William Kittson, who accompanied Ogden in 1824-25, letters written by Governor Simpson to Ogden in 1825 relating to the expeditions, Ogden's report on his expedition of 1825-26, letters written by Dr. John McLoughlin to Simpson and Finan McDonald, and a letter from Finan McDonald to Governor Simpson. Kittson's map of the 1824-25 expedition is included, and there is an excellent map which was prepared by Mr. Ralph Shane after Mr. Robert W. Sawyer and Forest Rangers retraced the 1825-26 route. The introduction prepared by Dr. Burt Brown Barker, as well as the notes compiled by Mr. Lewis A. McArthur and Mr. Sawyer, add considerably to the reader's understanding of the importance of the expeditions, as well as to his appreciation of the many difficulties, perplexities, and discouragements experienced by Ogden. Once again, the Hudson's Bay Record Society has produced a volume which not only excels in the art of book-making, but which is a model of precision in the matter of editorial detail and comment. Peter Skene Ogden's Snake country expeditions took place when two systems of business enterprise were coming into conflict. The English corporation, the Hudson's Bay Company, was engaged in solving problems resulting from the merger with the North West Company. To increase its profits, it had to reduce costs of operation and find the means of employing effectively the men who had entered its ranks after the union of the companies. On the way in which it managed its affairs in the Columbia District, there depended not only the fate of fur-trading in the Oregon country, but also the political future of the area. Governor Simpson was determined that a policy of retrenchment should be followed in the Columbia District, and he was also intent on preventing "a threat on the flank of the fur trade" (p. xiv) which was developing with the penetration of American traders from St. Louis. The Company had already succeeded in buying off the Americans in the Rainy Lake District, but the contest in the Columbia District was more significant, since "it was not only a competition for furs, but . . . involving colonisation" (p. xliii). As Dr. Barker says, "The Hudson's Bay Company represented the monopoly as opposed to the free-lance, self-starting American trader, operating under unrestricted competition. The former worked under the handicap of being an English corporation and having to exercise full diplomatic restraint in order to prevent conflict; the free-wheeling Americans, under no restraint, had the advantage of thinking they were on home grounds with a sympathetic audience" 230 The Northwest Bookshelf July-Oct. (p. xlix). The Snake country was to be the frontier outpost of the Company's interests, since it was felt that, by exhausting its fur resources, American colonization could be prevented. Peter Skene Ogden, whose first two expeditions are described in these journals, was one of the men acquired from the North West Company. At first he was not included in the list of men to be taken over, but in 1823, after he undertook a trip to London and after representations were made on his behalf, he was recommended for the position of Chief Trader. The Council of the Northern Department subsequently appointed him to Spokane House District and instructed him to lay plans for a Snake country expedition in 1824. He had had long experience in the fur trade. Entering the North West Company as a clerk in 1810, he rose to the rank of bourgeois in 1820. After some time at Ile-a-la-Crosse, he was sent to the Columbia in 1818, and probably spent the years between 1819 and 1822 at Thomp- Although there had been Americans in the Snake country before this time, and there had been both North West Company and Hudson's Bay Company expeditions before Ogden undertook his, the boundaries of the Snake country were only vaguely known to him. He described them as being on the north the Columbia waters, on the south the Missouri, on the west the Spanish territories, and on the east the Saskatchewan tribes (p. 262). The country drained by the long southern tributary of the Columbia covers a vast area of over 100,000 square miles, some of it now included in the present States of Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. At the time, it all lay within the boundaries of what was known as the Oregon country. With the boundaries so poorly defined, however, it was a difficult matter to keep from entering American territory on the eastern slope of the continental divide or Spanish territory to the south of the 42nd parallel. The 1824-25 expedition, starting out from Flathead Post, travelled through the most eastern section of the country, and was on more than one occasion on American territory (in the present State of Montana), and, farther south, nearing the vicinity of Great Salt Lake, was on Spanish territory. The second expedition concentrated its attention more on the central region, and appears only once or twice to have swung into Spanish territory. When Ogden left Flathead Post on December 20,1824, his party included seven Americans under the leadership of Jedediah Smith, who was employed by William Henry Ashley. These men had returned with Alexander Ross from the expedition of 1824. They remained with Ogden until March 19, 1825, but then rejoined him for a short time. He experienced no trouble with them. Early in May, however, he made contact with another party which had wintered in the country. At the time, he was south of the 42nd parallel. The American party was a large one of twenty-five persons, in addition to fourteen men who had deserted the British fur- traders. On May 23, with colours flying, Ogden tells us " they encamped within 100 yards of our encampment and lost no time in informing all hands in the Camp that they were in the United States Territories and were all free indebted or engaged and to add to this they would pay Cash for their Beaver 3Vi dollars p. lb., and their goods cheap in proportion." He adds: "our Freemen in lieu of Seeking Beaver have been with the Americans no doubt plotting" (p. 51). The following day, the American leader, Gardner, "came to my Tent and after a few words of no import, 1951 The Northwest Bookshelf 231 he questioned me as follows Do you know in whose Country you are? to which I made answer that I did not as it was not determined between Great Britain and America to whom it belonged, to which he made answer that it was that it had been ceded to the latter and as I had no licence to trap or trade to return from whence I came to this I made answer when we receive orders from the British Government we Shall obey, then he replied remain at your peril . . ." (p. 51). Gardner, who may or may not have known that he was not on American territory, then approached one of Ogden's freemen who was dissatisfied, and finding that he and others were willing to join the Americans, Gardner then declared "you have had these men already too long in your Service and have most Shamefully imposed on them selling them goods at high prices and giving them nothing for their Skins" (p. 52). This sentiment was echoed by the freemen—" alluding to the gentlemen he had been with in the Columbia they are Says he the greatest Villains in the World and if they were here this day I would Shoot them but as for you Sir you have dealt fair with me and with us all, but go we will we are now in a free Country and i if every man in the Camp does not leave rest . . ." (p. 52). The result of this first encounter with the Americans was that Ogden lost eleven men (Kittson says twelve). This loss pointed up the defects in the policy of employing freemen in such large numbers in an expedition of this nature. Once contact was made with the Americans, the temptation was great to join them and to obtain economic advantage. As Ogden later wrote to Simpson, ". . . there are three different Fur Companys and St. Louis Company with a list of Petty traders who offer and give as high as three to three and a half dollar p. lb. for the most indifferent Beaver and goods at a trifling value independent of their wishes our freemen could not resist such tempting terms compared to ours" (p. 256). It was not until 1827 that Simpson remedied the situation, although McLoughlin, acting on his own responsibility, introduced reforms in 1826. Ogden again met the American traders during his second expedition. On April 9, 1826, a party of Americans who had wintered on Great Salt Lake arrived at Portneuf River. Accompanying them were some of the deserters of the previous year, some of whom made payments on their debts to the Company. " From what I could observe our deserters are already tired of their New Masters," wrote Ogden, "and from their manner I am of opinion will soon return to their old employers . . ." (p. 154). He added that "I cannot conceive how the Americans can afford to sell their Beaver so as to reap profit when they pay $3 per lib. for coarse or fine but such is the case and Goods proportionably cheap . . ." (p. 154). This time, none of his men deserted him. The journals reveal Ogden's views on some of the important policies of the Company. He was not enthusiastic about the freeman outfitting system. The freemen, although patient when they were enduring hardships, were on the whole unreliable. On more than one occasion he complained of them: "there is no dependence to be placed on the freemen for yesterday they reported it impossible to proceed further the greater part do not appear over anxious to reach a Beaver Country or they would act differently" (March 29, 1825, p. 30), and again, on August 7, 1825, "many plots & plans among the Freemen to leave the Country & go to Spokane & there to Starve & be a burthen to the Company, we are afraid of 232 The Northwest Bookshelf July-Oct. the War Tribes, Still with the exception of four not one will keep watch at night this is the third time they have attempted to leave me & tomorrow they are to Start" (p. 72). On another occasion, June 13, 1826, he wrote "Canadians in general require an alarm, every eight days otherwise they consider themselves as safe as if they were in one of the Establishments nor can any one convince them of the contrary and it would be folly to attempt it" (p. 184). In dealing with the Indians, Ogden showed himself fair and even generous. For services given by a guide and information concerning the country about to be travelled: "I rewarded him to the amount of eight Skins Indian Tariff with this present he was highly pleased and I am of opinion had all Traders acted a little more generous towards the Indians they have been in the habit of employing the difficulty of obtaining them would not be so great as it is at present" (p. 183). At the end of his second expedition Ogden concluded his journal with these words: " thus ends my second Trip and I am I trust thankfull for the many dangers I have escaped and returned with all my party in safety and had we not been obliged from the severity of the winter to Kill our horses for food, the success of our expedition would have yielded handsome profits, as it is, fortunately no loss will be sustained" (p. 205). A few days earlier he had written: "altho my returns are but indifferent and the privations and anxiety I have indured have been great Still I should have no objections to revisit it again provided it were to remain two years and time allowed to take the necessary precautions required—and it is my candid opinion an expedition fitted out for two years would be profitable . . ." (p. 194). Ogden did undertake later expeditions, but they are not covered in this volume. What we have here is a picture of a warm-hearted, conscientious, brave, and honest fur-trader, carrying out his duties faithfully, but concerned about the policy of trapping the country bare and exhausting its resources, and even foreseeing a change in the economy of the country, " I started this morning to Fort Vancouver .. . no doubt ere many years a Colony will be formed on this Stream and I am of opinion it will with little care flourish and Settlers by having a sea port so near them with industry might add greatly to their Comforts also probably to their happiness . . ." (p. 205). Holding views so unorthodox for a fur-trader, it was possible that when such a development came, Ogden would be able to adapt himself as successfully to his environment as he had during his trading days. The Hudson's Bay Record Society is to be congratulated on producing these warmly human documents, which throw abundant light on the fur trade during a period of transition. Margaret A. Ormsby. University, of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. The History of Canada or New France by Father Frangois Du Creux, SJ. Translated with an introduction by Percy J. Robinson; edited with notes by James B. Conacher. Toronto: The Champlain Society, 1951. The Champlain Society is to be congratulated on the publication of this exceedingly rare volume which deals with the early history of New France. Father Francois Du Creux was a well-known historian and biographer of the Jesuit Order in the seventeenth century. He was not one of the devoted band of Jesuits that 1951 The Northwest Bookshelf 233 carried the gospel to the Algonquins, Hurons, and Iroquois, but he was a close student not only of the Jesuit Relations, but also of Champlain's Works. His History of Canada or New France (Historia Canadensis vel Nova: Franciat) was published in Paris in 1664 and has not previously be translated into English. Dr. Percy J. Robinson and Dr. James B. Conacher, both of Toronto, have cooperated in the production of this volume, which deals with the period 1625-1644. The second volume, yet to appear, covers the years 1645-1656. It is perhaps unfortunate that the Latin original is not printed, in whole or in part, so that Dr. Robinson's translation might be compared with Du Creux's text, but in these days of high printing costs—and little Latin—such a procedure was evidently impossible. Dr. Conacher has most carefully worked through the translation, provided suitable foot-notes and also an admirable editor's note which deals with Du Creux's use of his sources. Dr. Robinson's brief introduction provides valuable information regarding Du Creux's literary and historical objectives in compiling his History of Canada. He also points out certain serious omissions in the author's narrative. The Relations, sent home to France year by year by the Jesuits from New France, were duly published in French but attracted little attention in the literary world. Latin was still the universal literary language in Western Europe, and in consequence the Jesuit leaders in France decided that a Latin version, condensed from the lengthy and rather unpolished French original, should be prepared. Du Creux was selected for this task, and for over twenty years he worked at his history. Dr. Robinson sums up the result of the labours of this learned Jesuit who, incidentally, had never visited America: " The Historia resembles a volume of letters rather than a planned history; and is to be read rather for its value as literature than as a candid account of an epoch. The enthusiasm of the Jesuit missionaries for the conversion of the Indians and for the destiny of the new land was like the enthusiasm of Champlain, an enthusiasm that fired the imagination and took possession of those who planned for the future. Though the charm of Du Creux's erudite Latin disappears in a translation, where the familiar phrases of Vergil and Cicero can no longer delight, the atmosphere of his book is the correct medium for a just perceptive of the period that he describes. He recalls the mysticism of the Counter Reformation, the evangelical fervour and missionary enthusiasm of the Jesuits, and the humanism and intellectual awakening that culminated in the founding of the French Academy and in the literary and artistic glories of the age of Louis 50V." The ordinary reader will, however, find the volume rather confusing and hard to follow. There is no systematic attempt to tell, in narrative form, the story of the Jesuit missions in Canada. That task was accomplished two centuries later by the American historian Francis Parkman. Fortunately, Dr. Conacher's foot-notes are most useful and provide biographical information regarding the leading Jesuits. Nonetheless the Historia is much more a series of edifying tales regarding the missionaries and their converts, together with vivid descriptions of the country and the natives, culled from the Relations, than a systematic historical work. To British Columbians, Du Creux's History of Canada is valuable as a carefully prepared account of one of the great Roman Catholic missionary efforts in North America. The Jesuits have never played as important a role in Western Canada as they did in New France. To a later order, the Oblates of Mary 234 The Northwest Bookshelf July-Oct. Immaculate, falls that great honour. Rev. Father A. G. Morice has written two volumes on the Catholic Church in Western Canada and Rev. Father William N. Bischoff, S.J., has dealt with The Jesuits in Old Oregon. Gradually the story of Christianity in Canada is being written by Protestants as well as by Roman Catholics. Some day there may be a co-operative work on the subject produced by Christians of all persuasions. The time is overripe. Walter N. Sage. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. The Memoirs of an Educational Pioneer. By Alice Ravenhill. With a foreword by Norman MacKenzie. Toronto and Vancouver: J. M. Dent and Sons (Canada) Ltd., 1951. Pp. x, 241. Ports. $4. Alice Ravenhill is the living link between the mid-Victorian and the modem world. Although she came out of a comfortable English home, she has, all her life, been in the forefront of the movements which have effected social change. Now at the age of 92, from her nursing home in Victoria she has published her Memoirs. Her book merits a wide-reading audience. It bears witness to the contribution a good and noble woman, without academic training for her work, was capable of making in the field of education and social welfare on both sides of the Atlantic. British Columbia owes a particular debt to her. From the moment of her arrival she has played an active part in the field of education and public affairs and made an outstanding contribution toward the preservation of the native culture of this Province. She came to Canada in 1910. She was then 51 years of age. Already she had made a career in England for herself which had gained her prominence. To give up the work in which she had spent so much of her life meant a heavy sacrifice, as well as a painful severance of warm associations. In Victoria her ability was soon recognized. She became a leader in advancing the cause of social welfare. The Government commissioned her to write a series of pamphlets on " Food," " Child Care," and " Labour-saving Devices in the Household " for the Women's Institutes of the Province. She lectured to the Institutes throughout the Province and founded new ones. She was called to Toronto to have the honour of opening a new Women's Building at the University. She sat as a member of the group of educationists who brought about the establishment of the University of British Columbia. She was a member of the committee that organized the Queen Alexandra Solarium for crippled children at Mill Bay. She became a lecturer at the Normal School in Vancouver and a much sought-after speaker at organization Her reputation spread beyond British Columbia. Oregon State College invited her to give a series of lectures. Then she was called upon, and carried out, a lecture tour in the United States, lecturing at the State University of Texas, the State College of Kansas, Kansas University, the University of Chicago, Western Reserve University, and Columbia University. This tour culminated in her becoming Director of Home Economics at the State College in Utah. Thus in half a dozen years Miss Ravenhill had established herself anew on this continent in her chosen work, launching out in middle life on a second career with horizons wider L The Northwest Bookshelf 235 after two years in Utah she 1 1919, to abandon her academic work and return to Victoria. She was not one who could remain idle. Before long she interested herself in the native Indian crafts, which had been so sadly neglected. She threw herself into research on native design. She spoke on the subject to a number of societies, including the Victoria Arts and Crafts, without at first arousing much interest, but, as she relates, she continued to " peg away." Out of her research came her books: The Native Tribes of British Columbia, Indian Tribal Arts in British Columbia, and A Corner Stone of Canadian Culture, authoritative works. Later the interest which she thus fostered resulted in the formation of The Society for B.C. Indian Arts and Welfare. In this way she played a key part in bringing native British Columbia design to the position it now holds in the esteem of designers outside Canada, as well as here. The range of her contacts in British Columbia is reflected in the names of persons of such a variety of interest as those of Sir Richard McBride, Miss Susan Crease, Mrs. Alfred Watt, Dr. Cyril Wace, Dean C. S. Quainton, Francis Kermode, W. A. Newcombe, Anthony Walsh, Dr. D. M. Baillie, Rev. J. C. Goodfellow, Dr. Clifford Carl. On June 15, 1948, the University of British Columbia recognized her work by conferring on her the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa. Fortunately the library of that institution now has Dr. RavenhilFs collection of several hundred volumes on the subjects of education, sociology, sanitation, public and household health, and home economics. Bom in England in 1859, Alice Ravenhill grew up in an atmosphere of wealth and culture. The early chapters of her Memoirs give charming and delightful episodes in the life of a cherished and happy child, possessing early evidence of a desire to help her less fortunate fellow-men and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. In 1864 little girls were seen and not heard, and for little Alice self-control was sternly taught, and outbursts of temper and forwardness promptly and effectively dealt with. She recalls: "Those early years were happy, in spite of, or perhaps because of, the associated discipline; daily rides on our ponies; or walks with our hoops; or hours of play in the garden during the summer; the merry time after tea in the schoolroom at other seasons." Her curriculum of studies was always heavy and crowded, especially during the five years she spent at a girls' residential school in St. John's Wood. Financial reverses came to her family in 1875, and she had to leave her school and map out for herself a course of studies at home. During this time she transcribed into Braille for the blind Thomas Henry Huxley's Physiology, as an aid to these handicapped people in their work as masseurs. In her early 30's she prepared herself for the diploma given by the National Health Society and became a County Council lecturer during. 1893-1894 on Home Nursing, First Aid and Health in the Home, in rural England and Wales. The following three years she held the post as Secretary of the Royal Nurses' Association. She writes: " Committee meetings ran into hours; and correspondence on countless details reached formidable proportions, especially in the days when typewriters were only coming into common use and telephones were rare labour-saving devices." Co-operative Guild lectures on Public Health, the preparation of pamphlets for students, and 236 The Northwest Bookshelf July-Oct. a book On the Elements of Public Health Law occupied the years from 1897 to 1899. The original methods she had used to gain the interest of her audience as a County Council lecturer, and her perseverance and determination to reach the highest standard in any work she undertook, placed her in the forefront as one important to undertake the pioneering of a course in Public Health for the teachers in England. Thus in 1899 her life took a new direction, and for the next decade Alice Ravenhill became an important figure in the field of education. In 1901 she was invited by the Board of Education to go to the United States to study the methods used in teaching Home Economics, and on her return to England she prepared the groundwork for that branch of study in the schools and universities. The years until 1910 are staggering in their breadth of activity. In addition to the courses she gave for the London and Cambridge Universities Extension Boards, at Training Colleges for teachers in London, Winchester, Salisbury, Chichester, Norwich, and Exeter, she addressed the Froebel Institute, the Parents National Educational Union, the Child Study Society, the Women's University Settlements, and became active in the social and educational development of such associations as the Sociological Society, the Eugenics Education Society, the John Howard Society, the Child Study Society, the Society for Physical Education and Improvement. She worked with subcommittees on School Hygiene under the Royal Sanitary Institute and the British Association, carried on personal investigations connected with child-development, deputized on requests for essential legislation and on revision of existing regulations in her field. Her personal investigations, reports, and pamphlets written in connection with child-development have been outstanding. In these Memoirs high tribute is paid to those who gave their friendship and ungrudging help during these years. Many are renowned in the field of public health and education. It is inspiring to read Dr. Ravenhill's expression of appreciation: "As I look back one fact impresses me forcibly: that indomitable perseverance in the achievement of at least part of their ideals characterizes a high proportion of those men and women whose early lives have trained them to face and overcome obstacles and to press forward undaunted by difficulties." Of Alice Ravenhill it can be truly said that her life and work was in the tradition of such men and women. Vera Drury. Victoria, B.C. An Alaskan Gold Mine: The Story of No. 9 Above. By Leland H. Carlson. Evanston, HI.: Northwestern University Press, 1951. Pp. xii, 178. Maps and ills. $3.50. Haven in the Woods: The Story of the Finn mainen and George W. Hill. Madison, of Wisconsin, 1951. Pp. ix, 177. $2.50. To some readers it may appear incongruous that these two books should be linked together for review purposes in a journal primarily interested in the Pacific Northwest. Yet there would appear to this reviewer, at least, good reason for this 1951 The Northwest Bookshelf 237 decision, despite the fact that-the one volume deals with a facet in the history of the mid-westem State of Wisconsin and the other with a detail in the mining history of the Territory of Alaska. There is, however, one significant common factor. Both volumes are studies of the contributions that migrating European peoples have made to the over-all fabric of American development. In this instance, two Scandinavian countries—Finland and Sweden—are involved. In an age that is witnessing once again large-scale migration from Europe, it is of more than passing interest to have analyses made of the significance of the great migrations of half a century or more ago. Readers of this Quarterly will doubtlessly recall that Mr. Kolehmainen, joint author with George W. Hill of Haven in the Woods, had contributed several years ago an excellent article entitled "Harmony Island," dealing with the Finnish colony on Malcolm Island in British Columbia. The same careful research has gone into this more ambitious undertaking, which is, as the sub-title states, " The Story of the Finns in Wisconsin." In an undertaking of this sort, collaboration with a sociologist was essential, and the co-authorship has evidently been highly successful. Here are to be found answers to the obvious questions: why did the Finns leave their homeland? what regions did they come from? why and where did they settle in Wisconsin? what has been the effect of their coming, not only upon the State, but also upon themselves? It is an excellent study of the process of acculturation, well documented, statistically substantiated, yet far from being denatured of its inherent human interest. Not only will the volume provide a great deal of much needed background information for any investigation of the Finnish migrations into British Columbia, but it might well serve as the prototype of historico-sociological studies that are so sadly lacking in our historical literature. An Alaskan Gold Mine does not do for Swedish Americans nor Alaska what Kolehmainen and Hill have done for Finnish Americans and Wisconsin. Rather this book is a study in minutia, though not without broader interest and significance. The great Klondike rash of 1897 and subsequent years has tended to obscure the history of other discoveries in the Alaskan peninsula, and consequently it will probably come as a surprise to many that the discoveries of gold at Nome and Anvil Creek that touched off the first stampede to the Seward Peninsula in 1898 were made by Scandinavians of Swedish origin. In 1939 Leland H. Carlson was engaged in writing A History of North Park College, a Swedish sectarian institution located in Chicago. His researches led him back to Alaska, and to one mine in particular from whence had come gold that built two buildings on the college campus. Intended as a chapter in a book, the story of " No. 9 Above " has become instead a book that is in reality only a chapter in the fascinating story of Alaskan gold-rushes. Litigation in connection with mining claims is not unusual, but surely this particular instance is one of the more involved cases on record and possibly unique in that it arose from the rival pretensions of two missionaries of the Evangelical Mission Covenant Church of America—Nels. 0. Hultberg, who established a station at Cheenik on Golovnin Bay in 1893, and Peter H. Anderson, who came there as a teacher for Eskimo boys in 1897. Subsequently the Swedish Evangelical Covenant of America was to become involved by virtue of Anderson's " donation " to that body. In the end no less than eleven United States Courts heard arguments 238 The Northwest Bookshelf July-Oct. on "No. 9 Above," during a period extending from January 21, 1904, when litigation commenced, until the final order on February 20, 1920. Dr. Carlson has obviously made a careful and detailed study of the whole controversy and, as a result, can lead his readers through the amazing labyrinth of legal argument with a minimum of confusion. Significant documents are reproduced in full, along with other useful material placed in a series of appendices. But it is in the analysis of the ramifications of this controversy and the conclusions to be drawn therefrom that the author makes his most important contribution. The institutions sponsoring these volumes may well be proud of their publications, which are not only scholarly works but are also fine examples of book- making. Each has an excellent index and bears the hall-mark of careful editorial Willard E. Ireland. Some Modern Historians of Britain: Essays in honour of R. L. Schuyler by some of his former students at Columbia University. Edited by Herman Ausubel, J. B. Brebner, and Erling M. Hunt. New York: The Dryden Press, 1951. Pp.xiv, 384. $5. Professor Robert Livingstone Schuyler, of Columbia University, New York City, was elected President of the American Historical Association in December, 1950. To celebrate this event and to commemorate his many years of distinguished service at Columbia, twenty-two of his former students wrote essays on Some Modern Historians of Britain and presented them to him in September, 1951. No higher honour can be conferred upon a professor by his former students! Of the twenty-two historians discussed in the essays, one, Elie Halevy, was a Frenchman; three, George Burton Adams, Charles McLean Andrews, and George Louis Beer, were Americans; one, L. B. Namier, a naturalized Englishman; and the others were bom in the British Isles. Thomas Carlyle was a Scot and W. E. H. Lecky an Irishman. All the others were English. Nineteen of the twenty-two authors are American bom; the other three are, or were, Canadians. Margaret Marion Spector is an honour graduate in history of the University of British Columbia. I. Bartlet Brebner and W. Menzies Whitelaw are honour graduates of Toronto University. Seven of the contributors are women. The first of the historians written of, John Lingard, was bom in 1771 and died in 1851. The last listed, Eileen Power, died in 1940 at the age of 41. Three of these modem historians of Britain are still living—Winston Spencer Churchill, R. H. Tawney, and L. B. Namier. The essays, therefore, deal with British historical writing in the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth. There are many notable omissions. Professor Schuyler has himself written on Lord Macaulay, John Richard Green, and Frederick William Maitland, and his essays will soon be published in book form. Other equally known, if not even greater, British historians are conspicuous by their absence. We look in vain for essays on Bishop Stubbs, Edward A. Freeman, Lord Acton, H. W. C. Davis, and, above all, George Macaulay Trevelyan. None of Professor Schuyler's former students had, apparently, made sufficient investigations into any of these " missing " historians. 1951 The Northwest Bookshelf 239 Collectively, if the omissions noted are properly discounted, these essays throw real light on the progress of historical scholarship relating to British history from 1800 to 1950. The authors have treated their subjects in chronological order, but a reviewer may be pardoned for arranging these historians in a somewhat different sequence. John Lingard and Henry Hallam, however much they differed from each other in temperament and treatment of their subject, were pioneers of the early nineteenth century. Thomas Carlyle and James Anthony Froude were romanticists. Sir Henry Maine and Sir William Holdsworth were legal historians. Goldwin Smith and W. E. H. Lecky were primarily interested in political history. Sir George Otto Trevelyan continued the tradition of his uncle, Lord Macaulay. Sir Leslie Stephen and John Morley were men of letters whose chief historical contribution was biographical. Samuel Rawson Gardiner and Sir Charles Firth are to be classed as " scientific historians," and R. H. Tawney and Eileen Power as economic historians. A. P. Newton was primarily interested in the development of the British Empire overseas. L. B. Namier has written about political parties in the early years of George IV, but has also dealt, penetratingly and wisely, with the contemporary field. Winston S. Churchill is, of course, unique. Halevy and the Americans have viewed British history from a distance and with a certain detachment. The essays differ greatly in quality and style, but all maintain a high standard of scholarship and writing. Perhaps the greatest tribute to Professor Schuyler's former students is their ability to sink, as far as possible, their own personalities and prejudices in the discussion of their individual subjects. Their analyses, in nearly every case, are thorough, penetrating, and critical, but also kindly and understanding. Walter N. Sage. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. Papers Read before the Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba. Series 01, No. 6. Edited by J. A. Jackson, Gordon W. Leckie, and W. L. Morton. Winnipeg: Advocate Printers Ltd., 1951. Pp.56. Map. Four of the five papers read before the Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba during the year 1949-50 were selected for inclusion in this number of the Papers. As in previous years, the result is an eminently satisfactory collection, not only in so far as the calibre of the individual papers is concerned, but also collectively in the variety of subject and period dealt with. It will be noted that the number of pages per issue has been decreasing, no doubt as a result of the advancing cost of printing. But it is greatly to be hoped that the continued publication of these Papers is assured, for without them Western Canadian historical literature would be considerably the poorer. . Of all the hobbies, philately has probably been responsible for directing more lay interest into historical channels than any other. Dr. Murray Campbell, a Winnipeg physician, contributed the first paper, " The Postal History of Red River, British North America," thereby giving ample proof of his competence as an authority on Canadian postal history. In this article Dr. Campbell traces the history of postal matters in the Red River Settlement down to the establishment 240 The Northwest Bookshelf July-Oct. of the Province of Manitoba. It contains detailed information on the express routes operated by both the North West and Hudson's Bay Companies between Canada and Fort Garry through Canadian as well as American territory, and a most useful diagrammatic map is reproduced. Until 1844 letters of the people of Red River went forward in the Company expresses, but at that time Alexander Christie, Governor of Assiniboia, instituted a form of company censorship that naturally aroused opposition, and soon new private arrangements were made through Minnesota. The Council of Assiniboia failed to provide a mail service, and, as a result, the settlers themselves established an unofficial mail service about 1853. In 1858 the Canadian Post Office Department instituted a mail service between Fort William and Red River which, however, came to an end by 1860 for a variety of reasons. Many of the early postmasters are noted, and the difficulties they encountered are described. The article is well documented and reflects painstaking research. Olive Knox is a well-known Winnipeg authoress, with several historical novels on western themes to her credit. For many years she has interested herself in the career of Louis Riel, and in her paper " The Question of Louis Riel's Insanity," she deals with one of the most controversial of the many problems provoked by this complex character. Mrs. Knox's primary interest is to discover whether or not Riel was insane at the time of the Rebellion of 1885 and during his subsequent trial, for she accepts and cites ample evidence of his " undoubted insanity " in the years 1875 to 1878. Riel, it will be recalled, rejected every attempt to use a plea of insanity during his trial, and thereby almost certainly assured his conviction and execution. Mrs. Knox's answer to her self-imposed question is: "I agreed with the government that Louis wasn't insane in 1885—neither was his cause insane. The injustice was not that an insane man went to the scaffold, but that a sincere man with a just cause was hanged for the mistakes of others" (p. 34). The third and longest article in this series is entitled "Pioneer Protestant Ministers at Red River." Its author, Harry Shave, is a prominent Anglican layman and as Archivist of St. John's Cathedral, Winnipeg, was in a position to write authoritatively. Mr. Shave has done an excellent piece of work in providing in a succinct fashion considerable biographical detail on three of the great Protestant missionaries to the Red River Settlement. As would be expected, considerable attention is paid to Rev. John West, the first Protestant minister in Western Canada, who in 1820 came to Rupert's Land under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society of England. Many details of his activity as chaplain to the Hudson's Bay Company as well as in his capacity as missionary to the settlers and the Indians are instanced, providing ample evidence of his busy three years' sojourn in the colony. His successor was Rev. David Thomas Jones, whom Mr. Shave titles "The Evangelist of Red River Colony." Arriving in 1823, Mr. Jones remained until 1838, thus participating in much of the earlier development of the settlement. Again much useful new information is provided about some of the early church buildings as well as their incumbents. Mr. Shave does not deal in any detail with the third pioneer Anglican missionary, Rev. William Cockran, but passes instead to the first of the non-conformist clergy, Rev. John Black. It was not surprising that many of the early settlers, having come from the Highlands of Scotland, clung to the rites of the Presbyterian Church, and the 1951 The Northwest Bookshelf 241 efforts of West's successors to meet their wishes by eliminating some of the Anglican ritual was both sensible and commendable. A native of Scotland, as a young man Black had emigrated to the United States and ultimately became one of the first students of Knox College, Toronto, in 1844. In 1851 he journeyed to Red River, where he continued to labour until almost the day of his death in 1882. The final article, " The Language Problem in Manitoba Schools," is the work of another specialist, for its author, Dr. Robert Fletcher, joined the Department of Education of the Manitoba Government in 1903 and served as its Deputy Minister from 1908 until 1939. It is a personal and frank appraisal of the language clause in the agreement worked out by Wilfrid Laurier and the Manitoba Government in November, 1896, and implemented by legislation in 1897 as a compromise in the highly volatile "Manitoba School Question." Originally designed for the French alone, the sweeping generalization in the Statute created totally unexpected difficulties after the turn of the century, when large numbers of European nationals came to the Prairies. Since they, too, shared in the protection afforded by this legislation, the educational system of the Province became seriously impaired by the state of confusion that inevitably arose. Much credit goes to the officials of the Department of Education like Dr. Fletcher, who laboured so diligently under frequently most trying circumstances to bring order out of the impending chaos. Willard E. Ireland. Provincial Archives, Victoria, B.C. i, H. Thomas, Petroglyphs of Cent I I C review of, 236-238 Carney, E. C, 11 244 Index Columbia and Kootenay Sleam Navigation EUiot,H.,180,191 Emma, Queen, 50, 53, 54, 59, 61, 68 Esquimalt, 92 Etches, Richard Cadman, 155 Copland, John, 167, 168, 171, 172, 176-179 Clement Moody, R.E., to Arthur Blackwood, Flucke, A. P., Early Days on Saltspring Island, Foley, Chris, 28, 29 Crosby, Rev. Thomas, 191 Cummins. A. P., 13, 23 Cusheon, J. D.. 170, 171, 176, 180, 187, 192, Fur-trade Biographies, 203-212 Dallas, A. G, 75 Davie, Theodore, 4 Gait, Alexander Tilloch, 73, 74, 79 Gerry, F. P., 176 D^' "s * W 117' "8 Dennes, G.'e., 188 Dillon, 'Richard H., Archibald Menzies' Tro- | phles, 151-159 GloveTcaptTtoV6 Gold-raXFrasefRiver? Io^'im' 1 Douglas, Sir James, 82; and R. C. Moody, Grenville, Lord, 153 on Capt. W. D. Gosset, 106, 107; Saltspring Drake°&'pnuxii ™' ^ GreSe;wr.w*37-396 WBS^Sff^ Griffiths, Mrs. Thomas, 176 DUDrCZX>™rit;ierweofH23M34/C"Mrf'' gJvk, I*Si,41964 Duff, Wilson, Petroglyphs of Central Washlng- Haggen, E. A., 29-33 Dunbabin, Thomas, flow British Columbia Haig, T. L., 6, 7, 10, 23 Nearly Became a Colony of Australia, 35-46 Dupont, V. H, 118 Harrison, E. L, 175 Harrison, W. L., 175 Hart, G. W., 57, 58 Early Days on Saltspring Island, 161-202 Elections, B.C., 3, 4, 22, 27, 28, 31,32,142-145, Elections, Federal, 9, 11, 12, 27-29, 33 INI Henley, 183 Hicks, Richard, 94, 95,101 Papers Read before the, Series HI, No. 6, History of Canada or New France by Father Francois Du Creux, SJ., review of, 232-234 Holy Trinity Church, New Westminster, 65, 66 Horrel, Charles, 197 Howson, R„ 4 and Confederation of Canada, 81 Independent Labour Party, 142, 146 Indians, Saltspring Island, 181-186 Inland Sentinel, The, Kamloops, 2, 6, 15, 22, &c begins 29th May, 1680 ends S July, 1687, rations on a 'Book'Entitled "A Voyage to Hudson's Bay in the Dobbs Galley," 1749, Isham's Observations on Hudson's Bay, 1743, Dobbs Galley," 1749, review of 121-123 Jones! Ellen'Mary, 48 >EX 24 King! W. L. Mackenzie, 140 Kirkup, John, 7 Knights of Labour, Order of the, 133, 134 Kolehmainen, John I., Baven in the Woo The, 31-33 Lahainalalo College, Hawaii, 58 Land preemption, 164-166, 169, 170 Le Roi Mining Company, 145 Lineker, Henry, 176,"l78, 180, 182, 189, 190 Lougheed, Hugh, 9 Lowe, Rev. R. L., 190 Luard', Capt. R. H., 105 Lydia, Rev. Mother, 60 McArthur, A., 6 246 Index McCarter, G. 1 24, 33 Morley, John, 185 McCreight, J. F., 82 McCutcheon, Hugh, 2, 10, 12 I McDonald, Charles, 195 McGreT Alex''is5' "' %' ^ ^ '°3 New°WesSte,g93,'H' 105' "^ '8'' '" McKay,'Angus, 4 Northwest Coast of North America, colony on, McKay, John Gordon, 176 Mackintosh, Rev. Alexander, 55 O'Connell, Daniel, 196 Mallandatoe, Edward', 162, 163, 175, 176, 179, Ogden's, Peter Skene, Snake Country Journals, 1824-25 and 1825-26, review of, 229-232 Ogilvy, J. D. B., 95, 96, 99 Oliver, Frank, 29 Mason, Etheldreda Eliza F. N., 68 Orientals in British Columbia, 132, 133, 135, Mason, George, in B.C., 65-69, 227, 228; in California, 65; in England, 48, 54, 69, 70; Maxwe'll, John, 185,'l94, 196 ' Papers Read before the Historical and Scien Mayne, Richard Charles, 96-98, 102 tific Society of Manitoba, Series III, No. 6, Mellor,'capt.!46 ' "viet'rtM™ Me"""'""' "
@en, "Includes an index Includes bibliographic references Other copies: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/937942070 Part of: Dr. C.E. Dolman Collection"@en ; edm:hasType "Books"@en, "Periodicals"@en ; dcterms:identifier "FC3801.B75 H59"@en, "I-1773-II-0063-V15"@en ; edm:isShownAt "10.14288/1.0417430"@en ; dcterms:language "English"@en ; edm:provider "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en ; dcterms:publisher "Victoria : Provincial Archives of British Columbia ; Victoria : British Columbia Historical Association"@en ; dcterms:rights "Images provided for research and reference use only. For permission to publish, copy, or otherwise distribute these images please contact digital.initiatives@ubc.ca."@en ; dcterms:source "Original Format: University of British Columbia. Library. Rare Books and Special Collections. FC3801.B75 H59"@en ; dcterms:subject "Canadian periodicals"@en, "British Columbia"@en, "Public Archives of Canada"@en ; dcterms:title "The British Columbia historical quarterly. Vol. XV"@en ; dcterms:type "Text"@en .