Prince George's Central Interior Radio station CJCI interviewed Mayor John Backhouse about his 25 year career in Prince George at the end of his mayoral term. The interview covers his early career in England, his job at the Prince George Public Library as Chief Librarian, and his activity in Prince George municipal politics.
Item is an interview, completed for the History of Women at UBC project, in which Rona Wallis discusses her experiences as a woman studying chemical engineering at the University of British Columbia.
File consists of an oral history given by Chester Jeffery, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
Item consists of excerpts of Jack Carbutt's radio show; the title "logger tape" suggests it was recorded for transcription purposes. Content appears to be primarily local news, weather and music; it also includes local advertisements of noteable long-time Prince George businesses such as Hub City Motors and Overwaitea.
Subseries documents the research for Ainley's monograph, originally titled, "Overlooked Dimensions: Women and Scientific Work at Canadian Universities, 1884-1980." The monograph draws on research from previous research projects and was conceptualized as a culmination of Ainley's life's work. The monograph was incomplete at the time of her death and was published posthumously after being edited by Marlene Rayner-Canham and Geoff Rayner-Canham under the title "Creating Complicated Lives: Women and Science at English-Canadian Universities, 1880-1980." Originally scheduled to be published by UBC press shortly after Ainley's death in 2008, the manuscript was published by the McGill-Queen's University Press in 2012. Subseries consists of articles and excerpts from publications by Ainley and others, audio recordings of interviews and presentations, notes, drafts, and correspondence.
Subseries documents "Critical Turning Points: Women Engineers Within and Outside the Profession," a study funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) strategic grant. The study was broken up into four projects: "Women in Engineering: A Historical Overview," a project based on analyzing statistical and demographic data to establish a statistical profile of women in engineering; "The Explorers: Early Women Engineers," a project based on conducting oral histories and examining archival material to establish the reasons for early engineers choosing their careers; "Women's Exit from Engineering Studies, a project based on using semi-structured interviews to analyze reasons for women departing from their degree programs; and "Women's Exit from the Engineering Profession," a project based on open-ended unstructured interviews of former male and female engineers to analyze their reasons for leaving the profession. Ainley was a co-investigator on the study, along with the principal investigator, Peta Tancred, and co-investigators Susan Whitesides and Gillian Rejskind, and was involved in all the projects, except, "Women's Exit from Engineering Studies." Subseries consists of audio tapes and transcripts from interviews with female engineers, questionnaires from a project on Queen's University female engineering graduates by Alison Bowe, research notes, articles, conference proceedings, brochures and correspondence.
Item is an interview about Allie Vibert's career, her involvement with the International Federation of University Women and her activities at Queen's University, during which she pushed for the enrolment of women into the Faculty of Medicine.
File consists of an oral history given by Dick Lawrence and Joyce Lawrence, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
File consists of an oral history given by Dick Suvee, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's oral history project with the Prince George Metis Elders Society. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original cassettes.
File consists of an oral history given by Donald Prince, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
File consists of an oral history given by Doreen Tosoff, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
File consists of an oral history given by Doris Hakanson, Verna Wiley, and Vidia Wicks, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
File consists of an oral history given by Dorothy Lamb, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
File consists of an oral history given by Ed Letendre, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's oral history project with the Prince George Metis Elders Society. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original cassette.
File consists of an oral history given by Elizabeth Carifelle and Doug Carifelle, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
File consists of:
- Transcript of interview with "Teresa" by Bridget Moran
- 1 Audiocassette: Interview with Teresa, taped July 11/91 [TDK SA-100 audiocassette]
- Annotated draft - "Teresa" written by Bridget Moran
- Note paper with addresses and names
- Emily Fry Society brochure: "I want the violence to stop!"
- Emily Fry Society brochure: "The Specialized Support Services"
- Emily Fry Society brochure: "Family Violence: Wife Abuse"
- Summary of women involved in the book
- List of writers
- Overview: Local women's stories of battering submitted by Jenny Owston, Specialized Support Services Coordinator, Elizabeth Fry Society
- Factsheet: "Wife Assault in Canada"
- Factsheet on physical and sexual violence published as part of the Domestic Abuse Intervention Project.
File consists of an oral history given by Elizabeth Williams, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
File consists of an oral history given by Elsie Christenson, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
File consists of an oral history given by Eva Stafford, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's oral history project with the Prince George Metis Elders Society. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original cassette.
Item is an interview about the censure by the Canadian Association of University Teachers of Simon Fraser University in 1968.
File consists of recorded audio interviews:
- Interview: CBC Radio re: Judgement at Stoney Creek, September 1991
- Interview: CBC Update re: Inquest, September 1976
- Interview: Sophie Thomas, September 1991
File consists of an oral history given by Flora Gervais, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's oral history project with the Prince George Metis Elders Society. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original cassettes.
Item consists of a recording of the local radio program "For What it is Worth" a monologue by Jack Carbutt on current affairs. Also includes interview by Carbutt with Armand Handley (?) of Aleza Lake and Gordon Walter in September 1980.
Fonds consists of records in speakers at the 2009 Annual General Meeting in Prince George and all of the FHABC newsletters along a with other publications up to March 2020, Issue 105.
Forest History Association of BCFile consists of an oral history given by Frances and John Cunningham, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's oral history project with the Prince George Metis Elders Society. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original cassette.
File consists of an oral history given by Freda Evans, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
Item consists of a recording of the panel "From Exploration to Development: Bringing Forest History Forward" (part 2) at the the "Exploring Our Roots: Forest History in Our Communities Annual Conference of the Forest History Association of BC" at UNBC in Prince George, September 19, 2009.
This fonds illustrates the life and work of G. Gary Runka and his contributions to the province of British Columbia. Gary Runka was the first General Manager of British Columbia's Agricultural Land Commission and helped establish the provincial Agricultural Land Reserve. After transitioning from a government career to private consulting, Runka provided comprehensive professional services through his land consultancy business, G.G. Runka Land Sense Ltd., offering land capability and environmental assessments, integrated resource management, land and water use conflict resolution, and interdisciplinary land use planning. Described by colleagues as one of BC's most highly respected agrologists and influential land use planners, Runka had a 52-year career working on (or against) an incredible number of landmark projects in British Columbia, such as the Site C Project. Gary Runka’s partner in life and vocation, Joan M. Sawicki, worked with Gary on many of these projects—as well as her own; her contributions are also represented throughout the records of this fonds.
Gary Runka's deep connection to the land is evident from his earliest papers on aerial photo interpretation, his work with the Canada Land Inventory, through his speeches and his work establishing the BC Agricultural Land Reserve and in his subsequent consulting career through G.G. Runka Land Sense Ltd. Gary Runka's influence and legacy was recognized in the tributes paid after his death, including the post-humus award as the Real Estate Foundation's "Land Champion" for 2014.
The G. Gary Runka fonds has been divided into the following nine series:
1) Personal Records
2) Speeches & Publications
3) Professional Records
4) Agricultural Land Commission
5) Land Sense Ltd.
6) Client Files
7) Maps
8) Photographs
9) Digital Records
File consists of an oral history given by Garry Doucette, Bill Henry, and Lucille Henry, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
File consists of an oral history given by George Lamanes, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
File consists of an oral history given by Gertie Ragan, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's oral history project with the Prince George Metis Elders Society. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original cassettes.
Audio recording is of an interview by Bridget Moran with Margaret [Granny] Seymour at the PG Hospital in 1962. Moran later noted in another recording that the interview with Margaret Seymour was part of her social work. At the time of the interview Granny Seymour states she is 109 years old and says she is to celebrate her 110th birthday in June.
Audiocassette Summary
Scope and Content: Interview continues between Bridget Moran and Granny Seymour
- She talks about hard work that she performed at the [HBC] store
- Granny describes trapping at her own trap line
- Sometimes had more on her trap line than her husband had on his
- Talks about birth of her children at Hudson’s Bay in Ft St James and having to birth them on her own or with the help only of her sister [Nellie?] – as there was no doctor available
- Very skilled in medicine
- Everyone came to her for help
- Lived at Hudson’s Bay Post in Fort St. James
- Talks about employment
- Describes early South Fort George – when there were no houses at all; early residents including Charlie Ogmann [sp?]
- Granny notes her children never went to school but learnt quickly
- She learned how to speak French as her father was French
- Granny speaks about her mother – who is described as an “Indian Princess”
- Talks about husband Billy Seymour’s work; Granny describes building her own house at Fort George cutting and hauling down trees by hand
Tape ends
Audio recording is of an interview by Bridget Moran with Margaret [Granny] Seymour at the PG Hospital in 1962. Moran later noted in another recording that the interview with Margaret Seymour was part of her social work. At the time of the interview Granny Seymour states she is 109 years old and says she is to celebrate her 110th birthday in June.
Audiocassette Summary
Scope and Content:
- Talks about a flood in Fort George
- Went on a canoe from Fort St. James to Fort George
- Clothing and food that Granny Seymour grew up with
- Living at Fort St. James
- Discusses the poverty of the First Nations after moving to Shelley
- Discusses the priest who came to the reserve often
- Would cook dinner for the priest as often as she could
- Discusses memories of being a child and living in Fort St. James
- Traveling to Vancouver
- Police presence in Fort St. James – no police; She notes there was no police presence – the HBC boss provided policing. Recounts memories of one native at Ft St James who killed his boss
- Traveling to Fort Fraser by dog team
- Step dancing – remembers dances at Ft St James with the HBC crew
- Cleaning houses - Remembers taking care of house at Hudson’s Bay fort in Ft St James
- Health – talks about her health Visitors to Granny – Priest comes sometimes [to visit her now at the hospital]
- Did not go to school
- Discusses memories of her parents James Bouchey and her mother and her siblings
- Seymour’s first husband worked for HBC Ft St James was a white man Edward Flameau- unhappy memories of her marriage
- Seymour’s second husband was Billy Seymour – happier memories
- Getting caught in a forest fire and a big storm coming from Ft St James
- Talks about looking after Hudson’s Bay store and trading for sugar/tea
Tape ends
File consists of an oral history given by Harold Moffat, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
File consists an oral history with Harry Coates recorded by David Mills. Includes a transcript and audio recording.
File consists an audio recording of an oral history with Harry Coates recorded by David Mills.
File consists a transcript of an oral history with Harry Coates recorded by David Mills.
File consists an oral history with Harry Coates recorded by Barbara Coupe. Includes a transcript and audio recording.
File consists an audio recording of an oral history with Harry Coates recorded by Barbara Coupe.
File consists an audio recording of an oral history with Harry Coates recorded by Barbara Coupe.
Item consists of Harry Gairns address for the "Exploring Our Roots: Forest History in Our Communities Annual Conference of the Forest History Association of BC" at UNBC in Prince George, September 18, 2009.
File consists of an oral history given by Heinz Bartkowski, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
The Helen Mustard Collection consists of textual records, audiocassettes and copies of publications relating to the history of Mackenzie Townsite and Rocky Mountain Trench region of Northern British Columbia
File consists of an oral history given by Hilliard Clare, which was gathered as part of Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project. Includes consent forms, transcripts, and the recorded oral history on the original media.
Series consists of records created or accumulated by the Aleza Lake Research Forest Society regarding the research forest's history. Includes oral histories and material from long-time personnel that worked at the ALRF, such as Harry Coates, John Revel, and Frank Hellenius. Also contains copies of archival records from other archival institutions that concern the history of ALRF, which were compiled as part of a 2006/2007 history internship project.
Audio recording consists of individual taped interviews conducted by Bridget Moran with a number of early Fort George residents recalling the early years of white settlement in Prince George c.1910-c.1915. Interviews were conducted with the following individuals: Arnold Davis; J.A.F. Campbell; Alec Moffat; Claude Foot; George Henry; Nellie Law; John McInnis; Georgina [McInnis] Williams and Peter Wilson. These interviews were incorporated into the publication: Bridget Moran, Prince George Remembered…from Bridget Moran, Marsh Publishing, Prince George, 1996.
Audiocassette Summary
Scope and Content:Recording consists of individual taped interviews conducted by Bridget Moran in a number of locations with Arnold Davis; J.A.F. Campbell; Alec Moffat; Claude Foot; George Henry; Nellie Law; John McInnis; Georgina [McInnis] Williams; Peter Wilson
Subjects include:
- Arnold Davis – former Sherriff in Prince George (born in 1882) arrived in Quesnel in 1909 and worked on the BX sternwheeler. Davis discusses his family roots from Ireland as a 6th generation Canadian. Recalls how his family arrived in South Fort George in 1917 and how his father worked on boats that went up and down Fraser River
- Claude Foot recalls coming from New Zealand to Fort George [Prince George] in 1906 and how there were ‘very few white men’; his father was Irish, mother was English
- Alex Moffat – describes how his parents provided a ‘stopping place’ for stage coaches in the Cariboo region
- George Henry recalls working on the boats that plied the Fraser River between Prince George and Soda Creek, near Quesnel
- Nellie Law – describes arriving from England in 1917 to Ashcroft and then Quesnel in 1917
- Peter Wilson – Barrister and Solicitor; the prosecutor for Prince George since 1916 describes arriving by train from Edmonton and arriving on a scow in South Fort George
- Mr. John McInnis – from Prince Edward Island, who sat twice in provincial legislature – in constituency of Grand Forks as socialist and later for constituency of Fort George recalls arriving in 1910 by rail to Kamloops and then by sleigh to South Fort George; describes the Indian Reserve at Fort George “[…don’t think there were a dozen white people…when I arrived […]”
- J.A. ‘Doc’ Campbell recalls being part of a survey crew in Fort George in 1908
- George Henry – also recalls cruising down the [Fraser] river by way of sternwheeler and losing men overboard
- Peter Wilson recalls experiences as practicing lawyer; there was no assize court in the region until 1919; recalls some of his early cases [murder case]
- Nellie Law describes working as a desk clerk at first The Alexandra Hotel and later The Prince George Hotel from 1918 to 1952
Law describes the hotel patrons and how she met the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire in 1922. Recalls stoking furnace with logs in the hotel to keep it warm and working as a bouncer - Alex Moffat – recalls workers and hauling freight via the old Cariboo Road; existence of one policeman only (BC Provincial Police); and describes in detail a stopping place for horses / crew on the Cariboo Road and the pack trains.
- Mr. Moffat – Describes the luxury experienced on the sternwheeler, The BX that “could carry seventy saloon passengers” and “staterooms were all equipped with push buttons, electric lights, hot and cold water, steam heat, and everything modern”
- Claude Foot – Recounts a dance in Quesnel at the hotel barroom and describes ordering drinks at the Al Johnson Hotel that had a bar which boasted to be “ the biggest bar in Canada, if not the world” 100 ft + bar with “six or seven bartenders behind this long bar, and the customers would be lined up two or three deep […]”
- J.A. [F.] [Campbell] – post-1910 changes with the use of scows on the Fraser River; describes the BC Provincial Police “in those days [they] just wore ordinary civilian clothes, but they were a tough bunch….[…]” and rowdiness in the bars in South Fort George
- Campbell describes the first bank in Fort George was the Bank of British North America that was housed in a tent and he recalls needing money while playing poker - ‘about eleven o’clock that night, the vault was open, and the till was open, and if you wanted money you’d walk up to the bank till and put an IOU in and take money out and go on playing [poker]
- Peter Wilson – comments about how lax the enforcement of law and order was in the early years including among the police themselves: “that the “Old Blind Nick [who] ran a bootlegging joint, went broke because he said he couldn’t afford to supply the police with any more liquor.”
- Claude Foot – recalls a fire in Quesnel in 1916 that burned a large part of the business section and the firemen were as Nellie Law notes “ a bucket brigade of Chinamen, filling buckets from a water hole in the Fraser River that the horses drank in…”
- John McInnis recalls political meetings and the election in 1916 when he was a candidate for the Fort George riding and being defeated by 7 votes; that the investigation of the election “was a whitewash”
- Georgina McInnis, who was the first White Child born in the community – she tells of the meeting that decided her name – as Fort Georgina McInnis
- Arnold Davis recalls his father working on boats that went up and down Fraser River and being on the boat with him and “watching the connecting rods go in and out and concentrate on pie…[served by the Chinese cook]” Davis also recalls The Yukoners who emigrated to PG after the Gold Rush
- George Henry recalls with lament the coming of the railway as he lost his job plying the River - preferred voyages on the Fraser River – and refers to those who worked the River and himself as “river rats”
Reel-to-reel audio recording consists of individual taped interviews conducted by Bridget Moran with a number of early Fort George residents recalling the early years of white settlement in Prince George c.1910-c.1915. Interviews were conducted with the following individuals: reel to reel recording of individual taped interviews and interview introductions by Bridget Moran with the following interviewees: Arnold Davis [former Sherriff for Prince George]; J.A.F. Campbell [PG land surveyor]; Alec Moffat; Claude Foot; Captain George Henry [sternboat captain]; Nellie Law [desk clerk at Alexandra and Prince George Hotel from 1918- 1952], John McInnis [former MLA for Fort George]; Georgina [McInnis] Williams; and Peter Wilson, [former Barrister and Solicitor and former Prosecutor for the City since its incorporation in 1915.] These interviews were incorporated into the publication: Bridget Moran, Prince George Remembered…from Bridget Moran, Marsh Publishing, Prince George, 1996.
Summary
Notes: Recording consists of individual taped interviews conducted by Bridget Moran and commentary by Moran that introduces each audio segment. Recording is exact copy of the written transcript later produced as the publication, Prince George Remembered…From Bridget Moran, Prince George: Marsh Publishing, 1996. In the publication foreword, Moran notes that she recorded the interviews on reels, then re-copied them on cassette tapes, and for the book project based on the recordings she did the edits and provided the introductory remarks for each interviewee’s audio segment.
See also the audiocassette summary for 2008.3.1.210.4 “History of Prince George”. The reel to reel recording is incomplete as it includes recorded interviews only for 61 minutes, not the full 80 minutes referred to in the audiocassette summary for 2008.3.1.210.4. The reel to reel recording continues only to the end of Claude Foot’s description of the bar at South Fort George [see transcript, Prince George Remembered… From Bridget Moran, p.25]
00’ 05”-5’00” Arnold Davis– talks about his family’s roots from Ireland and England and arriving in South Fort George in 1917;
5’10”-10’11” Claude Foot – talks about his family’s roots in New Zealand and memories of arriving in Quesnel in 1906, “very few white men”
10’12”-11’08” Alex Moffat – describes stage coach transportation throughout the Cariboo region
11’24”-12’33” George Henry describes working on the boats that plied the Fraser River with the BC Express Co.
13’17”-14’14” Nellie Law describes arriving in Quesnel from England in 1914 and later arriving in Prince George on the Fraser River in 1917. Law was the desk clerk at Alexandra and Prince George Hotel from 1918-1952.
14’45”-15’09” Peter Wilson describes arriving by work train to Prince George from McBride c.1915. Wilson was the Prosecutor for the City since its incorporation in 1915.
15’48”-20’02” Mr. John McInnis recalls arriving from Prince Edward Island in 1910 in Fort George due to the land prospecting for the town site. Describes 10 day horse & sleigh trip from Ashcroft to Fort George and briefly describes Indian Reserve in Fort George and recalls there were few white women in the town at that time.
20’25”-22’05” J.A. Campbell describes survey crew work he did at Fort George in 1908
22’16”-25’36” Captain George Henry recalls cruising down the Fraser River with a gas-powered boat c.1910 and losing crew overboard in the Fraser Canyon
25’47”-33’20” Peter Wilson recalls experiences as practicing lawyer and due to lack of assize court in Fort George until 1919 travelling to Clinton for court cases. Also describes difficulty of boat traveling to Peace River country to hear court cases there.
33’29”-39’24” Nellie Law recalls working first as a maid and then as a desk clerk with the Alexandra Hotel in 1919 and later the Prince George Hotel in 1923 – describes hotel guests; visit of Duke & Duchess of Devonshire; manual work performed including bouncing; stoking furnace in winter for heating.
39’45”-53’48” Alex Moffat – describes old Cariboo Road highway freighting and stage coach line at Barkerville and the ‘stopping places’ [roadhouses] on the Cariboo Road highway which his parents operated. Also describes Cataline’s pack train. Describes luxurious conditions on the BX sternwheeler boats.
56’10”-59’06” Claude Foot recounts a dance in Quesnel; card games and gambling at Barkerville 59’40”-1:00’58” Claude Foot recalls South Fort George and the ‘longest bar at South Fort George End of recording
End of recording
Audio recording is of an interview by Bridget Moran with both Mr. George Henry and Mr. Arnold Davis to discuss their memories of the early town site development of South Fort George and Central Fort George c.1910-c.1917. Mr. Henry was born in 1882 and his family arrived in Quesnel in 1909. Mr. Henry’s interview is primarily about his work as a captain on the BX Sternwheeler up until the time of the railroad arriving in Prince George in 1914. Mr. Davis, who was a Sherriff in Prince George, recalls his childhood memories of Fort George and Central Fort George c.1917. Mr. Davis also discusses his family roots from Ireland, the family’s arrival in Fort George from Ashcroft in 1917 and memories of his father who worked on the sternwheelers on the Fraser River.
Audiocassette Summary
Scope and Content:
Interview with Mr. George Henry
Mr. Henry was born in 1882 in Northern California and his family came to the Cariboo in 1909. He recalls riding his bicycle from Ashcroft to Quesnel in 3 days to find work with the BC Express Company.
Mr. Henry recalls working on the BX and describes the sternwheeler trip from Quesnel to South Fort George; it was a 3 hour trip from Quesnel and included two mail stops ;
Henry recalls an accident onboard the sternwheeler going through the Fraser Canyon (see p.p.11-12 of
Prince George Remembered)
Mr. Henry describes his homestead at South Fort George
Mr. Henry describes the BX sternwheeler being aground at South Fort George c.1920
Mr. Henry recalls spending winters in South Fort George in his log cabin; that work was “plentiful” in 1910 and the population at “about 700”
Mr. Henry notes that the “Indian reserve was at the Hudson’s Bay company” and that the native population was at “about 50”
Mr. Henry recalls the early commercial businesses in South Fort George c.1910 including the Northern Hotel; the candy store and ice cream store and theatre.
Mr. Henry describes the start of the town site of Central Fort George as a “viable little town” which started once the Grand Trunk Railway arrived and recalls the change in population between South Fort George & Central Fort George.
Henry recalls how all the workers came and lived in tents in Central Fort George.
Mr. Henry was not happy about the arrival of the railway as it meant he lost his job on the sternwheeler – he recalls that “us old river rats were just lost” (see p.p.34 of Prince George Remembered)
Bridget then asks Mr. Arnold Davis to recall his memories of early South Fort George
But first asks him to describe his family’s roots (See p.p. 1-2 of Prince George Remembered)
Scope and Content:
Interview with Mr. Arnold Davis
Davis notes he is 6th generation Canadian; family came from Ireland and his grandfather’s brother Jeff Davis became the President of the Confederate States of America.
Davis refers to his mother’s family being on the Prairies at time of the trial of Louis Riel
Davis explains that his grandfather first homesteaded at Banff; then Kamloops; then Ashcroft and on to South Fort George in 1917.
Davis’ father worked for the BC Express Company and he recalls being on the sternwheeler as a child during same time that George Henry worked the boats. Recalls workers on the boat; eating pie on the boat baked by the Chinese cook; (See p. 33 of Prince George Remembered)
Davis recalls the town site of South Fort George. He notes it had a population by 1917 of only “about 300” and that the “boom was over”
Davis describes location of various businesses in South Fort George including the Rex Theatre, George St. Poole Room, McKay Bros. Grocery store, Drugstore, Bairds, Peters Butcher Shop.
Davis recalls that there were many “Yukoners” here at the time and recalls a tale about an old Yukoner
Mr. Davis recalls other people who worked on the BX with his father including Margaret “Granny” Seymour’s father;
Mr. Davis recalls riding up and down the river to Foley’s Cache on the sternwheeler as a child
Mr. Henry then speaks up and recalls trips on the sternwheeler with Arnold Davis on the boat as a child
Tape ends
File consists of recorded audio interviews:
- Interview: History of Prince George - Bridget Moran Interviews George Henry & Arnold Davis interview, PG Historical Society, ca. 1960
- Interview: Granny Seymour Interview, Parts 1 & 2, May [1962?]
- Interview: Granny Seymour Interview, Part 3, May [1962?]
- Interview: History of Prince George, 1958-1959 and 1960
- Interview: History of Prince George, 1960; various dates
- Interview: CBC - 60th Anniversary Judge [Stewart] Called to Bar, [1982?]
- Interview: Ken Rutherford (Tape 1), 1 April 1993
- Interview: Ken Rutherford (Tape 2), 1 April 1993
- Interview: Paul Ramsey Interview, December 1995
Item is a lecture about Aboriginal religion in Australia given by Marcia Langton during the 6th Interdisciplinary Congress on Women in Adelaide, Australia from April 21-26, 1996.