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2023.8.13 · Item · 1958-1961
Part of Willard Freer Diary Digital Collection

Summary of the diary of Willard Freer, January 1, 1958 to December 31, 1961:

  • January 1-March 11, 1958: Lower Post
  • March 11-May 26, 1958: Kechika River valley
  • May 26-June 3, 1958: Trip to Lower Post
  • June 4-July 15, 1958: Lower Post
  • July 15-July 27, 1958: Work for George Midgley in the Dease Lake area
  • July 28-August 5, 1958: Travel to Denetiah Lake
  • August 5-September 6, 1958: Packer for Geological Survey of Canada
  • September 6-14, 1958: Travel in Kechika River valley
  • September 14-October 8, 1958: Hunting guide for Amos Alec
  • October 8-15, 1958: Watson Lake
  • October 15-26, 1958: Travel to Freer's cabin on Horneline Creek
  • October 26-December 31, 1958: Freer's cabin
  • January 1-March 4, 1959: Kechika and trips to Lower Post
  • March 4-June 5, 1959: Freer's cabin
  • June 6-September 3, 1959: Packer for Geological Survey of Canada
  • September 6-16, 1959: Travel and return to Freer's cabin
  • September 17-October 3, 1959: Hunting guide for Robin Dalziel and return to Freer's cabin
  • October 3-December 31, 1959: Freer's cabin
  • January 1-May 27, 1960: Kechika River valley
  • May 27-September 11, 1960: Work for Geological Survey of Canada as packer and boatman
  • September 11-December 31, 1960: Alaska Highway and Fireside, BC
  • October 1-December 31, 1961: Alaska Highway and Fireside, BC
2023.8.13.1 · Item · 1958-1961
Part of Willard Freer Diary Digital Collection

Summary of the diary transcript of Willard Freer, January 1, 1958 to December 31, 1961:

  • January 1-March 11, 1958: Lower Post
  • March 11-May 26, 1958: Kechika River valley
  • May 26-June 3, 1958: Trip to Lower Post
  • June 4-July 15, 1958: Lower Post
  • July 15-July 27, 1958: Work for George Midgley in the Dease Lake area
  • July 28-August 5, 1958: Travel to Denetiah Lake
  • August 5-September 6, 1958: Packer for Geological Survey of Canada
  • September 6-14, 1958: Travel in Kechika River valley
  • September 14-October 8, 1958: Hunting guide for Amos Alec
  • October 8-15, 1958: Watson Lake
  • October 15-26, 1958: Travel to Freer's cabin on Horneline Creek
  • October 26-December 31, 1958: Freer's cabin
  • January 1-March 4, 1959: Kechika and trips to Lower Post
  • March 4-June 5, 1959: Freer's cabin
  • June 6-September 3, 1959: Packer for Geological Survey of Canada
  • September 6-16, 1959: Travel and return to Freer's cabin
  • September 17-October 3, 1959: Hunting guide for Robin Dalziel and return to Freer's cabin
  • October 3-December 31, 1959: Freer's cabin
  • January 1-May 27, 1960: Kechika River valley
  • May 27-September 11, 1960: Work for Geological Survey of Canada as packer and boatman
  • September 11-December 31, 1960: Alaska Highway and Fireside, BC
  • October 1-December 31, 1961: Alaska Highway and Fireside, BC
2023.8.09 · Item · 1948
Part of Willard Freer Diary Digital Collection

Summary of the diary of Willard Freer, May 1, 1948 to October 29, 1948:

  • May 1-27, 1948: Spring at Diamond J Ranch, with supply visits from bush planes
  • May 27-June 6, 1948: Trip to Lower Post and preparation for work
  • June 7-October 1, 1948: Head packer for the British Columbia-Yukon Boundary Survey
  • September 26-October 18, 1948: Return trip to Diamond J Ranch
  • October 18-29, 1948: Diamond J Ranch
2023.8.09.1 · Item · 1948
Part of Willard Freer Diary Digital Collection

Summary of the diary transcript of Willard Freer, May 1, 1948 to October 29, 1948:

  • May 1-27, 1948: Spring at Diamond J Ranch, with supply visits from bush planes
  • May 27-June 6, 1948: Trip to Lower Post and preparation for work
  • June 7-October 1, 1948: Head packer for the British Columbia-Yukon Boundary Survey
  • September 26-October 18, 1948: Return trip to Diamond J Ranch
  • October 18-29, 1948: Diamond J Ranch
2023.8.08.1 · Item · 1947-1948
Part of Willard Freer Diary Digital Collection

Summary of the diary transcript of Willard Freer, October 1, 1947 to April 30, 1948:

  • October 1-11, 1947: Head packer for the British Columbia-Yukon Boundary Survey, travel to Lower Post
  • October 11-21, 1947: Return trip to Diamond J Ranch
  • October 21, 1947-May 27, 1948: Off season at Diamond J Ranch, with supply visits from bush planes
2023.8 · Collection · 1942-1972

Willard Freer, a packer and guide in remote northern BC, kept a daily diary from 1942 to 1975 that provides a detailed record of life in northern BC and southern Yukon Territory. This collection consists of digital replicas of Willard Freer's diaries from 1942 to 1975, along with accompanying transcripts created by Jay Sherwood, who authored a book about Freer's life.

Excerpts describing the Freer Diaries from "Kechika Chronicler: Willard Freer's Northern BC & Yukon Diaries, 1942-1975" by Jay Sherwood (2023), pages 14-17:

In a letter that [Willard Freer] wrote in 1935, he stated that he had started keeping a diary when he left home. Unfortunately, his early diaries have been lost. In the summer of 1939, while Freer was away working, the BC Provincial Police investigated his neighbour Frank "Shorty" Weber as a suspect in a local murder. The police seized Freer's diaries from his trapping cabin as potential evidence. Freer wrote to the police requesting the return of his diaries, but he never received them. Fortunately, Freer had made copies of his diaries for the summers of 1932 and 1934. His diary for 1934 is particularly important because he was a member of the Bedaux Expedition.

Freer's existing diaries begin in the spring of 1942, when he was still living in the Ingenika River valley, and continue until 1975. The notebook for 1950 and 1951 is missing, and the January to September 1961 section has been removed. ...
Throughout his adult life, Freer wrote a daily journal. The entries are usually brief and direct, with minimal philosophizing. They are often repetitive, describing daily routines. However, the cumulative narrative of Freer's diaries provides a rare look into the history of one of British Columbia's most remote areas.

The pantheon of people recorded in Freer's diaries include many notable individuals who lived and worked in the Kechika River valley and along the Alaska Highway. Willard's journals provide details about specific events in the lives of these people. There are many references to the famous bush pilots Stan Bridcut and George Dalziel. He notes several prospectors who are well-known in northern BC and Yukon.

Willard's work involved extensive travel through northern BC and Yukon. His diaries provide details about the locations he visited. In particular, Freer kept an important record of travel on the Davie Trail between Fort Ware and Lower Post. For every overnight trip he made, Freer recorded the campsite he used, and the amount of time he spent travelling each day.

During the 1940s and 1950s, the Kaska and Kwadacha Tsek'ene still followed their traditional yearly rounds in the Kechika drainage. Freer's diaries detail the lives and routines of numerous Indigenous people over many years. Some of them are mentioned over a hundred times in Freer's diaries. By all accounts, Willard had good relationships with the Indigenous people. In the remote northern BC and Yukon region, where there were few people, working co-operatively was important.

Willard lived and worked at Skook Davidson's Diamond J Ranch during most of the 1940s and at intervals in the 1950s, so his journals provide considerable information about Skook and life at the ranch.
...
Freer's diaries contain considerable information about daily life in the lodges along the Alaska Highway.
...
Freer was involved in many important projects in northern BC and Yukon. He was a member of the famous 1934 Bedaux Expedition. Freer was a packer for BC and federal government survey crews for several summers; worked on the British Columbia-Yukon Boundary Survey for four years; was employed on Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) crews for several years; and spent three field seasons on the BC government's Forest Inventory program. Willard also packed for a couple of large mining exploration companies and was a hunting guide for Robin Dalziel and other guide outfitters.

Freer's diaries can also be used to monitor events like the weather and snowfall. In the winter, when he lived at Skook's ranch or at his cabin, he recorded the temperature in the morning, at midday, and in the evening. He also noted snowfalls. Willard recorded the date that the Kechika froze over in the fall, and when the ice melted off the river in the spring. He also noted his first observations of birds in the spring.
...
The diaries of Willard Freer, which chronicle over thirty years of life in northern BC, are a unique account, providing a gateway to many of the people who lived there and some of the important events that occurred.

Freer, Willard Melvin