This photograph album features 86 black and white photographs of Fort Fraser area during the time of the community's formation.
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.
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Freer's diaries contain considerable information about daily life in the lodges along the Alaska Highway.
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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.
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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.
Collection consists of a travel scrapbook created by Jill Singleton documenting a trip to Alaska, Yukon, Haida Gwaii, and northern BC. Includes photographs, ephemera, handwritten notes, pamphlets, issues of local newspapers, and maps.
Collection consists of various originals, drafts, and photocopies of development planning reports for the Cariboo-Chilcotin region of British Columbia. Many of the reports were authored by the Cariboo Economic Action Forum.
Collection consists of material collected by the Pacific Coast Division of the Canadian Railway Historical Association regarding railways in British Columbia and Yukon Territory. Predominantly consists of material relating to BC Rail, CN Rail, and White Pass & Yukon Railway. Also includes Canadian trackside guides.
Collection consists of a 50th anniversary video about the history of the West Fraser Timber Company Ltd.
This fonds encompasses the planning career of Chander Suri. The head planner for the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George from 1969 to 1977, Chander Suri embarked on numerous community plan projects in the Prince George area. Suri also worked as an independent planning consultant for local businesses and organizations. Chander Suri's records encompass numerous urban and rural projects facilitating population and industry growth within the RDFFG that spanned beyond Suri's career.
Textual records comprise official and draft planning documents, development reports, planning proposals, contracts, published regulations, socio-economic studies of regions near Prince George, financial and other studies for development sites, illustrated promotional packages/proposals for developments, regional/provincial guides and standards, and correspondence relating to Suri's professional consulting activities. The fonds contains a wide array of maps, architectural plans, and technical drawings ranging from municipal planning layouts, industrial land developments, and private property (commercial and residential) development projects, mainly from in and around Prince George.
These records are relevant to researchers of the subjects of land use, land development and land planning issues in the Prince George and Fraser-Fort George Regional District in the second half of the 20th century.
Series include:
- Maps and Plans relating to development projects in British Columbia, predominantly in the Prince George area
- Lower Mainland Planning material from Suri's early career period
- Regional District of Fraser Fort George Planning records and resource material collected by Suri during his employment at the RDFFG
- Planning Consultancy records relating to Suri’s independent planning consultancy work in his later career period
Collection consists of reproduced archival material collected from other heritage institutions in order to facilitate regional access to records.
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.
Fonds consists of documents providing information on the Columbia Cellulose Company, Limited covering the period of 1959-1970. These documents detail the company’s history, historical and geographical context, and plans for the future. Files often include photographs, maps, and technical drawings of the mills.
Sin títuloCollection consists of a selection of academic research papers from Bill Morrison. Consists of academic works written by Morrison (often in collaboration with Ken Coates), papers presented at conferences, and background material that related to his research.
Collection consists of records related to the Alcan/Kemano project on the Nechako River circa 1980-2000 from the Nechako Neyenk'ut Society, the Rivers Defense Coalition, and the Smelter Study Group.
Sin títuloCollection consists of photographs and plans relating to the construction of bridges, trestles, and stations of the Canadian Northern Pacific Railway, ca. 1913, collected or created by George W.H. Jackson, a surveyor who worked for the CNPR. The railway, incorporated in 1910, existed in name only as a subsidiary of the Canadian Northern Railway, and began construction around 1913. The materials include:
- 148 photographs showing surveying, worksites, and views along the route. Many of the images are captioned and/or dated, presumably by Jackson.
- 94 blueprint plans detailing work on bridges, trestles, station hours, etc. with elevations, details of construction, and materials; one larger blueprint shows the rail route over Kicking Horse Pass.
Growing collection of strike ephemera from students, CUPE staff, and faculty members at UNBC. Collection includes picketing signs, strike buttons, photographs, art, and videos from pickets and UNBC Faculty Association events during the 2015 and 2019 strikes, as well as posters and other ephemera from the UNBC Occupiers group.
Collection consists of records created and collected by Robert "Bob" Stowell (1922-2018) and his son Bill Stowell over the course of their careers in the British Columbia forestry industry.
Bob Stowell spent the majority of his 50+ year forestry career with The Pas Lumber Co. (B.C.) Ltd. in Prince George, BC as their Woodlands Manager between 1965-1991. Bob Stowell's records from The Pas Lumber Co. (B.C.) Ltd. include photographs, company histories, speeches, memoranda, correspondence, reports, and news clippings.
Bill Stowell worked for numerous forestry companies across British Columbia over the course of his forestry career (1977-2018). His collected material predominantly consists of forestry-related clippings from newspapers and periodicals, along with forestry-related publications like pamphlets, booklets, and reports. Represented among Bill Stowell's records are correspondence, memoranda, reports, and ephemera from Tolko Industries Ltd. and other various forestry companies.
Sin títuloThis collection encompasses the records of the eJournal "It's Still Winter: A Web Journal of Contemporary Canadian Poetry and Poetics", which was co-published online by College of New Caledonia and the University of Northern British Columbia between 1997 and 2002. The editors of the journal were Don Precosky and Barry McKinnon. The journal published the work of poets from across Canada, but the majority were from northern British Columbia.
The collection contains analogue reproductions of the eJournal issues, drafts and manuscript submissions to the eJournal, and digital records relating to the eJournal (including the website files for the online eJournal).
Collection consists of material resulting from Dr. Mike Evan's Island Cache Recovery Project Collection. Includes oral history interviews of former Island Cache (Cottonwood Island) residents on recording media (cassette and VHS) as well as transcripts of the oral histories. Also includes administrative records for the project and photocopies of background research material used for the project, such as Prince George city records, newspaper clippings, photographs, and correspondence.
Sin títuloCollection consists of oral histories 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 histories on their original cassette tapes.
Sin títuloFonds consists of the research records of Dr. Paul Sanborn, a University of Northern British Columbia faculty member in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management.
Sin títuloEmil Bronlund was in 1927 hired by Consolidated Mining and Smelting Ltd. (later known as Cominco) to take on the company's mining exploration in northern British Columbia, a position he held for almost 25 years. Bronlund had a Leica camera and took photographs during his exploratory trips.
This album of Bronlund's photographic negatives from 1930 to 1932 includes photographs of the following trips:
- Trip to Osilinka River and Omineca River, July 1930
- Copper Mountain on Duck Creek, July 1930
- Wedge Creek, Sept. 1930
- Finlay River, Finlay Forks, Parsnip River, and Crooked River, Oct. 1930
- Prince George, Aug. 1930
- Gola, Norway, Apr. 1931
- Emil Bronlund and Frank Swannell survey crews at Thutade Lake, June 1931 and Sept. 1931
- Cairn mining claim exploration for Consolidated Mining and Smelting Ltd., June-July 1931
- Brothers Lake, Bronlund Peak, and Fredricksen Lake, July 1932
- Sustut Lake, Sept.-Oct 1931
- McLeod River trip, Mar.-Apr. 1932
Fonds predominately reflects Ainley's research as a professor at the University of Northern British Columbia. Her research is arranged into thirteen subseries. Research material includes: photocopies of publications and archival material, correspondence, bibliographies, research interviews, transcripts, draft manuscripts, photographs, and other records. A series of personal records includes: retirement activities, her hobbies of art and writing, diplomas, and photographs. The series on her administrative and supervisory activities of professorship of women’s studies and environmental studies is arranged according to the major activities with which Ainley was involved and includes: meeting minutes, memoranda, reports, correspondence, employment, and other records. A series of electronic records relating, predominately, to Ainley’s research includes: draft manuscripts, conference proceedings, bibliographies, transcripts, correspondence, curricula vitae and other records. A series of professional development records includes records from conferences she attended and occasionally presented at as well as other professional development activities that she undertook. A series of correspondence predominantly consists of personal correspondence but also includes professional correspondence related to her research and occupation.
Sin títuloThis fonds encompasses the journalism, writing, and research of Audrey Ruth Smedley L'Heureux. L'Heureux's research interests focussed on northern and central British Columbia, beginning with pioneer settlement through to community life in the 2000s. L'Heureux's research also covered transitional phases of British Columbia history such as natural resource extraction, the impact of the railways, industrialization, and interactions with Indigenous communities. Predominantly organized in subject files, the L'Heureux's fonds provides collected research material on many topics relevant to the history of northern and central British Columbia. L'Heureux also collected numerous oral histories from pioneers in various northern and central British Columbia communities which informed her journalism and published works.
The Audrey Ruth Smedley L'Heureux fonds consists of three series. The first series consists of L'Heureux's research and subject files, a collection spanning her career as a journalist and author from 1970 to 2005. The second series consists of records relating to L'Heureux's writing, including manuscripts from her "From Trail to Rail" book series. The third series contains a small selection of L'Heureux's personal records, including a video that recounts L'Heureux's life story and accomplishments.
Sin títuloFonds consists of personal papers, books, manuscripts, photographic materials, audio recordings and electronic records arranged into five series, which relate to Mr. Fawcett's personal life, his creative works and his relationships with members of the literary community.
Sin títuloFonds consists of maps, plans, and drawings collected by faculty in the UNBC School of Planning and Sustainability. The majority of these maps reflect the planning history of the City of Prince George and include large format, hand-drawn plans created by the City Planning Department from the 1970s and 1980s. Maps from City of Prince George Official Community Plans are also included.
This 16mm film of Eagle Lake Sawmills was produced by Torajiro Sasaki in July 1952, likely commissioned or with permission from the sawmill owners, the Spurs. The film depicts logging and sawmilling operations at the Eagle Lake Sawmill, as well as shots of the bunkhouses, exterior shots of the mill, and the beehive burner. Employees of the mill are shown at work. In 1952, Eagle Lake Sawmill used both machinery and horses in their operations.
Sin títuloThe Knox McCusker Collection consists primarily of photocopies of publications written by Mary Henry (1931-1935); annual reports; articles and papers written about Knox McCusker (1935-1997) as well as research materials pertaining to his life; articles and speeched written by Knox McCusker and general correspondence regarding surveying. Aside from these photocopies are some original records; namely: original correspondence between McCusker and G.G. Aitken (1934-1938); photographs (ca. 1930-1950); McCuskers 1909 certificate enabling him to be an Articled Pupil with the Dominion Land Surveyors; and an interview with McCusker conducted by J. Frank Willis (CBC, 1954).
Sin títuloThis fonds consists of material created and collected by Kent Sedgwick, author, professor, Prince George urban planner, and prominent local historian. This body of records documents Sedgwick’s research interests in the history and geography of the Central Interior of British Columbia. The fonds also reflects his work as a Prince George Senior City Planner, his involvement in local community organizations, and his teaching at the College of New Caledonia and the University of Northern British Columbia.
The fonds includes:
1) Photographs taken by Kent Sedgwick across British Columbia, predominantly in the Central Interior region;
2) Research subject files consisting of original research documentation and collected reference material, predominantly focusing on topics relating to local history, city planning, and geography in the Prince George area and the British Columbia Central Interior;
3) Documentation of Kent Sedgwick’s community involvement, including records created over the course of his work with the Prince George Heritage Commission, , the Alexander Mackenzie Heritage Trail Association, and other local organizations;
4) Writings, publications, and lectures written, edited, or conducted by Kent Sedgwick;
5) Professorial records consisting of lectures and material relating to Sedgwick’s teaching appointments at the College of New Caledonia and the University of Northern British Columbia;
6) Maps collected by Kent Sedgwick covering historical and contemporary British Columbia.
This collection contains two tapes of interviews by Kent Sedgwick and Megan Heitrich, and one tape by Megan Heitrich alone. Interviews focus primarily upon the Japanese Internment during WWII in the Prince George – Valemount corridor. The interviews are with women who lived near an internment camp during the war, and had some contact with the Japanese men.
The interviewees were selected for having mentioned the Japanese internment in prior interviews: Louisa Mueller and Ruth Cunningham in interviews by the Prince George Oral History Group, and Karlleen Robinson in “A History of Logs and Lumber.” In the Cunningham Interview, Ruth’s daughter Lillian Coulling is also present.
Fonds consists of records relating to the personal, business and political life of H.G.T. Perry and as such, has been divided into the following four series: 1) Photographs; 2) Political Activities; 3) Business Ventures; 4) Personal Life; and 5) Miscellaneous Historical Information Files. Also includes material relating to his son, Frank Perry, and his failed political campaign. Includes World War II and Post-War printed materials.
Types of records included in this fonds include Speakers' Decisions (1877-1943) in the BC Legislative Assembly, maps, publications, reports, correspondence, advertisements, telegrams, resolutions, minutes, annual reports, telegrams, resolutions, reports, speeches, press releases, proposals, plans, charts, file notes, memoranda, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, ephemera, postcards and photographs.
Sin títuloFonds consists of 5 boxes of materials related to the BC Provincial Police, including bound volumes of "Shoulder Strap," "Off Patrol" newsletters, General Orders 1923-1950, Constable Correspondence 1904-1909, and Criminal Investigation Branch Vol. 1-14.
This collection consists of a scrapbook entitled "My Two Year Term on the Teen Town Council", which was created by Howard Foot to document his involvement in the Prince George Teen Town Council in 1958-1959.
Sin títuloCollection consists of accumulated material relating to Northern and Central British Columbia. This material includes documents, subject files, unpublished grey literature, discrete textual records with limited provenance, and other ephemeral items.
The collection consists of an assortment of cartographic materials concerning Northern B.C. Included are topographic maps, pre-emptor’s and preliminary maps, physiographic maps, and resource (geological, game, etc.) maps.
Fonds consists of records reflecting the activities of the Dezell and Rustad families. Fonds includes materials related to the Rustad Bros. & Co. Ltd. company and mills as well as materials related to the forest industry in British Columbia and Canada. Fonds includes mayoral records from Bea and Garvin Dezell when Garvin served as Mayor of Prince George as well as materials celebrating Bea Dezell's life created by her family. Fonds also includes fundraising efforts for the Northern Medical Programs Trust. Finally, fonds includes a collection of "spruce" dollars and commemorative coins.
Sin títuloFonds consists of material created and collected by wildlife biologist Grant Hazelwood in relation to his work and research regarding wildlife, habitat, and wilderness parks. Includes material regarding Hazelwood's Tailed Frog (Ascaphus truei) research. Also includes records regarding his contracted biologist work via his consultancy business, Alpenglow Resources, on the BC Ministry of Environment's "Upper Nass Assessment Project", a project that included the biophysical mapping of the Northwest-Klappan Road Access Area.
Sin títuloThe Archdeacon W.H. Collison fonds consists of textual materials, maps, published materials and photographs all documenting Collison’s life and work with North Coastal First Nations communities in British Columbia. Types of records found within this fonds include manuscripts, sermon notes, correspondence, oral history summaries, monographs, cartographic items, photographs and postcards. The Collison fonds also includes some records created by his children and grandchildren as well as a family tree created in 1986. The Collison fonds has been divided into four series.
Sin títuloThis 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
These historically important aerial photographs depict Williston Lake soon after its creation in 1968 with the building of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam on the Peace River. Also depicted are the rivers and tributaries that empty into the Williston Reservoir, such as the Finlay River, the Ospika River, and the Omineca River.
These remote-sensing aerial photographs were taken by Lockwood Survey Corporation Ltd. under contract for the B.C. Forest Service. Some photographs are annotated to show logging activity; clearcuts, slash piles, log booms, and tree debris on the water are also visible in some of the images. No detailed location information or index accompanies the photographs.
Sin títuloConsists of 165 black and white photographs depicting Northwest Coast communities including Bella Bella, Rivers Inlet, Port Simpson, and Prince Rupert between approximately 1900 and 1920. Also includes postcard images of ships and boats on the North Coast belonging to the Large family, from Reverend Large's son Dr. R.G. Large. Also includes 39 colour slides ca. 1960 of ship scenes and weather balloon launches from the Dr. R.G. Large family.
Sin títuloFonds consists of records to the Nechako Watershed Council. These records were created and/or accumulated by Dr. Richard Krehbiel, who was a Nechako Watershed Council member.
Fonds consists of the records of the Nechako Watershed Council.
Sin títuloFonds consists of records of the Nechako Environmental Coalition.
Fonds consists of textual material and photographs documenting the life and work of J.O. Skook Davidson including journal entries, expense listings, receipts, licenses, newspaper clippings, publications, correspondence, and photographs.
Fonds consists of records relating to the operations of the Cariboo Action Training Society.