51.3 | Fall 2018

British Columbia History

Discover British Columbia’s Past!

British Columbia History1 min read
Letters from Readers
Having just seen the latest copy of your British Columbia History magazine and the subject of school histories in BC, I thought you might find our new satellite group to the Pender Islands Museum Facebook group of interest. The group is called Pender
British Columbia History2 min read
Legacies
History is often told through the official photographers, the staged studio portraits, the parades, the newspaper shots. But what about the photos taken by the newspapers that did not make it to the press or images taken by the amateur photographers?
British Columbia History7 min read
AN EYE FOR A GOOD PICTURE The legacy of John Aitken
The camera work of amateur photographer John Aitken provides rare glimpses of early settlement on Mayne Island as well as other parts of the southern Gulf Islands, and even includes one or two relating to the Klondike gold rush. Aitken’s images are s
British Columbia History3 min read
Endnotes
1. Nellie Aitken Georgeson, “Some Mayne Island Personalities,” A Gulf Islands Patchwork: Some Early Events on the Islands of Galiano, Mayne, Saturna, North and South Pender (Gulf Islands Branch, BC Historical Association, December 1991). Also confirm
British Columbia History15 min read
WATERFRONT ACQUISITION IN WEST VANCOUVER Ambitious, controversial, and forward-thinking
In October 1975, the West Vancouver Municipal Council decided to construct a continuous public walk from Dundarave Park to the Cleveland Dam, a distance of about 10 kilometres. Full public access would mean gradually buying up the 32 houses and the c
British Columbia History4 min read
Endnotes
1. District of West Vancouver, Municipal Council, October 6, 1975. 2. Don Lanskail, “Remarks to West Vancouver Museum and Historical Society, West Vancouver’s Seawalk and Other Municipal Treasures,” May 27, 1993. Lanskail (1917–1996) was councillor f
British Columbia History4 min readInternational Relations
Number 3 Company (The Saanich Rangers) of the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers
My neighbour, John Bosher, PhD, recently showed me a brassard (an armband) and a cap badge from the Saanich Rangers, a small military unit that links a number of prominent British Columbians from the Second World War. This piqued my curiosity. In 194
British Columbia History9 min read
Sam Greer and “the Old Reserve” at Chilliwack Landing 1
On Sam Greer’s passing, the April 8, 1925 Chilliwack Progress declared that the hostile relationship between the Stó:lo and Chilliwack Landing’s first sheriff had “compelled Mr. Greer to move to Kitsilano before the arrival of the railway.” Greer liv
British Columbia History3 min read
Endnotes
1. Indian Reserve Commission Decision Minutes (June 20, 1879), Library and Archives Canada, rg 10, vol 11028, file SRR2, 324. Note: This paper represents the views of the author only, and does not speak on behalf of the Stó:lō Tribal Council, Skwah F
British Columbia History12 min read
The Great War and the Home Front Reportage from the Ladysmith Chronicle
The seemingly distant Great War profoundly altered life at home in the small, new-immigrant community of Ladysmith, BC. Articles, editorials, letters, and even ads published in the twice-weekly Ladysmith Chronicle newspaper (still published every wee
British Columbia History3 min read
Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre
A dry, gravel riverbed meanders near greying cedar huts at the Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre. Ornamental maples, boxwoods, rocks, and a boardwalk instantly invoke meditative calm. This is the Heiwa Teien or Peace Garden, created by Roy Tomomichi
British Columbia History4 min read
NORTHERN BC RAIL TRANSPORTATION From Backlog To Foreground
Most archives have at least one long-standing “backlog” project that has been sitting on the back burner for far too long. This serves as a source of constant frustration for archivists as they struggle to care for incredible treasure troves of infor
British Columbia History10 min read
Looking Forward
II am pleased to introduce Aimee Greenaway, our newest addition to British Columbia History magazine. Aimee hails from Nanaimo, and will be taking over the reins as Book Review Editor in coming months. I asked her in this column to tell us a little a
British Columbia History2 min read
Phil Gaglardi At 78 Rpm
To describe Phil Gaglardi as colourful is to repeat what may be the only description with which both his supporters and his critics could agree. During his 20 years as MLA for Kamloops, Gaglardi—nicknamed Flyin’ Phil for a scandal involving an airpla
British Columbia History1 min read
Fort Langley CN Station
The station was built for the Canadian Northern Railway in 1915 as agriculture expanded and new settlement drew people into the Fraser Valley. Absorbed by the Canadian National Railway in 1918, its life as a passenger station spanned the steam throug

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