6

HISTORY
Journal ofthe British Columbia Historical Federation | Vol.39 No.l 2006 | $5.00

i

This Issue: Karloff in BC | World War One Mystery | Doctors | Prison Escapes | Books | Tokens | And more...

v

T

^wy^^

British Columbia History
Journal of the British Columbia Historical Federation
Published four times a year.
ISSN: print 1710-7881 online 1710-792X

British Columbia Historical Federation
A charitable society under the Income Tax Act Organized 31 October 1922

PO Box 5254, Station B., Victoria BC V8R 6N4

British Columbia History welcomes stories, studies,
and news items dealing with any aspect of the
history of British Columbia, and British Columbians.

Under the Distinguished Patronage of Her Honour
The Honourable lona Campagnolo. PC, CM, OBC
Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia

Please submit manuscripts for publication to the Editor,
British Columbia History,
John Atkin,
921 Princess Avenue,
Vancouver BC V6A 3E8
e-mail: johnatkin@shaw.ca
Book reviews for British Columbia History,,
AnneYandle,
3450 West 20th Avenue,
Vancouver BCV6S1E4,

604.733.6484
e-mail: yandle@1nterchange.ubcca
Subscriptionfctsubscription information:
Alice Marwood
#311 -45520 Knight Road

Honourary President
Melva Dwyer

Officers
President
Jacqueline Gresko
5931 Sandpiper Court, Richmond, BC, V7E 3P8
Phone 604.274.4383 j_gresko@douglas.bcca
First Vice President
Patricia Roy
602-139 Clarence St., Victoria, B.C., V8V2J1
proy@uvicca
Second Vice President
Bob Mukai
4100 Lancelot Dr., Richmond, BC V7C 4S3
Phone 604-274-6449 robert__mukai@telus.net

Chilliwack, B. C. V2R 3Z2
phone 604-824-1570
email: amarwood@imag.net
Subscriptions: $18.00 per year
For addresses outside Canada add $10.00

Single copies of recent issues are for sale at:
- Arrow Lakes Historical Society, Nakusp BC
- Book Warehouse, Granville St. Vancouver BC
- Books and Company, Prince George BC
- Gibson Coast Books, Gibsons BC
- Galiano Museum
- Gray Creek Store, Gray Creek BC
- Royal Museum Shop, Victoria BC

This publication is indexed in the Canadian
Magazine Index, published by Micromedia.
ISSN: 1710-7881
Articles appearing in this journal are abstracted and indexed in HISTORICAL ABSTRACTS and AMERICA: HISTORY AND LIFE
Production Mail Registration Number 1245716
Publications Mail Registration No. 09835
Member of the British Columbia Association of
Magazine Publishers

Secretary
Ron Hyde
#20 12880 Railway Ave., Richmond, BC, V7E6G2
Phone: 604.277.2627 Fax 604.277.2657 rbhyde@shaw.ca
Recording Secretary
Gordon Miller
1126 Morrell Circle, Nanaimo, BC, V9R 6K6 millerg@island.net
Treasurer
Ron Greene
POBox 1351, Victoria, BC, V8W2W7
Phone 250. 598.1835 Fax 250.598.5539 ragreene@telus.net
Past President
Wayne Desrochers
13346 57th Avenue, Surrey, BC, V3X2W8
Phone 604. 599.4206 Fax. 604.507.4202 wdesrochers@shaw.ca
Members at Large
Alice Marwood
#311 45520 Knight Road, Chilliwack, BC, V2R3I2 amarwood@imag.net
Tony Cox
Box 571, Lions Bay BC VON 2E0
Phone 604-921-9496 coxtony@shaw.ca

Committees
Historical Traits and Markers
John Spittle
1241 Mount Crown Road, North Vancouver, BC, V7R 1R9
Phone 604.988.4565 jds@vcn.bcca

While copyright in the journal as a whole is
vested in the British Columbia Historical
Federation, copyright in the individual articles
belongs to their respective authors, and
articles may be reproduced for personal use
only. For reproduction for other purposes
permission in writing of both author and
publisher is required.

W. Kaye Lamb Essay Scholarships Committee
Robert Griffin
107 Regina Avenue, Victoria, BC, V8Z 1J4
Phone 250.475.0418 bgriffin@royalbcmuseum.bcca
Writing Competition - Lieutenant-Governor's Award
Bob Mukai
4100 Lancelot Dr., Richmond, BC V7C 4S3
Phone 604-274-6449 robert__mukai@telus.net

www.bchistory.ca the Federation's web site is hosted by Selkirk College in Castlegar, BC

Book Reviews

From the Baltic to Russian America.
Alix O'Grady. Kingston, Ont, The Limestone Press!
Fairbanks, University of Alaska Press, 2001. 304p., illus.,
maps. $28 paperback.

Too few British Columbians possess
a significant knowledge of the early history
of Alaska when it was the stronghold of the
Russian American Company (RAC) and its
fur trading empire, headquartered in what
is now Sitka (Novo-Arkhangel'sk). This
book, hopefully, will serve to stimulate
interest in that period when Russia
controlled a vast part of the North West coast
of the continent.
The reader is introduced to a newly
married couple, Baron Ferdinand von
Wrangell and his wife, Baroness Elisabeth
von Wrangell, both from the then Baltic
province of Russia. Both were from
aristocratic backgrounds, but it appears that
neither family was particularly wealthy. He
was age 33 and she was 19. They met on May
3,1829. Upon first seeing Elisabeth, Baron
von Wrangell was infatuated. She was a
friend of his cousin. They were introduced,
married and left on the epic adventure
which is the subject of the book - all within
a month.
The Baron had recently been offered
the appointment as chief manager of the
RAC and Governor of the RussianAmerican colonies for a five-year period and
a change in company policy required all
chief managers to be married. While his
marriage was timely, his love for Elizabeth
was genuine. In order to assume his
appointment, the couple undertook a
journey which lasted eighteen months and
involved crossing Russia to Siberia, a
distance of 6000 miles and then a like
distance by ship across the North Pacific to
Sitka, for a total of 12,000 miles. To describe
such travel as arduous would be
understating the obvious, considering
geography and conditions in 1829. By
comparison, travel across frontier America
to Oregon or California, while also arduous,
took about 8 months. However, Wrangell
had already distinguished himself as a naval
officer and explorer while Elisabeth had the
advantage of youth and its adventurous
spirit.

Books for review and book reviews should be sent to:
Anne Yandle, Book Review Editor BC Historical News,
3450 West 20th Avenue, Vancouver BC V6S 1E4

The journey was interrupted by one
consequential stop for 8 months in Irkutsk
where Elisabeth gave birth to their first
child, Marie Louise, on April 23, 1830.
Barely 4 weeks later on May 27 they
continued their travels by barge, when the
spring breakup opened passage on the Lena
River. They departed the port settlement of
Okhotsk, August 24,1830, on board an RAC
three masted sloop of 210 tons, for Sitka.
Elisabeth, who had dreaded the voyage, had
her worst fears confirmed as they were
swept by howling gales. Waves washed a
whaleboat overboard and water sloshed into
the cabins. Her colourful recollections of the
voyage were not recorded until after their
arrival in Sitka, on September 29,1830. As
they approached Sitka, they were met by a
flotilla of Tlingit (Kolosh) canoes, to pay
their respects, led by the chief (toyon)
dressed in tails with a silk waist coat and
jodpurs! Three Tlingit toyons were invited
to their cabin where Ferdinand served then
a bottle of "the cheapest wine" which they
appreciated and asked that some be
provided to their oarsmen as well.
Elisabeth described their cabin
residence as "lovely and friendly despite the
few inconveniences." She undertook her
new role as chatelaine with enthusiasm. Her
presence was an uplifting influence upon
the community. She was popular with all
levels of society. She entertained regularly,
was a gracious hostess, developed
relationships within the Tlingit people and
hosted many visitors such as Peter Skene
Ogden and Sir George Simpson. Her legacy
continued through subsequent chatelaines,
so that Sitka came to be known as the "Paris
of the North."
The book divides itself into three
distinct sections. The first, the journey, to
Sitka, which is largely narrated by Elisabeth
primarily in her letters home. The second
section deals with the Baron's five year term
as Governor and chief manager of the RAC
voiced through his journal entries and
reports, with few contributions from
Elisabeth and none following the death of
their daughter Marie Louise, never a strong
child, in 1832. The final section is again the

Baron's narrative. His term has been
completed and they journey home via
California and Mexico where he has
diplomatic duties. They cross Mexico and
make their way up the east coast to New
York and thence to Europe. Elisabeth then
became the first woman to go around the
world without crossing the equator.
Back home, the Baron resumed his
career with the Imperial Russian Navy,
eventually attaining the rank of Admiral.
Sadly Elisabeth died on March 31,1854. In
a letter to her friend Lutke the Baron
confides, "My unforgettable companion and
faithful friend of 25 years has separated
forever; her soul has fled this earthly life and
gone to its eternal resting place." His grief
and pain are evident to us 150 years later.
He survived Elisabeth by sixteen years.
They had nine children, five of whom reach
adulthood. He never remarried.
This book is a worthy and welcome
addition to northwest history. Its epistolary
format puts the reader "there" and makes
it difficult to put aside.
Norm Collingwood, retired Provincial Court Judge with a
special interest in the north.

Halcyon; the Captain's Paradise • A history of
Halcyon Hot Springs.
Milton Parent. Nakusp, Arrow Lakes Historical Society,
2005. 104 p., illus., map. $25 hard cover. Available from
Arrow Lakes Historical Society; PO Box 819, Nakusp, BC
VOG 1R0

The author has drawn on an excellent
collection of photos and archival materials
of the Arrow Lakes to write a history of
Halcyon Hot Springs. Known to the Lakes
Salishan band of the upper Columbia, these
hot springs were not preferred to their sweat
baths. Few references to Halcyon are made
in the prehistory or fur trade documents and
only the briefest of references are made prior
to the mining era of the 1880's.
Arrival of the CPR and consequent
mining boom brought the first claimant to
the site. One of the most intriguing
characters in West Kootenay history, Robert
Sanderson was an educated, energetic
adventurer and entrepreneur, who after
BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORY - Vol. 39 No. 1

29

building the railroad bridge at Revelstoke
headed south down the Columbia to the
Arrow Lakes. Captain of the sternwheeler
Dispatch, and one of the founders of the
Columbia & Kootenay Navigation
Company, he became the first owner of the
400 acre site of Halcyon Hot Springs.
Sanderson divested interest in 1896 and the
next year sold the remainder to Alberta
interests who had expansion plans. From
newspaper quotes of that time the author
provides a picture of a lively facility with a
range of services and recreation
opportunities.
Robert
Sanderson,
meanwhile had followed the mining and
smelting business to Trail, then Nelson, and
in the early 1900's took his young family
back to the upper Arrow across from
Halcyon at Pingston Creek to a floating
sawmill. From there he traveled to
Arrowhead where he was Captain of a
federal government dredge. Control of the
Hot Springs changed hands in 1905 and
again in 1910, a time of prosperity when
Halcyon was a social destination for people
of the mills and transportation centers of
Arrowhead and Nakusp,and the mills and
mining camps in Beaton Arm.
The period of greatest optimism for
Halcyon was from 1910-1914 when the CPR
decided to expand their tourism network
into the Kootenay, Arrow and Okanagan
lakes by linking first class rail service with
luxury paddlewheelers: the SS Bonnington
on the Arrow, the SS Nasookin on Kootenay,
and the SS Sicamous in Okanagan Lake.
World War I put an end to this optimistic
vision and the paddlewheelers were
scrapped in favour of more utilitarian
shipping; the hotel at Balfour was turned
into a sanitarium, and Halcyon met the same
fate a short time later. Prohibition in 1917
further struck the hotel trade; the "only sure
profit making service left for Halcyon was
the treatment of workmen from the Trail
smelter" for lead poisoning.
The period for Halcyon as a spa was
dominated after 1924 by Brig.-Gen.
Frederick Burnham, a medical doctor, and
war hero of the Balkans conflict who ran the
lodge until it was destroyed in 1955. One of
30

BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORY - Vol. 39 No. 1

the Arrow Lakes' most memorable
characters; puritanical, he allowed no
smoking, drink, or dancing in his spa. The
latter part of the book treats Burnham, his
contacts, his family and employees.
Depression years marked the beginning of
decline for Halcyon, but surprisingly it rode
out this period as Burnham catered to his
small but loyal clientele. The late forties saw
Burnham's idiosyncracies more evident and
the economy of the region changed. Water
links were the only lifeline to Halcyon and
when the last of the paddlewheelers, the
Minto, stopped service in 1954 the facility
was doomed. Burnham died in the fire
which accidentally burned Halcyon in 1955.
Many photos enliven the text of this
attractively bound book. The "booster" style
seldom detracts from an interesting read. It
is quite well edited with one notable
exception the spelling of the name of a
source of photographs should be "Stan
Sherstobitoff"(see p. 31, p.32, p.45).

includes cut lines explaining each
illustration and short contextual histories
written by Hayes. It and its predecessors are
distinctive publications.
The distinctiveness lies not in the use
of reproductions of historic maps and other
materials but rather in the full use of colour,
the emphasis on good design and an easily
accessible approach to historical narrative.
Historical atlases based entirely on
reproductions of maps and charts have been
produced in Canada prior to Hayes' work.
John Warkentin and Richard Ruggles'
Manitoba Historical Atlas produced in 1970
by the Historical and Scientific Society of
Manitoba is a prime example. A solid history
with well-selected historic maps in black
and white, it lacks the eye appeal of Hayes'
atlas series.
Beginning with a title page spread of
a bird's-eye map of New Westminster,
Burnaby and Vancouver that "was drawn
about 1912 to illustrate the central position
of two subdivisions for sale . . ." Hayes
W.A. Bill Sloan
documents in text and historic illustration
Vancouver and the Lower Fraser Valley from
First Nations' settlements and first European
Historical Atlas of Vancouver and the Lower
explorers to satellite images and Geographic
Fraser Valley.
Information System (GIS) -based mapping
Derek Hayes. Vancouver, Douglas and Mclntyre, 2005. 192
of the region. In between, as foreshadowed
p., illus. $49.95 hardcover.
Derek Hayes is back. He began his by the title page bird's-eye view, the maps
series of historical atlases with his Historical of the development visionaries with their
Atlas of British Columbia and the Pacific transportation expansion dreams and their
Northwest: maps of exploration: British real estate maps dominate.
Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Yukon
The atlas includes over 370 original
published in 1999. With that volume he map reproductions and over 100 period
found his strength. He combined his photographs. Some of the maps are good old
expertise and interest in mapping and map standbys - the 1791 Spanish map, based on
collecting and his strong design sense with the explorations of Narvaez, showing what
his interest in local and Canadian history to is to become Vancouver as Ysla de Langara
produce five more well-received historical has appeared many times in regional
atlases.
literature and the literature of exploration.
This time it's with the Historical Atlas Many others, less mainstream historically,
ofVancouver and the Lower Fraser Valley. Likesuch as the fire insurance atlas map of 1897
each of its five predecessors, this is a large- of Steveston showing the location of the
format, sumptuously illustrated, full colour salmon canneries and the early real estate
atlas. It consists of maps, charts, subdivision maps in the Fraser Valley, are
photographs, sketches, bird's-eye views and rarely seen.
property plats produced from European
Hayes' decision to include the lower
contact to the present in and about British Fraser Valley was a well thought out one.
Columbia's Lower Mainland. It also Geographically, Vancouver and the Valley