It was recently reported that a lawsuit has been launched against a gift and souvenir shop for copyright infringement of Francis Horne Sr.’s design of a Sasquatch.

I’ll leave it to the courts to settle that; I just want to express my admiration for BC Indigenous artistry. Look at these totem poles at Alert Bay in the 1890s. Magnificent!

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Back in October, 10-year-old Caleb Wullum became the youngest person to climb Vancouver Island’s tallest peak (12,195 metres/7,201 feet).

First ascended in 1913, the peak is named for Sir Francis Drake’s ship, the Golden Hinde, because the hero of the Royal Navy’s defeat of the Spanish Armada is believed by many to have sighted the mountain during his 1577-1580 world navigation.

Vancouver Island’s highest peak, Mount Golden Hinde. —*Wikipedia*

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I don’t know about BC Chronicles readers, but I grew up enthralled with stories of lost treasure. Thanks, no doubt, to the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson. Then came American magazines and television shows.

I was hooked.

When I learned about New Westminster area’s Lost Creek Mine—almost in my backyard as opposed to most lost treasures—and, again, thanks to American TV, I began researching and writing about lost fortunes here in B.C.

The late Bill Barlee was phenomenally successful at this with a series of books that are still in print. One of the legends he popularized was the Spanish Mound of the Keremeos region, a story that made the news in October.

If we accept Native lore, a group of Spanish Conquistadors followed the Columbia River as far as the basin of the Similkameen where they were attacked, killed and buried, still wearing their armour.

True or no, I think you’ll agree it’s great story!

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Closer to home, Christine Meutzer has retired after 27 years as the City of Nanaimo’s Archivist. Happily for the Ladysmith Historical Society, she’ll continue as their volunteer custodian of the past.

More than a quarter of a century of dedication to regional history—Bravo, Zulu, as they say in the navy, Christine!

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History, as I understand it, is supposed to be a learning experience. We build upon what we’ve learned; it’s called progress.

So how could Canada lose its world status as a measles-free nation in the 21st century? How ironic, how sad, that we’ve entered an age of misinformation. Is history to be distorted, to become a tool, a weapon, in the hands of those intent upon spreading evil?

Sad.

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