The Chronicles

When I was a kid, way back in the Jurassic Age, all that I knew about the Doukhobor people of B.C. could be summed up in a cynical four-line ditty which we kids bandied about in school. I still remember it, but won’t repeat here.

As the years went by and there were glaring newspaper headlines about arson, and scenes of naked demonstrations by the Sons of Freedom sect filled evening TV screens, what little thought I gave to their protests and beliefs wasn’t charitable.

There just ain’t nothing sacred any more...

It’s looking more likely that a Vancouver mining company will get the go-ahead to “process the large quantities of waste rock on land owned by Mosaic on Mount Sicker...” reads the lead of a front-page story in this week’s Cowichan Valley Citizen.

The waste rock referred is that of the ore dumps and tailings piles of the historic Lenora and Tyee mines on Mount Sicker.

Whenever we see or hear anything in the news about whales these days, it’s about their being threatened (in the case of the Orcas) with eventual extinction, or of a whale being run down by a ship, or becoming entangled in discarded fishing gear...

Our concern for their general welfare is a dramatic turnaround from that of our pioneers, Indigenous and White, who harvested them for their meat and blubber, then for their oil and ambergris which were valued for industrial purposes.

Having a Facebook page can be like stroking a cat; rub it the wrong way and you can get scratched.

So I've learned over the past months of hosting T.W. Paterson History Author, which was set up for me by and at the urging of friend Blake Mackenzie, creator of the phenomenally successful FB site, Gold Trails and Ghost Towns.

It was over almost as soon as it began but still worth the time and trouble to drive to Crofton.

I’m referring to Sunday evening’s flypast by the famous Martin Mars water bomber, Hawaii Mars, on her final flight to retirement at Sidney’s BC Aviation Museum. (Bonus: She was escorted by the Snowbirds in perfect formation.)

It’s the dog days of summer so please forgive me if I begin this week with a ramble; specifically, a quote from immortal Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery who obviously was a lady after my own heart:

“I am simply a book drunkard. Books have the same irresistible temptation for me that liquor has for its devotees. I cannot withstand them.”

Further to this week's Chronicle, the conclusion to the tragic story of 1920s Cowichan Lake school teacher Mabel Jones, this is the second time in 15 years that the Mill Bay Malahat Historical Society has chosen to bring history to life via the stage.

As I write this, B.C.’s greatest icon of the Cariboo gold rush era is in danger of destruction by a forest fire.

It was back in 1967, Canada’s Centennial, that this ‘ghost town’ was rescued from eventual oblivion and since has become one of the province’s greatest tourist attractions.

Who hasn’t visited Barkerville?

According to the Quesnel Cariboo Observer, the BC Wildfire Service “has had sprinklers installed on every building...as the area remains under an evacuation order on Tuesday. July 23...”

Although it sometimes feels like it, I’m not the only author who celebrates British Columbia history. Obviously, as Chronicles readers are sure to be aware, there are others beating the drum of history.

However, a full-page story in this week’s Cowichan Valley Citizen is a happy reminder that, right here in my own backyard, a dedicated band of volunteers is hard at work promoting Vancouver Island’s colourful past.

John Milton Bryant (1887-1913), who’s acknowledged as “one of the first American barnstormers,” had acquired his aviator’s license only six months before his death. An inset on his headstone in the Los Angeles Odd Fellows Cemetery reads:

In Memoriam

August 6, 1913 – The first fatal airplane accident in Canada occurred when John M. Bryant, husband of Alys (Tiny) Bryant, was killed in the crash of his plane at Victoria.