September
2-11, 2004
co-sponsored
by the Victorian Society in America and the Victorian Society Summer
Schools Alumni Association
A Personal Reminiscence
by
Bruce Davies, VSA Vice-President
The British Columbia Study Tour co-sponsored by the Victorian Society
in America and the Victorian Society Summer Schools Alumni Association
held September 2-11, 2004 was a resounding success.
During the tour, forty-eight participants heard expert commentary from
John Adams, a B.C. historian, author, and museologist. The educational
content of the program was mirrored by some of the most magnificent
scenery on the globe.
The experience started in Vancouver (population 2,000,000) with Adams
lecturing on the history of western Canada from 15,000 BC to 1900 AD.
Reference was made to planned stops on the tour.
In Vancouver, various parks, gardens, commercial and residential
districts were examined. Historic Chinatown intrigued many. There was
also great appreciation for the Marine Building (below) an art deco
masterpiece once the tallest building in the British Commonwealth.
Entrance to Marine Building
(1928-30, McCarter & Nairne, architects)
The Marine Building
features multi-colored terra cotta by Gladding, McBean & Company (their
Seattle area branch) and bas-relief tiles by Batchfelder Tile Company of
Los Angeles.
Later at the University of B.C.’s Museum of Anthropology, Dr. Carol
Mayer, Curator, explained the significance Walter C. Koerner
collection of European ceramics. The group then explored the museum’s
remarkable First Nations collections.
Much of B.C.’s recent human history centers on extraction of natural
resources (beaver and otter fir, fishing, lumber, and mining). John
Adams’ tour program reflected this. From Vancouver, the coach followed
the mighty Fraser River east and north. In the late 1850s, this same
waterway was followed by thousands – primarily Americans – fixated on
the Cariboo Gold Rush. At Hell’s Gate, our participants descended via
sky-tram to the raging river torrent that stymied the gold seeker’s
quest to reach the gold fields.
The coach followed the old Cariboo wagon road as far north as
Barkerville, the historic town at the center of one of the largest
gold discoveries in Canadian history. Along the way, Hat Creek Ranch
revealed an authentic 19th century roadhouse and farm that
operated until 1974. Many original buildings remain; complete with
intact wallpapers and surface finishes. This was merely a taste of
what was to come at Barkerville, where architecture and atmosphere
combined to captivate our group.
Next came the Canadian Rockies - Jasper, Lake Louise, and Banff. Two
nights were spent at the lavish Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel (below),
an enormous property built by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in
1888 and renovated in 1911 and 1928. It is now a federally designated
Canadian National Historic Site.
Exploration of Canada’s Rockies by Victorian tourists began in 1886
when the CPR completed its transcontinental line. The railway hired
artists to paint the mountain scenery and then lured Canadian and
American clientele to the new resort hotels.
Dudley Brown inspects the Perry Creek water
wheel at Fort Steele Heritage Park.
While in Banff, our group of Victorians visited some fascinating small
museums. The Whyte Museum featured an exhibition titled, “Wish You
Were Here”. Through late 19th century costume, documents,
scientific instruments, and superb photographs, the Vaux family of
Philadelphia’s passion for study of the ‘Canadian Alps’ was explored.
Nearby was the Banff Park Museum (below), founded in 1895, and
re-built in 1903. The museum remains unchanged – in essence a museum
of a museum. Many of its natural history dioramas were part of
Canada’s effort at 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
Banff Park Museum, paneled in quarter-sawn Douglas fir, the museum was
deemed a firetrap in the late 1950s, and ordered destroyed by the
Parks Service. But it was saved, and is now a protected Canadian
National Historic Site.
This is just a small sample of what was experienced in British
Columbia and Alberta.
Half of the tour group posed before the famous Banff Springs Hotel.
Click picture for full size image
