Teaching for Understanding
British Columbia’s
heritage
Secondary Social Studies Lesson Plans
© Copyright 2002 British Columbia Museums Association
This lesson plan resource may only be used for educational, non commercial purposes, including
any fair dealing for the purposes of private study or research or uses in schools.
The content providers as identified hold copyright to images, texts, and documents from their
collections used as resources in these lesson plans.These images, texts and documents may not be
reproduced without their permission, except as specified in the accompanying lesson plans.
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Teaching for understanding British Columbia's Heritage : secondary
social studies lesson plans
Copublished by: British Columbia Ministry of Small Business,
Tourism and Culture, Heritage Branch.
ISBN 0-9691623-4-0
1. British Columbia--History--Study and teaching (Secondary) I.
British Columbia Museums Association. II. British Columbia.
Heritage Branch.
FC3811.T42 2002
971.1
C2002-910701-6
F1088.T42 2002
ii
Preface
You have just opened an educational resource of elementary-level lesson plans that have British
Columbia’s history as their content and critical thinking as their methodology.
This resource is the product of two years of workshops conducted by the “TFU” (Teaching for
Understanding) professional development network, which resulted in lesson plans developed by
partner groups of teachers and curators. Curators provided primary source material and historical
content and teachers provided the appropriate educational framework and lesson focus. The TFU
model of critical thinking was used to phrase the lesson as an open-ended question to stimulate
students to discover their own thoughts and answers about complex historical issues which are
still evolving or continue to happen here in BC.
The professional development workshops were challenging, stimulating events for the
participants; the lesson plans we hope provide you with useful content and exciting ideas to take
to your students.
We would be interested in your comments or feedback and any examples of student work
produced out of using these lessons. Please contact
The British Columbia Museums Association
204 – 26 Bastion Square
Victoria, B.C. V8W 1H9
e-mail: bcma@museumsassn.bc.ca
tel: 250-356-5700
The teachers and curators of the BC TFU Steering Committee and Regional Coordinators
iii
Acknowledgments
Many people, both within the BC Heritage community and BC Education community, have
helped create this resource. Thanks go to the BC Museums Association and its members, the BC
Ministry of Education, the BC Heritage Branch, School Districts 53, 61, 62 , 63, 73, and 5, the
University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University Faculties of Education, the BC
Social Studies Teachers’ Association, and all the teachers and museum professionals who
provided the leadership and energy to create these TFU Lesson Plans.
In particular, the contributions of the following individuals and organizations should be noted:
TFU Steering Committee










Jean Barman, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia
Becky Burns, MSA Museum, Abbotsford
Hoberly Hove, Principal, Kamloops/Thompson, SD 73
Jennifer Iredale, Curator, Coastal Okanagan Region, Heritage Branch
Rob Larson, Vice-Principal, Prince George, SD 57
Lesley Moore, BC Museums Association
Tom Morton, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University
Peter Seixas, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia
Greg Smith, Teacher, Okanagan Similkameen, SD 53
Stewart Wilson, Teacher, Southeast Kootenay, SD 5
TFU Regional Coordinators






Rae-dene Lacey, teacher, Okanagan Similkameen, SD 53
Diane McNay, teacher, Greater Victoria, SD 61
Cam Murray, teacher, Kamloops/Thompson, SD 73
Stewart Wilson, Teacher, Southeast Kootenay, SD 5
Shirley Sutherland, North Vancouver Museum and Archives
Bev Kennedy, Fraser Heritage Society
Thanks also to GT Publishing for writing, editing, and other publishing services (including cover
design) required to create this resource.
Other Contributors (Teachers and Curators)
Lynn Allaire, Teacher, SD 61
Paramjit Bahniwal, student teacher,
University of British Columbia
James Davies, Teacher, SD 62
Marie Elliot, Author & Historian
Gail Krickan, teacher, SD 62
Sherril Foster, Summerland Museum
Suzanne E. Haverkamp, Curator, Penticton
Museum
Karin Kwan, Teacher on Call, SD 61
Lindsey Langill, SD 53
Chief Clarence Lewis, Inkameep Band
Daphne Louis – Teacher on Call, SD 61
Tina Lowery, Museum Intern
Ernie Millward, Teacher, SD 53
Diane Morgan, SD 67
Barry Morhart, Teacher, SD 53
Craig Newson, Teacher, SD 53
Cuyler Page, Manager, the Grist Mill at
Keremeos Heritage Site
iv
Sue Parfitt, Curatorial Intern, Heritage
Branch
Bob Parliament, Regional Manager, Kilby
General Store Museum
Christine Pilgrim, Historical Interpreter
Leslie Plaskett, President, Osoyoos Museum
Society
Tom Pound, Maritime Museum of BC,
Victoria
Yvonne Sharpe, Executive Director,
Maritime Museum of BC
Connie Thomson, SD 53
Marcy Thompson, teacher, SD 61
Deryll White, Curator, Fort Steele Heritage
Town
Wayne Wilson, Director, Kelowna Museum
Stewart Wilson, Teacher, SD 5
Many thanks as well are extended to the Field Services Coordinators, School District Supervisors,
Principals, Museum Directors etc. who provided release and professional development time for individual
contributors to meet, brainstorm, conceive, gather content, write and re-write, edit, and review successive
drafts in order to build these lessons.
contents
Preface • iii
Acknowledgments • iv
An Introduction to Teaching for Understanding History
Some Central Concepts .................................................................................................... 7
The Teaching for Understanding Model .............................................................................. 9
Using This Guide ............................................................................................................ 10
The Passing of an Age:
The Impact of Technology on the BC Interior in the late 19th Century (Grade 10) ............... 12
v
British Columbia’s Heritage
An Introduction to Teaching for Understanding (TFU) History
--Peter Seixas, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia
Most teachers and students can readily identify what is most deadly about the study of history in
schools: the meaningless parades of names, dates and events to be memorized. But in running
quickly away from that prospect, it is a bit harder to define what it is that we actually want from
history lessons. One response is “engagement.” We might “engage” students in memorizing
historical names, dates, and events through a Jeopardy game. We might “engage” them by telling
fascinating stories about the past… or by dressing up as characters from history and acting in
role. Each of these has the possibility for engagement. But each still begs the question, why learn
history? Why not tell fictional stories, stage fictional drama, have a science quiz? “Engagement”
is not enough of an answer: we must be “engaged” for some further end. What—if anything—is
important for us in learning about the past?
In contemporary culture, we are faced by a series of driving questions whose answers help us to
orient ourselves, in terms of who we are, what we are doing, and how we relate to others. These
questions of historical consciousness include the following:
1. How did things get to be as we see them today? Which aspects are signs of continuity over
time and which, signs of change?
2. What group or groups am I a part of, and what are its origins?
3. How should we judge each other’s past actions, and therefore, what debts does my group owe
to others and/or others to mine?
4. Are things basically getting better or are they getting worse: progress or decline.
5. What stories about the past should we believe?
6. Which stories shall we tell? What—about the past—is significant enough to pass on to others,
and particularly to the next generation?
These are questions that historians deal with, with nuance and complexity based on years of
questioning, thinking, reading and study, but they are also questions that all of us must deal with
in one way or another. In the complex, multicultural society that we live in, the answers are not
easy nor “given.” The role of school history is less to provide set answers, than to help students
gain the tools to deal with these questions in more knowledgeable, thoughtful, and sophisticated
ways. They are questions that we care about. So it’s not the case that they don’t need real
answers. They do. It’s just that different people, with different perspectives, are likely to answer
them—with good reason—differently. And that is why simply providing students with one set of
answers, or helping them to do well on a Jeopardy quiz (or Dominion Institute questionnaire), or
teaching them one narrative of Canada’s past, may be important, but it is not enough: we should
not set our history standards that low. Teaching students to deal with big questions that help them
to orient themselves in time, is what we mean by “teaching for understanding history.”
Some Central Concepts
For several decades, British educators have attempted to move history education beyond the
memorization of facts and stories, through the use of what they call “second order historical
concepts.” These concepts are central to historical thinking, but in a different way than
substantive or “first order concepts” like “revolution,” “assimilation,” or “democracy.” The latter
concepts are just as important, but they are not ones that define how we understand the past, how
we do history. The second order concepts that the TFU Workshops explored include the
following, which correspond, in a rough way, to the questions of historical consciousness posed
above:
6
British Columbia’s Heritage
Continuity and change
How foreign is the past? Students may mistakenly assume that things in the past were basically
similar to things in the present, only they looked a bit different. For instance, they may imagine
that being a medieval serf was a job, not understanding that the whole set of relations of
production was entirely different from a modern wage-labour economy. An extreme version is
“Flintstones history”: the notion that people in the past went about life in ways that are basically
the same as our own, but they just dressed up differently. Part of the task of teaching history is
teaching how fundamentally things have changed, how foreign the past is.
Empathy/perspective taking
Closely related to this, indeed part of the same task, is to help students try to reason from the
perspective of those in the past, those who were living in very different conditions, with ideas
very different from our own. This is not an affective challenge (as the term “empathy” might
suggest), nor a challenge to take an imaginative leap. Rather, it is the challenge to use evidence to
start to reconstruct lost worlds. We cannot do this without an awareness of the hindsight that we
exercise in the process of reconstruction.
Evidence
A useful distinction can be made between reading for “information” and reading for “evidence.”
A clear example of the former is the way we use a telephone book: we look up a phone number
for a specific purpose. Moreover, unless we get the message “this number is no longer in
service,” we do not interrogate the construction of the phone book, or ask other kinds of questions
of it. Unfortunately, many students’ experiences of school history textbooks are similar: they use
them to look up facts to regurgitate for chapter review questions or tests. School textbooks are
designed as compendia of information. But reading a historical source as evidence is quite
different: here we question who wrote the passage, in what context, for what purposes. We may
use the source as evidence of something that the author never intended, or indeed never thought
about (e.g., as evidence of the author’s beliefs about race).
Moral judgment
Moral judgments in history move us into a very tricky, but very important, area. They need to be
seen in the light of what was said about empathy/perspective taking and evidence above. It is very
easy to accuse 19th century men of sexism, or BC’s colonial settlers of racism. But imposing our
own early 21st century moral frames on people of the past is like shooting fish in a barrel. Before
using history to inform our own moral understandings, we need to take into consideration the
contexts within which historical characters’ decisions were made. This is not to say we should
maintain moral neutrality in the face of brutal slaveholders, enthusiastic Nazis, or marauding
conquistadors. History does offer us a way to enhance and enrich our own moral frameworks, but
we need, again, to move forward with an understanding of the operation of our own hindsight as
we do so.
Progress and decline
The concepts of progress and decline bring an element of moral judgment to the concept of
continuity and change. Progress and decline can pose as universal frameworks, but the more
careful historical thinker will add the questions, “progress for whom” and “progress in what” to
add complexity and nuance to the exercise. Technological progress may be accompanied by
environmental decline. And there may be significant debates over what constitutes political or
economic progress. These are all important questions for lessons in history.
7
British Columbia’s Heritage
Significance
We cannot teach or learn everything that happened in the past. So there are important choices to
be made as we think about what is significant in the past. Should we concentrate, for instance, on
political leaders or on broad social movements? Some students think that what is in the textbook
is, by definition, what is significant: if it were not significant, why would it be there? At the other
extreme, some students think that what is “interesting” or important to them is historically
significant. This is ultimately an unproductive approach to the problem of significance. Our
notions of historical significance will reflect our values and thus, like the concepts of progress
and decline, will introduce contentious and debatable (and therefore educationally interesting and
important) issues. The most advanced understandings of historical significance will link what is
interesting and important to us in our own lives to the largest frameworks and questions of global
continuity and change.
The Teaching for Understanding Model
These concepts are central to the Teaching for Understanding workshops that developed the
following lessons, but there were a few other important sets of ideas that should be mentioned.
The second set of ideas we used to develop the lessons was from McTighe and Wiggins’
Understanding by Design Handbook (Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development, 1999). The key strategy that we took from them was the idea of
“backward design” for unit and lesson plans:
a. define what is worth understanding in terms of generative topics framed as big issues or
questions.
b. think about what students might do or make to provide evidence of understanding.
c. as the final step, plan the processes through which students will come to understand (through
engaging lessons and units).
McTighe and Wiggins call this backward planning because, to put their ideas in more common
terms, designing the assessment comes before the design of instruction.
A third set of ideas had to do with the incorporation of materials, documents, and other resources
from archives and museums. The second-order historical concepts become most meaningful when
they are used with primary historical sources. Some of the greatest repositories of these sources
are archives and museums, and so we sought to establish new ties between teachers developing
history lessons and people who work in British Columbia’s museums and historic sites.
And finally, we knew that it was necessary to remain cognizant of the Integrated Resource
Packages, and particularly, their Prescribed Learning Outcomes, if the lessons were actually
going to be used in British Columbia.
To summarize, the Teaching for Understanding History model consisted of:




second order historical concepts
backward design
museum artifacts and archival documents
British Columbia curriculum documents.
We hope that you find the following lessons both useful in themselves, and generative, in their
ability to help you think about designing new lessons of your own.
8
British Columbia’s Heritage
Using this Guide
This resource has been created to help secondary teachers in British Columbia give their students
a better sense of the province’s history and heritage. It consists of seven lesson plans that use the
“Teaching for Understanding History” pedagogical approach and employ primary and secondary
materials provided by the members of the BC Museums Association. British Columbia’s past
becomes meaningful for a twenty-first century student through the use of private journals, old
photographs and newspaper articles. The lessons, each specifically designed for a particular grade
level, cover a range of topics and time periods. Students have the opportunity to read excerpts
from the journal of Captain George Vancouver and see the BC coastline and First Nations people
as they appeared to him when he first set eyes on this part of the world. They learn about BC’s
entry into Confederation through the working diary of J.S. Helmcken, read letters written by a
Penticton soldier while serving in the trenches during World War One, and take a virtual tour
through an art gallery featuring the works of Emily Carr. By discovering how real people
represented their world through pictures and writing, students have a chance to develop a
meaningful personal understanding of various aspects of this province’s history.
There are seven lesson plans included in this resource. In addition to incorporating a TFU
methodology, they have been specifically tailored to address provincial Social Studies learning
outcomes dealing with the history and the development of communities in British Columbia. For
this reason, lessons have been written only for those grades that focus on such outcomes (e.g.,
grades nine to eleven).
Format of the Lesson Plans
Each lesson has been organized in the following format, to make reading and implementing the
procedures as straightforward as possible:

Overview: offers a summary of the lesson topic and instructional strategy(ies) employed

Time Required: provides time parameters for the lesson as well as any other scheduling
information the teachers may find useful

Essential Question: poses the main question the students are expected to focus on over the
course of the lesson

Rationale: provides a brief explanation of the purpose and value of the lesson in relation to
the TFU model

Curriculum Connection: lists the Socials Studies learning outcomes addressed by the lesson

Materials and Resources: lists the websites (if applicable), handouts, teacher resource
materials and assessment tools employed in the lesson in the order in which they are used

Procedure: provides the step-by-step procedural information needed to carry out the
activities involved in the lesson

Assessment: offers a possible method for assessing student achievement of the lesson’s
objectives, incorporating the assessment tool included with the plan

Extension Ideas: suggests further activities meant to reinforce achievement of the learning
outcomes addressed by the lesson or provide segues into related social studies topics
The lesson procedures incorporate a variety of instructional strategies designed to stimulate the
students’ interest and foster awareness and appreciation of what British Columbia’s past was
really like. Some require the students to work independently and focus on their own research and
presentation skills, while others involve group activities designed to foster teamwork and
collective decision-making. These strategies include:

visual analysis (e.g., The British Columbia of Emily Carr, The Passing of an Age: The
Impact of Technology on the BC Interior)
9
British Columbia’s Heritage





role play (e.g., The Passing of an Age: The Impact of Technology on the BC Interior)
key inquiry (e.g., Sunken Treasures)
on-line research (e.g., Sunken Treasures, The British Columbia of Emily Carr, BC Joins
Confederation)
group presentations (e.g., Sunken Treasures)
journal writing (e.g., Vimy Ridge: The Battle that Shaped a Nation)
The lesson plans come equipped with all the handouts, teacher resource materials and assessment
tools needed to conduct the suggested procedure. Each lesson requires approximately one to three
hours of class time, and can be completed over the course of two to three classes. Recognizing the
variety of scheduling systems that exist within BC schools, the lessons have been organized in
flexible procedural steps that enable teachers to choose their own break points and decide how
much time they wish to devote to lesson activities during any one class.
Using the On-Line Resources
The lessons in this publication are designed to make the most of the growing wealth of historical
photographs and primary documents being compiled by the BC Heritage Digital Collections
project. Some of these lessons, (e.g., The Passing of an Age: the Impact of Technology on the BC
Interior, Vimy Ridge: The Battle that Shaped a Nation) contain all the necessary images and
information in the form of handouts and are entirely self-contained. They can be presented by
teachers without requiring students to use computer technology. Other lessons are based on online resources that students will need to access at the BC Heritage web sites where they are
featured (e.g., the virtual tour provided on the Kilby General Store site).
In the computer-supported lessons, it is not necessary for all students to have continuous access
to a computer throughout the entire lesson. Rather, the lessons have been designed so that
students conduct on-line research or complete a computer-based activity only once or twice
throughout the entire procedure. The computer research or reading analysis assignments have all
been designed to take less than forty-five minutes to complete, so students can complete them
during one class period or a session in your school’s computer lab. The procedural steps
involving the use of a computer might be seen as useful pause points in the lesson, allowing the
students to carry out the on-line activity at home or during out-of-class research time at the school
or local library.
10
British Columbia’s Heritage
The Passing of an Age: The Impact of Technology on the BC
Interior in the late 19th Century
A Grade 10 Social Studies Lesson
© BC Heritage – The Grist Mill at Keremeos
11
British Columbia’s Heritage
The Passing of an Age: The Impact of Technology on the BC
Interior in the late 19th Century
(A Grade 10 Social Studies Lesson)
Overview of Lesson
Students analyze pictures and profiles of people who visited or lived in the Similkameen region in
the late 19th century. They then adopt the character of the person they have studied and try to
imagine how that person’s life would have been affected by technological advances. Student
groups then prepare a script of dialogue in which these characters discuss the new technologies
and how their lives and the Similkameen region’s way of life have changed as a result.
Historical content for this lesson provided by The Grist Mill at Keremeos, RR #1, Upper Bench
Road, Keremeos, BC, V0X 1N0. (250) 499-2888
Time Required
This lesson will take two to three hours of class time.
Essential Question
Did the technological changes in the late 19th Century benefit or harm residents and
communities of the BC Interior?
Rationale
Technological advances such as railroads, steamers, and modern irrigation techniques had a huge
impact on people who lived in the BC interior at the end of the 19th Century. By using the people
of the Similkameen region as a focus of study, students gain understanding of how these
technological developments changed the lives of individuals as well as communities.
This lesson engages students in addressing the TFU issue of empathy/perspective taking.
Curriculum Connection
The following learning outcomes are addressed by this lesson in whole or in part:
Social Studies, Grade 10
It is expected that students will:
 identify the influence of immigration on, and the contributions of immigrants to, the
development of Canada (Society and Culture)
 analyse the changing perception of Canadian identity and assess the influence of the United
States and other countries (Society and Culture)
 identify and describe the effects of technological innovation on settlement and employment
patterns within regions of Canada (Economy and Technology)
 identify factors that contribute to the economy of British Columbia (Economy and
Technology)
 analyse how geography influenced the economic, historical, and cultural development of
western Canada (Environment)
12
British Columbia’s Heritage
Materials and Resources















student handout: Character Photo 1 (Barrington Price)
student handout: Character Photo 2 (Julia Bullock-Webster)
student handout: Character Photo 3 (Lum Lock)
student handout: Character Photo 4 (Ben Snipes)
student handout: Character Photo 5 (Jean Caux “Cataline”)
student handout: Character Photo Analysis
student handout: Character Profile 1: Barrington Price—Gentleman Farmer and Miller
student handout: Character Profile 2: Julia Bullock-Webster—Pioneer Tourist
student handout: Character Profile 3: Lum Lock—Miner, Settler, Storekeeper
student handout: Character Profile 4: Ben Snipes—Cattle King
student handout: Character Profile 5: Jean Caux “Cataline”—Packer
student handout: Gathering at a Grist Mill
student handout: The Okanagan-Similkameen in the 19th Century
student handout: British Columbia and the World in the late 19th Century
assessment tool: The Impact of Technology
Procedure
1. Introduce and display the Essential Question where students can see it as they work through
the lesson. (Did the technological changes in the late 19th Century benefit or harm residents
and communities of the BC Interior?)
2. Begin by organizing students into ten groups. Have each group examine a different
“Character Photo” from the list above. Two groups should examine each picture. Ensure that
each group member has his or her own copy of the “Character Photo.” Distribute the student
handout: “Character Photo Analysis” to the class, and have each group discuss the questions
listed in the handout as they relate to the “Character Photo” they’ve been given. Advise
students to take notes on their discussion.
3. Now distribute the corresponding “Character Profiles” to the groups. Have the groups read
through the biographies of the characters they’ve been assigned, and discuss the profiles
compared to the assumptions they made about the person based on the picture.
4. Reorganize the class into groups of five. Each new group should consist of members who
studied one of the different characters (if your class is not divisible by five, then have
students form one or two six-member groups. The additional member could adopt the
character of one of Julia Bullock-Webster’s children—either one of her daughters who came
with her on the trip, or one of her sons who settled in the Okanagan). Have the new group
members introduce their characters to each other. Ask them to briefly discuss how their
characters would appear to each other were they to meet.
5. Tell the groups that all of their characters were in the Okanagan Valley at the same time.
Barrington Price and Julia Bullock-Webster did meet each other. Given the relatively small
number of settlers in the Okanagan Valley in the 1890s, it is conceivable that they might have
met the other characters as well, or passed them on the street in the small town of Keremeos,
where Barrington Price and Julia Bullock-Webster’s sons lived. Inform students that their
assignment is to reconstruct a fictional meeting between all of these real-life characters, and
create a dialogue that they think the characters might have had with each other regarding the
13
British Columbia’s Heritage
technological advances of the day. Distribute the handout, “Gathering at a Grist Mill” and go
over it as a class to ensure students understand the assignment.
6. Distribute the student handouts: “ The Okanagan-Similkameen in the 19th Century” and
“British Columbia and the World in the Late 19th Century.” Ask students to refer to the
information in the handouts in order to reconstruct the world in which their characters lived.
7. When the groups have finished preparing their dialogues, have them present them to the
class.
8. After the presentations have been made, conduct a debrief discussion. During the course of
the discussion, ask the following questions:
 How did advances in technology open up the Similkameen region to immigration?
 What technological advances in the late 19th century resulted in the
Similkameen/Southern Okanagan being dominated by the industries that are most
prevalent there today?
 How can technological advances make entire job professions obsolete?
 How did technological advances in the late 19th century improve the standard of living for
people in the Similkameen region?
 Which characters spent the rest of their lives in Canada? Which did not? Why? How
could the modern term “brain drain” be said to apply to those characters who lived in the
Okanagan, then returned to their home countries? (e.g., Barrington Price and Ted
Bullock-Webster both sold their property in Keremeos during the Okanagan land boom
for what was probably a large sum of money, then left Canada and took that money out of
the country with them, instead of remaining and putting it back into the economy here.
Ben Snipes also built up his fortune in the U.S., rather than in Canada.)
9. For homework, have students write a 1-2 page journal account of the dramatized encounter at
the Grist Mill from the perspective of their character.
Assessment
Use the assessment tool: The Impact of Technology to assess the contributions of both groups and
individuals during this lesson.
Extension Ideas



Take a field trip to the Grist Mill in Keremeos.
Have students research the development of the Okanagan Valley in the 20th Century to
compare the predictions attributed to their characters to the actual development of the region.
Have students compare the impact that technology had on the British Columbian way of life
in the late 19th century with the impact that modern technological advances are having on our
way of life today.
14
British Columbia’s Heritage
Student Handout: Character Photo 1 (Barrington Price)
15
British Columbia’s Heritage
Student Handout: Character Photo 2 (Julia Bullock-Webster)
16
British Columbia’s Heritage
Student Handout: Character Photo 3 (Lum Lock)
Provided by Kelowna Museum.
17
British Columbia’s Heritage
Student Handout: Character Photo 4 (Ben Snipes)
18
British Columbia’s Heritage
Student Handout: Character Photo 5 (Jean Caux “Cataline”)
BC Archives – B-01506
19
British Columbia’s Heritage
Student Handout: Character Photo Analysis
Examine the picture carefully. In your groups, discuss the following:

When do you think this person lived?

Where do you think this person was born?

To what social class might this person have belonged?

What do you think this person did for a living?

What technological advances do you think might have taken place during this person’s
lifetime?
20
British Columbia’s Heritage
Student Handout: Character Profile 1
(Barrington Price—Gentleman Farmer and Miller)
Barrington Price was a pioneer settler of the Similkameen Valley in the 1870s. He bought the
Hudson’s Bay Company store at Osoyoos in 1871 then sold it two years later to buy a few
hundred acres of land in Keremeos. He established both a cattle ranch and a water-powered grist
mill on his property. Before he built the mill, residents of the Similkameen Valley had to travel
270 kilometres by foot or horseback to Fort Colville, Washington if they wanted to get some
flour. In 1877, Price added a general store to his property.
Barrington Price imported the most modern and sophisticated mill machinery available in British
Columbia for his operation in the Similkameen Valley. The mill was built to operate with water
from Keremeos Creek. The building was constructed of hewn logs with dovetailed corners. It still
stands today, a testimony to its unknown builders. The success of the mill prompted a change in
the Similkameen Valley from cattle ranching to wheat growing.
The Colonist paper reported on August 6th, 1876: “Mr. Price has men employed sawing lumber
for a flour mill. It will encourage the farmers to cultivate the valley and may be a very good
speculation.”
And by March 3, 1881, the Inland Sentinel paper reported:
“Price’s flouring mill is running day and night, making a very good article of flour and when the
improvements he is making are completed he will be able to compete with the best brands on the
market. Mr. Price is one of the first settlers in this valley, a gentleman and thorough business
man.”
The Similkameen farmer would deliver sacks of wheat to the second floor of the mill building. To
grind the wheat, the miller would open the overhead flume to allow water from Keremeos creek
to flow over the top of the waterwheel. The waterwheel was connected by a series of belts to the
various grinding, sifting and sorting machinery inside the mill.
One neighbour had this to say of Price’s flour: “… although it was not a fine flour, it answered
well in a pinch. I used it and it made a dark but very palatable bread.”
Barrington Price came from England in the 1870s and was reputed to be a “college man from
Oxford.” He was an English clergyman’s son and inherited an estate from his mother.
According to one of his neighbours, Barrington Price “was somewhat of a picturesque figure and
rather played the squire in surroundings that were not at all akin to those in which you expect to
find a squire. He was hospitable, a great horseman, kept a store and bar, and was a big man in his
neighbourhood.”
Price claimed to be a second cousin to the Prince of Wales, and was rumoured to have lost a small
fortune through gambling back in England. He apparently spent the last of a dwindling supply of
money on his property and grist mill. Unfortunately for him, the sophisticated grist mill
equipment he bought was extremely expensive. He was forced to lease out the mill and general
store to a neighbour in 1884 in an effort to recover his investment. John Coulthard, the neighbour,
converted the store to a living residence for his family. They lived there on Price’s property and
ran the mill. In 1903, Price sold the controlling interest of the mill to Coulthard. He sold his
property in Keremeos and returned home to England in 1904.
21
British Columbia’s Heritage
Student Handout: Character Profile 2
(Julia Bullock-Webster—Pioneer Tourist)
Julia Bullock-Webster was almost seventy years old when she travelled to Canada in 1894. She
came with her two daughters, Nell and Liz, to visit her sons, Ted and Howard. The two men had
settled in the Okanagan eight years before. Ted still managed the farm they had built up for
themselves; Howard had gone on to become a police officer.
Julia was a middle-class gentlewoman who married a Captain in the British army. She was very
fond of sketching and painting. She drew and painted many pictures during her time in the
Okanagan. She also kept a journal of her visit to Canada.
After sailing from England to Quebec, Julia and her two daughters had to travel across the
country from Montreal to Sicamous, BC via the new CPR line. It was a long, uncomfortable trip
for them. Here is what she wrote in her journal about the trip from Montreal to Winnipeg:
“To our horror we had a screaming baby & three other very naughty children in the same car.
We got rid of them at Winnipeg but - oh what a trial they were. The sleeping cars are
comfortable. Clean sheets & pillow cases every night & unlimited supply of towels but what an
experience! Fancy dressing - undressing behind a curtain - & kneeling on the berth as best you
could the train swaying about - so violently we were all (sea) sick! I thought it must leave the
rails very often…
Julia found the journey through the prairies to be “intensely hot” and dusty. She wasn’t
very impressed with the scenery. Once she headed into the Rockies, though, her view of
the surroundings changed:
“I could not describe the wonders of nature that we passed through. Mountains capped with
perpetual snow rearing their heads above us & then torrents foaming below the railway
seemingly flying along in mid air!… Really the scenery is not only sublime but terrific in its
grandeur. One cannot take it in. It seems really to daze one.
Unfortunately, the latter part of her trip through the Rockies was spoiled by summer forest
fires, which obscured her view entirely. Upon arriving at the CPR Hotel in Sicamous, Julia
and her daughters were met by her son, Howard. They took the new Shuswap & Okanagan
Railway from Sicamous to Okanagan Landing. In her journal, Julia mentions that she is sad
there was not more traffic on the new railway, as she owned some shares in it.
From Okanagan Landing, Julia and her children took a paddle-wheel steamboat across
Okanagan Lake to Penticton. Again, the journey was marred by thick smoke caused by
forest fires:
All the way the smoke increased & when we got to Vernon, it was thicker then ever. It was a
great disappointment as we could see nothing absolutely of the lovely scenery… We stopped in
Kilona [sic] to put off a woman with two children. Dear [Lord] Aberdeen has a very fine Ranch
there & has built a beautiful house. The Governor General & Lady Aberdeen are expected
down in the autumn to open the Vernon Horticultural Show & always come [to] their own
Ranch…
Julia’s other son, Ted, met them in Penticton:
We reached Penticton about 4 'oC & went to the hotel kept by Mr. Thurber, close to the
Landing stage… We were hoping our dear Ted would be there to receive us but he did
not arrive till very early the next morning. He had been travelling all night poor dear &
22
British Columbia’s Heritage
arrived very exhausted. Howard gave him something to eat & then about 8:00 brought
him up to our room. The dear fellow was quite overcome as we all were more or less.
Oh, what a happy thankful meeting after eight years… The dear fellow is not more
altered then one could expect, but I was struck by the tense, hunted expression of his
face. No doubt he had been quite over done & utterly tired out. Then the excitement of
the meeting & perhaps a good deal of anxiety how we should stand the life. So utterly
strange & unlike any previous experience & the habits of a lifetime. We had not much
time together as he was obliged to hurry back, cattle to be attended to and no end of
farm work to be done. Mr. Barrington Price, his nearest neighbour just across the river
was looking after things during his absence…
The last stage of the journey, from Penticton to Keremeos was completed by carriage,
which Julia vowed she would never forget as long as she lived:
Our conveyance was a sort of mail phaeton only the box seat was high. There were a pair very
good horses harnessed of course according to the fashion… the whole thing decidedly
primitive but the dear things went flying splendidly… Clouds of dust. Rushing along uphill
down another never mind how steep by the side of a Lake into which we expected [to fall]…
Horses carriage & luggage all in a fearful jumble for the bank was in some places very steep. In
places we looked sheer down into the blue water an immense height… I suppose we must say,
that we had to cling on with all our might, or we should have been pitched out head foremost.
After having to cross a river in a leaky boat, Julia at last reached her sons’ farm in
Keremeos:
“Howard gave me his arm after they had secured the boat & we came up the "drive" & then the
steep bank on which, this house stands about 100 feet above the river & the way rough so I was
glad of support. They sat me in the only chair they had to offer in the verandah & thankful I felt
to be at the end of our long journey. We could see nothing beyond a few yards. The smoke was
so thick. The house is log built. The verandah covered with a mass of hops. Looking & feeling
deliciously cool & green. The heat had been intense all the way… I need not say we were all
very tired…
“So here we were at Home on this side of the world! After a time we came into this room in
which I am writing, a very good sized one. With a window on each side of the door. Three
wooden bedsteads each in a corner, wool mattress on each & a blanket, but only one pillow
between them! A small wash stand, small deal table in the middle, not a single chair, & of
course no sort of carpet! "Where are we to sit down?...Where are our clothes going?" we asked
each other under our breath! How little we knew then the infinite toil & trouble even these
preparations had given the dear fellows & I was thankful we had not let them see our feelings
of dismay. There are two rather deep steps to go down into the kitchen which is also our dining
room. A sloping roof with a long table… Ted's head only just misses knocking against the roof.
There is a grand cooking stove, but outside the back door as it would be too hot during the hot
weather inside.
During their time in Keremeos, Julia and her daughters kept house for the men and did some
sight-seeing in the Okanagan Valley. Julia did many watercolour paintings of the scenery she saw
there. Julia and her two daughters stayed at the farm near Keremeos for almost two years,
returning to Britain in 1896. Julia’s son, Howard, eventually became Chief Constable of the West
Kootenays, then later went on to become a barrister. Ted continued to work his farm in Keremeos
for a few years, but eventually sold the property and returned to Great Britain.
23
British Columbia’s Heritage
Student Handout: Character Profile 3
(Lum Lock—Miner, Settler, Storekeeper)
Lum Lock (or Lam Lock) was born in Sun Wui, Kwantung Province, China. Kwantung Province
was experiencing a famine and prospects for young men were very bad. He came to “Gold
Mountain” as did many of his countrymen, to mine for gold in Cariboo. He may have been one of
the many Chinese immigrants who helped to build the Canadian railway in the 1870s and 1880s.
These Chinese railway workers were paid less than a quarter of the wages given to white workers.
When the railway was complete, these immigrants became the victims of intense racial
discrimination. Labourers and immigrants of European descent feared that their Chinese
counterparts would deprive them of jobs. The white population of British Columbia lobbied the
government to enact legislation that would halt Chinese immigration to western Canada.
Lum Lock moved to the Okanagan in the late 1880s or early 1890s. Agricultural labouring jobs
were available in the Okanagan. In Kelowna, he lived in a community of five hundred Chinese.
While a handful were entrepreneurs who came to the Okanagan to operate cafes and laundries,
most worked for farmers and orchardists, as low wage labour. The Chinese were hired in the
Okanagan’s first orchards to pack water using a shoulder-balanced pole with a five-gallon coal oil
can at each end. The men were often bunked together 20 to 30 in a building. Besides hauling
water to irrigate the orchards, they also did the work of thinning and picking fruit. A Kelowna
pioneer recalled that:
Every day the men filed along the street on the way to the fields at the edge of town where they
put in a long day's work. As they went, their high sing song voices could be heard for some
distance. The queue or pigtail was still worn by a few of them.
Lum Lock started a drygoods store in Kelowna where he probably imported lovely Chinese
silk scarves, brightly wrapped candies and nuts, and perhaps other goods to supply people
with goods not otherwise available to them in “Gold Mountain”. According to historian Ettie
Adam, Lum Lock was the leader of the pioneer Chinese community in Kelowna.
Many of Lee Lum’s friends returned to China with their overseas fortune to marry and settle
down. Lee Lum, however, stayed and met his wife, Lee Quon Ho, in Canada. They were
introduced through mutual friends – the Lee Tai family.
Lee Quon Ho was born in Shanghai, China although her family came from Sun Wui, Kwantung
Province. She immigrated as a very young woman arriving in Victoria, BC on December 27,
1903 on the Empress of Japan. She was probably still in her teens when she married Lum Lock,
who by that time was in his 40s. She and Lee Lum had three sons, Frank, George, and Harry.
“On special occasions the boys were dressed in suits of Chinese red silk with red skull caps to complete
their outfits…”
As an old man, Lum Lock claimed to be 105 years old, probably because Chinese elders were
highly respected. When Lee Lum died, Lee Quon Ho worked as a char woman, later moving to
Victoria, BC to operate a candy store and then to Vancouver, BC.
24
British Columbia’s Heritage
Student Handout: Character Profile 4
(Ben Snipes—Cattle King)
For the past hundred and fifty years or so, the Similkameen and South Okanagan have
traditionally been cattle country. The lush grass-covered land with its wide river bottoms and
ideal climate helped cattle to thrive in the region.
The Caribou gold rush and other developments in the interior of British Columbia and the Yukon
resulted in cattle herds of enormous sizes being driven from the American plains into the areas of
mining booms, such as Barkerville in the Caribou, and Whitehorse in the Yukon. Because there
was no decent trail through the Fraser Canyon, most cattle were brought north from Oregon and
Washington to the Okanagan on the old Hudson’s Bay Company fur brigade trails.
The cattle drives often involved moving hundreds of animals. The cook and packhorse man
would take the lead. The cattle followed, with riders looking after each group of about 50 to 100
animals. In late afternoon the herd was allowed to rest and graze while the cook set up his camp
and the men prepared for the night. When the weather was good, a cattle drive could be a
leisurely, enjoyable experience. When it stormed, though, the animals could be spooked and the
men would have to work day and night keeping them calm.
American-born Ben Snipes was one of the many cattle owners who brought cattle from Oregon to
the Cariboo gold fields. He was only 17 when he left his home in Iowa in 1852 to travel west on
the Oregon Trail. When he reached Oregon he met John T. Jeffries, a cattle dealer, who taught
him how to buy cattle from local ranches. Ben decided to start his own business, and like Jeffries,
for a number of years he drove cattle to the Fraser River and Cariboo. The drive from the Yakima
Valley in Washington to where he grazed his sheep in the BC interior was a distance of almost
1300 km.
The "cow killer" winter of 1861-62, with icy crusts over the deep snow and sub-zero temperatures,
caused losses of 75 to 100 percent in nearly all the cattle herds. While most of Snipes' cattle in the
Yakima Valley in Washington perished, the small herd that he had driven to Okanogan country
survived. Come spring he sold them at a good profit to hungry miners. The miners paid $100 per
head for the cattle, paying with gold dust. Ben was very cautious as he travelled back to Oregon
with his precious earnings, for fear of being robbed.
Snipes was known throughout the territory by both Aboriginal people and settlers. He knew the
Chinook jargon and hired several Aboriginal cowboys for his drives. When severe winters and low
beef prices stifled other cattle owners, Snipes would buy their herds. He knew that it would only
be a matter of time before beef prices would go up again. This foresight and financial courage
made him the largest individual cattle owner in the Northwest – his nickname became "Cattle King
of the Northwest."
As the cattle industry took hold in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys, ranchers expanded the
size of their farms. Large tracts of land were converted to grow hay. Men and horses would work
long days under the hot summer sun, moving, raking, gathering and stacking grasses and herbs
for winter fodder. As big as the ranches grew, though, they did not make their owners wealthy.
Most ranchers had to work very hard just to make a living.
Eventually Ben Snipes and other Oregon cattlemen found enough business close to home, leaving
the Cariboo market to Thaddeus and Jerome Harper and several other cattlemen who owned
25
British Columbia’s Heritage
ranches in British Columbia. The Harper brothers established the famous Gang Ranch on the west
side of the Fraser River that supplied both sheep and cattle to Barkerville. After his death, Snipes
was inducted into the American National Cowboy Hall of Fame.
26
British Columbia’s Heritage
Student Handout: Character Profile 5
(Jean Caux "Cataline"—Packer)
In the days before railroads, it was very difficult to transport goods and supplies over land. This
was especially true of mountainous regions.
When gold was discovered in the 1850s in the interior of what is now British Columbia, many
people wanted to go there and try to “strike it rich.” Crossing the huge mountains that cut off the
coast from the interior was a big problem, though—especially for miners and settlers who needed
to bring all of their mining or farming equipment with them. There was also the problem of
hauling food supplies such as huge bags of flour and beans over the mountains.
The only way to bring heavy equipment or packages in those days was by pack-train. This was a
train of mules or donkeys that were tied one behind the other by rope and carried all of the goods
and supplies on their backs. Organizing and leading a pack-train was dangerous and exhausting
work.
Jean Caux is probably the best known packer of pioneer British Columbia. He and his wellmanaged pack trains played an important role in these early days.
The name "Cataline" was given to him when he first came to North America. He was originally
from a place called "Catalonia" in the country of Bearn. Bearn was a small country on the border
of France and Spain. He did not speak much English and when people would ask his name, he
would reply, "Catalonia". After a few years, he became known as Cataline.
In 1858, Cataline packed out of Yale and Ashcroft. As more and more wagon roads were built in
the Cariboo, Cataline moved north and packed out of Quesnel for several years. Here too, wagons
began taking over from the pack trains and therefore, Cataline moved north once more and made
Hazelton his home base.
Packing and pack trains were still very much a necessity in this part of the country. Pack trains
were used to get supplies to the Omineca area, the Bulkley Valley settlements and north up the
Yukon Telegraph Trail.
Cataline ran a pack train comprised of 60 perfectly trained mules. He had little to no formal
education and kept few written records. He relied mostly on his incredible memory to keep things
organized. He needed no invoices concerning what supplies each pack animal was carrying, how
much to charge for the supplies or where to leave them. Cataline would get credit from a bank or
the Hudson's Bay Company and then rely on his customers to pay the creditor.
Dave Wiggins was Cataline's right-hand-man or, in Mexican terms, segundo. It was Dave's job to
be sure all the equipment was in good repair. He was usually very busy mending pack saddles
and rigging. He knew each of the saddles and pads and exactly which horse or mule they
belonged to.
Cataline wore the same clothing winter and summer. He would buy a new white boiled shirt for
every trip and wore woolen pants, leather riding boots with no socks, a bright colored scarf, and a
wide leather sash around his waist. When trading, his segundo would fetch him his French hat,
morning frock coat and a birch tree chair. Cataline then held the position of honour since he was
the only one seated.
27
British Columbia’s Heritage
Another much told story about Cataline involved his favourite drink --cognac. After each drink,
he would take a little in his hand and rub it on his hair. He used to say, "A little on the inside, and
a little on the outside!"
Cataline was particularly proud of his reputation for never failing to fulfill a freight contract. No
settlement was too remote and no mine too difficult to access. Men would often start out to a
newly placed claim with only the bare necessities. They depended on Cataline to follow with a
full cargo and not once did he fail them.
In one account a story is told of a small parcel disappearing. When the package was noted as
missing, Cataline sent a replacement from Hazelton --2 pounds of Limburger cheese! One of the
handlers on the pack train had thought that something had gone rotten and had thrown the original
package away.
After more than 55 years riding the trails, Cataline made his last trip in 1913, when the Grand
Trunk Pacific Railway first reached Hazelton. Cataline must have been in his eighties when he
decided to retire. He sold his pack train to a Kispiox Valley rancher, George Beirnes. After
retiring, Cataline lived in a cabin George gave him near Hazelton.
He died peacefully in Hazelton in October 1922 and is buried up on the hill overlooking the old
town of Hazelton, in the country he knew so well. A memorial cairn has been erected in this area
in his memory. There is also a site marker about Cataline that is situated on Highway 62 which
reads:
"Cataline"
"Nickname of Jean Caux, first, last and greatest of our packers. From 1858 to 1912
this colourful Basque, with loaded mules plodding 10 miles a day, supplied mining and
construction camps from Yale and Ashcroft northward, through Hazelton where he
often wintered. His mule trails became roads; his exploits legend; both memorials to
this great frontiersman."
28
British Columbia’s Heritage
Student Handout: Gathering at a Grist Mill
Imagine that the year is 1895, and all of your characters have gone to the grist mill on Barrington
Price’s property to have some grain ground into flour. This is a fairly lengthy process; so you
would all have more than enough time to strike up a conversation with each other. How would
your characters interact with each other? What sort of things would you discuss?
In your groups, prepare a script of a conversation your characters have while standing in line at
the grist mill. Your dialogue should be between 5 to 10 minutes long. Once you have completed
the script, memorize your parts and be prepared to act it out for the class. Consider using props
and/or costumes to make your dialogue more realistic. In your dialogue, each character should
make mention of the following:

his or her job or way of life

why he or she is in Keremeos

at least one new form of technology that has recently made its way into the Okanagan
Valley, and the impact it has had on his or her life

at least one new form of technology that is in British Columbia, and predictions on how it
will change the Okanagan Valley when it reaches there

at least one new form of technology that is rumoured or known to have been invented in the
world, and predictions on how it will change British Columbia and/or the Okanagan

the geography and agricultural potential of the Okanagan Valley, and predictions of future
settlement in the region based on recent advances in technology

how they perceive the “Canadian identity” and how they believe Canada will grow as a
country.

at least one social change that was happening in Canada or in the world that would have
extended repercussions on his or her life.
As all of these characters are based on people who actually lived, try to make them voice their
opinions as authentically as possible. Remember that these characters come from different walks
of life, and may have very different views on how technology has negatively or positively
affected their lives. It is not necessary for the characters to agree on the opinions expressed.
29
British Columbia’s Heritage
Student Handout: The Okanagan-Similkameen
in the 19th Century
1807
Hudson’s Bay Co. explorer David Thompson becomes the first person of European descent to
enter into the Okanagan Valley. He was followed in subsequent years by fur traders seeking to do
business with the Aboriginal people living in the Okanagan Valley.
1825
In an effort to prevent Americans from settling in what is now the BC interior, Hudson’s Bay
Governor George Simpson announces a “scorched earth policy” instructing Hudson’s Bay
trappers to hunt beavers to extinction south of the Columbia River.
1857
The first fruit trees are planted in the Okanagan Valley, near Osoyoos Lake, by former Hudson’s
Bay Co. packer Hiram “Okanogan” Smith.
1858
Gold is found in the Thompson River. During the gold rush, the Okanagan Valley became part of
the main route from California to the Thompson River. Non-Aboriginal people began travelling
through the valley in large numbers.
1858-1880s
Various mining towns spring up along the Similkameen and Tulameen Rivers. Some recognize
the grazing and farming potential of the Okanagan Valley, and decide to settle there. Some
enterprising farmers start up cattle ranches.
1880
Francis X. Richter plants an apple orchard on his cattle ranch near Keremeos. This is the first fruit
orchard to be planted in the Southern Okanagan.
1886
Francis Richter plants a second orchard, this one to grow prunes, which he dries and sells at
considerable profit. This was the first orchard in the Similkameen region to use irrigation
techniques.
The first paddle-wheel steamboat is launched on Okanagan Lake. The Mary Victoria Greenhow
begins to make irregular trips between Okanagan Landing and Penticton.
Work begins on the newly incorporated Shuswap & Okanagan Railway line, intended to service
the Okanagan Valley from the CPR station in Sicamous to Okanagan Lake near Vernon.
1890
There are four hundred white settlers in the Okanagan and 20 000 head of cattle. Most of the
arable land is owned by the “Cattle Kings” and used for growing hay or grazing.
Lord Aberdeen of Scotland visits Canada with his wife, the Lady Aberdeen. They both “fall in
love” with the country.
30
British Columbia’s Heritage
1891
The first private telephone line in the interior of BC is completed, connecting the homes of Alfred
Postille and Thomas Wood on the Vernon Mission Road. A little over 8 kilometres in length, the
phone line costs the owners $55 per 1.6 kilometres, and is built on their own property east of
Duck Lake. (Telephones weren’t to come to Keremeos until 1905.)
Lord Aberdeen buys “Coldstream Ranch,” in the Okanagan Valley, renames it “Guisachan” after
his father-in-law’s estates in Scotland. His purchase of the ranch lends an air of British gentility
to the valley.
1892
Orchards are planted on Lord Aberdeen’s ranch. In the early 1890s, the Southern Okanagan is
recognized as having huge potential as a fruit-growing region, as it has one of the longest
growing seasons in the province.
The 82-km Shuswap and Okanagan Railway is completed. The CPR launches a paddle-boat
steamer service connecting Okanagan Landing to Penticton and other stops along the way. The SS
Aberdeen gave residents in the Okanagan Valley their first regular mail, freight, and passenger
service. This opens the area up to settlement and marks the beginning of the land boom in the
Okanagan Valley.
1893
Lord Aberdeen is named Governor-General of Canada. Political engagements demand that he
spend most of his time in Ottawa, but he and his wife return to the Okanagan in the summers.
Lady Aberdeen becomes the first president of the newly formed National Council of Women of
Canada.
1894
The Similkameen and Tulameen River regions suffer a devastating flood in June. Susan Allison,
who had lived in the southern Okanagan Valley for 25 years and was a close neighbour of
Barrington Price, describes the flood:
After a cold and backward spring there was a sudden change in the weather, the night
frosts suddenly ceased and it set in unbearably hot. Both the Similkameen and the
Tulameen rose at once, and the Similkameen from a small wasted stream became a
roaring, raging flood tearing on, gatherin all the flotsam and jetsam within its reach—
great logs and tender saplings—eating away the banks and moving huge boulders that
we had for years considered landmarks.
The Allisons vainly saw their house in half, in an effort to save part of it, but they end up losing
the entire home. Fourteen buildings on their property are lost, including the house and 25-yearold garden. The homes and properties of other people are lost to the flood as well. In some places,
the water was as high as the windowsills on people’s homes for up to three weeks.
Late 1890s
The beginning of the boom days in what is soon to become the “fruit belt” of the southern
interior. Land in the Similkameen region sells for much more than what the original buyers paid
for it only a decade or two before.
31
British Columbia’s Heritage
Student Handout: British Columbia and the World
in the Late 19th Century
1862
Belgian inventor Étienne Lenoir constructs the first car with an internal combustion engine in
1862 and uses it to take a 10-km trip.
1867
French inventor, Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot, creates a steam-powered carriage.
Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia join Confederation to form the Dominion of
Canada.
1870
The North-West Territories become part of the Dominion of Canada.
The province of Manitoba is created, joins Confederation.
1871
BC joins Confederation.
1873
Prince Edward Island joins Confederation.
1875
The first steam-powered grist mill is built in the U.S. The innovation of steam-powered grist mills
did away with the need to place mills along rivers and allowed them to be located in large cities
near rail and water transportation routes, where they could receive shipments of prairie wheat and
then distribute the flour to a large market.
1876
German engineer, Nikolaus Otto, invents the first internal combustion engine.
1877
U.S. inventor Thomas Edison invents the phonograph.
1878
The Remington Model 2 typewriter is introduced in the United States. It is the first typewriter to
have a shift key to write both upper and lower case letters; earlier typewriters had only capitals.
French scientist Augustin Mouchot develops a solar generator that produces enough energy to
power a steam engine.
1878
U.S. entrepreneur Albert Durant introduces the first milking machine.
1879
Thomas Alva Edison invents the incandescent light.
32
British Columbia’s Heritage
1885
Gottlieb Daimler develops a successful lightweight gasoline engine and attaches it to a bicycle to
create the prototype of the present-day motorcycle.
Responding to anti-Chinese pressure from the white population in the province, the British
Columbian imposes a $50 head tax on Chinese immigrants.
1887
German automobile pioneer Karl Benz manufactures the first vehicle powered with an internalcombustion engine for public sale.
1888
The Kodak No. 1, the first camera for amateurs, is introduced in the United States. Developing
and printing services are also provided, under the slogan “You press the button, we do the rest.”
The International Council of Women is formed. Lady Ishbel Aberdeen, whose husband would
become Governor-General of Canada in 1893, becomes the first President of the ICW.
In Victoria, people start to demand “motor cars” (street cars) for public transportation.
The Victoria newspaper the Colonist calls for the creation of a university in Victoria. (Victoria
College, later to become the University of Victoria, is founded in 1903. On the mainland, the
University of British Columbia did not receive its first students until 1915.)
1889
German automobile engineer Gottleib Daimler begins to sell his version of the internal
combustion engine-powered “horseless carriage.”
U.S. Singer manufacturing company produces the first electric sewing machine. (It will not be
really successful as a product until household electricity becomes widely available in the 1920s.)
In Victoria, women are granted the right to sit on school boards.
The city of Victoria has 315 telephones, and 79 electric street lamps.
The Colonist reports that Thomas Edison is at work on a device “to attach to the telephone that
will enable the sender and the receiver of a message to see as well as hear each other.”
Victoria has a newly formed “Temperance and Moral Reform Association.”
1890
The first British electrical power station opens, at Deptford.
1892
Smallpox epidemic breaks out in the city of Victoria. Vaccine had to be shipped out from the
east. Vancouver, Victoria’s rival city, forbade all the ships from Victoria to land. Those who did
make it ashore were placed immediately into quarantine.
33
British Columbia’s Heritage
1893
Woman’s suffrage is debated in the British Columbia legislature. One MLA speaks against the
idea by saying, “If the mothers were to be running about attending election meetings and going to
polling booths, what would happen to the poor little children?” The motion is defeated 20 to 10.
It is clear to most British Columbians that Vancouver is going to become the centre of the
province, since it is the terminus of the CPR line and is conveniently located on the mainland. In
order to ensure that Victoria remains the seat of political power in the province, the provincial
government decides to build elaborate new Parliament buildings.
The “Empress of China” steamship sets a new record when it makes the journey from Yokohama
to Vancouver in less than 11 days
The Colonist publishes rumours that a successful flying machine had been invented.
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary spends the summer hunting big game in the
Kootenays.
Bicycling is a very popular past-time for ladies in Victoria.
New Zealand gives women the vote.
Women receive the vote in Colorado, U.S.A.
The anarchist Auguste Vailland explodes a bomb in the Paris chamber of deputies, France.
1894
Chief Justice Matthew Baille Begbie, who came to British Columbia to administer the law during
the Gold Rush in the 1850s, dies.
The United States and China sign the Chinese Exclusion Treaty, which forbids Chinese labourers
entry into the U.S.
MP Wilfred Laurier leader of the federal Liberal Party visits Victoria during the summer.
The Colonist prints an editorial on the subject of women smoking.
Japan invades Korea, declares war on China (the beginning of the first Sino-Japanese War).
Japan defeats China in the battle of Ping Yang (Sept. 15).
Japanese forces are victorious over the Chinese at Port Arthur, China (Nov. 21).
Nicholas II becomes czar of Russia following the death of Alexander III.
The Colonist mistakenly writes that “horseless carriages” are a French invention, says that they
are “getting to be commonly used in France and they have been introduced in England.” The
Colonist then goes on to declare that “what with the bicycle and the motor car, the horse is indeed
becoming obsolete.”
34
British Columbia’s Heritage
1895
The Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi invents wireless telegraphy (radio).
The first auditorium to show the Lumière Cinematograph “moving picture” show opens in Paris,
France.
The Japanese navy achieves a resounding victory over Chinese forces at Wei-hai-wei during the
Sino-Japanese war.
China surrenders to Japan, cedes Formosa (present-day Taiwan), Port Arthur, and the Liaodong
peninsula to Japan. International pressure forces Japan to give the Liaodong peninsula and Port
Arthur back to China, in exchange for a sizeable financial compensation.
Amor de Cosmos, founder of the Colonist and one of the first MPs for the new province of
British Columbia, has been suffering from violent hallucinations for some months. He is
examined by a doctor and officially declared to be of unsound mind.
35
British Columbia’s Heritage
Assessment Tool: The Impact of Technology
Assess the group’s performance:
Presentation Group #
Group SelfAssessment
Teacher
Assessment
Comments
The characters were authentic and
believable
The characters each accurately
described how 19th century
technological developments had
already changed life in the
Similkameen region
The characters each described how
recent technological developments
available in BC would soon change
life in the Similkameen region
The characters each described how
new technological developments in
the world would change life in the
Similkameen region in the future
The characters accurately made the
connection between technological
developments and immigration to the
Similkameen region
The characters accurately made the
connection between technological
developments and the industries that
would come to dominate the
Similkameen region
Rating Scale:
4— Excellent
3— Good
2— Fair
1— Needs work
0— Incomplete
36
British Columbia’s Heritage
Use the student’s performance in the group presentation as well as his or her journal writing to
assess his or her individual work:
Criteria
Student SelfAssessment
Teacher
Assessment
Comments
The student creates an authentic
portrayal of his or her character’s
point of view
The student contributed to the success
of the group performance
The student can describe the role that
immigrants played in the
development of the Similkameen
region
The student can describe the impact
that technological advances had on
individuals in the Similkameen region
in the late 19th century
The student can describe the impact
that technological advance had on
communities in the Similkameen
region in the late 19th century
Rating Scale:
4— Excellent
3— Good
2— Fair
1— Needs work
0— Incomplete
37