PAGE 1
LOUIS MERO
AND HE WAS JUST WITH THE FRENCH?
Eh?
AND HE WAS JUST BY DOING WHAT HE DID TO THE MEN?
Yes, he done right.
YOU SURE?
I know I'm sure.
THE HISTORY BOOK SAYS NOT.
Well I don't care what the book says eh.
HE WAS RIGHT EH?
Yes he was right.
WHAT ABOUT THE FIRST WORLD WAR NOW?
Well, what about it, what you want to know about it?
HOW'D YOU MISS IT?
Eh?
HOW'D YOU MISS IT?
That's how I missed it. I was married and I didn't have to
go until I was 35.
DIDN"T THEY HAVE THE DRAFT OUT THEN?
Eh?
DIDN"T THEY HAVE THE DRAFT OUT THEN?
Oh, they was a draft sure I would have been drafted, if
the wa~ hadn't have been over because I had turned 35 .
.•.

HOW WERE THEY UP HERE, DID A LOT OF PEOPLE GO FOR' 'THE WAR?
Well there was quite a few yes.
HOW MANY?
Well I don't know, there was one, two, three of them I can
touch for. George Walker, Collin Monroe, Pete Markley,
Jenings, and there w~re a lot more I didn't know.
DID THEY JOTN UP RIGHT AWAY?
PAGE 2
Eh?
DID THEY JOIN UP RIGHT AWAY?
Yes. riqht on the start.
HOW WERE YOU IN THE DEPRESSION, PRETTY WELL OFF?
Eh?
WERE YOU PRETTY WELL OFF IN THE DEPRESSION?
Who me?
YAH!
Well, I don't know you are telling me I was well off, I
had enough to eat anyway, and a place to sleep.
WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE PEOPLE?
Well, they faired pretty good.
WHAT ABOUT THE BUSINESSES DOWN TOWN THEN, STORES AND THAT,
DID THEY CLOSE UP?
Well, they done alright. They got whatever money was around,
put around by the government. The government payed so much,
eight or nine dollars a month, they got that.
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE DRAFT?
Eh?

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF CONSCRIPTION?
Well
WERE THEY RIGHT IN PUTTING IT THROUGH?
Now I wouldn't know. I wouldn't say they were right, you're
forcing a man against his own will.
YAH, YOU EITHER FIGHT FOR YOUR COUNTRY OR IT'S TAKEN OVER.
Yes, if it suits yourself about that.
WELL YOU FEEL THAT THEY SHOULDN't HAVE PUT IT THROUGH EH?
Eh?
YOU FELL THEY SHOULDN "TVE PUT IT THROUGH EH?
No I don't think they should have, I don't think that a
man, one man has a .....
O.K. YOU TELL HE WHAT THEY DID IN THE DEPRESSION AND I'LL
'IN' YOU (J\J HERE.
PAGE 3
Well
O.K. GO.
They put camps and they picked out anybody to buy matresses.
A shoemaker in Smithers, she bought all the matresses, a
hardware outfit bought the saws and axes see. And they
never used none of them because nobody went to campf
SO THEY GOT A WHOLE BUNCH OF STUFF AND ...
Oh yes, the had hundreds and hundreds of axes and saws,
and a lot of matresses and stuff. So them fellas that bought
that for them, they made a little money on it.
ALL IN ALL YOU WERE PRETTY WELL OFF HERE THEN EH?
Well I had lots yes, I had cattle and I had ...

GOOD ENOUGH, THAT'S ONE DONE. WELL THE REST WE'LL DO WITHOUT THE CAMERA THERE BECAUSE I'M GOING TO SEE HOW THIS ONE
1 TOOK AWAY, SEE IF I GOT ENOUGH LIGHT IN HERE TO DEVELOP
IT. O.K., YOU TOLD ME ALL YOU KNOW ABOUT THE FIRST WORLD
WAR AND THE DEPRESSION EH?
Well you asked me nothing about the first world war, only
who went.
WELL I ASKED THE CONSCRIPTION. O.K. WHAT ABOUT THE FIRST
WORLD WAR?
Well what about it? What do you want to know?
WELL WHO'D YOU WANT TO WIN?
Eh?
WHO'D YOU WANT TO WIN, PUT IT THAT WAY (repeats this)?
Well it's a sinch I didn't want the Germans to win.
,
YOU SURE?
I'm damn sure.
O.K., LETS SEE HERE, FIRST WORLD WAR, NOTHING ELSE YOU KNOW
DURING THAT, HOW WERE YOU.
Eh?
HOW WAS AH, HAZELTON DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR, WERE TEHY
EFFECTED TO~~UCH?
Eh?
WERE THEY EFFECTED BY IT TOO MUCH?
PAGE 4
No, we weren't affected by it.
THE DEPRESSION, THEY WEREN'T AFFECTED BY IT TOO MUCH EITHER?

No.
O.K., GO UP TO THE SECOND WORLD WAR, HOW MANY PEOPLE VOLUNTEERED THEN?
Oh, there was quite a few. You Dad, there was Smokey, Solimin, Jeff, oh there was ...
QUITE A FEW FROM HERE THEN EH?
Yes.
HOW MANY GOT DRAFTED?
I think they all got drafted.
THEY ALL GOT DRAFTED?
I think so.
NONE OF THEM VOLUNTEERED?
No I don't think ...
HOW MANY VOLUNTEERES IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR DAD? (aside)
Oh, I don't know-Bill Janze.
BILL JANZE, HE VOLUNTEERED IN THE SECOND.
I did!
HE DID.
Well according to that they all did-except a few of them
they-I don't think there were very many drafted see.
WELL, HOW WAS HAZELTON AFFECTED THEN?
,
It wasn't affected, it was that world war that opened it
up in '36.
DO YOU REMEMBER THE BIG FLOOD OF '36?
Oh yes.
HOW BAD WAS IT?

Oh, it wasn't too bad, it was over the street.
PAGE 5
HOW MUCH WATER WAS ON THE STREET?
Oh, about a foot.
THAT'S ON THE LOWER STREET DOWN BY THE LIBRARY?
Yes, well the street right through from the curb to ...
HOW WAS THE STREET GOING INTO TOWN, WAS THAT WASHED OUT?
Oh no, no it wasn't washed out-went to town.
THE WATER WAS UP PRETTY HIGH THOUGH EH?
Well it was the highest I ever seen it.
IT MUST HAVE WASHED OUT DOWN BY THE EDY THERE, IT MUST HAVE
BEEN UNDER WATER?
Oh yes, it used it go under water all high water til they
built it up.
DO YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT AN AIRFORCE OR SOME KIND
OF ARMY BASE IN TERRACE?
No, I don't know nothing about Terrace.
SOMEBODY TOLD ME THEY HAD A BASE DOWN THERE.
Could have been yes.There was a bunch of fellas in Terrace,
there was a bunch of French fellas from Montreal in them
places, and they come from -they having a revolution there.
HOW'D THAT COME ABOUT?
Well I guess they wanted either to go to war or go to Terrace.
They were getting tired of being in the army camp, and they
wouldn't send them overseas.
HOW COME?
I do~'t know. Do you remember that Joe? Remember when

Bill some up to work for me. See. They pretty well had
a revolution there. Yes one of them work for me see.
HOW WAS YOUR POLE CAMPS THEN, YOU HAD THEM DURING THE SECOND
WORLD WAR?
Oh, yes ...
BIG MONEY?
No I didn't make any money
DIDN"T MAKE ANY MONEY?
PAGE 6
No, no I didn't make any money.
GEEZ, THAT'S TOO BAD.
Yah, that's too bad.
HOW MANY PEOPLE GOT KILLED FROM HERE IN THE SECOND WORLD
WAR?
By God I don't know.
QUITE A FEW?
Phil Janze was one eh and Joe.
AND BILL SARGENT?
Eh?
BILL SARGENT?
Oh yah, Billy Sargent too. I don't think it was very many
from here.
LORNA HINDLE, HIS WIFE'S HUSBAND? BERNERD HINDLE'S WIVES
FIRST HUSBAND?
Oh, yah. I didn't know him anyway.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF SCHOOL RIGHT NOW?
I haven't had time to study, I'd like to have, get a chance

to see what he's going to do. You can't see what they're
going to do.
SO YOU FIGURE HE'S STARTING SOMETHING THAT"S A HUNDRED YEARS
TO EARLY?
I think they're all starting something that they can't finish
mind you, there'e not only true though, see. That's all
you hear you take one party shooting it's head off at the
other. Now, see there ain't much to tell about the party.
WHAT ABOUT BENNETT, OUT PREMEIR?
Well, your Premeir, I don't know nothing about him either.
WHAT'S YOUR FEELING TOWARDS HIM?
Well I'd like to see him put in four years ...
HE HAD FOUR YEARS, HE HAD DAMN NEAR FIFTEEN YEARS?
No ...
BENNETT?
PAGE 7
Oh, Bennett-had twenty years yah.
WELL WHAT DO YOU FEEL TOWARDS HIM?
Well he had some good points and some mighty bum points.
I'VE HEARD YOU SAY A LOT ABOUT HIS BUM POINTS, WHAT WERE
SOME OF THEM?
Well the land deal was the one, and his mining was another
see, there's lots of them if I had lots of time to go and
piCk them out.
DID YOU VOTE FOR HIM?
Well my opinion about votes is nobodies business how I vote.
YOU STILL FELL THE VOTING AGE SHOULD BE LOWERED?

Yes, because they don't know what they're voting for.
SO YOU WANT IT TO BE LOWERED OR 'YOU?
Yas, I'd like to see it be 22 or 23 so you'll have some
common sense.
YOU MEAN TO TELL US THAT ALL KIDS DON'T HAVE ANY COMMON
SENSE?
No!
NOW JUST A MINUTE.
Now I'm going to tell you something, there isn't one of
u's, not one of u's that are interested in the government,
not one of u's. Look I can go up and take a hundred of
u's and stand up at the school door and ask something about
the government-you wouldn't know what i was talking about.
That's the trouble with our country today, we don't take
enough interest in our government. You don't need to have
any interest in our government, all the interest we have
you young fellers have today is go welfare.
OH, COME ON!
Oh yas come on, that's right.
GIVE THEM A CHANCE EH.
Oh, give them a chance yas. You want to go to work-no-welfare.
THAT'S-ABOUT 60 PERCENT, YOU GOT TO THINK ABOUT THE OTHER
40 PERCENT TOO YOU KNOW.
Yas, well I haven't seen it, no, I don't believe in it.
You fellas shouldn't have a vote untill you're 22 or 23
years old.
PAGE 8

YOU MIGHT AS WELL NOT VOTE AT ALL THEN.
Well that's alright, it's alright-you don't want your vote
up front anyways.
THEY GOT TO DECIDE THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY!
Well make a good decision, I'll betcha they'll decide no
work! That's what they have today.
THE VOTING AGE WAS LOWERED BY BENNETT TO 19 AND NOW ..
Sure, why? Did you ask yourself that?
NO BUT YOU TOLD ME ...
Now, just wait a minute, did you study that out?
IN A WAY.
Did any of you young fellas figure out why he done it?
I KNOW I HAVE.
Why did he do it?
SO"THE YOUNG FELLAS WOULD VOTE FOR HIM.
Yas, so he could get into power.
THEY DIDN"T VOTE FOR HIM.
Eh?
THEY DIDN'T VOTE FOR HIM?
Oh, they did vote for him, oh yas.
(can't make out the question.)
No, but I said, before that, before they run this time.
You put him in again, we wouldn't have B.C. United States
would've had B.C~
(can't make out this question either)
What do I mean by that? How many thousands of acres has
he sold to the American people, how many thousands of (seems

to be cut off at this point, then continues on) Do you
know that? There's another point that shows up that you
don't even know.
WELL SURE THEY GOT TO BECOME CITIZENS.
Yas, lots of them refused to, and they're not coming citizens.
Look at this man over here, in the hankin' rags- he strictly
told them he wouldn't become a Canadian citizen.
PAGE 9
WHO, CHEREARD?
Yow, see.
YAH, WELL THERE'3 OTHER ONES LIKE CAMPBELL.
Well that's different, Campbell took out his service yas.
(can't make out this question)
Oh, I don't know I never asked.
(tape fades out for a bit)
And there's one fella just stayed down in Victoria, and
he bought all the land he could buy see. I was waiting
for a place here, and had to for 3 or 4 years. Couldn't
get no head nor tail, he got it alright.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT WE HAVE IN POWER
NOW?
Because I have no, I can't say what the government is today,
I'd like to see them in four years then decide what they
have done.
A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK THAT (something, can't make it out)
IS FOR THE BIRDS?
Well, no, no we don't agree with it, I don't think that

it should opose the land, I think that people that were
born in the country-Canadian citizens, if they want to keep
the land the can tell em.
(again the tape fades)
Oh, no eh, well what are they taking this over here and
that over.
WELL, WHAT'S STOPPING ....
Well, just a mimute, why are they taking thistimber over
and one thing or another? Why are they doing it?
WELL PRETTY SOON YOU DON'T KEEP PAYING YOUR RESOURSES, YOU
DON'T HAVE ANY CAPITAL IN CANADA AT ALL?
No we won't, not as long .. that isn't the point. Because
they're trying to be Socialists, that's what they're trying
to be. Like Mr.Rush, yas, when he first went in he was
doing this and doing that so the poor people would have
more on their tables! As they put more on the table, I
should say not. No, no
THEIR COUNTRY"S GETTING AHEAD TOO YOU KNOW?
"

PAGE 10
Ahead of what? What are they getting ahead on?
WELL, THERE"RE GETTING MORE MODERN, SPACECRAFT ..
Yas, there're getting damn modern, you betcha, you betcha.
You don't need work.
YOU GOT TO WORK IN A COMMUNIST COUNTRY?
Eh?

YOU GOT TO WORK IN A COMMUNIST COUNTRY, IN RUSSIA?
You have to work?!
DAMN RIGHTS YOU DO.
Yas, well they ain't working much.
HOW DO YOU KNOW?
Because I know, youn know Russia-why do they have to but
wheat? Why do they have to but this and buy that?
BECAUSE THEY"RE USING THE REST OF THE STUFF TO TRY AND BEAT
THE U.S.
Eh?
THEY"RE USING THE REST OF THE MONEY TO TRY AND BEAT THE
U.S.
Russia?
THEY"RE USING ALL THE REST OF THEIR MONEY TO TRY AND BEAT
THE U.S.
Well, why are they buying from these countries, why are
they buying wheat and stuff from Canada and the United
States? Why are they buying it?
THEY GO TO EAT.
Eh?
THEY GOT TO EAT.
Oh yas, well why don't they grow it? They got a better
wheat country than we have, got to dig so far that we don't
know nothing about it.
(can't make out this question)
Well you don't have to, you can go to the Ukranian, that's a
regular grain country.

THEN WHEN IT COMES TO RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, I FIGURE REAL
SHOULD HA~ BEEN HUNG LONG BEFORE HE WAS.
PAGE 11
Oh, sure. The stories that you ...
NOT STORIES, FACTS.
No facts.
THEY ARE! !
NO, no, they haven't got no facts, what was real, Louis
Real, what was he?
A REBEL.
No he wasn't.
YES HE WAS.
He was no.
HE SURE AS HELL WASN"T A PATRIOT.
Eh?
HE SURE AS HECK WASN"T A HERO OR ANYTHING.
No! Who was the hero? The British was the heros, come
on boys lets go and fight, they were the heros.
REAL WAS STARTED THE WHOLE.
He didn't start nothing! Now just wait a minute, don't ....
HE EXECUTED THAT YOUNG ENGLISHMEN THERE.
Eh?
HE SHOT THAT YOUNG ENGLISHMAN THERE.
He should have shot more of them, he didn't shoot enough
of them.
NO WONDER THE ENGLISH GOT UP AND ARMS THERE!
Yah, because he asked for it, he was getting a little bit

of money for the Indians and the ...
FOR HIS OWN POCKET!!
No he got nothing in his own pocket.
OH, BULLSHIT, HE GOT IT.
Oh sure, sure he got it yas, you betcha.
THEY WOULDN"T GIVE IT TO HIM THAT LAST TIME THERE, HE WENT
AND HE STARTED A FIGHT!! HE SHOT THE ENGLISHMEN AND THEN
HE c o rPAGE 12
Well what the hell are they gotng to do today? The Indians
are going to fight for their country, they own the country,
they tell you that!! All he asked from them was so much
a month, and so many acres per family.
AND SO MUCH MONEY FOR HIS OWN POCKET.
Oh, yas, there was a lot of, lot of nice stories for, about
Louis Real, you betcha. Louis Real was a frenchman and
a preist amoungst the Indians, and he had been preaching
amoung them.
WELL I GOT A BOOK AT SCHOOL ...
You betcha.
IT WAS PRINTED IN 1885, ...
You betcha, 1885 yas, was the war.
THAT WAS THE REBELLION.
Yas, the rebellion in the praries, and they going to have
another one, starting now.
THE WAY I LOOK AT IT ...
Oh, you bet the way you look at it.

WELL IT"S NOT ONLY ME, THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE ...
Oh, no ..
WHY DO YOU THINK THEY ...
Sure, you god-damn guys because you're Englishmen and educated
in an English country, there the right people.
WELL YOU"RE AN ENGLISHMAN!

No 1'm not, by god and thank god I ain't.
to say so either.
WELL I DON"T KNOW THERE BOY.
Well I know.
YOU PROTECT THESE PEOPLE THAT ...
You betcha ..
DO WRING AND SOMEONE ..
You betcha ...
THAT DOES RIGHT, YOU GO AFTER THEM.

I'm not afraid
PAGE 13
Look, look mister, they'd run you out of the country tomorrow if they could!
WHO? THE ENGLISH?
Yas.
NO, I DON"T TH1!NK SO.
Oh, no, you don't. Look at the fuss they had around Montreal and them places, didn't want them to have a job-the
French, nor they didn't want them to talk French or any-

thing else, and the French was here before them sons-ofbitches even thought of coming.
THERE"S THE GOOD FRENCH AND THERE"S THE BAD FRENCH, REAL
WAS PART OF THE BAD, IT"S PLAIN HISTORY AND FACT ...
Look Richard, you can make facts out of anything, people
can go to work and put it in history or anyting else, and
then teach it in school, you must belive it.
SO YOU DON"T BELIEVE THAT ...
No, I don't believe it ...
WELL I HADEN"T FINISHED YET! YOU DON"T BELIEVE THAT HE
WANTED MONEY FOR HIS OWN POCKET?!
No, no he didn't get any money for his own pocket, what
they wanted to do was get rid of him, so they could do what
they god damnd liked to make it in Canada, and they did
too!
THEY GOT RID OF HIM FIRST HUH, AND HE ASKED FOR MONEY?
Oh, that's a lie, that's a stinking lie too.
WELL HOW COME HE COME BACK THEN?
That's alright, can't he come back? He had just as much
right as they have.
THEY PAY HIM TO STAY OUT OF THE COUNTRY AND ALL OF A SUDDEN
HE COME BACK!
Pay him to stay out of the country, that's another blindfold story.
THEY SAID RIGHT NOW, THAT THEY PAID HIM TO STAY OUT OF THE
COUNTRY.
Yas, you bet they did, they'll tell you a lot of things,

they'll tell you a lot of things see. The Englishmen tell
you a lot of things see.
WELL, YOU"RE A STRONG FRENCH ANYWAY.
PAGE 14
Yas, you god-damned, time that they were having their rights.
THF.Y GOT THEM.
Yas.
YOU CAN"T EXPECT TO GET RIGHT BY OPINION.
Well that's the way England got theirs, do you know that
England fought all their life see, and that's the way she
got everything-was through war. The history tell you that?
PROBABLY.
Probably, you don't remember.
I KNOW THEY FOUGHT WARS OVER THERE.
You betcha.
THERE"S A LOT OF-MAYBE IT"S ENGLISH, MAYBE IT"S NOT-BUT
THERE"S A LOT OF PEOPLE FEEL THAT REAL SHOULD HAVE GOT,
SHOULD HAVE DIED BEFORE HE DID.
He didn't, he died too soon-he should of got, he should
have-started the war the minute he got in there-that's what
he should have done. Got the Indians prepared for it too.
HAVE A REGULAR BATTLE ROYAL?
Well, they're going to have a battle royal anyway,see how
much the English done. Those things they establish the
Hudson's Bay-that would give you B.C.
WHAT ABOUT THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT?
What about it?

THEY TRIED TO SETTLE PEACE AGREEMENT WITH REAL.
Oh, yas you betcha, you bet. How nice we can paint a story
to the public, how nice. You belive it, and I got my way
of thinking.
YOU"VE HEARD STORIES TOO.
Yas, I've heard lots of them-lots of them.
(some question about schooling)
No, I didn't go to far in school. What I did learn about
it I know ...
(tape fades)
(starts again with this ... )
PAGE 15
I supose Hitler was free too, and so was the Kisers(?),
they were free. But the British was right-loOk at them
today-look at England today, what are they? Trying t kill
one another and have ..
WHAT ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT?
I don't know nothing about the British government, I don't
make ...
WELL THEY ORDERED REAL TO BE SHOT, YOU THINK REAL WAS REALLY
GOOD SO YOU MUST THINK THE GOVERNMENT WAS PRETTY POOR.
Well there was no government, god-dammit, they established
thier own government after it was allover.
REAL ESTABLISHED HIS OWN GOVERNMENT TOO.
That was quite alright, he was the first there, he had the
right to.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE WAS THE FIRST THERE?

He was there before the British coming, he come there with
the Indians.
HE TOOK OVER THAT FORT GARY AWAY FROM THE HUDSON"S BAY COMPANY.
He should have.
THAT"S A BRITISH COMPANY.
What they should have done ...
HE TOOK ALL THEIR SUPPLIES AND USED IT TOO.
Yas, what they should have done was took ...
HE TOOK OVER EVERY BOAT HUDSON"S BAY BROUGHT IN.
Oh, you don't know, well I don't know. I can forget about
it
(tape fades)
That would be another, I would be wrong about that.
WELL I WOULDN"T SAY SO, IT"S JUST MY FEELINGS AGAINST YOURS
ON REAL THERE. YOU"RE A FRENCHMAN AND I"M ENGLISH.
You're English? When did you become English?
ARE YOU INSINUATING I"M A FRENCHMAN?
Yas you are a thouroubred one.
I COULDN"T SPEAK A HUNK OF ...
PAGE 16
It don't make a difference, i can't neither, but you're
a thouroughbred frenchman. What are you getting at? You
don't know ~hat you are even.
WELL I ALWAYS THOUGHT I WAS PART ENGLISH AND PART FRENCH ...
No no you're not, you're French!
MY VIEWS ON REAL ARE DIFFERENT FROM YOURS.
Fine and dandy, you just belive all those things the English

tell you, and you'll come out alright, you'll come out in
the wash someplace.
WHAT ABOUT WILFRED~~£~ft, WHAT ELSE DO YOU KNOW ABOUT
HIM.
No, I don't know much about him.
THINK NOW.
No I don't need to think, because I know. It's a long time
since I thought about Lorrie.
DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN THAT TIME - TELEGARY, YOU REMEMBER
ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT THAT?
NO, NO.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS FILM I JUST FIXED UP FOR YOU?
YOU CAN BE A MOVIE STAR YOU KNOW, YOU"D MAKE MILLIONS IF
YOU WANT TO GO INTO BUSINESS.
Eh?
YOU"D MAKE MILLIONS IF YOU WANT TO GO INTO BUSINESS.
Well I don't want to go itno business.
I"LL BE YOUR MAMAGER.
Laugh, laugh.
WHAT"S SO FUNNY ABOUT THAT.
It's quit funny, quite funny, get me into the movies.
SURE, YOU"D BE ANOTHER JOHN WAYNE OR SOMETHING. I"LL HAVE
TO TAKE 70%, ..
The first thing they'd be saying is they got that old fool
in there-he's crazy.
I"LL HAVE TO TAKE 75%
Well you can have 100%, you'll be doing alright. Didn't

know what he was-an Englishman or Frenchman, John

.

PAGE 17
WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT?
Nothing! !
START THINKING NOW.
Wh~t do I want to talk about? I got nothing to talk about
see.
O.K. YOUR CHECK SHOULD BE IN THE MAIL, YOU GET ONE MILLION
DOLLARS FOR DOING THIS YOU KNOW.
That's swell.
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WTTH ALL THE MONEY?
I'm going to potlatch it.
HOW MUCH DO I GET?
Oh, you get what you want, all you want.
GEE!!! !!
NOW, DO YOU REMEMBER WILLIAM BENNETT DURING TEH DEPRESSION?
I know Bennett and I know you.
WHAT WAS HIS GOVERNMENT LIKE?
Eh?
WHAT WAS HIS GOVERNMENT LIKE?
His government was alright but it was right during the hard
times, he got the blame for all of it. It doesn't make
any difference about the conservitives, pretty near every
time the conservitives get in power, they ... hard times.
WELL HE-THEY OUT VOTED HIM IN THE ELECTION AND AFTER THE
DEPRESSION, DIDN"T THEY?
Yas, he was in Eng~and.

UMM, WHAT DID HE GO THERE FOR?
Well, I guess he was niked(?) there and Sir Robert Morton.
START TO REBEL IN THERE, HE WAS THE-THEY ACCUSED HIM OF
STARTING BOTH REBELLIONS EH?
Both of them?
Yah, the one in 1885 and the one in 18 60 something.
PAGE 18
No, they only had the one rebellion ...
WELL HE"S ONLY NOTED FOR THE ONE IN 1885 BUT THE FRENCH
FIGURE HE"S A REAL COOL GUY, YOU KNOW, LIKE HE WAS DOING
JUST TO THE METIS YOU KNOW THE HALFBREEDS. AND THE ENGLISH
THEY WANTED, THEY WANTED JUSTICE DONE YOU KNOW. NOW WITCH
SIDE ARE YOU TAKING, THE ENGLISH OR THE FRENCH?
NO I don't take the English, I take the French side of it.
YOU DO, WHY?
Because they were the first here, and they was the first
trading company here. And what the English done was send
in a trading company- the Hudson's Bay - and they got the
Indians in with them and bought the french, got the french
rai. ..
BUT THAT DOESN"T GIVE YOU A JUST REASON TO PROTECT REAL
JUST BECAUSE THE FRENCH WERE HERE FIRST! IT DOESN"T MATTER
IF HE"S FRENCH OR ENGLISH HE STILL DID WRONG.
It doesn't matter! If I got a company a year ago and you
bring in a company and get to fighting me for it, are you
in the right or am I? Who's in the right?
IT DEPENDS ON THE GOVERNMENT IT"S ...

Oh, it depends on the government, we had the government ...
THE GOEVERNMENT WAS FOR THE HUDSON"S BAY COMPANY?
Eh?
THE GOVERNMENT LIKED THE HUDSON"S BAY COMPANY, THEY WERE
FOR IT.
Debating. The British was yas, sure.
GETTING BACK TO REAL NOW, SOME SAY HE WAS CRAZY.
Oh yas, sure he was crazy.
WHEN HIS TRIAL CAME UP THEY PROVED HE WAS CRAZY.
Oh they did eh, well they didn't prove that he was crazy.
Why the hell didn't they give the Indians exactly what he
asked for-that's what they did. The Indians got exactly
what they asked for, I suppose that's on the square eh?
WELL SURE ...
They hung him, that's what the British did.
THE WAY HISTORY GOES LOUIS REAL USED THE HALF BREEDS TO
FURTHER HIS OWN CAUSE, LIKE ACCORDING TO BOOKS AT SCHOOL
HE WANTED MONEY FROM JOHN A. MACDONALD TO STAY OUT OF THE
PAGE 19
COUNTRY. HE ASKED MACDONALD AND MACDONALD WOULDN"T GIVE
IT TO HIM, SO HE KNEW THE HALFBREEDS WERE UP, WERE DISAGREEING
WITH THE GOVERNMENT - THEIR GRIEVENCES YOU KNOW.
Have you got that in the history book?
Yah.
Yah eh, well that's the way it goes.
BUT YOU FEEL THAT REAL WASN"T CRAZY AND THAT HE WAS JUST
IN STARTING THE REBELLION AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT.

He was right in his way, he was right. The British wasn't
right. They just worked 10 years, got the Hudson'a bay,
you know something, the Hudson's Bay owned all of British
Columbia.
SURE THEY OWNED RUPERTS LAND, THAT WAS ...
Well it's all British Columbia. Well where'd they get it?
Who give it to them?
THE GOVERNMENT.
The government yah, because it was our government. It's
like me and you get together and quarrel over something
and you win-you get everything don't ya? And that's the
way the British done it-they're no god-damned good. Now
I'm telling ya, and I'm not going behind thier backs to
tell them neither.
REAL WAS ALRIGHT IN YOUR OPINION EH?
Of course he was right.
O.K., AND LAURIER, YOU DON"T KNOW ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT WILFRED
LAURIER EH?
Well what do I know about, I don't know about ...
YOU"VE TOLD ME ABOUT HIS NATIONAL POLICY, THAT WAS GOOD
FOR THE PEOPLE.
Well, for the whole of canada as far as I could make out,
see everybody must have been satisfied or they wouldn't
have hung on to him for 20 years. There's no government
(tape faded)
AND HE WAS A GOOD TALKER.
Yas, he was a smart man too.

PEOPLE WOULD STAND AND LISTEN TO HIM FOR A LONG TIME LIKE
THAT EPISODE IN Calgary THERE WHERE HE STOOD, PEOPLE STOOD
THERE FOR 8 HOURS AND LISTENED TO HIM.
PAGE 20
He didn't have to have a whole army, righting it out for
him, he just stood there and spoke.
AND ROBERT BORDEN WHAT: ABOUT HIM?
Oh well he was ...
HE WASN"T THAT GOOD.
He wasn't popular at all Robert Borden wasn't.
THE WAY MOST OF THESE GUYS GET IN, THEY CRITISIZE EACH OTHERS
GOVERNMENT ...
Not exactly, no. Do you know some things-and probably you'll
learn that time to corne. Like the liberals they've got
certain men in the goddarn government-he's next, you're
next and so on. The conservative parties the same.
THE WAY IT GOES THEY HAVE, USUALLY THEY HAVE A French Primeminister and then an English one ...
No they do not, you never see that, you haven't seen it
in here yet.
YOUR BROTHER, THE LABOUR AGITATER IN SACREMENTO, HE WAS
A LABOUR AGITATOR EH?
I don't know whether he was an agitator or not.
WHAT WAS HE IN YOUR OPINION?
He was just a common labour leader, that's all.I don't know
a hell of alot about that.
IT WOUND UP THAT HE WAS SHOT?

Eh?
IT WOUND UP THAT HE WAS ASSASSINATED?
Yas.
NOW YOU WOULDN"T KNOW WHY THEY ASSASSINATED HIM?
No, I wouldn't know at all.
WHO ASSASSINATED HIM, THE GOVERNMENT OR AN INDIVIDUAL?
That's quite a question for me to answer.
WELL WAS HE EXECUTED WITH A TRIAL OR WAS HE JUST SHOT?
No trial, no trial.
HE WASN"T A MEMBER OF A FORCEFUL GANG WAS HE?
PAGE 21
LIKE HE DIDN"T USE FORCE TO FURTHER HIS LABOUR STRIKES ONTO
THE WORKERS DID HE?
I suppoes they are like they are today, they get grievences
about wages or working conditions and one thing another.
BUT AS FAR AS YOU"RE COMCERNED THE UNIONS OF A LONG TIME
AGO WERE EASIER T HANDLE WITH THAN THEY ARE TODAY?
Well sure they are because there ain't one where there's
ten now.
WELL IN THE OLD DAYS THEY USED FORCE!
No they didn't.
IN SACREMENTO DID THEY USE FORCE?
No, they just went for higher wages or whatever they wanted,
better labour conditions and one thing another, I guess
the same as they do today.
CAN YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING ABOUT THE BUILDING OF THE C.N.R?
TO HAZELTON HERE, YOU HELPED BUILD THAT DIDN"T YOU?

I worked on it yas ...
HOW LONG DID YOU WORK WITH IT?
Oh, I didn't work very long.
AS FAR AS YOU"RE CONCERNED, THE C.N.R., WHEN THE C.N.R.
WENT THROUGH HAZELTON HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE LIVING IN OLD
TOWN THEN?
Oh, there wasn't very many, I would say, oh I don't know.
Oh I suppose there must have been a couple of hundred.
DO YOU REMEMBER McKENZIE AND MANN BY ANY CHANCE?
McKenzie and Mann yas, they built that little road out from
Stewart there years and years ago. They shipped all thier
wagons and sleighs here to Hazelton.
THEY WERE THE CROOKED BUNCH THAT SWINDLED MONEY FRON THE
RAILROAD FOR THIER OWN POCKETS, THAT"S WHAT"S IN THE HISTORY
BOOKS. THEY MADE MONEY FOR THEM-SELVES FROM THE TAX PAYERS
WITH THAT RAILROAD.
Well, of course they anytime that they put in a piece of
road they must of made something for it they couldn't go
to work and done it for a bunch of farmers or loggers or
anything like that and put up their own money for it.
What about our railroads today, who's building them-the
government is building them ain't they? You get the contract
from the government and then the head contractor contract
again and then they sub-contract again, and you can sub
from that fella again. They just drop from one fella to
PAGE 22
the other that way.

YOU REMEMBER TEH STEAM BOATS COMING UP TO HAZELTON?
Oh yah, yas.
WAS IT A ROUGH JOURNEY?
No.
WAS THERE ANY BOATS LOST ON THE SKEENA?
Oh yas, the Mayflower was lost part of it down here steamboat
down there now.
HOW"D THAT HAPPEN?
Well, it sunk!
HOW DID IT SINK? RUN A GROUND OR INTO ROCKS?
I don't know what happened but it happened up on the rocks
there, I guess it jumped on the hammer of the rock and stayed
there. Then the Mount Royal it broke in the canyon, down
below here-1912.
THE RIVERBOATS WOULD COME UP TO HAZELTON AND THEN STOP AND
UNLOAD SUPPLIES AND THEN GO BACK DOWN TO RUPERT?
No, it would go daown to Esington, I guess they run to Rupert
too, and all the freight come up that way too.
DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST RIVERBOAT THAT COME UP THE SKEENA?
Oh no, I wasn't here when the mayflower-I don't know what
year it come up. Oh no, those boats come up before I come
WELL YOU REMEMBER THE LAST RIVER BOAT THAT COME UP THE SKEENA?
Oh yas.
WHICH ONE WAS THAT?
Well there was the Mount Royal, that sunk in the canyon
down here, and there was the-there's one of them down there
yet-oh I can't remember thier names.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE RIVERBOAT CALLED THE HAZELTON?
Well, it's down on the coast here now.
WHICH RIVERBOAT MADE THE LAST TRIP UP HERE?
The skeena, the Skeena-I think that's the last one.
WHAT YEAT WAS THAT, CAN YOU REMEMBER?
PAGE 23
Oh, I think either 1914 or 13. No I was hauling, yas, or
was it. No, I think about 1915 was the last boat up here.
They took 2 of them boats over on the Frazer.
ABOUT THE TELEGRAPH TRAIL UP HERE, DID YOU HELP PUT ANY
OF THAT IN?
No, I never had nothing to do with the telegraph trail,
I worked on it in 1918, I put in a couple of months.
YOU USED TO HAUL PACK TRAINS UP THERE DIDN"T YOU?
Oh, pack trains, no. I hauled the freight up their for
the pack trains, for the cabins.
FROM HAZELTON TO FIRST CABIN?
Yas, I used to haul freight from there, then they used to
load up there at the first cabin.
IS THERE ANY GOLD UP AT MANSIN CREEK?
Any gold? Oh i guess there was lots of gold one time.
YOU BIDN"T FIND ANY THOUGH EH?
I didn't no, because I never prospected.
WELL WHAT YOU NEEDED WAS A PROSPECTOR LIKE ME UP THERE!
HOW LONG DID YOU STAY UP THERE?
Up north? Oh, for about 5 years.
YOU GET ANYTHING?

No.
NEVER MADE A CENT?
No.
YOU SURE?
Spent lots of cents but didn't make any.
IT WOULDN"T BE WORTHWHILE TO GO PROSPECTING UP THERE THAN?
No, I should know a lot but I don't know much.
WELL WHAT YOU TOLD ME SO FAR IS PRETTY GOOD. YOU WATCHED
HAZELTON GROW EH?
Oh, yas.
HOW WAS THE POLICE FORCE THAN? WAS IT PRETTY GOOD? RUMOUR
SAYS IT THAT THE POLICE FORCE IN THEN DAYS WAS PRETTY FIERCE,
THEY"D THROW ALL THE GOOD INDIANS IN JAIL OVERNIGHT FOR
NO REASON AT ALL. THEY WERE ALL YOUR PRETTY GOOD FRIENDS
PAGE 24
Well there's noting wrong with them, they come here and
they work for the government and they do as the government
tells them to do-so what can they do?
YOU THINK YOU"D LIVE THE SAME LIFE OVER AGAIN IF YOU HAD
THE CHANCE? OR WOULD YOU LIVE IT DIFFERENT?
I think I'd take my time and put it together. Might take
me a month to do it.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE GOVERNMENT TODAY?
Well, I can't tell ...
TROUDOE HAS BEEN IT THERE QUITE A WHILE.
How long has he been in?
WELL 3 OR 4 YEARS.

Oh, no ...
SURE 2~ ANY WAY.
YOU CAN"T TELL NOTHING ABOUT THEM, I"D LIKE TO SEE THEM
GO THROUGH THEIR TERM-FOUR YEARS, SEE WHAT THEY HAVE DONE,
I DON"T KEEP TRACK OF THEIR GOVERNMENT NOW, ThIS GoVernment
is trying something that, they're just about 100 years too
soon.
TOO SOON OR TOO LATE?
Too soon, we're not prepared for no god-damned socialism,
because we ain't.
WE"VE NEARLY HAD IT BEFORE HAVEN"T WE?
Never, no, no, we never had no socialism.
YOU CALL TROUDOE"S GOVERNMENT SOCIALISM?
Well no, there's no such thing as a socialist government
anywhere. I want some one to point the, point it out to
me. Now you take Russia, Russia? What is Russia? She's
just a comminist.
DICTATORSHIP.
Well, that's a comminist government. It's not a socialist
government.
NO, BUT SHE"S QUITE FAMOUS FOR STICKING HER NOSE IN OTHER
PEOPLE"S BUSINESS.
Well quite alright, that's what I say. They want socialism,
they're trying to get it back, and they're not ready for
it.
PAGE 25
WHICH GOVERNMENT DO YOU THINK WOULD BE BETTER, A SOCIALIST

GOVERNMENT OR A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT?
Well, a socialist government could be worked out-mind you
that you take people, make up thier minds that you ain't
got any more than I have, and I ain't got any more than
you have.
WELL THEY WON"T MAKE UP THIER MINDS TO THAT.
You've gotta, they've all got to work together and rep(?)
the same amount of stuff, no matter what it is. Whether
it's crop or money ...
WELL THAT"S NEARLY THE SAME AS A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT WHERE
EVERYBODY ID TREATED EQUAL. THERE"S NO ONE PERSON THAT"S
BETTER THAN THE OTHER.
Well, that's a socialist government and we haven't got one.
A SOCIALIST GOVERNMENT IS WHERE, IS A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT?!?
No.
WELL YOU JUST SAID THAT A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IS WHERE
ONE PERSON IS NO BETTER THAN THE OTHER AND NO WORSE!
No. No, no you, everybody should .... Like ah, the way it
is now we've got so many people eating the benifits of other
people's labour. Well, whatever they grow or anything like
that out of the country. You take these big merchants and
these big old sailors and one thing another,they practically
own the country. Right
RIGHT, THERE"S NOT MUCH TIME LEFT ON HERE BUT THERE"S ONE
THING I FORGOT, YOU REMEMBER THAT ROBBERY IN NEW HAZELTON
IN 1908 OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT?
1912. Yas.

WHAT HAPPENED THERE?
Oh, nothing happened much. Robbed a bank.
HOW MUCH MONEY DID THEY TAKE?
Oh, they didn't get much, I think the second time they got
about $4000 and the first time they only got $2000.
DID THEY CATCH EM?
No. Well yas, they killed one, and they caught 2 and put
'em in here in the Scoten house(?) for 25 years, and then
when they time was over they sent them back to Russia.
PAGE 26
THEY WERE RUSSIANS?
Yas, you know then Hedlingtons in Smithers?
THE NAME SOUNDS FAMILIAR.
Well thier father was in that drawbreak twice. He was held
up t w i ce .
THEY SHOT ONE OF THEM EH?
Killed one of them robbers, that was done on the streets,
I don't know who done it. Well I think Walter Johnson was
the one who shot horn.
WAS HE THE SHERIFF HERE?
No, he had a rooming house and was looking out the window
upstairs and one of these fellas took a shot at him. There
used to be a big chumk of ore, that they brought from the
Sanderden fort(?) there. Walter got behind that and he's
the one that killed that fella.
I GUESS HE DIDN"T LIKE TO BE SHOT AT! DO YOU THINK THAT
FIRE BEHIND US IS GOING TO BURN US OUT?

Oh, I don't think so.
IT"S A PRETTY GOOD SIZE THERE.
Well I thought they put it out.
WELL THE WATER BOMBERS HAVE BEEN WORKING ON IT ALL DAY,
WE DON"T WANT THEM TO BURN THE PLACE OUT HERE.
Oh, I don't think it will.
THERE"S NOTHING ELSE YOU CAN REMEMBER ABOUT WHAT I"VE BEEN
ASKING YOU EH?
No, that's a lot to remember.
WELL YOU"VE BEEN AROUND A LOT TOO.
Yas, bu t I wasn't a fella who kept up with politics I never
was ..
YOU VOTED DIDN"T YOU?
Well I voted yas but that's not ...
IF YOU VOTE, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU VOTE FOR.
Well, probably I do and probably I don't.
DO YOU THINK THE VOTING A GE SHOULD BE LOWERED?
PAGE 27
I don't think a man should vote until he knows what he's
voting for. How many 19 year olds give a damn abut how
they vote?
RIGHT. OK.K.t THERE"S NOTHING ELSE YOU CAN REMEMBER ABOUT
WHAT I"VE BEEN ASKING YOU ABOUT?
Because that was just a nother smart srick by Bennett.