Che eColum! ‘phone. CENTENNIAL EDITION taken in the early 1920’s. “ ST, JOSEPH'S MISSION The above photograph of St. Joseph’s Mission -was The two main buildings at the left were destroyed by fire on March 30, 1954. ESTABLISHED ST. JOSEPH’S MISSION Missionaries early workers The Roman Catholic missionaries have been as- sociated with Williams Lake and the district it serves, ever since the days of fur trading, Following a meeting in 1842 with Hudson’s Bay Company factor Peter Skene Ogden at Fort Vancouver; to discuss the best way to extend the Catho- lie missions northward, Father M. Demers was instructed to open a new mission field in New Caledonia. He became the first mission- ary in the Interior of (British and on his first trip a to Fort Alexandria Claude* town to “hen on to Forts 4, sarge. Stuart. On his rétiirn to . te first Mission, and in 1871 it opened under Father Grandi- dier as superior. At that time the Oblates considered opening a boys’ school, but the idea was given up for the time being. SCHOOL. OPENS On December 9, 1872, short- ly after Father MacGuckin re- turned as superior at the Mis- sion, the plan materialized, and a school for boys opened with cig poarders and three Gg §& ee = ot schd, ars. ae A secondhouse was started igeMlexandria he he Indians to build a chapel. He went south to Williams Lake where he obtained land from the Indians for a mission, and here he built and finished the first church before return- ing to Alexandria to complete the one started there. At that point the first Holy Mass was celebrated on December 4, 1842. Since it was already estab- lished, the Church of Rome first carried the gospel over the Cariboo mountains into the roaring camps when the gold rush started. In 1861 Father Charles Chandidier arrived and he was followed by Father L. Fouguet, who definitely estab- lished the mission Father Demers had started at Wil- liams Lake. stage was the establishment of a mission here for the Oblate Fathers. In August, 1866, Father MacGuckin came to survey the potentialities for a mission site, and in February, 1867 he pur- chased for the Order, the land on which the Cariboo Indian Residential School now stands, and which is still known by the familiar name of St. Joseph’s Mission. Father Blanchett was in charge of construction of the to C a girls’ school and four years later it was opened under three sisters of St. Anne. By June, 1878, the Mission school had grown to a registration of 42 boys and 38 girls. It was not an Indian school in those days. The pu- pils were either white or half- breed children. It was not un- til 1890 that the Mission school became an Indian resi- dential school. As the gold rush petered out, a period of economic distress hit the Cariboo, and the Mis- sion felt it too, since parents had no money to assist in de- fraying the cost of educating their children. These circum- stances forced the Sisters of St. Anne to eventually leave the post. FOUR SISTERS ARRIVE Answering a call for mis- sionary sisters to work in the wild west of Canada, four Sis- ters of the Child Jesus came all the way from France in 1896, the start of an association that was to last through the years. “The Mission” has contribut- ed much to the building of the Cariboo, and continues to do so. Today there is an enroll- ment of 300 students, who besides being given a regular school curriculum, are also in- structed in agriculture and the home arts. Here is an unusual picture of eight freight outfits at one of the many stopping houses on the Cariboo Road. In the heyday of freighting, in the year 1914, FREIGHTERS AT REST there were 200 outfits on the road. freight from Ashcroft was 5c a po The new dormitory building, built after the fire, is one of the finest structures in the Cariboo. - Here is pictured the ak be erected at St. st structure to Joseph’s Mission. Father Blanchet was in charge of con- struction, and the school opened in FIRST BUD 1871. erty canny picture, the foregrou Days that have gone before May 8, 1861 (Victoria Col- onist)—At Williams Lake the snow began to lay about the 16th of December and con- tinued on the ground to the depth of 10 or 12 inches, until the end of January. In March the weather is quite open and pleasant, with perhaps slight frost at night. For the space of two months, cattle will re- quire a little hay to enable them to get through the winter. All description of grain will flourish well. Mr. Davidson made some experiments. last year with barley and wheat and will have some 40 acres sown this summer. May 30, 1895 (B.C. Mining Journal, Ashcroft) — Chai Cornbe, a Chinese, and three helpers went up the road with three wagons loaded with 20,000 pounds of freight. Six yolk of oxen on one wagon and seven on the others was the propelling force. March 6, 1897 (Journal)— Fred Nason is getting out logs for the new stable for the B.C. Express Company, which: is to be built on the fiat near the 120 Mile post. March 13, 1897 (Journal) — Captain Black and his men passed Lac La Hache valley. The well packed sleighs were drawn by dogs. —March 20, 1897 (Journal) — Mr. and Mrs. Harry Walters, cation on the Mission prop- seen in the large general mich shows the building in d. The Cariboo was his charge No record of the day-to-day or religous life of the Cariboo would be complete without the mention of Father Francois Marie, Thomas, who passed away in 1957. Father Thomas was born in Brittany, France, and joined the Order of Oblates when he was 18. In 1894 he was sent to Canada as a priest and three years later he was transfered to the Cariboo. He was not the first of the Oblates to arrive here, but he stayed the longest. For over 50 years he worked with the people of the Cariboo and be- came one of its best known personalities. WORK OF SIX His charge covered an area of 250 square miles, which he covered on horseback and on foot. For the first 30 years of his service here he actually carried out the work of six men, since the same area is and 7c to Barkerville. \ now served by six priests. As the population grew, his charge became smaller as more Priests were brought in to share the work. He then con- centrated on the Chilcotin In- dians, and it is for his work- there that he is perhaps best remembered. - CONVERTED RACE He was held in such esteem by the Chilcotins that represen- tation was made to him by the chiefs of the Carriers, the Ulkatcho, to convert the entire Tace to Christianity. Writing of Father Thomas at the time of his death. A J. Drinkell of Dog Creek ex- Pressed the feelings of those who had known and been in- fluenced by the missionary through the years. “By example and precept he set a pattern of life befitting the arduous times in which he laboured and moved — a pat- tern which was at once a Cost of hauling und to Quesnel. source of encouragement to the weaker humans around him; those who would other- wise have gone down to defeat The Centennial Issue T= white man came to the Cariboo in three distinct groups. First were the fur traders, who set up their collection Points, or forts, ana opened the: Then came the miners, munities. On development. ur to those i thousands gf them, storming up the rivers and creeks in search of gold. And finally came the men who would provide the services, the expressmen, merchants, lawyers, doctors. From them all the Cariboo drew its first Permanent families—those who stayed to ranch or form com- these pages we have tried to tell something of this le It is far from complete. There was not suffi- cient time to gather all the material that is still available, and there was not the space to include much that was collected. In gathering historical material, the work is considerably lessened by. the help of others. We have leaned heavily on the various collections of material that have been made available to us. For this we would like to thank people like Doug Stevenson, Gordon Elliott and Judge Henry Castillon. “far brigade” trails. ° eers who have helped with the loan of pictures and material on their family's part in the forging of the Cariboo. A special word of thanks to former Tribune Editor George Renner, who spent hours collecting information on the modern And to columnist A. J. Drinkell for town of Williams Lake. his history of Dog Creek. And finally, an i of the early pion- of st to Gwen Ringwood and Sonia Cornwall, whose combined ar- tistry make up the front page of this special issue. of Horsefly, paid a visit.to Ash- croft with their daughter, the first white child born at Horse- fly. : March 20, 1897..(Journal)— Dog Creek: Winter is still ‘holding us in its deadly fangs + and has every. indication of holding until the 1st of April. The loss of stock” is greater than at any other year in the history of the province. In the Chilcotin, a large number of farmers are out of hay. Louis Vedan was presented with a daughter. April 3, 1897 (Journal) — 150 Mile: Reports from the Chilcotin seem to agree that there will be a loss of 56 per- cent if not more of the stock throughout that section. In the vicinity of 150 Mile House many are dying daily owing to the extreme severity of the weather. Snow is now from two to three feet deep. April, 1897 (Journal) — Chilcotin: F. M. Becher is about to build an addition to his stopping house at Riske Creek. A few weeks ago Henry Durrell |took unto{ himself a) wit intthe person of Miss Kosy Le Pas. G. Dester is to be married on April 16 to Miss Magee, of Pavilion Mountain. April, 1897 (Journal)-—Dog Creek: Mrs. G. Place and J. N. J. Brown are busily en- gaged painting and renovating the Lee Poe Hotel, which when complete will rank second to none. May, 1897 (Journal)—Wil- liams Lake: Farmers in’ this section are seeding through. The loss of cattle through the winter is estimated at. 10 per- cent. It will be useless: for Jack Long to ‘bring ;up: saddle horses for. sale’ this .season— bicycles are-all the go here. June, 1897 (Journal) —Dog Creek: It has-been most exces- sively hot here-during the last couple of weeks, 100 in the shade. September, 1897 (Journal) —Horsefly: At the Horsefly mine, the 10-stamp mill is run- ning to perfection and about 100 tons a day is being put through. Alex Meiss, propri- etor of the City Hotel, is doing a good business and has un- bounded faith in the future of the Horsefiy district. October, 1897 (Journal)— Dog Creek: Attendance at the Big Bar school numbers 16. P. Grinder has received a con- tract from the Fraser River Dredging Co. for 500 cords of wood at $5.25 a cord. October, 1897 (Journal) — Dog Creek: Several quartz ledges have been staked off in this vicinity. One is being de- velloped by Messrs. Place and Ross. The Pioneer Hall is now converted -into store. D.4 Sutherland, of Lytten, here on a hunting trip, bagged a large otter at Alkali Lake. Cc. Boyle has secured the mail con- tract between Dog Creek, Gang Ranch and Empire Valley. January, 1896 (Journal)— The men of Dog Creek formed an athletic association, with V. Kirkpatrick. president and J. N. J. Brown secretary. February, 1896 (Journal)— 150 Mile House: A well-atten- ded meeting of the people of this section was held at the 150 before the onslaught of adver- sity, and at the same time a pattern demanding of everyone, admiration and respect. Al- though his material self has left us, his spirit will remain so long as history endures.” Remembers fatal accident on road Archie McDougal, who lives by the shores of Lac La Hache with his brother, Bill, and sister, Mrs. Kate Robertson, drove for the B.C. Express Company, starting on the freight outfits in 1908, and transferring to stage a year later. The drivers put in long ~ ment, Mile House, which was atten- ded by Messrs. Adams and Rogers, members of parli and pleased the tax- payers by agreeing to do all in their power to bring about appropriation to make good reads to the Forks, Horsefly and other points to this general centre of travel. March, 1896 (Journal) —150 Mile House: The Reverend Fathers of St. Joseph’s Mission have decided to have as soon as possible a townsite surveyed at the junction of Williams Lake road \and the Cariboo trunk road and to place town lots on the market. San Jose is to be the name of the uew town and already several prom- inent businessmen have decided to put up substantial buildings this summer. April, 1896 (Journal)—150 . Allan has just fin- ~ lots to each 12 blocks, 12 block, size of lots 66’ x 132’. On main streets, lots are sell- ing for $100 for corners and $75 for insides; terms: one quarter cash, balance in three equal payments. On other street lots are $25 up. There are: lots réserved for hospital, post.