PAGE Aé, THE HERALO, Wednesday, February 16, 1977 by C.L.M. Giggey We were a poor family who had moved from Boulder, Colorado to Bellingham, Washington — or I should have said Fairhaven, as lt was calle in the year of 1903, just before Fairhaven and Whatcom amalgamated to become the city af Bellingham. My grandfather, George Giggey, was a mining engineer and prospector an had discovered two wor- thwhile showings which had, according to the family story been sold for thirty thousand for one and forty ‘thousand dollars for the other. This was during the late years of the last cen- tury. In this day and age of so called affluence $70,000 would only be “‘peanuts”’ but during the late eighteen hundreds it would be con- sidered as a nominal for- tune. I should surmise that the old mans interest in mines must have rubbed off on my Dad — (his youngest son) — who was to become my father, as he was always very interested in both placer and lode mines. My granddad had a family of 11, five girls and six boys. My dad was the tail end of this big family and I would guess that the older boys had helped their father to rid himself of the nominal fortune. At any rate some time during the year of 1903, I as a kid of nine do remember that our family was what could be termed ‘poor but respectable”. Looking back to those early years, I know that my stepmother (my paternal mother died when I was 13 months old) could and did make the few available dollars go a long way towards keeping our family in the necessities, such as - rent, clothing, food and the other requirements of frugal living. My dad worked in a Fairhaven sawmill for $1.75 for an 11 hour day and I had a paper route at $6 monthly. Some time during the end of 1903 or early in 1904 dad and a family friend named Dave Withrow had a chance to sign on as part of a crew to ie to the Skeena River, at a place called Lorn Creek, to work on a placer operation. The wages offered four dollars which sure Jooked good as compared to $1.75 at the sawmill. . The boss and his crew of six men left Fairhaven early in April, going by train to Vancouver, B.C. and from there by coastwise steamer to Port Essington. At that early date Port Essington was the main port of call on the B.C. north coast. From Essington the remainder of the trip as planned, was to be com- - ¥ pleted on the Hudsons Bay river steamer — paddle wheeler — as it happened the water in the river was too high for safe travel, also on the first raise of the season there would be some flow ice which would create an additional hazard and as the Captain said, “Heaven” knows there are enough hazards even at the best of conditions, At any rate the Captain was adamant in his decision to wait for the water to subside. The boss of the mining -h outfit, presumably was worrying about the delay, first of all was the cost of keeping the idle crew and of course loss of time that should be spent “digging gold’’?? After a lot of haggling with Chief Walter Wright, who was considered, and rightly so, to be one of the best canoe men on the river, Wright finally consented, saying he would take them as far up river as he con- sidered it reasonably safe. He took charge of the lead canoe and arranged for another canoe to follow. The boss demurred at the ad- ditional cost of the second canoe but Wright refused to overload. After several days of hazardous going, the two canoes arrived at the Little Canyon. After several abortive attempts to make it through the canyon the Chief said they would have to hold up until the water had dropped to a safer level. Anyone famillar with the 1 GLIMPSES INTO YESTERDA was blasted ‘ out as_ the contractors Foley, Welch and Stuart had at one time. five company steamers, 1904 Skeena Sage also two Hudsons Bay an - vagaries of the Skeena will know it is eapable of both raise and fall in a matter of ours. As a side light it is noted that an early settler, Tom Thornhill, and his native wife had their cabin and rancheree on the south bank of the Skeena and hard by the Little Canyon. Thor- nhill’s wife was a blood sister of Chief Wright. While waiting for the water to drop they all camped at Thor- ill's and they made them very welcome. Tom said that he and his wife were watching the canoes while trying to make it through the canyon and several times thought for sure they would be swamped. It could be noted here that the canyon at that early date presented a greater hazard as there was a pinnacle of rock in mid-channel and woe betide any canoe or. boat hitting this obstruction. In later years during the railway construction this one independent hauling supplies for the construction work. . According to my dad’s story the mining crew waited: for three days and finally due to the urging of the mine boss, the chief and his two canoes made it. through the canyon. They only proceeded upriver a distance of approximately five miles to what ‘was known as Stuarts Landing. . There the Indians refused to go any further. : The Chief told the boss that they had risked not only their lives but also the lives of his crew by. making it this far, and with the Big Canyon only another five or six iles up river from where they were and that there was no earthly chance of trying the canyon at this stage of high water. To cinch his reason for not proceeding Walter said to the boss. “Maybe you see Little Canyon only three four hundred feet white Hampton - longest living resident of Terrace Fred Hampton, age the age of 96, has lived in Terrace since he was 28, which makes him the oldest: living resident of Terrace. He lives in the self-care unit’ at Skeenaview Hospital; and he claims his one vice is he does not smoke cigarettes. Hampton arrived at Kitimat from Victoria on February 25, 1908. He trecked into Kalum where Eby’s Hote] and Telegraph Office was situated at sby’s Landing. The hotel was at the riverside near the location of Frank’s Dairy Farm. Hampton remembers the train station was at Kalum in those early days. It was at this station he saw the Frank fami: arrive two months after uis arrival. One of the jobs he worked at was the Ferry Island Bridge, 2 wooden structure built in 1913. It was a Howe Span Bridge and it was built in the winter. He says he wore warm winter clothing for fhe job and he was stil cold. The bridge and a ferry from the island to the Thornhill side served as the Skeena River crossing until ©} . 1925 when the Skeena River Bridge was built. There was very little of a settlement in the present downtown area when he went into the army in 1916 but the town was organized by 1919 when he returned. Hampton lived at Dutch Valley when he returned from overseas service, He also lived on the bench area two miles from the present school board offices, He remembers the French Canadian Zombies during World War II. He was not impressed with them; they tried to run him over on the road with a bren gun carrier. He said when they were Supposed to be on night patrol they would position themselves near Bill King’s home at the bottom of Lanfear Hill and hold wild parties. This would happen even when they were sent on patrol as far north as Kalum e, Their commanding officer would not believe King when he .complained because “(they were out on patrol not drinking booze” but when King finally said he was going to the police they checked his story out and the men never went on night Sgt. Fred Hampton Hampton also remembers one of them shoplifting in Jim Smith’s store down- town. When a few of them visited him at his home they left with two of his bullet- shaped lighter casing and he chuckled when he realized they had left the one that worked behind. These men later took over the town with demands to Ottawa to be moved out of Terrace. patrol near his home again. - When the civilians built the Skeenaview Hospital for the army in 1941 Hampton remembers his truck while making his farm produce deliveries and seeing them drinking behind one of the buildings. They would even sit on the roof and hit it with their ham- mers without driving in any nails, just to look busy. During this construction many of the townspeople used the lumber to build their own homes. A truck would go for the lumber and some of its load would be deposited at a homesite before it arrived at the , Hampton recalled. “hospital . -Thére were two beer parlours during the war WE'VE MOVED TO NEWER AND LARGER PREMISES ed ate Oo ssing them in- “lost the recor years. Each hotel was required to have a certain number of rooms to get a license and although they were empty most of the time the beer parlours. were usually crowded. Hampton regrets having he kept of the weather, the tem- perature, the births and the deaths in the area from 1908 when he first arrived. He does, however, smile when he says he never worked for George Little. It seemed almost everyone else did. THERE MUST BE 50 WAYS 10 CELEBRATE TERRACE’S GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY If you know ONE call 638-8196 TERRACE ANSWERING BUREAU TERRACE GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY GOMMITTEE DISTRICT OF TERRACE NOTICE By-Law 534-1969 states that: “No person shall park ‘a vehicle on any street between the hours ~ of 1:00 AM and 6:00 AM.” (Street includes Boulevard) Sections 178 and 179 of the Motor Vehicle Act provide that any vehicle parked in ‘contravention of the By-law or in any position that interferes with snow removal may be removed and stored at the owners expense, District of Terrace "4636 LAZELLE LAKELSE EMERSON CLINTON . GREIG ‘TERRACE BUS TERMINAL k.A. Garner = PROP. water, You see Big Canyon, skookum white water ‘maybe worse Little Canyon. Mile-and quarter all mighty bad, steep rock walls sides. No! No! No!” I should imagine the boss having had the experience of the trip this far realized the wisdom of the Chief’s argument. . All of the equipment was | unloaded on the riverbank and both canoes: headed back to Essington. ' After the Indians left it was decided that the boss, dad and his friend m Withrow would hike the © remaining 25 miles to Lorn Creek, following - the Dominion Telegraph trail. They assumed one long days travel would see them at thé creek. All they took with them was a little grub, two axes and. a rifle. Before Y__ leaving the four men at Stuarts the boss told them dhat when he got to Lorn Creek and providing the river had subsided he would send a canoe back down for the stuff but by no means were they to load in the canoe, but. to follow the telegraph trail, walking as he and his two men were going to do. He again warned them that the canoe with a couple of men from Lorn together with all the stuff would be fully loaded on the up river trip. To shorten an otherwise long story the boss and his two men found that the foot : See Saga Page 11. 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