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British Columbia history that informs readers while entertaining them.

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Capt. James Christensen: B.C.’s First Commercial Seal Hunter Was a Bust

Posted by on Aug 20, 2021 in Articles | 0 comments

When Capt. James Christensen, mariner retired, looked back upon a lifetime of adventure and achievement, few could challenge his claim to being British Columbia’s grand old man of seafaring. Thanks to Capt. James Christensen Victoria ultimately became homeport to a thriving sealing fleet during the 1890s. As trader, sealer, tugboat skipper, steamship captain and pilot, he’d survived shipwreck and almost single-handed provoked an international incident between Great Britain and the United States. To say the least, the career of...

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Coal Miner Joseph Mairs – ‘Martyr to a Noble Cause’

Posted by on Jul 29, 2021 in Articles | 2 comments

A century ago, coal miner Joseph Mairs was hailed as a hero, a martyr. Is he remembered today? Yes, he is, in fact–by many… A stroll through the Ladysmith cemetery can be a somewhat chilling experience, even on a summer day. On a windy, wet January Sunday, it’s even more so, figuratively and literally… The third Sunday in January can be cold, damp or sunny but still they come to honour ‘martyred’ coal miner Joseph Mairs. Coal mining was...

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RMS Queen Elizabeth: WW2 Victoria’s best-kept ‘secret’

Posted by on Jun 10, 2021 in Articles | 10 comments

The Royal Mail Service Ship Queen Elizabeth was so huge she could be seen from Port Angeles–but no one ‘knew,’ early in 1942, that the world’s largest troopship was in the Esquimalt dry dock! One of the most beautiful ocean liners of all time, the RMS Queen Elizabeth sails from New York for the last time in 1968. —Wikipedia photo from a postcard by Louis Gardella. For 30 years I’d wanted to write this story but didn’t get around...

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Mother Lode Mine Owners Killed Golden Goose

Posted by on Apr 19, 2021 in Articles | 6 comments

The now-extinct Boundary Country community pf Deadwood City was home to the Mother Lode Mine, one of the province’s greatest copper producers of all time. Until the blowing up of Ripple Rock 45 years later, it held the distinction of having hosted Canada’s biggest man-made explosion. Until the blowing up of Ripple Rock in 1958 the Mother Lode Mine was the greatest man-made explosion in Canada. –https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripple_Rock Prospectors Bill McCormack and Dick Thompson started the ball rolling in May...

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