Vintage B.C. textbook not to be taken as gospel
Vintage school textbooks appeal to me for many reasons. An avowed bibliophile, I enjoy the look, smell and feel of a book. A retired elementary schoolteacher, I am always interested in materials which have been used by educators to meet the academic needs of their students. And, as a local historian, I naturally enjoy materials — textbooks included — which portray our history. Vintage school textbooks help fulfil these needs.
Recently, I was happy to acquire another book for my collection of vintage school textbooks. This collection, including the iconic “Dick and Jane” primers, was bolstered by my purchase of The Romance of British Columbia, by Arthur Anstey of the Vancouver Normal School. Published in 1927 by W.J. Gage & Company, this book was designed to educate British Columbia students about our history.
The Romance of British Columbia was an attempt to present our province’s history and development, mainly of the post-contact era. A map of British Columbia is found on page 163, showing the province, including the Okanagan Valley. Prominent lakes, such as Okanagan and Skaha, are illustrated, but it is interesting to note that this map does not include the names and locations of any of our Valley towns and cities, the nearest major centre being Kamloops.
Brief mention is made, on page 185, of British Columbia’s agricultural regions, including the Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island and the “Okanagan and Kootenay” countries.
Pages 190-194 provide more specific information about the Okanagan Valley: “Thus it was that between the years 1860 and 1870 many an ‘old timer’ was securely launched on his career as ‘cattle king.’ Thousands of acres were to be had for the asking (obviously ignoring the First Nations people who have inhabited this land for thousands of years), or at a merely nominal expense. In the Cariboo and Lillooet districts, through the Okanagan Valley, and in the Douglas Lake country, great ranches were taken up, and herds of cattle were soon grazing on the rangeland. It was in the year 1860 that the first Pre-emption Act was passed, and that the (colonial) government began to grant quarter-sections of land at a price not to exceed ten shillings an acre.”
Incorrect details about early settlement are found on page 192: “In 1857 (sic: 1860) a Roman Catholic mission was established on the east shore of Okanagan Lake, not far from where Kelowna stands to-day. Following their usual custom, the (Oblate) missionaries cultivated gardens and farm land, and met with great success, thus proving the possibility of growing good crops in that district. Joseph Christien’s was the first (sic: other settlers preceded him) farm established there, and he was followed by a number of French-Canadian settlers, who occupied land in the Mission Valley and farther north in White Valley, near Lumby.”
Details about some early Okanagan settlers — A.L. Fortune, the Vernon brothers, Charles (sic: Corneulis) O’Keefe, Thomas Greenhow, F.J. Barnard in the North Okanagan and Thomas Ellis in the South Okanagan — are included on pages 192 and 193.
Steady population growth resulted, and “Owing to the inrush of population and the high prices obtained for the produce, farming was a prosperous industry for several years . . . . The building of the Canadian Pacific Railway (in 1892, from Shuswap to Okanagan Landing) led to a revival of farming and there was a great demand for farmlands in the vicinity of the railroad. Between 1903 and 1912 many of the large ranches of the interior were subdivided and broken up into smaller farms. It was during this period that fruit-growing began to assume its present importance as a separate industry, and thousands of acres in the Okanagan and Kootenay country were planted with fruit trees.”
There is very little information about Kelowna: a photograph of “an old ranch house, Okanagan Mission, near Kelowna” (page 191); the reference to the Roman Catholic Mission, “not far from where Kelowna stands to-day” (page 192); a photograph of “an old church, Okanagan Mission, near Kelowna” (page 192); and a photograph of “one of the many prosperous fruit-farms in the Okanagan Valley” (page 193).
There is no information provided about the founding of Kelowna in 1892, its steady growth and development, the people who settled here, and nothing specific about agriculture’s importance in our local development.
The Romance of British Columbia provided British Columbia students with only a cursory history of the Okanagan Valley, the primary focus of the book centred around Victoria, Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Some references were made to First Nations people, including various nations located throughout what is now British Columbia.
There was one reference to Chinese settlement, a critical statement about Chinese pioneers, found on page 205. Japanese settlement was mentioned on page 205: “Japanese began to settle in the province in 1896, and soon they were arriving in large numbers . . . . the Dominion government intervened, and by arrangement with the Japanese government the numbers of the immigrants were restricted.”
Settlement by Indo-Canadians received one sentence, again on page 205: “From India, too, came natives who settled in the country and engaged in various forms of unskilled labour.”
As an educator and student of British Columbia history, I recognize efforts to educate our youth about our province’s history — pre and post-contact — but there are obvious limitations in The Romance of British Columbia. Much has changed since this book was printed in 1927, and we now have a better understanding of our history and the ethnicities which helped to shape this history.
And yet there is still so much more to learn.
Robert Michael Hayes is a lifelong resident of Kelowna and a descendant of the pioneer Clement and Whelan families. He is a life member of the Okanagan Historical Society and a retired elementary schoolteacher. This article is part of a series, submitted by the Kelowna Branch, Okanagan Historical Society. Additional information would be welcome at P.O. Box 22105, Capri P.O., Kelowna, B.C., V1Y 9N9.