Glimpses of the Past: August 22nd, 2024
Compiled by Adam Carter, Collections Assistant
Rocky Mountain Rangers bridge guards at Surprise Creek Bridge, ca. 1914. Revelstoke Museum and Archives Collection, P-1750.
130 years ago: The Kootenay Mail, August 25, 1894
Professor Ferguson, “the greatest of all specialty artists on the violin,” gave a performance at Peterson’s Hall. Despite there being no admission fee, few people attended, but this did not stop Ferguson from putting on a good show. He did many imitations with his violin, including a baby’s cry, a cow’s moo, and a hog’s grunt. He then finished the performance with a few songs.
120 years ago: Revelstoke Herald, August 25, 1904
The local Amateur Dramatic Club continued its extensive preparations for shows to be put on for the upcoming Labour Day celebrations. The club was putting its time into rehearsing for a production of the comedy-drama, “Dick Turpin and Tom King” and a production of the laughable farce, “Slasher and Crasher.”
110 years ago: Revelstoke Mail-Herald, August 19, 1914
A train carrying sailors to the Atlantic coast was attacked at the Mountain Creek Bridge about eighty kilometres east of Revelstoke. The bridge was being guarded by Revelstoke’s Rocky Mountain Rangers when the attackers began opening fire. A small skirmish ensued but there was no damage caused and the attackers fled the scene before they could be caught or identified.
100 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 20, 1924
A Revelstoke newspaper from June 28th, 1911 was found in an abandoned miner’s cabin up the Big Bend Highway with an article inside about the planned construction of a new post-office. Construction of this post-office had not begun when the article was found but it was eventually built in 1926 and in 1974 it became the home of the Revelstoke Museum and Archives.
90 years ago: The Revelstoke Review, August 24, 1934
A CPR operator named George Milton, one of the best known operators on the Revelstoke division, saved a young woman from drowning in Kicking Horse River at Field. The woman had fallen into the river after losing balance while trying to reach for food that had been placed on the river bank. She was swept about 200 metres downstream before Milton pulled her out.
80 years ago: The Revelstoke Review, August 24, 1944
Mysterious planes were reported to have passed over Revelstoke on the weekend. One plane had been sighted at around midnight on Friday night and it was seen again at the same time on the Saturday. Other planes were spotted on the following nights. No one knew for sure why the planes were flying over.
70 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 19, 1954
A boating mishap occurred while RCMP Corporal Don Pye was ferrying two Alberta men across Upper Arrow Lake. The boat flipped over, causing one Alberta man to drown while the other man was left clinging to the overturned boat for 13 hours. Pye was able to swim to shore but he collapsed not long after. Pye and the Albertan were later spotted by a search plane and rescued.
60 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 20, 1964
A group of Americans came to Revelstoke via the Columbia River using rubber rafts. There were twenty-five people in the fleet, seventeen of them children, and they came on nine separate rafts. They had left from Canoe River in Valemont on August 12th and arrived in Revelstoke six days later. They all found the experience of coming through Revelstoke delightful.
50 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 22, 1974
Revelstoke was preparing for its second annual Columbia River Days. Festivities were to include a wine and cheese tasting party followed by a dance, a fish derby from dawn till dusk, a twelve mile canoe race from Centennial Park to 12 Mile south, a forty mile canoe race from Downie Creek to Centennial Park, and one more dance to end the celebration.
40 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 22, 1984
A ceremony was held at the summit of Rogers Pass for the unveiling of a brand new stamp depicting Mount Sir Donald. Roughly 375 people attended the unveiling, many of them being stamp collectors who were hoping to take a first issue stamp home with them.
30 years ago: Revelstoke Times Review, August 23, 1994
Plans were discussed for Parks Canada to restore the ski jump on Mount Revelstoke that Nels Nelsen famously utilized. The ski jump at that time had been neglected for many years and was becoming covered in mounds of grass. Parks Canada had at one point considered demolishing the jump but they dropped the idea after public protest.
20 years ago: Revelstoke Times Review, August 25, 2004
Plans were being discussed to rebuild the Howson Building on Mackenzie Avenue that had been damaged by fire in November of 2003. The fire started in the Canadian 2 for 1 Pizza store at 217 Mackenzie Avenue and also damaged several of the adjoining stores.