125 YEARS AGO: FEB. 5, 1898
New Building?: Messrs. Harvey, Bailey & Co. have recently bought the vacant ground lying between their store and the Ashcroft Hotel. It will not be surprising to see a new brick block erected on it in the near future. It is too valuable a piece of ground to remain vacant.
Returning Home: A.L. Ulrich and family arrived back in Ashcroft from Vancouver this week and will make their home in Cache Creek. The family were not pleased with the climate of the coast.
Lillooet: Since Christmas we have enjoyed delicious weather insomuch that the waterproof gentlemen from the coast are enthusiastic in their praises of our climate.
Wheels Of Progress: It is reported that one of the members of this section does not feel like uniting with the rest to urge on the building of trails and wagon roads through the interior of the province, as such proposed improvement would not benefit his particular neighbourhood. We think there must be some mistake about this being the case, but if true such a member is not fit to represent the community, he is dead and should be buried. The wheels of progress should not be retarded by such a short-sighted policy. Let him have the barnacles raked off.
Skin Tyee: G.W. Baldwin, so long known as the “skin tyee” in this vicinity, will hereafter make his headquarters in Winnipeg, but hopes to see his old friends occasionally during the season that the furs are prime and the crows are found in abundance. Many a crow will have just “caws” for thankfulness when Baldwin and his Parker are seen no more.
100 YEARS AGO: FEB. 3, 1923
New Town In The North: Out of the little mining camp at Cedar Creek a new municipality is being organized. A committee of citizens is arranging the petition for presentation to the government asking for a village charter. The name of the new town is to be “Likely”. The miners thus hope to perpetuate the memory of old John Likely, the veteran prospector whose tip to look for the gold away up on the hilltops was the foundation of the camp. The town of Likely is to be on the northeast shore of Quesnel Lake, 62 miles from Williams Lake on the P.G.E. Transportation is afforded by motor stage and truck on the road connecting the two towns, supplemented by a steamboat on Quesnel Lake. The townsite already boasts a hotel, a general store, a school, and may achieve the distinction of a weekly paper. One of the banks has promised to install a branch in the spring.
New Students: We understand there will be seven new pupils entering the Lady Byng School on Monday. This does not approach Vancouver’s 800 beginners, but it proves that Ashcroft is not dead.
No Appeals: At the recent court of revision in Ashcroft there were no appeals from taxation. In Merritt there were four and in Kamloops between three and four hundred. This is a good record for the Ashcroft district.
Spends Night Sharpening Stakes: Williams Lake: The discovery of nuggets in a well being dug on the LaBounty farm on Springhouse Prairie caused a flurry of excitement in this section of the Cariboo, and not a few miners staked claims in the vicinity. The fact that the area is regarded as outside the mineral belt added a spice of gambling to the miniature rush and prompted seasoned miners to declare, as of old, that “gold is where you find it”. It is reported on good authority that one old timer, a citizen of this country for more than fifty years, spent the whole of a clear night recently sharpening stakes for eager miners who were staking their claims by the light of the moon.
75 YEARS AGO: FEB. 5, 1948
Join The Canadian Legion Now: The Ashcroft Branch of the Canadian Legion wishes to extend to all war veterans a cordial invitation to our Organization. Recently our Branch has instituted a drive for funds to erect a Legion Building in Ashcroft. It is hoped that this building will fill a long felt need, that it will become the “Centre” of activities in the District. Our Branch does not only concern itself with Veterans’ problems but takes an active part in promoting sports and other useful activities for the youth of the Community.
Premier Announces Road Work: The Premier has announced that the Cariboo Highway reconstruction work from 57-Mile to 100-Mile hill will be completed this year at a cost of $1,600,000. A contract will be let this year for reconstruction of the highway from Clinton to Mile 57. Engineering parties are in the field revising the location of the highway north of 100-Mile hill.
Health Notes By Public Health Nurse: With Air travel so popular and in such great use between our own country and those countries where there is smallpox, there is always a likelihood that cases will occur in Canada. Vaccination is the only sure method of protection, and past experience has proved this over and over again. Striking proof of the protection that vaccination affords was that presented in Vancouver in 1932. Fifty-six severe cases of smallpox were reported of whom 17 died. But not one person who has been vaccinated within 15 years contracted the disease. Vaccination is a simple procedure and need only be repeated every 5-7 years. Do not wait until an outbreak occurs. Have your children vaccinated now!
50 YEARS AGO: FEB. 1, 1973
Forty Elk Transplanted In Lytton Hills: Game Conservation Officers at Hope released a total of 40 elk at the airport range at Lytton in an experiment in survival. The animals were trucked from Jasper National Park to the site and immediately began heading to the high hills behind the airstrip. While most of the elk behaved well, two swam the river to the opposite side. The experiment will be watched with interest by everyone. They were released in an area where few cattle graze and should fare well in this area.
Letters To The Editor: Friday, Jan. 26, 1973, at 3:45 p.m., many fears of parents in Ashcroft were realized. But we thank God it was not as drastic an accident as we have imagined a hundred times in our minds. A little girl with her sister and a friend were walking across the the bridge on their way home from school at the same time a car was proceeding across the bridge in the opposite direction. The three girls were all on the sidewalk when the car started to pass them. The little girl slipped and fell between the car and sidewalk. The terror that was felt by the occupants of the car, the three little girls, and every mother who has children who cross the bridge is beyond words. Why on earth does something like this have to happen before we try to rectify an obvious hazard? We have been fore-warned and it is up to us the people of Ashcroft to see that this or something worse does not happen again. We have three proposals and would like support from parents and residents of Ashcroft. One proposal is a railing 2 to 3 feet high that will give support to children should they slip, but will not hamper side view mirrors on vehicles. Our second proposal is to have a walkway and retaining rail extended out over the side of the bridge on the side presently used for walking. This would also create more room for vehicle traffic. Our third proposal is traffic lights on each end of the bridge making the bridge 1 lane traffic. This would or could be annoying to drivers, but what is 2 or 3 minutes wait if it would mean avoiding such an occurrence happening again. Next time we might not be so lucky, it could be one of MY children or it could be one of YOURS! How much are we willing to put ourselves out for the safety of our children? Signed, Concerned Parent.
Ashcroft P.T.G. [Parent Teacher Group]: A petition to the Provincial Government asking for improvements to be made to the Ashcroft bridge was signed by all members. This, of course, was activated by the recent accident involving a little girl walking from school on the bridge footpath.
Do you want to read more from the Journal archives? An expanded version of this story is available on the Journal website at www.ashcroftcachecreekjournal.com.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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