125 YEARS AGO: APRIL 22, 1899
Ashcroft Sawmill: The plans for the new sawmill to be shortly erected at Ashcroft have been drawn, and are now in Toronto under consideration of the Ashcroft Water and Light Co. The mill will have a capacity of from six to eight millions of feet of lumber per annum, although this first year only about 2,500,000 feet of logs are being provided. An extensive and safely placed boom will be stretched across the river a half-mile above the town that will be open in sections. Piles will be driven in bunches to protect the boom and everything will be done securely and in first class shape. Log driving will comments soon on the North Thompson to the head of Tranquille Lake, where they will be boomed and towed down to Savonas and run from there down the river in small rafts. The success of the sawmill enterprise means much to Ashcroft.
Opera: The Metropolitan Opera Company, with its 22 people, gave a very satisfactory entertainment at the town hall on Wednesday night. The opera presented was La Mascotte, and all things considered (the lack of scenery, etc.), was a very creditable performance. Is it not pretty near the time the directors of the town hall carried out their oft-repeated threat to improve and enlarge the hall, provide a piano, etc.?
Dance: A pleasant little dance sprung suddenly into existence on Wednesday night, after the opera, at the Cargile house. The young people enjoyed it immensely and voted it a success.
Windy Weather: The wind has been a very disagreeable feature of the weather in town for the past week. Dust mixed with even the gentle zephyrs is not a nice mixture.
100 YEARS AGO: APRIL 19, 1924
Vincent’s Display Window Smashed: The local police are hot on the trail of the culprit or culprits who, seemingly, deliberately smashed the large plate glass display window at the front of the A.C. Vincent general store and stole an $8 cowboy hat. The act was committed during the early hours of Sunday morning, as some of the sleepers in the Ashcroft Hotel nearby heard the crash. The window was broken by two large stones, which must have been thrown at terrible speed, as some of the glass was found near the back of the store.
Cariboo Road To Be Widened: F.W. Alexander, district engineer, Canadian Pacific Railway, has returned to Vancouver from a three-day trip along the old Cariboo trail through the Fraser Canyon. He accompanied the engineers who are investigating the Fraser canyon route for the proposed trans-provincial highway. “It was a great piece of work,” said Mr. Alexander in reference to the old Cariboo road, which the engineers built in pioneer days and which will probably be used as a foundation for the new highway. Originally 16 feet wide, the trail will be widened to accommodate automobile traffic when a highway is constructed. Along some parts of the canyon the motor road will be 600 to 700 feet above the river.
Many Tourists For Old Cariboo Road; Historic Scenes Will Be Visited By Great Number This Season: In anticipation of the increased traffic on the Cariboo road this coming summer, the stopping houses in the Lac La Hache district, the most picturesque section of the Interior, are making extensive preparations. It is believed that the expected building of the national highway through the Fraser Canyon will mean thousands of tourists motoring throughout the Cariboo per week. The glamour of the old days, when pioneers of a resolute type trekked over hundreds of miles with all they owned on packs on their backs, to the gold diggings at Barkerville, still hangs lucid around the brow of the Cariboo country. There is no part of British Columbia that attracts travellers more than the Cariboo, with its old trails and roads. The scenery is wonderful, and would amply repay the traveller, apart from the historic associations.
The Old Fight Begins: Now that an election is about to take place in the province, we may expect to hear the “big guns” roaring their defiance at each other in the usual pre-election way. It is regrettable that the various parties cannot come before the people and seek election on the strength of their own merits, instead of going into personalities and the crimes of administrations in past years, which in many cases are pure propaganda.
75 YEARS AGO: APRIL 21, 1949
Break-in: Ashcroft Liquor store was broken into recently, when someone broke the plate glass window in front and, we understand, crawled through and helped themselves.
Boston Flat: Attractive indeed is the large home on Boston Flat, which has been vacant so long. Extensive work is going on at Boston Flat now, the new owners are putting up new fences, and considerable ground has been plowed for crops. Terry Johnson of Cariboo Motors, Boston Flat, has a huge pile of water pipe on his ground, ready for the installation of a pumping system. We understand he is going to open his modern lunch counter soon.
Clinton Carnival: The school was a busy place last Wednesday evening when the pupils staged their penny carnival in aid of the Red Cross. The fish pond was cleaned out in no time at all and the home cooking disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived. The useful articles on the sewing stall were soon disposed of. The boys had been busy with their wood-working class, to judge by the fine-looking articles on their stall. The other attractions included shoe shining, and manicures, which attracted boy customers as well as girls, apparently! The hot dog stand was doing a roaring trade, and young girls were seen to emerge from the fortune-telling booth looking starry-eyed, dreaming no doubt of the tall, dark, and handsome man stalking through their fortune! There were some attractive-looking prizes offered at the bingo games. All in all it was a most successful venture and, while exact figures are not available just yet, there can be no doubt that the Red Cross will benefit very appreciably.
Ashcroft Cannery: Ashcroft cannery this year, according to Jim Hewitt, manager, has contracted for about 350 acres of tomatoes. New plantations this year will be at McAbee and the Holgate farm across the river [North Ashcroft].
New Cars: Have you seen the new 1949 Chevrolet at Mark Dumond’s in the showroom? They are a real snappy looking car. Better call up there and look them over.
Haig-Agassiz Road To Start: Extension this year of the Northside Highway from Agassiz to Ruby Creek will complete more than half of the “missing link” which prevents tying in the Interior highway system with the most direct route to the Coast cities. Haig, on the Fraser Canyon Highway opposite Hope, is about seven miles beyond Ruby Creek. Completion of the Northside Highway, which this piece of construction brings very close, will provide traffic down the Cariboo Highway and the Fraser Canyon Highway with a direct, shorter, and toll-free route through to New Westminster and Vancouver.
Springtime: Weather for the past week has been breezy and dry, as only the drybelt can produce. A little chilly at times but grand weather. Apricot trees are in full bloom, and peach trees are starting to blow. The Thompson and Bonaparte rivers are getting muddy and raising normally. There is plenty of snow up in the mountains yet.
50 YEARS AGO: APRIL 18, 1974
McLeod Store Robbed: Mcleod’s Store in Ashcroft was broken into last April 6 weekend, when $2,000-worth of merchandise was stolen. Entrance was gained by removing an upstairs window and jimmying the inside back door. TVs, tools, binoculars, and guns were taken, which are partially covered by insurance.
Around Town: Work on the Safety Mart Mall has been at a standstill this week, we understand steel is needed … Work is going on at the Arena, and also a clean-up at the swimming pool readying it for the coming season. While Ashcroft is still a small town we are very fortunate to have a full complement of sports facilities.
Barkerville Gold Panning Stopped: The random panning for gold at Barkerville Provincial Historic Park will no longer be permitted because of the damage to the park that has resulted from this activity. The supervised gold panning demonstration, long a favourite attraction of park visitors, will continue in operation. Spurred on by the highest ever recorded prices for gold, “prospectors” swarmed over Williams Creek in Barkerville Provincial Historic Park last year, causing damage to the bedrock and creek. These “prospectors” were a far cry from the occasional recreational gold panner of years past who, often as not, came with his family and an old pie pan trying his luck for a little “colour”.
‘Support Your Legion’ Says The President: A lot of people associate the Legion with booze and bingo. That is not the idea of the Legion at all. We are a non-profit organization and we rely on the lounge to support the youth and senior citizens in the community. We are trying to start and support the Soap Box races again here in Ashcroft. We support minor hockey, little league baseball, and also help to support the Boy Scouts in our area. We have a fine Ladies’ Auxiliary in our branch and they have many projects going within our community that they cannot get off the ground without it being passed at our general meeting. So let’s all get out and support our community. Thank you. Jim Cook, President.