Interview with John Gyger
https://search.bvmuseum.org/link/descriptions12249
- Date Range
- August 8 1997
- Collection
- BVM Oral History collection
- Description Level
- File
- GMD
- sound recording
- electronic record
- Scope and Content
- Interview with John Gyger, recorded at his home on August 8th 1997 by Misty Jorgen. Includes raw and edited .WAV files, an MP3 access file, and a .jpg release form.
- Collection
- BVM Oral History collection
- Description Level
- File
- Creator
- Misty Jorgen
- Fonds No.
- C5
- Item No.
- 2021.21.42
- Accession No.
- 2021.21
- Physical Description
- 1.35 GB of digital records
- Date Range
- August 8 1997
- History / Biographical
- John Gyger was born in Adelboden, Switzerland to Fritz and Rosa Gyger. He and his family came to Canada in 1937 as part of the first wave of Swiss immigrants to the Bulkley Valley. Gyger made a living by farming, logging, and working on the railway. He married Wilma Gorley in 1947 and had three children.
- Scope and Content
- Interview with John Gyger, recorded at his home on August 8th 1997 by Misty Jorgen. Includes raw and edited .WAV files, an MP3 access file, and a .jpg release form.
- Type of Record
- Archival Description
Audio Tracks
Interview with John Gyger - August 8 1997
John Gyger discusses his early childhood in Adelboden, Switzerland, the jobs that his father took to support the family, and how the financial difficulties of the Depression eventually caused them to immigrate to Canada.
Adelboden, Switzerland; Fritz Gyger Sr.; gravel pit; Gyger family; hobby farm; house; immigration to Canada; labourer; money; parents; population; rail car; rock crusher; Rosa Gyger; siblings; snow shovelling
childhood; economic difficulties; family; immigration; jobs; Switzerland
John tells a story about a sleigh that his family used to pull hay and firewood in Switzerland. It was left behind when the family immigrated in 1937, but he had it shipped to Canada as a keepsake almost 60 years later.
farm; firewood; Harold Gyger; hay; hay bales; Switzerland
family heirlooms; sled; sleigh
John recounts his family's immigration to Canada, detailing the economic difficulties that drove them to leave Switzerland, the application process and requirements to come to Canada, how the journey from Adelboden to Smithers was made, and who was waiting to greet them upon their arrival.
Basel, Switzerland; buses; Canadian National Railways; children; Czechoslovakian immigrants; economy; employment; fighting; Fritz Gyger Jr.; Fritz Gyger Sr.; Great Depression; groceries; Halifax, Nova Scotia; houses; immigration advertisements; immigration application; jobs; language barrier; Le Havre, France; money; Paris, France; payment; Polish immigrants; Smithers Railway Station; Swiss immigrants; teamster; train; transportation; travel; wages; work; World War II
Canada; immigration; Switzerland
Gyger recounts events during his family's first few years in Smithers, including losing their first home to fire, sleeping in the train car for a week after arriving in Smithers, being shown around town by two local men, and fishing in the nearby river. He also recounts the first farm his parents bought and what sort of work they did to support themselves.
army; Ben Miller; burned down; burning; C.P. Bussinger; cash; chair; cows; cream; cutting wood; dairy; donations; E.T. Kenney; employment; farm; farming; firewood; fishing; generosity; granary; Jack Chapman; labour; Mah Yoke Tong; odd jobs; passenger car; river; road conditions; Smithers Bakery; Telkwa; train car; transfer business; woodshed; World War II
farm; fire; Gyger family; Smithers; work
Gyger spent a year and a half at school in Smithers before dropping out to work on the family farm. He recounts the building he attended school in (misidentified as Chandler Park School, which did not open until 1963; likely Smithers Elementary/Public School instead), the teachers who taught him, the differences between Swiss and Canadian schools, and the lack of Indigenous students in the classrooms. From around 34:50 to 37:10 he briefly discusses several local Indigenous people and the Lejac Residential School. (Warning that this section may be triggering to some and contains inappropriate and offensive attitudes towards Residential Schools).
Agnes Schibli; classrooms; Della Herman; Grace Ball; gymnasium; Indigenous people; Indigenous students; Jack Joseph; Jean Baptiste; language barriers; learning English; Lejac Residential School; Ralph Smith; reading; recess; school supplies; swings; teachers; Telkwa; Vera Doodson; washrooms; writing
education; school; Smithers Elementary School; Smithers Public School
Gyger discusses the jobs he held after dropping out of school, primarily his time in the logging industry, but with some mentions of farming and railway work as well. He goes into detail about the various methods, tools, and equipment used in logging, as well as the hours the men worked and the pay they received.
army; cab driver; Canadian National; Carmen Gibson; Carr Ranch; Caterpillar machine; Charlie Morris; Chris Dahlie; Claude Dohler; coal; crosscut saws; dairy farm; Dohler Flats; equipment; farm; farming; forestry; Fritz Gyger Jr.; horse logging; Indigenous workers; logging; logging camps; lumber; marriage; milking cows; money; payment; power saws; Prince George; Riverside Dairy; switch ties; timber; tools; trains; Wilma Gorley; Wilma Gyger; Woodmere Ranch; work hours
employment; jobs; logging; sawmills
Gyger describes the army training he received during World War II. The war ended before he could go overseas, but his brother Bill Gyger served in Europe and oversaw prisoners of war.
advanced training; basic training; Bill Gyger; Germans; Ontario; prisoners of war; Vancouver; Wetaskiwin, Alberta
army; army training; military; World War II
Brief discussion of Gyger's marriage to Wilma Gorley and the family they raised. Note: interview ends abruptly with no real conclusion.
children; farming; grandchildren; Hardisty, Alberta
family; marriage; Wilma Gorley; Wilma Gyger