Interview with Art Simpson
https://search.bvmuseum.org/link/descriptions12294
- Date Range
- October 1, 1984
- Collection
- BVM Oral History collection
- Description Level
- File
- GMD
- sound recording
- electronic record
- Scope and Content
- Interview with Thomas Arthur 'Art' Simpson, recorded on October 1st 1984 by Irene Howard. Includes raw and edited .WAV files and .MP3 access file.
- Collection
- BVM Oral History collection
- Description Level
- File
- Creator
- Irene Howard
- Fonds No.
- C5
- Item No.
- 2021.21.73
- Accession No.
- 2021.21
- Physical Description
- 910 MB of digital records
- Date Range
- October 1, 1984
- Scope and Content
- Interview with Thomas Arthur 'Art' Simpson, recorded on October 1st 1984 by Irene Howard. Includes raw and edited .WAV files and .MP3 access file.
- Type of Record
- Archival Description
Audio Tracks
Interview with Art Simpson - October 1, 1984
Interview with Art Simpson - October 1, 1984
https://search.bvmuseum.org/media/Digital%20Fonds%20and%20Collections/C5%20BVM%20Oral%20History%20collection/2021.21.73_Simpson,%20Art/Simpson,%20Art%201984_10_1.ACCESS.mp3
Simpson speaks about losing his mother to tuberculosis at the age of four.
Souris, Manitoba; tuberculosis
death; mother
Simpson discusses coming to the Bulkley Valley to work for the Duthie Mine, primarily as a truck driver.
accommodations; carpenter; Eby's Hardware; handyman; hauling ore; Kamsack, Saskatchewan; lead; loading ore; minerals; mucker; mucking; Smithers Hotel; sorting ore; steel galena; truck driving; zinc
Duthie Mine; duties; employment; labour; mining; responsibilities; Smithers; work
Simpson discusses what it was like to live at Duthie Mine, including what sort of accommodations were offered, the names of some of the men who worked there, what they did for fun in the evenings, and what the food was like.
beds; cards; Conrad Stordal; cookhouse; cooks; Dick Cusack; games; John Frame; mattresses; Poulson
accommodations; bunkhouses; entertainment; food; living quarters; miners; nationalities
Simpson recalls the only accident that occurred while he was working underground.
accident; blasting; Duthie Mine; mining
Simpson discusses the meals available at Duthie Mine, what the men would do on holidays, and whether or not drinking was commonplace.
alcohol; Chinese cooks; Christmas; Thanksgiving
cooking; cooks; drinking; food; holidays; meals
Simpson briefly recalls coworker Jack McEwen and mine owner J.F. Duthie.
clergymen; J.F. Duthie; Jack McEwen; ministers
Simpson recalls his saddest memory from the mine: the death of a worker (later identified as Warren Lewis, d. October 1928) who was caught in a rock crusher.
Dr. Cecil Hankinson; roads
accidents; death; Duthie Mine; Warren Lewis
Simpson talks about traversing the narrow, winding road from Smithers up to Duthie Mine.
Al Bannister; bears; corduroy road; driving; swamp; switchbacks; traffic; vehicles
road conditions; roads
Simpson briefly recalls Emily Mackin, or 'One-Eyed Emily,' who lived with her husband near Duthie Mine for a time.
Indigenous people
Emily Mackin
Simpson discusses how the miners worked in 8-hour shifts, seven days a week, with only two holidays all year. He also briefly mentions how carts of ore were extracted from the mine.
Canada Day; Christmas; Ed Eby; First of July; July 1st; mine cart; mining
fishing; holidays; shifts; work days; work hours
Brief recollections of other individuals associated with Duthie Mine and the surrounding area.
Irma Bannister; Mrs. Lily Lewis; Victory claims
Black Jack; Black Jack McDonell; Donald Simpson; Warren Lewis
Simpson discusses the eventual closing of Duthie Mine and what he did for work afterwards. Also includes discussion of various topics such as ore seams, wages, woodcutting for the mine, and his marriage to Mabel 'May' Pike.
boilers; Indigenous people; marriage; May Simpson; ore; seams; woodcutters
Duthie Mine; mining; truck driving; wages
Simpson discusses working in the transfer business in Smithers, both before and after the Duthie Mine closed down.
Duthie Mine; Eby's Hardware; Ed Eby; Pete Eby; punctuality
employment; transfer business; truck driving; working
Simpson discusses various people he knew in Kemsack, Saskatchewan who ended up moving to Smithers, including Gus Lind and the Matson family.
Duthie Mine; handyman; Kemsack, Saskatchewan; mechanic; Swedes
Gus Lind; Matsons
Brief story about Simpson having to retrieve a corpse, as the undertaker had no means of transportation.
body; corpse; death