Interview with Hans Tugnum
https://search.bvmuseum.org/link/descriptions12511
- Date Range
- January 6, 2022
- Collection
- BVM Oral History collection
- Description Level
- File
- GMD
- sound recording
- electronic record
- Scope and Content
- Interview with Hans Tugnum, recorded by Sonja Lester for the Bulkley Valley Museum on January 2nd 2022 as part of the New Horizons for Seniors oral history project. Includes raw and edited .WAV files, .MP3 access files, and a .pdf release form.
- Collection
- BVM Oral History collection
- Description Level
- File
- Creator
- Sonja Lester
- Fonds No.
- C5
- Item No.
- 2021.21.87
- Accession No.
- 2021.21
- Physical Description
- 1.40 GB digital records
- Date Range
- January 6, 2022
- History / Biographical
- Hans Tugnum emigrated from Switzerland to Canada with his family in 1936 and settled on a farm in Glentanna. His interview primarily concerns 'old timers' of the Valley and events that took place in the decades before he arrived in British Columbia
- Scope and Content
- Interview with Hans Tugnum, recorded by Sonja Lester for the Bulkley Valley Museum on January 2nd 2022 as part of the New Horizons for Seniors oral history project. Includes raw and edited .WAV files, .MP3 access files, and a .pdf release form.
- Type of Record
- Archival Description
Audio Tracks
Interview with Hans Tugnum - January 6, 2022
Interview with Hans Tugnum - January 6, 2022
https://search.bvmuseum.org/media/Digital%20Fonds%20and%20Collections/C5%20BVM%20Oral%20History%20collection/2021.21.87_Tugnum,%20Hans/Tugnum,%20Hans%202022_01_06.ACCESS.mp3
Tugnum recounts how he and his family emigrated from Switzerland to Canada in 1936, lived in Prince George and Smithers for brief periods, and eventually settled on a farm in Glentanna.
Conrad Tugnum; Prince George; Switzerland
farming; Glentanna; immigration; moving; Smithers
Tugnum discusses his education in a one-room schoolhouse at Glentanna.
childhood; Della Carpenter; Della Herman; Driftwood-Glentanna border; Florence Lundstrom; friends; teachers; transportation
education; Glentanna School; school
Tugnum briefly describes moving to the Driftwood area (as an adult), where he purchased property and worked in the logging industry. He also talks about snowmobiling to Babine Lake with his friends.
Babine Lake; Bev Brinkhurst; buying land; John Schroeder; outdoor recreation; Ron Gilbert
Driftwood; logging; snowmobiling; work
Tugnum discusses an unsuccessful gold rush which brought many old-timers to the China Nose area (near Houston) in the early 1900s. He gives various stories as to how the mountain may have received its name.
Bill Wilson; Charlie Sieh; early 1900s; Ed Wilson; etymology; history; Joe Griffin; prospecting; surveying; Wilson brothers
China Knows Mountain; China Nose Mountain; gold rush
Tugnum discusses, and identifies the sites of, various early trails, bridges, roadhouses, and ranches in the Bulkley Valley.
Bulkley River; Chicken Creek; Danny Moore; Driftwood Creek; etymology; Glacier House; Glentanna; Harry Zogoff; Hudson Bay Mountain; Hudson Bay Ranch; Hudson's Bay Company; Naegli property; rose bush; telegraph trail; Telkwa High Road
bridges; history; infrastructure; ranches; river crossings; roadhouses; roads; trails
Tugnum discusses Glentanna farmer Charlie Newitt, who fought in the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 and was later killed by a bull.
death; Glentanna; Mounties
Charlie Newitt; North-West Rebellion; Riel Rebellion
Discussion of roadhouses, including the Glacier House and the building which the Tugnum family used to live in. (Note: the Glacier House was built by George Duhamel around 1905-06 and burned sometime between the mid-1920s and mid-1930s.)
Danny Moore; Flint farm; Stanfield Flint
Glacier House; roadhouses
Tugnum recalls his family's involvement in local social events, such as the Fall Fair and Stampedes, during his childhood (1930s-40s).
cattle; Oultons; Tugnums
community events; Fall Fair; social events
Tugnum recounts stories of prospecting and exploration in the Babine Mountains, including the establishment of Cronin Mine and the naming of Chapman Lake. Also some discussion of Peavine Harvey and how he got his nickname.
C.G. Harvey; Chapman farm; Charles Chapman; Charlie Chapman; Cronin farm; Cronin Mine; Indigenous trails; James Cronin; Katie Chapman; Mount Harvey; Peavine Harvey; trails
Babine Mountains; exploration; history; prospecting
Tugnum reminisces about several 'old timers' from the Bulkley Valley, including Joe Griffin (the 'bee man'), Bill 'Scotty' Warren, George Sharpe, John O'Hearn, and Guy Farrow.
bees; Bill 'Scotty' Warren; farms; George Sharpe; Guy Farrow; Joe Griffin; John O'Hearn; Snake Hill; Telkwa
history; old-timers; pioneers; settlers
Tugnum recalls Gertie Gunderson Douglas and discusses the history of her property (the barn was later renovated into a farmhouse owned by Lamont 'Monty' Bassett. This is also the property which later became known as Hat Rack Ranch).
'Gertie's place'; Bill Wilson; Gunderson barn; Lamont Bassett; Monty Bassett; Quentin Robbins
Gertie Gunderson Douglas; Gunderson property
Further discussion of 'old timers' and other longtime residents of the Bulkley Valley, such as Bill Bourgon (?), Fortunat L'Orsa, and Abraham Nikal.
alcoholism; Babine Mountains; death; home brew; Indigenous labour; Indigenous people; lead poisoning
Abraham Nikal; Bill Bourgon; Fortunat L'Orsa; L'Orsa family
Tugnum discusses post-war developments in the Glentanna/Driftwood area, such as the extension of hydro lines and a government land-clearing project. He also mentions the arrival of the telephone before World War II.
BC Tel; Driftwood; Glentanna; Katie Chapman; Margaret Tugnum; post-War era
clearing land; hydro lines; land-clearing; telephone office; telephones
Tugnum recalls the names of some early Bulkley Valley settlers.
Glentanna; Joe Griffin; Snake Road; suicide
George Mandreshora; John Backlund; old-timers; Walter Fay
Tugnum discusses the poor condition of roads in the early days. He also mentions how the former Bulkley Bridge was destroyed by ice (in 1966, not 1964 as he states).
Bulkley Bridge; public works; telegraph trail; Telkwa High Road; transportation
bridges; infrastructure; road conditions; roads
Tugnum discusses Bill Morris, who took over the Sealy (Seely/Seeley/Sealey/etc.) Ranch and raised cattle there. He also mentions other residents of, and roadways in, the Sealy Corners area.
Bill Curtain; cabin; Carr ranch; cattle range; Charlie Morris; Chuck Morris; farmland; ranch; range riders; roads; tie-cutting; Two-Bridge Creek
Bill Morris; Sealy Corner; Sealy ranch
General discussion of the Experimental Farm and its functions.
agriculture; District Agriculturalist
Dominion Experimental Farm
Vague recollections of the Flint/Mortenson (Mortensen) families. (Note: based on Interior News records, Stan Flint was not Louise Flint's father, but her father-in-law (through her husband Bill). Her father was Carl Mortensen/Mortenson, a member of the Smithers Farmers' Institute and the regional director of the Bulkley-Nechako Regional District.)
Bill Flint; Carl Mortensen; Carl Mortenson; Louise Flint; Stan Flint
Flint; Mortensen; Mortenson
Brief, general discussion about how settlers (including Tugnum's father) were attracted to Smithers by advertising campaigns and promises of free land.
advertisements; Conrad Tugnum; free land; Harry Bowman
settlement; settlers; Smithers
Tugnum recounts how his father and Ray Oulton founded the Bulkley Valley Credit Union.
banking; Conrad Tugnum; Credit Unions; locations; Ray Oulton; Royal Bank; Walter Boissevain
Bulkley Valley Credit Union; BVCU
Tugnum concludes with his thoughts on the Bulkley Valley and the history of clearing land for farming.
burning land; elk
Bulkley Valley; clearing land; land clearing