Friends of Brigade Trails Meeting

If you are interested in the brigade trails and live close enough to Vancouver or Hope to attend this meeting, you might want to do so:
Hudson's Bay Company (1849) Heritage Trail -- special evening at the Blue Moose Coffee House in Hope, B.C.
At this meeting, you will learn about the HBC trail of 1849 over the Coquihalla, and the important role it played in the development of British Columbia.
Archaeologist Jeff Martyn will explain the trail's First Nations origins and fur trade history, and will present the findings of the Heritage Context study and Archaeological Overview Assessment he conducted on the trail in 2010.
He has uncovered information about First Nations traditional use and their collaboration with the fur traders in the 1840's and 1850's.
I hope he has uncovered Blackeye's true name, but I expect that will be too much to ask.
Kelly Pearce, of the Hope Mountain Centre, will then outline the work done to re-open the trail for hikers and horseback riders.
He will also tell you about the improvements planned for 2011 and show you some of the trail's spectacular scenery.
To find out more about this trail, go to the Hope Mountain website at www.hopemountain.org
Oh, and I forgot to tell you the meeting date and time -- The meeting is to be held at the Blue Moose Coffee House, 322 Wallace Street, in Hope, at 7:00 pm. Thursday, February 24th.
I hope that at the end of this meeting, all parties will agree to set up a Friends of the Brigade Trails Association, an organization that will protect and market the brigade trails.
If you are interested in attending this meeting or future meetings, or in taking part in any plan to market and protect the brigade trails in British Columbia, contact me and I will forward your name and email address on to the person who is organizing all this.

I have an idea that I am going to toss out to all those fur trade descendents I have talked to over the years, and to the descendents of Alexander Caulfield Anderson scattered around the world.
Do we want to make plans to meet each other and hike the brigade trail together?
Those of us who like hiking can hike; others can rent horses and ride over the trail.
We can meet every night at the fur traders' encampments -- Campement des Femmes at Tulameen, B.C.; Lodestone Lake (12 miles away); Podunk Creek; Encampment du Chevreuill (Deer Camp) on the west side of the summit; Manson Camp at the head of Peers Creek.
We can have speakers at every camp; we can arrange photographers or camera men to record the event or film it for a story; we can have Native speakers who can tell us what their ancestors did on the top of the mountain.
There may be hundreds of fur trade descendents in this area, and dozens who will want to take this trip.
Those who are disabled or otherwise unable to hike the trail (broken down knees, etc.) can hitch a ride to the camp and spend a few hours exploring or cooking our supper.
We have to remember that all of us descendents of the fur traders are some thirty years older than our ancestors were when they rode over the trail.
Does anyone want to do this?
If we are going to do it, I suggest it be organized for about two years away -- say, summer, 2013???
That will enable everyone to clear up their schedules -- the Aussies can arrange their holidays and fly in, the Americans can get their passports and get themselves organized.
How about it?
Get in touch if you're interested!
Come on, Chalk -- come on Steph and Scott! Michael, get your knees fixed up or ride a horse -- that's what I am going to do.
Lolo descendents -- your g.g.grandfather walked over this trail many times on his way to Fort Victoria.
And descendents of Tsilaxitsa and Blackeye -- so did yours! We want to see you there too.