History of Smithers by Wilfred Watson
The following is being shared for education purposes, it is copyright to the Bulkley Valley Museum Society, it was submitted by one of our readers, who for obvious reasons asked to have her name withheld.
In a day where cancel culture seems to be the flavor of the day, and beating ourselves up over racism that took place long before most of us were born, its getting harder and harder to objectively read the words of the people who built our communities.
Today we tear down statues, we try to bury the past with a complete re-write of history, all at a time when we can simply say, that is how it really was back then, like it, hate it, its our history. Its not the buttered up version, its not politically correct, but its a very accurate document regarding the history of Smithers.
In an attempt to share history as it was, there is both the good, the bad, and the ugly, but the author was blatantly honest, and speaking in terms of that were considered normal at the time it was written. So if your one of those who need to hide under a rock, or dance on it because of its content, maybe its not a good idea you read more about the truth of where our history came from.
With so many new politically correct history books available today, we thought some of you might appreciate the uncut version.
For those of you who want to scream racism, I fully understand, but keep in mind you cannot scream racism and at the same time demand the proof be destroyed. Yes the contents are by today’s definition racism, however in context to the date it was written, at that time it was not considered racism. It also gives a very detailed history of the people who made Smithers what it is today, its far to valuable to hidden in a drawer collecting dust, its in fact one of the best document around today, regardless of some of the hurtful slurs that exist in it, due to the generational differences of then and now. Use it as a means to make a better future, as opposed to using it as a means to demand more compensation.
The scanned document belongs to the Bulkley Valley Museum Society, we were unable to link it in from their website, here is a link to it (Click Here)
Smithers History by Wilfred Watson
Copyright © 2021 Bulkley Valley Museum Society
NOTE FROM EDITOR
I read the document and one of my takeaways from the document that I found astounding was the reference to shortages of salmon, or bad salmon runs dating back to the 1930’s. So really what we experience today has already occurred in the past.