Dad trapped for 60 years mainly around Meskanaw from the early 1920’s to the beginning of the 1980’s. He enjoyed the challenge of trapping beavers.
Collier during his first observation of Meldrum Creek in 1922 saw it being swept by a forest fire. He recognized that the absence of beavers had left the Creek “sick” and the surrounding area vulnerable.
Dad identified deeply with the experiences of the Collier family seeking to return beavers to Meldrum Creek. Dad knew the importance of beavers in the health of watersheds.
Collier was from an upper middle class English manufacturing family. After a year of articling his father and the solicitor to which he was articled, recognized it was a waste of time. Collier jumped at his father’s offer to go to British Columbia in the early 1920’s where a cousin had established a ranch.
While Collier loved the rugged interior of B.C. he had no interest in ranching. While working at a trading post he met Lillian and her grandmother, Lala. Lala had grown up on the nearby reserve before marrying a white man. Collier loved talking to 97 year old Lala about the history she had witnessed including the coming of the white man. She convinced Eric that the trapping out of the beavers for trade goods had devastated the region.
It took 9 years to save enough to establish a home on the headquarters of Meldum Creek.
Eric, his wife Lillian and his son Veasy lived next to Meldrum Creek on the Chilcotin Plateau in the interior of Brtish Columbia from 1931 to the late 1950’s.
Self-reliant they built their own log cabin from trees they had cut down. They had to be independent living 25 miles from the nearest store.
It was not a romantic life in the wilderness. They battled mosquitoes and flies in the summer and endured bitter winters where the mercury dropped to the 50 below mark at the base of their thermometer.
The Colliers savoured the beauty of the forest, the quiet, the wild animals about them. They were content.
The stories from their lives are powerful, often visceral. They made their lives as trappers and hunters. To live off the land in the B.C. interior meant killing. They shot deer, moose, geese, partridges and other animals for food. They trapped coyotes, muskrats, weasels, mink, lynx, fishers, otter and eventually beavers for their furs.
Eric, Lillian and Veasy were all trappers. Eric had the main trapline while Lillian and Veasy each took care of a few traps.
Dad had trapped almost all of those animals. I sometimes accompanied him on his trapline as a teenager. While I was never cut out to be a trapper I enjoyed being with him. Being a trapper is an intimate way to experience the great outdoors.
Dad had another connection with Eric. Dad, as with Eric, enjoyed writing about trapping. I have a carefully handwritten journal containing instructions, tips and advice for novice trappers. An early story is about how to trap skunks.
(My next post will complete my review of Thee Against the Wilderness.)
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Three Against the Wilderness (Part II)
This sounds absolutely fascinating, Bill. I know very little about hunting and trapping, but I do know the beaver is a very important part of the web of life in those environments. It's interesting to hear about the effort to return beavers to that habitat. I know what you mean, too, about a book that resonates with someone. Those common experiences can link people.
ReplyDeleteMargot: Thanks for the comment. The book took me back decades in my life prompting many memories of my Dad and our life on the farm and going trapping.
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