British Columbia, Canada
by Glen Cowley
There are places that tell your body and mind to slow down; to let the world come to you in unhurried steps. Places as beautiful as they are restful, as intrinsically informative as a guided tour yet far from the madding crowd.
This is one of those places.
Thetis Island is one of the lesser known but no less appealing of the Gulf Islands of B.C.; an archipelago of emerald jewels resting off the coast of southern Vancouver Island amid the Salish Sea. Named after the 36 gun British Frigate H.M.S.Thetis which plied these waters from 1851 to 1853, the island is home to around 350 permanent residents. Its tranquility maintains itself through all seasons but is even more pronounced during the off season when you can share a spot on the shoreline with no one but nature’s critters.
The fair weather of late February saw us embarking on the BC ferry, Kuper Island, for the 25 minute scenic cruise from the tourist town of Chemainus to Preddy Bay, Thetis Island. Churning out from the harbour we were blessed with a hurried sweep below our bow by a pre-occupied cormorant. Even from a distance we could make out the tended pastoral grounds of Capernwray, the Bible College representing but one of 25 associated colleges spread through 20 countries.
Though frequent visitors to the island this trip was a first for we had rented an oceanside cabin at Overbury Farm Resort. Still in the family of the original 1909 homesteader Geraldine Hoffman the farm, which originally gained renown for its eggs, became a resort in the 1930’s and pursues that legacy with manored elegance to this day. Our self-contained, modern cabin was a short forest walk to the gracefully aging and carefully tended manor house on Crescent Point, which owns a magnificent setting and ocean view, set amidst lawn, gardens and trees.
Our self catering cabin was blessed with a view over Preddy Bay to Vancouver Island’s multi- hued spine. The day view of harbour, islands and passing birds; the evening asparkle with the lights of Chemainus. In between we drank in the reddening glow of sunset.
A trail led to beach and shoreline. To our right spread the nature carved sandstone artistry for which the Gulf Islands are famed while to our left smiled the crescent pebble beach spreading below the manor house. If so inclined, the shoreline at low tide opens up a scenic stroll along Preddy Bay to the ferry dock. An early morning visit allowed me a stab at sketching while enjoying a sea side panorama complete with entertainment. Two Buffle Heads winged past in furious haste, their wings squeaking emphatically. An indifferent bald eagle soared gracefully above in every expanding circles. A river otter slowly pushed his way towards shore, disappearing underwater in silence shortly before reaching land. A float plane droned by. A lone sailboat caught the wind. The panorama set across Stuart Channel backed by the snow dusted Island mountains. Time passed slowly as I watched an incoming tide methodically widen its reach across the hollows and curves of the sandstone shore. The busy world of man seemed age away.
Owner Norm Kasting told us of a short cut trail through the forest to St. Margaret’s Cemetery and from there to the Capernwray grounds which cut off a good 30 minutes in our trek to the Telegraph Harbour Marina and Pub. As it is our wont to walk and explore we found our way to the cemetery and read, amid the tended lawn setting, how it was donated as a cemetery by early Island resident Henry Burchell in 1927. Its turf was even earlier turned to welcome the remains of a Burchell in 1924. It has since become the final resting place of a number the Overbury Farm-owning family, including pioneering Geraldine Hoffman.
One headstone remembers Arthur Jackson, a Thetis Islander who passed away from war wounds in Victoria in 1919. There too is recounted the memory of Daniel George Culver (1952 to 1993) the first Canadian to climb Mt. Everest and K2. His adventurous life ended in Pakistan but his legacy included the purchase and preservation of nearby Jedediah Island as a marine park.
A gateway opened to the grounds of Capernwray and access to wide grinning Preddy Bay beach where you can wander and explore with tended grounds behind and Vancouver Island panorama before. Capernwray asks that if you wish to enjoy walking their idyllic grounds that you check in at their office behind Preddy Hall. The whitewashed hall stands singularly elegant at the centre of the grounds. And walking their grounds is worth it. There are cared-for lawns with gardens, ponds and visiting Canada Geese, sedate Holstein cattle dotting the greens and views out to Chemainus from whence you can spot the ferry leisurely making its endless crossing. Capernwray offers the opportunity to dine at their hall, which dates back to 1927, along with the students. (Call to reserve 250-246-9440).
After a healthy jaunt the refreshments afforded at the Thetis Island Marina and Pub are most welcomed. Though the kitchen is closed over the off season there are some non-cooked options and always a brew or coffee available. Inside or out the view over Telegraph Harbour is compelling. The long finger of sea rests between Thetis and Penelekut Island, long the home of the Penelekut Nation. In late Spring you can watch the gathering of eagles for the rituals of mating, teaching the young and socializing. They dot the trees of the opposite shore and cavort in the spaces between.
A stroll along Foster Point Road to the south of the island takes you past a massive Arbutus tree compelling the road to go around it. Grand as it is it is but second best to another, which rests near the community hall, and is acclaimed the largest Arbutus in B.C. A spider network of paved and unpaved roads offers up miles of leisurely strolling and exploring.
For hardy cyclists with thighs of steel the island affords challenging hill climbs with vistic rewards. We opted for motorized travel to climb Pilkey Point Road and take in the view from Pilkey Point. Here the sandstone sculpted shoreline is made for scrambling and vistas of the snow capped Coastal Mountain Range. An ideal place for the avid photographer to catch an early sunrise etched against the serrated teeth of the mainland peaks.
A quiet inland hike can be picked up near the one room school house. Here the solitude of an enveloping forest can hush the busiest of minds.
To enhance a longer island stay you can always take in the famed live theatre at the purpose built Chemainus Theatre which is but a short walk from the ferry terminal, stroll about town taking in the many famed wall murals depicting its vibrant history, put in a round of golf at Mount Brenton Golf course or explore short hiking trails all without need of a car. For scuba divers there is the sunken Boeing 737 jet harbouring its unique menagerie of sea life.
Our goal had been to leave the world behind for three days and live without a schedule in an idyllic setting. In this Overbury and Thetis met our desires. Waking to views, tranquility, the chirping of birds and an unhurried raccoon rumbling across the lawn with an ocean vista backdrop our goal was amply met.
If You Go:
♦ Thetis can be reach by ferry from Chemainus
♦ Seair provides daily float plane service, from the pub at Telegraph Harbour, to and from Victoria and Vancouver
♦ There is limited shopping on the island, being largely restricted to the small convenience store at the marina pub however there is a grocery store, the 49th Parallel, beside the ferry dock at Chemainus.
♦ Overbury Farms Resort is hosted by Norm and Arlene Kasting
♦ You can pick up a handy Thetis Island map at the tourism information office at the Chemainus downtown parking lot on Willow Street.
About the author:
Since 1994 Glen Cowley has parlayed his interest in sports, travel and history into both books and articles. The author of two books on hockey and over sixty published articles (including sports, travel, features and biographies) he continues to explore perspectives in time and place wherever travels and circumstances take him. From the varied landscapes of British Columbia to Eastern Canada and the USA, the British Isles, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Greece and France he has found ample fodder for features. His present endeavours see him working on a book on unique pubs on Vancouver Island; a sober experience. windandice@shaw.ca
Cabin at Overbury Farms
Sea carved sandstone
Overbury Farms manor house
1897 Nothing Happened Here plaque
Float plane and Telegraph Harbour
Marina pub at Telegraph Harbour
Sea carved sandstone
Back in the early 1900’s, Olcott Beach was a resort area. When a trolley line was put in place between the towns of Lockport and Olcott in 1900, summer visitors flocked to the beach to enjoy the cool breezes of Lake Ontario and entertainment. Also vacationers arrived by steamship. During the early years of the 1900’s, over 100,000 tourists arrived yearly.
Unfortunately, due to the Great Depression when people had little money to spend, in addition to the increase in automobile ownership, the hotel business at Olcott Beach and many other Lake Ontario tourist communities floundered. People could drive to the beach for a day and return home without spending money on a hotel. In 1927 a huge fire wiped out many buildings and the amusement park along the main part of the tourist area. The Grand Hotel was repaired, but only survived a few more years. Due to deterioration, the building was demolished in 1937.
When we parked near the shops, we immediately heard the “oom-pa-pa” of a carousel’s Wurlizer Band organ. The Olcott Beach Carousel Park was developed in 2003-2004 by local volunteers who raised funds for building a vintage amusement park.. It features an old time Herschell-Spillman two-row carousel and a few other kiddie rides for only 25 cents a ride! They can do this because the park is staffed by volunteers and is incorporated as a nonprofit organization. When you enter this quaint park you feel like you are going back in time to around 1945.
After a stroll through the mini-boardwalk and the park, we went around the corner to eat at the Mariner’s Landing restaurant. We chose to eat inside due to the heat that evening. But we could have eaten on an outdoor upper deck which offers a stunning view of Lake Ontario and nearby Krull Park. The inside was filled with nautical decor, especially on an upper ledge that ran all the way around the dining room. It was filled with models of ships, lighthouses, sea captains, and other knick-knacks. They were fascinating to look at.
Both of us ordered fish dinners. The waiter seemed a bit impatient as we asked questions about substitutions for potatoes and coleslaw, but he also was quite busy covering several tables in the dining room as well as out front on the sidewalk. Later he stopped by and in a more friendly way chatted about how to cook cabbage. We enjoyed our dinners and viewing the decor. We had to wait awhile to get our check, but overall eating there was fun.
After our meal we needed to walk off some calories and wandered across the narrow street into the beautiful 325-acre Krull Park. The park overlooks the lake in the area where the old Grand Hotel once stood. We didn’t go down the steep stone step pathway to the beach below where the swimming area is, but enjoyed the view from above. The park is pleasantly arranged with benches, picnic areas, and pavilions. We heard that over the summer several festivals take place at the park. Across Main St. is another section of the park. In a drive-by, we could see busy recreation fields and courts that were full of kids playing sports, along with spectators. A cheerleading squad was practicing within sight of the street also.
by Connie Pearson 
Driving into town, the first logical stop is the Dickson House at 150 E. King Street, which has Civil War significance and now serves as the Orange County Visitor Center. Park your car and see a 7-minute video giving an overview of Hillsborough’s history. Arrange for a guided tour, ask for information about restaurants, shopping, and town events, or purchase a walking tour booklet for $4.00. Make note of the public restrooms available on the grounds. The walking tour will take you past 46 well-documented structures, and 5 more are within a short drive. Most of the homes and offices are privately owned, but guided tours are available for Ayr Mount, Burwell School, and the gardens of Montrose.
During a tour of The Burwell School Historic Site, you will hear many stories about the Burwell family, particularly wife and mother Anna Burwell. She was the very accomplished and well-educated wife of Robert, minister of Hillsborough Presbyterian Church. She did such an impressive job of educating her own 12 children, she drew the attention of a local doctor who asked her to teach his daughter as well. Anna Burwell saw that as an opportunity to supplement her husband’s meager salary. From that small beginning, she went on to oversee the educations of more than 200 young women from 1837-1857.
A fascinating side story from those school years has ultimately drawn greater attention. A household slave girl named Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly worked strenuously for Mrs. Burwell. Although “Lizzie” had a harsh life, she eventually bought her freedom and became an accomplished dressmaker with such famous clients as Mrs. Robert E. Lee and Mrs. Abraham Lincoln. Mrs. Lincoln invited Lizzie to live in the White House and be her personal dresser. In that role she also became Mrs. Lincoln’s confidante, much of which is chronicled in Keckly’s book 
.
You will probably work up an appetite with all of that walking. If so, Saratoga Grill at 108 S. Churton Street, is a delicious choice. New England clam chowder, Honey Almond Salmon, and scones are specialties. Blackened scallops, salads with house-made dressings, peppered swordfish, or the broiled seafood platter are other savory options. Every dish bursts with flavor. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. Arrive about that time. It will be completely full by 12:30.
Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun, recently described Hillsborough this way: “After only two years, Hillsborough seems like the home I never left. When my family and I decided to move to North Carolina after decades in San Francisco, we kept hearing from friends in this area, ‘You must move to Hillsborough — that’s where all the writers and artists live.’ Being writers ourselves, we were magnetized by the idea of a town where creativity thrives, and, having grown up in a small town in Georgia, I wanted to return to a place with an intense sense of community. By great good luck, I found both, and more.”
About the author:
![Rose Street [now Center Ave] circa 1881](https://travelthruhistory.com/pix/nebraska2.jpg)
To protect the Union Pacific Railroad and its workers from an increased frequency of Indian attacks, Fort Sidney (aka Sidney Barracks) was built in 1867 as a strategic place to safeguard interests of United States expansionism. (Fort Sidney was named after Sidney Dillon, a railroad attorney and president of the Union Pacific). By 1874, the Black Hills Gold Rush fever hit the Dakota territories, peaking in 1876-77. With gold as the lure, Sidney became the southern terminus for those traveling north to Deadwood in the late 1870s and 1880s, seeking their fortunes in the windswept Black Hills and sacred Native American territory.
Sidney grew from a place with endless and empty Great Prairie views to a boomtown sprouting saloons and bordellos as quickly as the timber could be had. Of course, with easy money and loose women came outlaws. Sidney was no exception. From 1876-1881, the town had the notoriety of accumulating over 1,000 criminal cases along with 56 reported murders. Crooked town leaders often looked the other way on many cases that reputedly did not happen.
Many a famous person made their way through Sidney in addition to gold miners, gunslingers, cattle rustlers, gamblers, prostitutes and God-fearing pioneers and homesteaders. The legendary likes of Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Doc Middleton, Buffalo Bill Cody, Butch Cassidy, Jesse James, and Susan B. Anthony found their way through this frontier town.
The beginnings of what would be a ‘hanging-gone-all-wrong’ commenced with the largest gold robbery in the history of the United States. It was the year 1880 and as might be expected, it occurred in Sidney, involving the equivalent of a $5 million gold armed getaway. The repercussions of this unsolved heist (even today it remains a mystery) were so far reaching that the Union Pacific Railroad threatened to pull up stakes if the town didn’t clean up its tumultuous reputation.
Fearful of their livelihoods vanishing forever, a group of 64 businessmen and leading citizens were determined to change forever the future of their town. The vigilante group decided to roundup 16 of the most belligerent, badass crooks they could find within their city confines. The intention was that this unsavory group of thugs would be hung in town as an example to others of what happens when you go afoul of the law.
On April 5, 1881, the Cheyenne Daily Leader reported, “The mob led the way over to the Courthouse square, threw a rope over the branch of a tree, and then they proceeded to draw Red up. Red did beg for his life to no avail, but the mob did consent to place a handkerchief under the noose, so as not to hurt his neck. The mob had tied Red’s hands and feet, and simply lifted him from the ground, strangling him instead of breaking his neck. It was reported that the contortions of the body are described as horrible in the extreme. Red did not die for a full fifteen minutes.”
The story goes that after the lynching and subsequent herding up of prostitutes for shipping out on the next train, that 200 people left Sidney before the April 22, 1881 deadline as stipulated in the decree. As author Loren Avey wrote in, Lynchings, Legends, & Lawlessness – the Story of Historical Sidney, Nebraska, “The population of Sidney decreased dramatically in a very short period of time.”
Cabela’s World Headquarters
The Sidney Pony Express Monument – The bronze statue of a pony express rider and his horse is a fitting tribute to one of the most dangerous occupations in the history of the West. Nebraska had more miles of trails than any of the other seven states where the pony express riders rode. This is the only national monument with a marker and flag for every state on the Pony Express route.
Built in 1870 by John Morrissey, a famed boxer and member of the notorious Tammany Hall crew, the Casino was first known as the Saratoga Club House and there were three rules strictly adhered to while it was in business. No ladies, only cash transactions and no locals allowed.
John Morrissey passed away in 1878 and the Club House fell into a state of decline until 1893. when Mr. Richard Canfield purchased it. Although he’d decided to keep the name of the Club House intact, it was the public that dubbed it ‘Canfield Casino’ and it stuck. Nearly $1 million was devoted to renovations, with a stunning grand ballroom added. This room had vaulted ceilings, colorful Tiffany stained-glass windows and over-the-top chandeliers, which added to the air of splendor Canfield was aiming for.
Downstairs, gamblers could begin with $1 dollar bets. Upstairs, the stakes were much higher, oftentimes as high as $100,000. Only the most elite, arriving from all over the country, walked up the long staircase to play there.
Glass–encased items define the chronological order of the birth of Saratoga Springs, from the 1800s to present day. Mannequins are dressed impeccably in stylish clothes and coveted furs of days gone by.
High stakes gaming tables stand among heavy sculptures and dark wood fireplaces. Long, heavy brocade drapes hang from windows that let natural light seep in, lending an air of mystery to the parlor.
Even the well known SyFy channel had their ‘Ghost Hunter’ cast visit the museum. Ghostly voices and paranormal activities were made known during the time that the crew was there.
About the author:
