The Fraser Valley
A History
- Publisher
- Harbour Publishing Co. Ltd.
- Initial publish date
- Jan 1992
- Category
- General, Pictorials
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9781550170689
- Publish Date
- Jan 1992
- List Price
- $46.95
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Where to buy it
Out of print
This edition is not currently available in bookstores. Check your local library or search for used copies at Abebooks.
Description
One of the world's most fertile agricultural regions, the Fraser Valley is in the midst of explosive change from the pressures of technology and urbanization.
The author follows the Valley's history from the eighteenth century when Stalo natives were constantly on guard against visits from raiding Yacultas, through the Victorian era, when waves of settlers fought harsh winters, floods and mosquitoes to build a new community in the Valley, to the twentieth century, when the depredations of two world wars and the impact of the automobile changed the Valley forever.
Throughout, Cherrington reminds us that beneath the serene, increasingly urbanized surface of the Fraser Valley, there is a turbulent past of Sasquatches and steamships, fur traders and fishermen, priests and prospectors - a recent past that, in an era of freeways and microchips, seems increasingly remote.
About the author
John Cherrington was born and raised in Vancouver. During his studies at the University of British Columbia in the early 1970s, he won the Women's Canadian Club scholarship as the top student in Canadian history. His first book, Mission on the Fraser, was published in 1974. He remains an avid chronicler of his beloved Fraser Valley, and an active member of the movement to preserve the Valley's abundant natural beauty and numerous historical landmarks. Cherrington and his wife and three children live in Fort Langley, where he practises law and sits on the board of the Fort Langley Legacy Foundation.
Excerpt: The Fraser Valley: A History (by (author) John A. Cherrington)
One early evening in 1837, the Fort Langley canon boomed in anger. Over a thousand Yucultas streamed up the Fraser to attack Stalo villages. This time, however, instead of proceeding far up the river to prey upon the Chilliwack settlements, the fleet turned suddenly southward toward Whattlekainum's peaceful Kwantlen village near the Fort. The attack came just before dusk. The sentries yelled. The canon loaded. The swivel guns on the walls armed, and muskets readied. Kwantlen villagers fled for safety into the forest. When the war canoes came into range, the gunners were signaled to fire. Canoes were blown apart; warriors spilled into the water and swam frantically out into the river channel, where many drowned. The Kwantlen, who had fled, now emerged from the woods and with knives and clubs massacred dozens of Yucultas. The remnants of the huge war party escaped down river. Never again would the Yucultas be an important factor in the life of the Fraser Valley.
Editorial Reviews
"Packed with anecdotes, quaint facts, and solid information, The Fraser Valley is the sort of book that compels you to read bits from it aloud to anyone within earshot."
-Books in Canada
Books in Canada
"[In The Fraser Valley,] John Cherrington is determined not just to narrate events but to tell a good story filled with colourful characters, with the heroes and anti-heroes that make for good reading."
-Jean Barman
Jean Barman
