Wilderness Dream: Glimpses of Pioneer Life in British Columbia

Nora T. Corley is a librarian in Ottawa.

The author’s family, the Beaubiens, came to Canada in the mid-seventeenth century. Over the years they have become well established in Quebec society. In 1909, Alphonse Beaubien, the author’s grandfather, was recruited along with other Quebecois by the Fraser Mills Lumber Company to work in the region of Maillardville, British Columbia, so he and his family boarded the train and headed West. This book is the story of their homesteading experience in the wilds of turn-of-the-century British Columbia.

Soon after their arrival, Alphonse invested in mineral claims near Bridge River, which flows into Seton Lake in the B.C. interior. He built the family home in the valley and moved into it in 1917. Descriptions in the form of reminiscences capture the beauty of this isolated spot now, sadly, under Carpenter Lake; the day-to-day frontier living and hunting; encounters with bears; and other adventures. Alphonse and his wife left the homestead in 1927, but it remained in the hearts of their family. Fortunately, Eugene Beaubien, the author’s father, had a talent for taking photographs — the book is full of wonderful old photographs, which lend authenticity to the stories.

Wilderness Dream is written in a colloquial style and relies heavily on letters and interviews. It is an interesting addition to Western Canadiana and a photographic record of a time gone by.