British Columbia Chronicle 1847 - 1871: Gold & Colonists

G.P.V. Akrigg and Helen Akrigg have helped me develop a sense of pioneer life in Gold Rush BC with their book British Columbia Chronicle 1847 - 1871: Gold & Colonists. What I appreciate most about this book is it's day-to-day journal style. It's written as if the Akriggs were right there on the scene, as events were unfolding, which in turn gives me a sense of actually being there.

Characters like James Douglas step out of the page and the reader is exposed first hand to the staunch Victorian values of society's elite and the rough cut values of the gold seekers and traders. It chronicles an era that - form a European standpoint - has much to be proud of, and much to be ashamed of. The attitudes are direct and unvarnished and sometimes make you cringe at the hubris and lack of sensitivity of our forebears.

The sections on building the Cariboo Trail and pioneer Victoria are especially revealing of the life and motivations of the times. As are the dealings with Aboriginal peoples. A strange mix of greed, piety, boldness, idealism, punctiliousness and arrogance motivates the Europeans as they carry out an undeclared invasion of a land already occupied.

Just who's saving who here?

My reading of Red Lights on the Prairie has shifted the centre of gravity for Stained Glass somewhat. Anna Armstrong has become much more prominent.

Madame Blavinsky's offer to finance the installation of the stained glass window in St. Saviour's is really an act of vengeful pride. Having been slighted by the high society types for the 'social evil' she has brought down on the community, Madame Blavinsky wants to leave a permanent testament to her own power and impunity. What better vengeance than to have the congregation look through her stained glass window every Sunday when they gather in their church.

Christopher Dryden does not see the situation for what it is. He accepts her gift as a token of repentance, which he has a moral obligation to accept. Anna, who is Madame Blavinsky's agent and confidant, knows very well what her mistress is up to and, despite her occupation as a prostitute, abhors Madame's tactics and motives. Increasingly unhappy with her role in the affair, she wants to warn the naive Reverend about the danger to him and his ministry, and hints broadly at the nature of Madam's gift. But Anna is afraid to betray outright the woman who controls her livelihood, and who can visit a terrible punishment on her girls.

Anna lets Reverend Dryden 'save her' from her sinful occupation because she loves him. For his part Reverend Dryden, whose naivety is somewhat feigned, enjoys being saved because he believes it's in Anna's best interests to think she's committing a saintly act on his behalf... and because he loves her! Their feelings for each other are sublimated through the lens of Victorian morality and righteousness, but cannot forever be contained by that inhibiting set of values, which are not meant to be applied to all people, at all times.

Christopher Dryden

I am modeling the protagonist, Christopher Dryden, loosely on an Anglican Priest named Christopher Knipe, whose picture along with some biographical details appears in Joan Weir's informative little book Canada's Gold Rush Church. He is described as "an upper class English cleric who had volunteered to come to the Canadian far-west for a five year term at no salary whatever."

A photograph of Rev. Knipe suggests an intelligent man, of stern - perhaps inflexible - character. Like Rev. Knipe, Dryden has just traded his comfortable, well-ordered life in England for the harsh and chaotic environment of a booming Gold Rush town and has been traumatized by the experience.

He is not the type an audience will sympathize with or warm up to right away, though. His principles and austere beliefs make him seem unapproachable. The miners are put off by his intellectualism and primness. Rumors circulate about his 'idiosyncracies'. But over time he does win over some of the town dwellers and, hopefully, most of the readers.

For Reverand Dryden is a good man at heart, who has to unlearn his aloof, aristocratic ways in order to get closer to the rough and tumble citizens of his parish. He will prove to be a man who loves in a deep, humbling way.

Things I don't know about Christopher Dryden:

• Where did he grow up?
• Where did he receive his training as an Anglican priest?
• What is the 'lifestyle' of an Anglican priest?
• How did he arrive at Barkerville (both his decision to accept the mission and his journey from England to the frontier of British Columbia)?