Watershed Moments: A Pictoral History of Courtenay and District was written by Christine Dickinson, Deborah Griffiths, Judy Hagen and Catherine Siba. With photos edited by Ernst Vegt.
The easy-to-read sections and eye-catching layout of Watershed Moments: A Pictoral History of Courtenay and District makes the book interesting and engaging.
The book includes excerpts from letters and diaries to give a more personal perspective on Courtenay’s history.
It focuses on events starting with settlers arriving and colonization. It chronicles events from the mid-1800s to the 1950s.
It includes 150 black-and-white and colour photographs, maps and scans of mementos.
Touching stories and interesting historical facts abound in the book such as creating the Sandwick War Memorial Cairn, which was constructed from the rocks gathered at farms owned by men who died in the First World War.
It also includes information about the K’ómoks First Nation. Included is the portrait of Mary Clifton; according to the book she was the last speaker of the K’ómok dialect.
The authors delved into the historical archives from the Courtenay and District Museum to unearth material that wasn’t available to the public before being published in these pages.
In the conclusion the authors explain that they only offer a glimpse of the region’s history and that some stories may never be unearthed because records were lost, people were too busy to keep accounts or were simply too private to write down their thoughts.
Each author has a background in history. Dickinson received the Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for Altin: The Story of British Columbia’s Last Gold Rush, which she co-authored with Diane Smith.Hagan received an award from the Canadian Museums Association for her book Comox Valley Memories. Griffiths and Siba work at the Courtenay and District Museum.
While Watershed Moments: A Pictorial History of Courtenay and District’s main focus is on the Comox Valley it also gives readers a glimpse of important events in history that helped shaped the fabric of Vancouver Island.
Watershed Moments is published by Harbour and is available at www.harbourpublishing.com for $35.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com
