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by Jay Sherwood (Author)
In Kechika Chronicler, award-winning historian Jay Sherwood delves into the diaries of reclusive packer William Freer to uncover daily life in one of the most remote areas of BC.
Willard Freer lived in remote areas of northern BC for most of his life. Born in Kamloops in 1910 and raised in the Peace River country, Freer came to the Kechika River valley in 1942, where he worked for a number of years with famed packer and guide Skook Davidson. He then built a cabin about 35 kilometres to the north and spent the rest of his life in the valley, and at Fireside, an Alaska Highway lodge near the junction of the Kechika and Liard rivers. By all accounts, Freer was a quiet, introverted person, who faithfully kept a daily diary from 1942 to 1975. Most of the entries are brief, but cumulatively they provide a detailed record of life in northern BC and southern Yukon Territory. Due to his proximity to the famed Alaska Highway and the historic Davie Trail, Willard encountered many of the Indigenous people who lived, worked, and travelled through the Kechika valley, as well as casual visitors, bush pilots, government survey parties including the Geological Survey of Canada, major mining companies, and branches of the US Army in northern BC during World War II. Willard Freer's diaries are the most extensive written record of daily life in a remote region of BC.Author Biography
Jay Sherwood started his career in surveying before becoming a teacher-librarian. Now retired, he is the author of twelve books on BC history, including the four-book series about the career of surveyor Frank Swannell. Two of his works have been BC Book Prize finalists, and three have received BC Historical Federation awards. Ootsa Lake Odyssey (Caitlin Press, 2016) won the 2018 Jeanne Clarke Memorial local history award. His most recent publications have been the two-part series on the Alberta/BC boundary survey. Sherwood currently lives in Burnaby, BC.
