Edward Bob

Edward Bob’s grandfather had also been a trapper. His mother was Alice Bob and the surname had also been her maiden name. There were six children in the Bob family – “five anyway” Minnie (Mrs. Modest Boyce), Margaret (Mrs. ---Archie), Sarah, Henry and Able. There were five left at the time of the interview as Henry Bob had passed away. He hardly knows them anymore.

Only Edward and Henry went to the Mission School at Williams Lake. Edward thinks that he was there for ten years and that he took mostly industrial courses. These course involved a great deal of work around the Mission, sawing wood, haying, weeding the gardens and planting potatoes. Edward was 7 years old when he left home to go to school. He recalls that there 35 boys at the school and 39 girls. He thinks that the Mission School property was used by the Indians long before the white man came to the area. They would fish the lake in summer and through the ice in the winter.

After Edward Bob finished school he returned to the Canim Lake Reserve and went btrapping with his uncle little William Bob. He also helped to feed the livestock. He recalls that Chief Christopher was chief for a very long time.

He remembers the women berry picking mostly saskatoons and huckleberries on Timothy Mountain . The white people would come and buy the huckleberries. Entire families would go to Timothy Mountain for the berry picking. His dad would hunt and cook to feed the women. They would bring down from the mountain birch bark baskets full of berries on a pack saddle. It was 20 miles to the berry picking and a long way to go. They sometimes picked other berries such as blueberries and soap berries. These berries grew in dry places. Berries were dried on a fine mesh screen and stirred frequently during this process. They would keep all winter if stored in a dry place.

They mostly hunted for deer in the fall when they were nice and fat. There were special places to hunt. There were not many moose but it was not unusual to go into the Rocky Mountains to hunt caribou. It took two men to lift a big caribou over a horse and coming down a steep mountain side could be difficult. Caribou meat was very lean and good to eat. It was important to hang the meat to let it dry or it would get moldy.

In the winter they would fish for the long slim fish – lake trout. He describes how this was done using a stripped willow stick and a short string weighted with a rock. On the end of the string there was a hook. When a fish hit the bait the willow would spring back setting the hook. The lake trout did not go deep in the winter. For bait they would use a dead mouse or a squaw fish. In the spring they would net suckers and rainbow trout in the creeks. They caught every kind of fish, ling, suckers, squaw fish and rainbow. They all came down the creek but when the water got too shallow the fish would turn back. The rainbow trout were mostly too small to catch in the lake.

Edward’s memories of the past are sketchy and often difficult to follow. He knows that hunters in his grandfather’s time used cross over the mountains as far as the prairies. His grandfather Bob was a Cree Indian and he did not tell Edward anything.

Edward Bob was a policeman on the reserve for a long time. He tried to quit but the council wouldn’t let him. Mostly he kept drunk people quiet and sometimes he had to tie them up.

There were two more tapes to this interview but they were unavailable for research.

The following description of Edward Bob was obtained from the Tacoma Sunday Ledger-News Tribune, Tacoma, Washington, July 10, 1960. Vacationing in Canada’s Cariboo Country.

This article was prepared by Rowena L. and Gordon D. Alcorn, friends of Chester and Irene Creso, who at that time owned 12 ½ acres on Ruth Lake.

The last evening of our vacation in the Cariboo we had an unusual guest for dinner. Edward Bob is a diminutive member of the Shu-Swap tribe. Chester has known this Indian since 1945, when he guided his moose hunting party. He is a winsome alert native with a built in smile. Besides being a professional guide he runs a registered trap-line up to Lang Lake, where he catches beaver, martin, ermine, mink and fox.

Removing his gloves and thick outer jacket, Edward Bob sat down to the table. He had on a bright red plaid shirt with a matching cap which he left on for awhile. He wore leather chaps and the spur of his riding boot clinked every time he moved his feet. He liked our ham dinner very much, but particularly enjoyed Irene’s apricot marmalade ladled on his plate in several generous servings.

We spoke some Nez Perce Indian words to him but he did not understand that language. However, he nodded when asked if he had ever heard of Chief Joseph, “he was a great Indian.” He explained that the Shu-Swaps and two other tribes were under one Indian agent, and that his people had just elected a new chief who would serve a two year term.

After we had finished our dinner, Edward Bob, said that he must be on his way if he were to reach his cabin before dark. We stepped outside where he showed us a big wicked-looking bear trap. These traps are now illegal in the province, as they are considered too dangerous should a man accidently step into one of them. He held the trap so we could take his picture and then leading his horse over to the woodpile, he climbed onto a large chunk of aspen, and swung up into the saddle. With a wave of his hand, that merry little Indian trapper, horse and faithful dog disappeared around a bend in the road.