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from The Orca
News & Media Website in B.C.
Daniel Marshall: Sometimes, a bridge connects more than two banks of a river.
In my travels through the lower Fraser River goldfields over the years I have frequently hiked down to one of the great remaining markers of British Columbia’s past – the historic Alexandra Bridge. On one occasion I stood at the center of this amazing span with then-BC Premier Gordon Campbell – having been asked to explain the history of the Fraser Canyon War of 1858. This was prior to his attendance at a naming ceremony for the new Chief David Spintlum [Sexpínlhemx] Bridge that crosses the Thompson River in Lytton, recognizing the chief’s role as peacemaker during the tumultuous conflict. But this forgotten story is about a different conflict that government officials grappled with – the Alexandra Bridge itself that was owned by Joseph Trutch, an engineer, surveyor, politician, and later British Columbia’s first Lieutenant-Governor. Today, his name lives in infamy, particularly for having reversed many of Governor James Douglas’ land policies with regard to Indigenous peoples.
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from The Spokesman-Review
Newspaper in Spokane, Washington
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