Untold Tales of Old British Columbia

Review By Pia Russell

March 26, 2025

Marshall’s most recent book, Untold Tales of Old British Columbia, is an excellent extension from his previous work related to Claiming the Land.  Succinctly weaving together consequential Indigenous histories, underappreciated political connections, and compelling biographies, Marshall’s work is an exciting tour de force.  With his considerable experience as a curator, educator, researcher, and traveler of his home province, Marshall is well positioned to provide a raucous and informative series of historical vignettes.  Untold Tales of Old British Columbia contributes to the historical writing about BC and two strengths are especially noteworthy.  First, the weight of gold shines brightly in Marshall’s work; in many ways he sees the history of BC as also the history of gold.  Second, Marshall makes a compelling case for a greater emphasis about provincial identity that re-positions a north-south, rather than east-west, inclination.

Marshall suggests that the history of BC can be viewed intimately through its history with gold, and particularly placer gold mining.  The 1858 Gold Rush features large in Untold Tales of Old British Columbia and with Marshall’s extensive background as Chief Curator of the Royal British Columbia Museum’s (RBCM) 2015 ‘Gold Rush! El Dorado in BC’ exhibit the alignment is clear. Gold is Marshall’s primary thematic lens and while certainly captivating, sharp readers might wonder if similarly convincing historical accounts on themes such as salmon, fur, roads, or lumber, for example, might also be interpreted as equally foundational.  Regardless, understanding the social and political causes and consequences of BC’s Gold Rush is instructive and through biographies of interpreters like Thomas Quamtany (Tomo Antoine) and miners like Jim Wade, the chaotic world of BC’s Gold Rush years is vividly illuminated.  With such depth provided in this book on the Gold Rush, a result is a nineteenth century prominence on BC’s past.  And, despite the twentieth century being more of an afterthought in later chapters, the chronology is still effective because what is covered is so substantive.  A superb chapter on the ‘Bonanza Kings’ connects the trans-border histories of gold mining migration between California, Australia, BC, and Nevada with James Clair Flood and Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain).  Marshall’s writing is vastly connective, exquisitely detailed, and engagingly conveyed.

If new histories of gold guide readers through novel understandings of BC’s past, then Marshall’s innovative argument of BC’s too-often underappreciated north-south orientation also sees the province’s past anew.  Other historians have outlined this trajectory as well, but Marshall’s sustained emphasis is important.  He locates BC as a significant star in the constellation of the Pacific Slope,  whether through labour migration to Victoria from Mexico, Hawaii, and Yerba Buena/San Francisco or Ottawa’s fixation on hindering these Pacific Northwest connections in favour of east-west alignment.  Often, these re-orientations are demonstrated through the stories of bridges, roads, and ship journeys.  It is helpful to learn how railway routes were set and re-set, as well as the Alexandra Bridge controversy, though Marshall’s assessment of Trutch could have been less nuanced.  Regardless, all too often dull political histories of surveying, tariffs, and business litigation are given renewed momentum through Marshall’s winning narrative.

A pleasant surprise was the personal tone Marshall brought to the end of his book when he shared his family history in Section Eight.  Learning about Gramps and his meerschaum pipe stomping around Swan Lake or the author’s father, Thomas Marshall, trekking along the Westcoast Trail were delightful offerings, illustrating the very human-scaled stories that record the histories of these lands.  The most beautiful chapter was “The Strange Case of the Anomalous Artifact that Fell From the Sky.”  If writing in this creative and almost spiritual tone was previously limited by the author and deemed too risky, in subsequent writing Marshall might consider expanding such approaches for through them his writing surely shines.  A seemingly simple object is brought to life by tracing historical belongings through long trade networks and complex foodways.  Thank you, Marshall, for sharing your original insights and historical expertise in this beautifully conceived and executed chapter.

Marshall seeks to respectfully include historical voices often neglected in popular histories of the province.  These are perspectives deemed essential to discerning contemporary readers and while his effort is commendable, in some sections he could have gone further particularly in relation to women.  Regardless, Marshall’s Untold Tales of Old British Columbia provides a much-needed invigoration of the sweeping histories that preceded it, like Bowering’s BC first published in 1996.  Marshall has achieved a considerable feat — he tells a vast history in succinct, yet engaging, ways.  This book will be appealing to anyone drawn to BC’s remarkable history, but it will be especially relevant to historians who are drawn to global gold rush communities and the Pacific Northwest during the nineteenth century.  Due to brief, but impactful, chapters that are often based on intriguing historical objects and biographies, this book is also relevant to K-12 educators seeking accessible introductions to key themes in BC’s current Social Studies curriculum.  Marshall’s Untold Tales of Old British Columbia is highly successful and should be celebrated as one more essential edition on the shelf of BC history classics.  With this latest addition to the canon of popular books about the province’s past, audiences will be ever surprised and often moved by new stories told and familiar stories generously revisited.