|
MINER
TRIVIA
 The Dixie Jubilee Singers
played in Kamloops while the trial
of the Ducks robbers was being held. The Williams' Original
Dixie Jubilee Singers were regular Chautauqua circuit
performers. Managed by Charles P. Williams, this was an
exceedingly accomplished seven member black vocal group, three
women and four men, that sang everything from opera to ragtime
and spirituals. CD's of their music are still available.
A link to a site where you can listen to them is mentioned
below.
Vocalists: Williams,
Clara K, Johnson, G.L., Highwarden, Anna (Pianist and
vocalist), Crawford, Pearl M., Johnson, J.H., Williams,
Charles P.
Listen to excerpts of their original music and recordings
[
here ]
(you
must have RealPlayer installed to hear the music)
See a photo of the group
[
here ]
November 14, 1902
Lakota Herald Review: Nelson County, ND, Village of Lakota
"The first number of
this course is due November 29th and is one of the best
attractions that will come to Lakota this winter, the Dixie
Jubilee Singers. This aggregation is so well known and so
generally liked as to need no comments. They never fail to
please. The manager of the opera house at Canton, S. D.
says: "They met the most enthusiastic reception of the
season.
Cheers and curtain calls
at every number." The pastor of the Joyce M. E. church at
Chicago says: "The audience filled every seat. The singing
of the Jubilee Singers was so satisfactory that we expect to
have them again. It was the most successful entertainment
ever given in our church."
 I
had seemed to remember a primary school reader that featured
the story of Bill Miner, which, if I was correct, goes a ways
to explaining why his story has lived so long in the popular
imagination of people in B.C.
I had been keeping my eyes open for years, with no
luck. Although some help was extended from various
sources, I had no success in identifying the elusive textbook.
One Saturday, after having a nice
leisurely breakfast in downtown Kamloops, my wife and I
stopped in at a garage sale that was still running in the mid
afternoon. As I always do, I skimmed the books for titles on
early B.C. History. As most times, nothing appeared
interesting. Makes you wonder who reads B.C. History, or
if they do, they never seem to get rid of their books.
As my wife was occupied with other things, I wandered around,
then perused the books again. Upon this second search, I
spotted a beat-up early text book, identified by the "5" on
its spine. I picked it up, and found it was "Under
Canadian Skies", a Grade 5 reader produced by Dent and Sons in
1962. A bit later than when I was in Grade 5, but I
searched through the chapters to see what was in it.
There, in a chapter entitled "Robbery Under Arms" on page 144,
and on 10 pages nicely illustrated, was the story of Bill
Miner. You can imagine my excitement at finding this
text book after looking for it for so many years. I
wonder if it had previously been issued under an earlier
publication date? That would account for my earlier
memory of it. I will have to keep my eyes open for a
more pristine copy.
The
fact that the story of an early B.C. train robber appeared in
a textbook that was
 utilized
by all schools,
at least in B.C., partially explains the fascination B.C. has
with the exploits of this rather unsuccessful and inept career
criminal from the US. His life spanned from the old
West, the coming of the trans continental railroads in Canada
and the States, the death of Queen Victoria, the coming of the
automobile and aircraft, and when he died in Georgia in 1913
the townspeople took up a collection for his tombstone.
|
