This is one of two tree ring displays in the BC Forestry Museum. The Engelmann Spruce was a seedling about 1522 and was cut down around 1999. It was 578 years old. Displayed on the tree ring is a timeline, included below.
The BC Forestry Museum documents the ongoing history of forestry and lumbering in the province of BC. It has both indoor and outdoor displays. Outdoors are several examples of older machinery employed in the logging industry.
An overview of the museum's intent:
"The Museum was founded in 1999 “To record, preserve, restore and display artifacts and collections of historical, archaeological, artistic, educational, and scientific material as it pertains to the forestry industry in the interior of the province of BC.”
The objectives of the Museum are: to operate as a non-profit society whose purpose is to maintain a public forestry museum in which to store and display artifacts and collections of historical, archaeological, artistic, educational, and scientific material as it pertains to forestry.
And, to encourage historical research, stimulate public interest in the history of forestry and develop programs of interest to the general public to enhance the regional base of tourist attractions.
Source: Forestry Museum
Engelmann Spruce
Donated by Steve and Shelby Harvey
Engelmann Spruce is relatively plentiful in this area of B.C. but the prime pieces, such as this one, are often set aside and purchased by specialty mills which cut and shape them into "blanks" for guitars, cellos, violins and piano sounding boards. Engelmann is a good "tone" wood which, on a comparative basis to construction lumber, can fetch as much as 8 to 10 times the price, once it is worked into a material for musical instruments.
Prior to 1900, the Engelmann was also one of the trees used for masts in large sailing ships because it grows very tall, straight, is strong, relatively light and flexible.
Engelmann Spruce Timeline
1522 The Engelmann Spruce was just a seeding.
1534 Jacques Cartier landed at Gaspe', placed a cross bearing the arms of France and made an official claim over the territory in the name of France. His discovery of the St. Lawrence provided an avenue for future colonization.
1608 Samuel de Champlain established a fortified trading post at Quebec. It was the perfect location to foster the fur trade and to serve as the base for its founder's idea of colonizing the remote country with French settlers.
1649 Weakened by disease, cultural interference by the French and harassment by the Iroquois, the Huron Nation was finally destroyed by an Iroquois raid. The Huron were killed or dispersed, ending the great partnership with France that had sustained the early fur trade.
1642 Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve founded Ville-Marie, which was destined to become the most important trading post in New France and the future city of Montreal. Maisonneuve served as governor until 1665.
1670 Hudson's Bay Company Founded
King Charles 11 of England granted a charter to Prince Rupert and his Company of Adventures of England trading into Hudson's Bay" The charter granted the company a monopoly of trade in the Bay and ownership of all lands drained by rivers flowing into the Bay. The HBC established an English presence in the Northwest and a competitive route to the fur trade centered in Montreal.
1856 The Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) was completed from Guelph, Ont. to Stratford, Ont. The last stretch form St. Mary's to Sarnia was finished on November 21. Though dogged with scandal and corruption, the GIR was a significant factor in the economic development of Canada.
1858 Fraser River Gold Rush The first wave of miners from California arrived at Victoria, en route to the Fraser River Gold Rush. Some 30,000 gold seekers flooded the banks of the Fraser River. The God Rush led to the creation of the new colony of British Columbia and caused a precipitous decline in the Native population.
1867 The British North America Act was passed by the British Parliament and given royal assent by Queen Victoria on March 29. It came into effect on July l The Act joined the colonies of Canada Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in one federal union.
1893 The Stanley Cup, donated by Governor General Lord Stanley, was first awarded to the Montreal AAA Hockey team. Since 1926 the cup has been the exclusive domain of the National Hockey League. It is the oldest trophy competed for by professional sports in North America.
1896 George Washington Carmack, Skookum Jim and Tagish Charlie discovered gold on the Bonanza Creek, a tributary of the Klondike River. From 1897 to 1899 during the Klondike Gold Rush at least 100,000 fortune seekers stampeded to the gold fields.
1917 On Easter Monday, four Canadian divisions and one British brigade captured Vimy Ridge near Arras, France, with a loss of 3578 killed and 7000 wounded. It was a brilliant victory for Canadians, who sensed a new national awareness.
1921 Agnes Campbell Macphail became the first women elected to the House of Commons, in the first election in which women had the vote. Macphail promoted the co-operative movement, peace, civil liberties and social reform.
1929 The selling of stocks on the New York Stock Exchange accelerated, leading to panic selling and tumbling prices. By Black Thursday, October 24, the economic boom of the 1920's was in ruins. The panic had a severe effect on Canada, particularly in the western provinces where the collapse in wheat prices triggered a downward spiral in the economy.
1939 The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan was established. Operating from 1940-45 the BCTATP trained some 131,000 air men at over 350 schools one half the total Commonwealth aircrew a decisive Canadian contribution to victory in WWII.
1944 Normandy Landings (D-Day) The 3rd Canadian Division and 2nd and 3rd Armoured Brigades landed on the beaches at Courcelles, St Aubin and Bernisres-sur-Mer on the Normandy Coast as part of the invasions that led to the liberation of Europe from Nazi occupation.
1949 The North Atlantic Treaty (NATO)
Canada, along with 11 other countries signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, DC. The NATO treaty marked a new era of ties with the United States and of distance Great Britain and spelled out the importance of economic collaboration. It also marked the beginning of a long Cold War.
1949 Newfoundland entered the Dominion of Canada as the 10th province.
1950 The 1770 km oil pipeline from Edmonton to the Great Lakes was completed, linking Canada's gas fields with the markets of central Canada. In 1958 Alberta gas finally reached Toronto and imports of Texas gas ended.
1959 The St. Lawrence Seaway was opened to commercial shipping. Queen Elizabeth II Fand President Eisenhower dedicated it on June 26. The Seaway provided transportation for ocean going vessels from Lake Superior to Montreal.
1964 An Act adopting a new National Flag of Canada passed, after closure was invoked on December 14. Royal assent was given on January 28, 1965 and the flag was proclaimed on February 1965 and raised for the first time on the Peace Tower.
1973 The telecommunications satellite Anik A-2 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla. With its launch, Canada became the first country in the world to have a satellite in geostationary orbit non- military communications.
1973 Terry Fox began his Marathon of Hope at St. John's, Nfld., to raise money for cancer research. The run ended on Sept 1 in Thunder Bay, Ont., after cancer was discovered in his lungs. Within days the Marathon had raised over $10 million and it has continued to be an inspiration all over the world.
1982 The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into effect. The Charter guarantees all Canadian fundamental rights, democratic rights, mobility rights, legal rights, equality rights and linguistic rights. The Charter has lead profound changes in Canadian law.
1989 The Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the US went into effect. The pact, later expanded through NAFTA, would profoundly alter the economic relationship between Canada and the United States.
1991 The Canadian Forces participate in the Gulf War against Iraq.
1999 The Royal Ontario Museum's largest collection of human remains of over 500 Wendat (Huron) people, whom archaeologists unearthed in the 1940's, are returned to the Ossossane burial ground near Midland, Ont.; members of the Wendat Nation came from all over North America to witness the burial of their ancestors.
When you can visit the Forestry Museum:
11:00 am to 5:00 pm - Tuesday through Saturday.
Every Saturday Afternoon – Legends of the Forest – assorted programming beginning at 2:00 pm (July & August only)
Entrance by donation