The collection consists of archival records, printed materials, photographs, maps, posters, artefacts and paintings all related to the Klondike Gold Rush. Records span the activities of individuals, organizations, companies, and government bodies related to the Klondike Gold Rush, the Yukon, Alaska, and the Northwest Territories from ca. 1860 to 2003. The collection documents the journeys of, and commerce created by individuals and groups of people from around the world who left their homes to join the Gold Rush; it also contains materials documenting the presence of Indigenous peoples throughout the Yukon.

The collection reflects the development of regional infrastructure and transportation in the Yukon and Alaska, including the creation of the White Pass and Yukon Route railway line. Many materials in the fonds originated from the construction and development of specific town sites and communities located in the Yukon, including Dawson City, Carcross, Forty Mile, and White Horse.

Other materials document the creative works of individuals seeking to record and share stories about the Klondike in various forms, including photographs, journals, poetry, music and theatre.

The collection is comprised of the following series: Textual Records, Photographic Materials, Cartographic Materials, Graphic Materials, and Objects. Each series is majorly comprised of the record type described in the title, and materials within each series are described at the item level.

The Cassiar Gold Rush collection contains materials related to the Cassiar gold rush which occurred in the late 19th century, prompting an influx of transportation, industry, and resource extraction in the northwest region of British Columbia known today as Cassiar County.

The records in the collection contain information relating to working and living conditions, business transactions, weather reports, and transportation; particularly that of the steamship industry.

Record types include receipts, advertisements, correspondence, legal affidavits, post cards, and newsletters.

The Uno Langmann Family Collection of B.C. Photographs, donated by Uno and Dianne Langmann and Uno Langmann Limited, consists of more than 20,000 rare and unique early photographs from the 1850s to the 1970s. It is considered the premiere private collection of early provincial photos, and an important illustrated history of early photographic methods. The photographs were taken by a wide range of photographers. Some well-known photographers represented in the collection include William Notman, Charles MacMunn, Frederick Dally, Charles Horetzky, Charles Gentile, Philip Timms, Yucho Chow, R. Maynard, and Leonard Frank.

This finding aid will provide access to the collection in the interim period while UBC Library digitizes the collection. For updates on the collection and its digitization, please visit http://langmann.library.ubc.ca

The collection consists of documents from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries related to mining in the area around Princeton, British Columbia. Many of the documents pertain to Alfred St. George Hamersley’s involvement with mining in this region, mostly notably with the Vermilion Forks Mining and Development Company. Records also relate to W.J. Waterman and Ernest Waterman’s activities in the mining industry of this region, particularly Ernest Waterman’s role as manager of the Vermillion Forks Mining and Development Company. Business of the Anglo-American Gold and Platinum Hydraulic Mining Company Limited Liability, the Princeton Water Power Company, and the London and Vancouver Finance and Development Company Limited is also documented.
Records are arranged into files that correspond to items in the collection. Document types include correspondence, sales of shares, land, and mineral rights, business and mining licenses, lease agreements, land registries, and Government of British Columbia receipts. A map of the region is also included.

The first part of the collection contains letters between Haldane from his mother, Mary Elizabeth Haldane (née Burdon Sanderson) and other family members regarding familial matters. These letters range from 1883 to1926. There are other letters pertaining to Mary Elizabeth Haldane and Edinburgh professors that are in the collection as well ranging from 1887 to 1922. Haldane’s personal documents, including his birth certificate and university certificates are also in this collection, ranging between 1878 to1897.

His reports, tables and correspondences are contained within, as well as his papers and speeches. These are largely undated and concern topics such as miners’ eye problems, tuberculosis in the Navy, regulation of normal breathing, functions of sweat, kinetic theory of gases, death by suffocation and the like. According to H.M. Sinclair: “Mrs. Haldane told me that her husband destroyed his MS as soon as the paper was published, and these lectures and addresses to various societies were not published. Haldane always wrote his addresses out in full, and this collection is mainly written in full in his own hand.”

A section of the collection contains reports and correspondence of Haldane’s work with the use of gas in WWI. H.M. Sinclair states that the collection is: “A most important collection of papers relating to his and Douglas's researches in World War I when gas was first used. Included are long autograph letters from Douglas (who was in the field in France), very out spoken about the military authorities and giving full descriptions of the casualties and attempts to prevent them.”

Finally, there are 2 drafts of an unpublished book written by Haldane on vitalistic physiology. H.M. Sinclair notes that: “The first draft is copiously corrected . . . This has been entirely rewritten in nine chapters of the final draft. . . . This very interesting book was never published, but illustrates the state of physiology at the turn of the century as seen by a young graduate of about 30 years.”

The collection consists of documents, archival records, photographs, ephemera and artifacts related to three broad themes: British Columbia history, immigration and settlement and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Included are the archival fonds of the Yip family and Yip Sang Company, the Dart Coon Club and Chinese Freemasons of Victoria, Hugh G. Robinson (regarding the S.S. Greenhill Park Explosion), Rev. MacDonnell (regarding the Clandonald colony of Scottish immigrants in Alberta) and the British Columbia Coast Steamship Service. Includes documents, ephemera and artifacts of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, including records of travelers on CPR rail and steamships.

The majority of the collection relates to mining in the Sandon, B.C. community and surrounding areas. Documents relating to mining claims and claim disputes are prevalent. Other records include financial books and receipts, business and personal correspondence, newspaper clippings, other legal records and court rulings, leases, payroll records, numerous receipts and invoices and various corporate documents.
Each of Harris’ businesses, Hotel Reco, Reco Mining and Milling Company, Sandon Water Works and Light Company, Star Mining and Milling Company, Slocan Power Company, and Wonderful Mines are represented in this collection. In addition there are records from the British Columbia Mining Association and the Silver-Lead Miners Association of British Columbia.

The W.B. Bailey series and the Clarence Cunningham series are relatively small. The Cunningham records include only financial records ca. 1916 to 1919, and newspaper clippings from 1939. The Bailey records are a grouping of telegrams from 1901 to 1902 with a complete inventory of each supplied by Mr. Barlee.