Looking Back at the Cariboo-Chilcotin with Irene Stangoe

Book excerpt: As a complement to her popular book Cariboo-Chilcotin: Pioneer People and Places, Irene Stangoe has crafted a second collection of stories about the BC Interior's pioneers and the trails they blazed. In 26 separate tales she introduces a mosaic of personalities and events that spans 120 years. Stangoe fondly recalls the Indian Girls' Pipe Band, the world-famous MacKinnon sisters, the amazing ice-fishing secrets of Lac la Hache and more. Irene Stangoe has been "looking back" at the Cariboo-Chilcotin for almost half a century. Originally drawn to the region from her Burnaby-New Westminster roots in 1950, when she and her husband, Clive, bought the Williams Lake Tribune, Irene filled in as reporter, community editor, columnist, advertising salesperson and just about anywhere else she was needed until the newspaper was sold in 1973. In 1975, unable to fully retire, Irene established her "Looking Back" column at the Tribune and soon gained recognition as one of the most readable history writers in the weekly newspaper field. Between 1986 and 1991, she was awarded a first place and two seconds in the annual Best Historical Writing Competition.