Walter Thorne at the launch of Kitimat Chronicles III. (Robin Rowland)

A big crowd turned out Wednesday night, January 25, 2017 for the launch of Kitimat Chronicles III, the third volume in the self published history of the Kitimat valley and region by Walter Thorne and Dirk Mendel, the follow up to the popular Kitimat Chronicles I and Kitimat Chronicles II (Good Reads links)

Jim and Walter Thorne at the launch of Kitimat Chronicles III, January 25, 2017. (Robin Rowland)

The stories that Walter and Derk tell include:

• The story of Haisla hereditary chief and famous carver Sammy Robinson
• The voyage to Douglas Channel by Spanish Captain Jacinto Caamano in 1792
• The story of the Wakita family from Second World War internment to business leadership in Kitimat
• The teachers who worked in the Haisla Nation Kitamaat Village in the early days
• The story of Kitimat photographer Max Patzelt
• The 1974 and 1975 avalanche tsunamis
• The hotsprings in the region
• The track of the Maori Paru from New Zealand to London to the coast of British Columbia
• The more than 4,000 year history of logging in the Kitimat Valley
• The life and times of former Kitimat mayor Joanne Monaghan
• Kitimat’s connection to Russia, Virus Bering and the Russian trading network before the US purchased Alaska
• The tense days of the 1976 CASAW wildcat strike at the Alcan aluminum plant

Jim Thorne listens to the presentation. (Robin Rowland)

Walter Thorne answers questions about Kitimat Chronicles III. (Robin Rowland)

Kitimat Chronicles are available from the bookstore at the Kitimat Museum & Archives in Kitimat and Misty River Books in Terrace,