Reverend Dr. John Christie Goodfellow was a United Church minister, historian, and author who played a major role in documenting and preserving the history of Princeton, BC, and the wider Similkameen Valley.

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📖 Background and Career

• Ministerial Work: Goodfellow served as a United Church minister in British Columbia. His archival records are preserved in the Pacific Mountain Regional Council Archives, which hold thousands of pages of his writings and photographs¹.
• Historian and Author: He wrote several important works on local history, including:
  • The History of the Similkameen (sometimes titled The Story of the Similkameen, 1958)²³
  • Come to Otter Lake: The Story of Tulameen (1963)⁴
  • The Totem Poles in Stanley Park (1925, later reissued in 1950)⁴
  • A bibliography of the Similkameen and Tulameen Valleys (1935)⁴
• His works are considered authoritative sources on the Similkameen region’s history, especially the gold rush era, Indigenous heritage, and settlement patterns³.

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🚂 Connection to Princeton and the Hope Trail

• Goodfellow was deeply involved in promoting infrastructure development. Between 1927 and 1949, he made many trips across the rugged Hope-Princeton trail to highlight the need for completing Highway 3.
• A historic photo shows him and three companions reaching the summit of the Hope-Princeton trail on July 30, 1930, at 5,960 feet above sea level⁵.
• His journeys symbolized both a respect for the past—when cattle and supplies were driven along the trail before the railway arrived in 1909—and advocacy for modern transportation links.

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🏛 Legacy

• Goodfellow’s writings and advocacy helped preserve the cultural memory of Princeton and the Similkameen Valley, ensuring that stories of Indigenous peoples, settlers, miners, and farmers were recorded.
• His journals, written partly in a unique shorthand, are still being studied by the Princeton Museum today⁵.
• He is remembered as both a spiritual leader and community historian, bridging faith, scholarship, and civic engagement.

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✅ In short: Reverend Dr. John C. Goodfellow was not only a minister but also one of Princeton’s most important historians, whose books and advocacy shaped how the Similkameen Valley remembers its past.

Would you like me to pull together a timeline of his life and works so you can see his contributions in order?

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References (5)

1Collection – Pacific Mountain Regional Council Archives Reference …. https://www.memorybc.ca/united-church-of-canada-pacific-mountain-region-archives-reference-collection

2History of the Similkameen – PDMAS. https://princetonbcmuseum.com/blog/history-of-the-similkameen/

3The Granite Creek Archive – Literature. https://granitecreekbc.ca/arc-lit.html

4Goodfellow John Christie – ABC BookWorld. https://abcbookworld.com/writer/goodfellow-john-christie/

5Princeton Museum looks to decipher mysterious shorthand of donated …. https://crestonvalleyadvance.ca/2025/04/01/princeton-museum-looks-to-decipher-mysterious-shorthand-of-donated-journal/Ask

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