Forest Grove author Marianne Van Osch has captured another moment of early Cariboo history in her newest book, Along the Clearwater Trail.
The story is about Toody Shirran, who, as a young girl in 1925, settled with her family at Sand Point near the Clearwater Trial, which First Nations people used to travel from Canim Lake to Clearwater country.
Shirran's story is one of perseverance and firsts.
“She was the first woman horse logger in this area,” Van Osch says of Shirran.
“Her sister was the first woman logging truck driver, and her other sister was the first woman well-driller.
“[Toody] comes from a family of girls, and the girls worked alongside their father, just like men, on their homestead. So, she has had a life of hard work, but she has an unfailing, gentle, kind personality. “She's very welcoming. She's still very hard-working. She's persevered that way.”
Today, Shirran, 93, is still “living like a homesteader” in the South Cariboo, tending a large garden and raising chickens. She and Van Osch have been friends for 20 years.
“She's been telling me these stories on and off since that time. I've finally gathered them together in the book for her.”
Along The Clearwater Trail is Van Osch's fifth biography. She says she met a number of interesting people through her work as a columnist with the 100 Mile House Free Press and decided to preserve their stories for the future.
“It's the only written local history in a lot of cases. I write these books for these people. When I showed Toody her book, she was just so thrilled. It makes it all worth while.”
Van Osch's books are available at a number of local venues and she's currently working on a new one.
“The feeling of having (a book) accomplished is, 'Alright, let's get on to the next one.' When the book is finished and I give it to the person it's about, that means everything. That's where it's at for me.”
