Thirty years ago, a group of researchers hiked above Trail in the outskirts of Annable, Warfield, and lower Rossland for the remains of Chinese gardens, long abandoned but never forgotten.
These gardens were irrigated, well-established, extremely well cared for in the early days, and then sadly, deserted as stoic pioneers moved on in life.
Found among the remains of these gardens were pottery, farming implements, baskets, shelters and other tools.
“Little is known about these gardens that lived above our city but this is a photograph from that research investigation of one of the garden sites,” explains Trail archivist, Addison Oberg.
“Trail had a vibrant Chinese population, and it was most strongly represented between the years 1916 to 1935.”
A total of 36 Chinese-owned properties were recorded between 1912 and 1947. The majority of properties were in the downtown core of Trail, close to the west bank of the Columbia River.
Day-to-day activities from the turn of the century to the early 1930s were: Chinese gardeners opening a market garden in the Trail Gulch; vegetable peddlers; a Chinese grocer and herbalist; many Chinese cooks in hotels and restaurants in Trail; many laundries; and the Chinese families living and working in downtown Trail.
The most well-known door-to-door vegetable seller appears to have been Chin Yik (Cheong Why [Wai]) or “Charlie.”
Chin Yik leased a small section of ground in Annable where he had a market garden as well as a greenhouse. He lived in a two-room shack, and went throughout Trail carrying his vegetables in a yoke-basket. Chin Yik lived on this piece of property until the 1960s.
“It was reported that every spring people would visit his nursery to buy plants for their spring planting,” noted Oberg.
When Chin Yik was in his eighties he moved back to Hong Kong.
“This team of researchers visited Chin Yik’s leased property in the mid 1990s,” Oberg adds. “The beautiful former gardens still grow fruit from its fruit trees and bares landscaping reminiscent of tiered gardens.”
Read more: Trail Blazers - Local History