The Douglas Trail was constructed in the fall of 1858. This was the first public works project on the mainland. It was initiated by Governor Douglas to ensure food and freight could be transported to the goldfields inland.
The story of the Time Traveler caught in the museum photo continues today. The new manager at the Bralorne Museum, Cara DeMar sent the following notice out to BC Museum Association members today on the list-serve. We thought we should let Cara explain the impact this time traveler situation has had on their little community museum.
"The Bralorne Time Traveler. One particular photo on the virtual museum has gone viral. You will find a picture of "The Reopening of the SouthForks Bridge, 1941" [below]. This is a photo of an event to open the new bridge over the Bridge River in 1941 at Gold Bridge, BC. However, many have noticed (as with the 100 emails and phone calls from all over the world) that a man in the photo seems to be out of place. I am sure you will be able to notice him right away. Since the beginning of 2010, this photo has gone viral on the internet. There are several blogs discussing whether this photo is Photoshopped or not and whether it is a real Time Traveler or not. As we did not have an accurate email on the Virtual museum site, no one could contact us to see whether this photo was legimate or not so it added to the whole mystery. As I got in contact with the Heritage Information Branch, they gave me all the emails and I soon found out how viral this photo went,.
I immediately went in search of this photo in our collection, however it is not in our collection. I found out that the photo was on loan, but we do not know who the photo was on loan from. However, we do have the original scan of the photo on our computer. What I have found the most interesting is that people from all over the world are interested in the photo. I have received phone calls from a professor in Florida who uses the image in a Photoshop course (he was shocked when I told him that with 100% certainty the photo is not Photoshopped), and others who want to buy the copyright of the photo. I receive emails daily about this photo!"
Tags: time travelor, museum photo, Bralorne museum, Bralorne B.C., Pemberton Museum, pemberton b.c.
