Local author Ray Olson is launching his first, and last, book later this month.
From Liaboe to Loos and Beyond is a collection of stories and photos tracking the history of the Leboe/Olson family's migration from Norway to northern B.C.
Olson said his interest in history promoted him to start looking at his own family's history in the region as a retirement project.
"My wife and I travelled B.C. and Alberta for the last year, talking to people. There was a little bit of information here, and a little bit there," he said. "You'd talk to one person and get a name. From that person you'd get a little more. One individual asked me if I'd like some photos from an old photo album."
After taking with some of the people, he realized that the stories needed to be written down before they were lost.
"The interesting thing was talking to people in their 90s and going back 60 years, and talking about their childhood," he said. "Some people lived some very interesting lives."
Olson said he found out new things about people he thought he knew well during the research.
The book chronicles the Leboe/Olson family from their immigration from Norway to the Unites States in the late 1800s. A branch of the family continued west and north to settle in the Robson Valley.
Ole Liaboe Olson, commonly known as Ole Leboe, and his family founded Loos, B.C. in 1917.
"At that time there wasn't anything there. A lot of the people who stayed in that area were the people who worked on the [Grand Truck] Railway," Olson said. "It'll tell you something about the pioneering life. There were no hospitals, there were no schools. You had to do it on your own and succeed or fail."
Ole Leboe's sons, Bert and Wilfred Leboe, founded Leboe Brothers Sawmill in Crescent Spur in the 1940s. After the mill closed in the 1960s, Wilfred continued in the business sector while Bert went into politics.
"Wilfred Leboe was a big business man in town. He was also the driving force behind the formation of Ness Lake Bible Camp," Olson said.
Bert Leboe was the MP for the Cariboo riding from 1953 to 1958, and 1962 to 1968 for the Social Credit Party.
Olson will be launching the book at the Prince George Railway and Forestry Museum Charity Yard Sale and Fun Days May 28 to 29. Copies of the self-published book are available at Books and Company.
