Father Marcel Bobillier, known as 'Father Bob' to fellow Yukoners, was a member of the Whitehorse Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church for 47 years. He joined the Missionary Congregation in 1938. Arriving in the Yukon in 1939, Father Bob served the Diocese in Lower Post, Atlin, Telegraph Creek and Fort Nelson, B.C. and Selkirk-Carmacks and Dawson City, Yukon. He was pastor at St. Mary's Parish in Dawson City from 1964 until his death May 17, 1986.
Published
The photographs were previously titled the Father Marcel Bobillier Collection of Photographs. Title based on provenance of the fonds.
The fonds consists of five accessions of material created and/or collected by Father Bobillier and consists of copied and original material. The fonds includes: 1. microfilm copies of the journals written by Father Bob about his work, experiences and life in the communities of Prince Rupert, Dease Lake, Lower Post, Teslin, Atlin, Fort Selkirk, Fort Nelson and Dawson City, 1939 to his death in 1986. There are 37 volumes maintained in chronological order, along with a detailed Table of Contents and index. The photographs that accompany the journal entries were all microfilmed on one final reel. 2. a copy of Father Bob's unpublished manuscript "Steps for Eternity, Memoirs of a Missionary in the Yukon", 1983. His narrative begins in 1940 with his journey to the Yukon and recounts his experiences in Dease Lake, Telegraph Creek, Atlin, and Tulsequah, British Columbia, and Mayo, Fort Selkirk, Carmacks, Clinton Creek, and Dawson City in the Yukon. He had wanted to publish this manuscript, but was unwilling to change any of it, so only excerpts have been published. 3. sixty-two photographs taken by Father Bobillier between 1940 and 1950. The majority of the images are of the riverfront town of Fort Selkirk and include photographs of the town and its residents and St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church. There are also six prints showing the 'cat train' method of transportation which utilized a caterpillar tractor and multiple skids to transport goods. These photographs depict a cat train en route from Minto to Mayo during winter. There are also images of Atlin, Whitehorse and First Nations. Many of the individuals are identified and listed in the inventory. Also included are 28 original photographs, ca. 1925-1971, from the personal collection of Ruby Scott, of Ruby at her home in Keno.
The journals in RMF 11 (1-5) were copied in 1988 by the Yukon Archives. The journals in MF 65 (1-3) were copied by the Federation des Familles-Souches Quebecoises, Sillery, Quebec. The photographs (85/66) were copied in 1984 and the manuscript was copied in 1987.
The first three reels of microfilm were purchased from the Federation des Familles-Souches Quebecoises, Sillery, Quebec in 1987. The last five rolls of microfilm were copied from the original journals loaned by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Vancouver, 1988. The manuscript was copied from an original loaned by the Whitehorse Catholic Church in 1987. The photographs in 86/86 were loaned by Father Bobillier to Klondike National Historic Sites, Parks Canada, Dawson City to assist them with their research project on Ruby Scott's place, in 1986. Father Bob died before the project was completed so Parks Canada donated the photographs to the Yukon Archives in 1986.
Published portions of Father Bob's manuscript are located in the Yukon Archives Imprint Collection.
The microfilm reels in RMF 11 (1-5) may only be viewed, copied or published with written permission from the Oblate Archivist in Vancouver. This restriction applies for fifty years after the creation of the journals (will expire 2004 to 2007 and vols. 5, 10-37 will expire 2019 to 2036).
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