Person

Philip, Alex

[Jul. 1881] - 10 Oct 1968

Alex was born in Aberdeen, Scotland and his family emigrated to Maine USA when he was 8 months old. He grew up in Maine. Some of the Philip family were adventuring in British Columbia and in [1906] Alex joined his father in Nelson Island. After that he went to Vancouver, also in [1906]. He took a job as a waiter on Columbia Avenue, Vancouver, in the Horseshoe grill. [He was later to own this restaurant].

Alex was working on the West Coast of British Columbia with his father when Myrtle Tapley was bording with his family in Maine. He returned home in [1905] for the holidays when he and Myrtle literally ran into each other as he entered the front hall. For the next four years Alex and Myrtle corresponded faithfully by letter and in 1909 Alex sent for his bride-to-be. The two were married in St. Helen's, Oregon and decided to settle in British Columbia.

Alex worked in Vancouver at the Horseshoe Bar and Grill and it was there that he first heard of Alta Lake. It had been Alex's lifelong dream to open a fishing lodge in the wilderness and this place seemed to be the perfect spot.

The following summer, August of 1911, Alex and Myrtle decided to go visit this place called Alta Lake. Back then it was a three day voyage to get to Alta Lake – traveling first by steamship to Squamish, then by packhorse north along the Pemberton Trail. Alta Lake proved to be the paradise Millar had promised. The Philips camped on the lakeshore for the remainder of that summer and returned again the following summer. By 1913 they had saved enough money to purchase property along the west side of the lake. While Alex remained in Vancouver to ensure a steady source of income, Myrtle and her family began clearing the land. By the summer of 1914 Rainbow Lodge was completed and open for business.

Alex Philip penned newspaper articles and published three books; 'Whispering Leaves', 'The Painted Cliff' and 'The Crimson West', the latter of which was made into a motion picture. He named many of the landmarks in the valley including Blackcomb Mountain and the River of Golden Dreams and Romance.

Partial

1. http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/205/301/ic/cdc/myrtlephilip/life_of_mp/index.html
2. Whistler Reflections
3. "A Tapley Genealogy" - Patrica A. Boudreau, 1996, p. 84

Information file "Dick Fairhurst - Whistler Stories" in black binder in research room.