History of the Bailey-DeBeck-Goepel-Marshall-Henderson Cabin

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Before the 1914-18 War, a man called Bailey, with Mr. Simson's permission, of course, built a cabin on the present site 48. Bill Cornwall remembers Mr. Bailey keeping a store running in the summer (I presume) from the one room structure.

 

In the summer of 1923, Ned and May DeBeck thought they would go to the 'Pass House' with their 6 kids, Denis, Ward, Keary, Nedra, Betsy, and Freddie, ages 1 - 12. Keeping track of the crew on top of a rock bluff 100 feet or so overlooking Welcome Pass prompted them fairly early on to row around to Bucc Bay. They went to see Mr. Simson and asked if there was anywhere on the beach they might stay.  He directed them to have  a look at Bailey's old place just above the beginning of the Slough from the Meadow. The place had been unoccupied since before WW  I.

 

Well! It was old and Denis says, when he and Mum stepped in, any 12 year old could see it wasn't habitable.  To his surprise, Mum said, 'This will be fine.?

 

There were holes in the roof, sheddings all over the floor, doors hanging on hinges. There was probably a privy out back but that was it for amenities. There might have been an old stove - whether it was useable for a time I don't know.

 

The first thing Dad and Denis did was to put on a complete new roof which extended over a new front veranda.  This veranda had to be built around a huge fir, about 2' feet  at the butt. From the kitchen extending over the verandah was a sort of loft where the older kids slept. I vaguely remember 'mattresses' made of grass we gathered laid in a board cribbing. Dad built shelves, benches, and a table as well as bedsteads. At first we brought up water in big milk cans from Hailey's well (sand point).

 

The next big addition was the living room the depth of the house (12 feet) plus an extension of the 'new' front veranda.

 

The second summer, 1924, Denis and Dad dug the well which we've used ever since. Not much after, they put a water line to a pump in the kitchen sink. The present system with a cistern and taps in the house was rigged around 1960. A 10 X 10 guest house was built circa 1930. McCullough, the jack of all trades farmer, built the cobblestone fireplace in the early 30's.

 

In the summers of 1936 and 1937, our family didn't go to the Bay, but instead rented an ex-mink ranch in the Blackcomb-Whistler area where Denis, Ward and Keary were occupied logging. Our Bay house was first rented, then sold, to the Goepel's, who needed  more space than their original cottage (which is now site 'owned by') provided.  They bought our place for $700 (I think) and it included everything except the totem poles Dad and Denis carved and a couple of bits inside.

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When Percy and Winnie Goepel had the house 1938 to 1958, they lined the bedrooms and kitchen with plywood.  They made one big bedroom of the two originals and closed in the sleeping porch.   They also did some important repairing, replacing, and jacking to the underpinnings. A well-built playhouse, from down in the gully, they had Tag Nygard drag up for their use as a second sleeping  house.

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We returned to the Bay in 1958 - that is, Denis, Dorothy, and their 2 girls, Wilma and Barbara; Dad (Ned DeBeck); Nedra and Bill Marshall and kids Carol, Rick, Barb, and Rob; Betsy and Peter Henderson and kids Jim, Bill, Miranda, and Sheila. We rented it for 1 or 2 summers, then bought it back from Winnie Goepel. The Marshalls and Hendersons bought out Denis when he built his new place next along the bluff, not much after BBH was formed.

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The only noticeable changes since our takeover have been the addition of 1) big front and back veranda - decks, 2) more and bigger windows, 3) a large 10 X 16 storage in winter and bedroom in summer out building, 4) propane system, and 5) improved water system and shower.

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Structurally, the house is a disaster because of disintegrating support posts which can't be replaced except with great difficulty because parts are so close to the ground. Also, over the years, cross-bracing and supporting studs have been removed or sawn through. The result is walls not plum and roof line up and down over its 40 foot length. Two of the bedrooms have rotten floors from wet rot or powder post beetle action.

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We've been band-aiding it for 30 years and it is still standing.   We've really loved it for 4 generations for all the reasons Bucc Bay is so great.   It's now in the hands of the Marshall and Henderson clans.

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See you in the summer.

Betsy Henderson