Hanson's whiskey brand of hospitality
Nils Hanson was known as “Hanson the Hospitable” or “mine host” or later, simply “the Guv’nor.”
Famous for his generosity and gracious entertaining from the mid-1880s until his death in 1917, Hanson drew people from all over East Kootenay to his lake and garden oasis at Wasa.
Born at Skole in the southern part of Sweden on Apr. 30, 1854, Hanson entered into the business of distilling whiskey. C.M. Edwards indicated that it was Mr. Hanson’s failure to submit certain monies due to a Swedish agency corresponding to our Revenue Canada that caused Nils to leave Sweden in 1878, in some haste.
He settled in Billings, Montana, just before the construction of the Northern Pacific Railway. Hanson started a trading post which he ran successfully until 1882, then closed it and went to work on the Northern Pacific as it pushed westward. Entering British Columbia, he eventually stopped at Farwell on the crossing of the Columbia River (now known as Revelstoke). Hanson established another trading post business, which quickly grew to include a store, hotel, and liquor wholesale business.
In 1885, hearing of a wonderful wide valley, virtually uninhabited except for the accommodating and nomadic members of the Ktunaxa Nation, Hanson decided to move to East Kootenay. With the Canadian Pacific Railway building into Golden, he knew that many settlers and miners would soon flood into the valley.
To get into the area in those days meant coming in by pack train, and this is what Hanson did. Purchasing 640 acres of land on the Kootenay River from the Kootenay Valley Company, Hanson pre-empted adjoining lots from the government. In all, he assembled a parcel of approximately 1,600 acres that he used as the centre of his extensive operations. Hanson also staked mining claims and timber reserves which he used to constantly expand his commercial enterprise.
One old-timer claimed that Wasa was named after “Vasa,” a coastal town in Finland. It seems more reasonable that Nils Hanson called his home ranch “Wasa” after an early Scandinavian king who made a difference. Most of the kings of early time had complete and final authority over their subjects, treating them like slaves or worse.
King Wasa, however, was hospitable and treated his subjects with respect and brought them prosperity. In fact, he sounds a lot like “mine host” himself. No matter where the name came from, Wasa quickly became the most popular stopping place on the winding and weary stage route between Golden and Fort Steele. It was a long time between drinks after leaving Golden.
“In the old days, there were very few people in the country, but all that were there were friends” Hanson wrote in 1908. “We had no troubles (of course, that was before there were any lawyers or preachers in the country) and we had sufficient of money (this was before there were any banks) to carry us along.”
Hanson immediately acquired cattle and located a blacksmith on the home ranch, attracting both local settlers and passers-by. Securing a steam-powered sawmill, Hanson cleared part of his property and used the sawn lumber to build a hotel, store, livery barn, several cottages and, last but not least, a house to accommodate his very popular poker games. George James claimed that this house was perfectly round with a round table in the centre big enough to accommodate 12 players.
History makes it clear that “the Guv’nor” was very successful at that round table. In replying to an inquiry from the Swedish and Norwegian Vice-Consul in 1896, C.M. Edwards listed Hanson’s holdings as follows:
He owns 3 sawmills, carries a stock in trade valued at $5,000.00, has 1,100 acres of good land, and owns probably 100 head of cattle. His financial position is very good and he is generally regarded as one of the leading men of this end of East Kootenay.