The Awesome Duo

The name "Doukhobor" means "spirit wrestlers". The origin of the Doukhobors dates back to the 1600s in Russia. People felt that the Doukhobors "wrestled against the Holy Spirit in the Church", while the Doukhobors maintained that they "wrestled with and for the Spirit of God". The Doukhobors believed that God dwells in each human being and not in the church. They rejected secular governments and practiced pacifism. They replaced the Bible with psalms and hymns.
Tsar Nicholas II, demanded an oath of allegiance from all his subjects, but the Doukhobors refused. The Doukhobors were persecuted for their religious and political beliefs. They also refused to serve in the military and burned all their weapons, which lead to more repression. In 1898 the Doukhobors began to leave Russia and many of them came to Canada and settled in Saskatchewan. In 1899 more that 7,500 Doukhobors sailed to Canada, making the migration of Doukhobors the largest single mass migration in Canadian history.
Doukhobors were not interested in owning their own land, instead the community would own the land and they would all work together. In the early 1900s the Canadian Government introduced changes to the Homestead Act requiring individuals to claim title and to pledge an oath of allegiance to the Crown. When they refused to swear an oath of allegiance their homestead entries were canceled. This forced the Doukhobors to move and they moved to the West Kootenays in British Columbia. All of the land they occupied in BC was under Peter Verigin's (their leader) name.
The Doukhobors developed large communal enterprises under the umbrella of the Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood which was situated in Brilliant, BC. Jam, jelly and honey were produced commercially. Fruit and vegetables were grown on the land.
As the community grew two groups broke away from the community, one the "Edinolichniki" or the "Independents" who wanted to live separately and more independent lives. The other group were the "Svobodniki" or the "Sons of Freedom" who wanted to keep the older tradition and often used violence to achieve there goal. Peter Verigin the leader was killed in a rail car bombing in 1924.
The Great Depression affected the Doukhobors as they borrowed money like many other communities. Foreclosures were in the process when the BC government stepped in and paid off all the debts. The Doukhobors were allowed to stay on their land and pay rent, but this was the end of the Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood as a lot of them moved elsewhere. The Doukhobor community still remained but became disorganized. The Sons of Freedom resorted to more violence like burning several schools over a dispute on education. They burned their own homes, the homes of other Doukhobors, torched other buildings like schools, rail lines and other public buildings. Many of them were imprisoned for nude protest parades. From 1953 to 1959 children were removed from the Doukhobor Community and housed at a former tuberculosis sanatorium in New Denver, BC and forced to attend school. Some of the children were kept in New Denver for five years or more, until the parents would agree to send the children to public schools. The War-time Elections Act disenfranchised several religious groups including Doukobors and Mennonites during WW1 and WW2.
Today, many members of the various Doukhobor groups still practice their beliefs and live in the Kootenay region of BC, while others reside in other areas of BC, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.

Up until 1963 GM used generators in all their automobiles. From 1963 to 1974 GM used the external regulated alternator. Then GM used an internal regulated alternator from 1975 to 1985. They were called the "SI" series (System Intergrated). There was the 10SI, 12SI, 20SI series, 30SI series, 40SI series and the 50SI series. Some of these series were brushless. The 20SI, 30SI, 40SI and 50SI series were used on heavy equipment, industrial equipment and farm equipment etc. Both the 10SI and the 12SI were the most common for automotive application and came with several output ratings and assembled with any one of four available positions for different mounting positions. The 10SI came with a V pulley while the 12SI came with different pulleys. Delco type CS130 and CS130D alternators were used from 1986 to 2004. The CS130 was mainly used from 1986 to 1996 and the CS130D was mainly used from 1994 to 2000.
Go to the homemade welder page to see how a alternator works

The word Fructova means "fruitful". The Fructova School was built in 1929 by the Doukhobors so that their children could learn English and academics. The brick factory, which was located near the school, supplied the bricks to build the school. The school originally had two classrooms, one at each end of the building and a teacherage in the middle, which was later converted to a third classroom. The school operated until 1949 when it was closed and the students were bussed to Central Elementary School (Perley Elementary School) in Grand Forks.
The Boundary Museum Society was established in 1958 and operated in downtown Grand Forks. The Fructova School was renovated in the 1980's by the Doukhobor Historical Society of British Columbia, which then became the home of the Boundary Museum and Interpretive Center in 2009. The museum exhibits pioneer life of the Boundary.