In 1971, British Columbia celebrated the 100th Anniversary of its entry into the Canadian Confederation. To mark the occasion, the CBC created a 3-part radio series entitled « Illahee Shanties: Songs of the Land » with producer Imbert Orchard at the helm. Elliot Weisgarber was commissioned to write the score for the programs which would feature three diverse regions of the province, the Babine Lakes area in the north, the Chilcotin country west of William’s Lake, and the Queen Charlotte Islands, now known as Haida Gwai. Weisgarber and Orchard had become close friends after collaborating on earlier CBC projects so Orchard asked him to go along on some of his research trips so that Weisgarber could get a feel for the landscapes he would be portraying. When the project was complete and the programs had been aired Weisgarber set about re-working the music for a concert setting. Entitled Three West Coast Poems, he completed only one, this Chilcotin Pastorale. It appears with very little change from the original radio score for the second of the three programs.