BC History

The earliest human history of British Columbia begins with the receding of the glaciers about 10,000 years ago. Archaeological digs have produced evidence that people have lived in some areas of the lands now called British Columbia since the glacier's departure.

First Peoples occupied all areas of BC. The milder coastal climate and surplus of food and material supported a larger population than the interior.

Exploration and the Fur Trade

The earliest explorers arrived looking for the mythical “Northwest Passage” that would shorten the trading route from Europe to the Orient. There is some evidence that movement occurred from Asia to the west coast and that some interaction between the peoples occurred, however, the first recognized exploration began from England by Sir Francis Drake. The Russians settled Alaska, the Spanish moved up the Pacific coast from Mexico & California but did not settle, and the English sent Captain Cook who traded sea otter pelts from natives and took them to China where he found a dynamic market. The sea otter trade began and merchant sailing ships arrived by the dozen.

Meanwhile, The Hudson’s Bay Company had established a system of trading posts across North America to the Rocky Mountains and was expanding into the northern plateau area of BC establishing a post at Fort St. James. Other fur trading enterprises were moving into the area as well including the Northwest Trading Company. The expense of moving furs overland across Canada was curtailed when the Columbia River was found to be navigable. Fort Vancouver was established near the mouth of the system and goods were now transported by sailing ship from England around the southern tip of South America and north to the Columbia River.


European Immigration: the Gold Rush

The 1846 California gold rush had climaxed and large numbers of miners had stayed waiting for the next gold rush. And, in 1858 it arrived when the Hudson's Bay Company sent gold traded from natives on the Fraser and Thompson Rivers to be assayed at San Francisco. Word of Fraser Gold spread to waiting miners and that year 30,000 miners arrived at Fort Victoria for supplies on their way to the new gold fields. Miners arrived by steamboat from San Francisco to Victoria then made their way however they could to the Fraser River. Many died crossing the Strait of Georgia on rafts and makeshift vessels. Gold was first discovered in river bars in the lower river below Hope then all the way up through the treacherous Fraser Canyon.

The Douglas trail was built from Harrison Lake over the Seton portage to Lytton but was found too treacherous and in 1862 the Cariboo Wagon Road was constructed up the Fraser Canyon. By 1859 miners had arrived as far upstream as present day Quesnel and the first major find occurred at Horsefly in the summer of 1859. Exploration continued and in 1862, gold was discovered at William's Creek and Barkerville became the home of thousands of miners. When the surface gold ran out, large well-financed companies hired crews to dig shafts. By the early 1870's the gold rush was over but the mines at Barkerville continued producing for many years. In 1887 silver was discover in the Kootenay region and a new mining rush began.

In 1871, the Colony of British Columbia agreed to join Canada on condition that a transcontinental railway be constructed to the City of Victoria. The Canadian Pacific Railway began construction in BC in 1880 at Yale. In 1887 the first train arrived at the new western terminus at today's Vancouver City. The trip across the continent took 5 days and 20 hours! Ashcroft, junction of the Cariboo Wagon Road and Canadian Pacific Railway, became the terminal for goods shipped to Barkerville, now the largest community in BC. Goods were hauled north along the Cariboo Wagon Road from Ashcroft by horse and oxen drawn wagon trains.

Significant Dates in BC's History

1577 - 1580 Sir Francis Drake likely sighted Vancouver Island on his voyage around the world. After plundering Spanish ships off Mexico, Drake tried to find a polar route back to England; the supposition that he sailed north to Vancouver Island is based on a study of the winds and currents of the north-western Pacific.

1640 Canada's oldest corporation, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), was formed when a group of merchant-traders in England received by royal charter the exclusive right to trade in northern North America.

1740 Vitus Jonassen Bering, an officer of the Russian navy, appointed by Peter the Great to explore the Siberian coast. After 3 years delay, Bering sailed from Okhotsk and passed through Bering Strait, proving that Asia and America were not joined. On a subsequent expedition in 1741, he sailed from Siberia eastward into the Gulf of Alaska and was the first navigator to sight mainland Alaska. On the return voyage his ship was delayed by storms and had to put in at Bering Island were he died of scurvy.

Spanish exploration of the BC coast was motivated by concern about a Russian approach to New Spain (Mexico) and later by a search for the Northwest Passage. Spain claimed the entire Pacific coast of America following the late 16-centure papal division of the world between Spain and Portugal.

1763 The Hudson's Bay Company competed with French merchants for dominance in the fur trade until 1763 when Great Britain won control of Canada over the French. The North West Company was created by Montreal fur traders and a spirited competition continued until 1821 when HBC absorbed its rival.

1774 Juan Perez left San Blas, Mexico commanding the Santiago. On 18 July he sighted the northern end of the Queen Charlotte Islands and traded with Haida people. Later he anchored off Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island, and again traded with local people but did not land or claim the area for Spain.

1775 Juan Francisco de la Bodega Y Quadra reached the shores of Prince of Wales Island in Alaska.

1776-1780 James Cook embarked on a voyage in search of the Pacific entrance to the fabled Northwest Passage. With two ships, Resolution and Discovery, he arrived at Resolution Cove in Nootka Sound on 29 March, 1776. After spending a month taking on wood and water, trading with the local people and repairing his vessels, Cook departed north and explored Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet. This visit opened the northwest coast of America to the outside world and drew attention to its wealth of sea otter furs, leading to the maritime Fur Trade.

1779 Spain heard of James Cook's (England) plan to explore the Pacific Northwest and explored as far as Cook Inlet and Kodiak Island.

1785 Capt James Hanna (British) with his brig the Sea Otter traded sea otter furs with the Nootka peoples that fetched over $20,000 in Canton and the rush was on.

1786 Laperouse lead a French expedition to the Northwest Coast.

1788 Esteban Jose Martinez explored the Alaskan Coast north and west to Unalaska Island, returning to Mexico with information that the Russians planned to occupy Nootka.

1789 Spain establishes a settlement at Yuquot in Friendly Cove on Nootka Island. Here Martinex seized British fur-trading vessels, touching off the Nootka Sound Controversy. The Spanish withdrew that fall, but in 1790 brought soldiers to occupy the site more permanently.

1789 The first American sea otter trader was Robert Gray. By 1800 American traders, mainly from Boston, dominated the trade. Furs from the coast were taken to Canton and exchanged for tea, silk, porcelains and sugar. In the peak years from 1790 to 1812, there were as many as 24 vessels on the coast trading for tens of thousands of pelts. Coastal First Nations people were experienced traders who drove a hard bargain. In exchange for their furs they obtained guns, metal-wares, cloth and liquor. Relations between traders and aboriginals were often strained by ignorance and suspicion and there were instances of violence on both sides. The trade expanded the wealth of the coastal people and seems to have stimulated their ceremonial and artistic lives. But it also introduced diseases such as Smallpox which eventually led to drastic population decreases. By the 1820's trade was in decline and the Hudson Bay Company was taking over from American traders and establishing forts on the coast.

1791 George Vancouver received orders to explore the north west coast of America from California to Alaska and to resolve a disagreement with Spain over the ownership of the area. By the summer of 1792 he explored as far as the north tip of Vancouver Island. In 1793 he continued surveying northward and barely missed meeting Alexander Mackenzie in Dean Channel. During his three summers on the coast, his crews mapped the entire shoreline of BC and many of its offshore islands. All of this work was done laboriously and meticulously, the men exploring every cove and inlet in small rowboats. Vancouver's expedition effectively shattered the dream of a Northwest Passage through North America to the Atlantic and completed a realistic map of the Pacific basin.

1792 Bodega y Quadra was sent by Spain to negotiate details of a diplomatic agreement with Gorge Vancouver of England at Nootka Sound in the summer of 1792. For two weeks the Spanish and British explored the islands of the Strait of Georgia together, sharing information as they sailed. However Quadra and Vancouver failed to settle the competing Spanish and British claims and the Nootka affair was ultimately resolved in Europe.

1793 Alexander Mackenzie of the North West Company (fur traders) traveled up the Peace River, across the Rocky Mountains, down the Fraser River and overland with the help of First Nations guides to reach the Pacific at the mouth of Bella Coola River. He and his party continued by canoe and reached Dean Channel where he painted on a rock in Elcho Harbour the famous message "Alex Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, 22 July, 1793" before returning the way he had come. His was the first known crossing of North America by a non-aboriginal person. Mackenzie was unaware that just 6 weeks earlier Vancouver had rowed through these same waters as part of his survey of the coast.

1795 Spain ended its occupation of Yuquot on Nootka Island and ceased maritime activity north of California.

1804 Lewis & Clark expedition departs to identify a route to the west.

1805 Simon Fraser of the North West Company explored the Fraser River to its mouth looking for an alternate navigable water route to the ocean (other than the Columbia River). The Hudson's Bay Company was using the Columbia River.

1821 Hudson's Bay Company absorbs the North West Company and becomes the principal fur trader in the Pacific Northwest.

1825 Hudson's Bay Company headquarters is moved from Fort St. James in today's central British Columbia to Fort Vancouver near the mouth of the Columbia River.

1830 American setters begin to arrive along the Columbia River.

1843 James Douglas built Fort Victoria in anticipation of a boundary settlement between USA and Great Britain over disputed lands west of the Rocky Mountains in the Pacific North West.

1846 USA & Great Britain sign the Treaty of Washington (Oregon Treaty) extending the existing international boundary of 49 degrees N west from the Rocky Mountains circling around the southern tip of Vancouver Island to the Pacific Ocean. Britain formally took possession of the mainland creating the colony of British Columbia.

1849 Britain created the Colony of Vancouver Island and assigned the Hudson's Bay Company the task of encouraging settlement.

1849 The California Gold Rush begins and transforms the territory newly acquired from Spain by the US.

1858 The Colony of British Columbia (mainland) was created and Hudson's Bay Company factor, James Douglas, was appointed as Governor.

1858 The Fraser River Gold Rush begins and 30,000 miners arrive in Fort Victoria on route to the gravel bars of the river. The rush of miners up the Fraser River changed forever the culture and practices of the First Nations in British Columbia

1862 Billy Barker strikes gold below the canyon on Williams Creek and "Barkerville" became the largest community in BC with a floating population that peaked at about 5,000. The Barkerville area boomed 3 times (1862 - 1872), (1898-1910), and (1932-1942).

1871 At the end of the gold rush and in debt, British Columbians considered their options, including annexation to the US, and chose confederation with the Dominion of Canada. Canada agreed to take over BC's debt and to complete a railway to Victoria within 10 years. BC agreed to give the Dominion government a 32 kilometre wide strip of land on either side of the track. The Crown Lands given to Canada totalled almost 58,500 square kilometres. The new provincial government would consist of a 25 seat legislative assembly. Confederation represented an economic arrangement more than a sentimental attachment to Canada.

1880 The Canadian Pacific Railway begins at Yale heading east.

1887 The western terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway was established at Burrard Inlet and a community was established which quickly became the City of Vancouver.



HOME | BROWSE TOURS | ABOUT BC | BC MAPS | PARTNERS | TRAVEL AGENTS | CONTACT US
BC Attractions | Vancouver Attractions | Victoria | Nanaimo | BC Government | BC Economy | BC Forestry | BC Fishing | BC Mining | BC Agriculture | BC History | BC Geography | BC Wildlife | BC Climate | BC Geology | Sea Otter | Dolphin | Killer Whale | Harbour Seal | Sea-lion | Salmon | Grizzly Bear | Black Bear | Marmot | Marbled Murrelet