Transcript The Development of BC

British Columbia was one of
the last areas in Canada to
be settled by European
settlers. This guide will
examine early immigration
to BC through to
confederation with Canada.
We have an interesting
history full of gold, guns and
a shameful amount of
discrimination against
minorities.
 Prior to the 19th century BC
was home to 100 000 First
Nations from tribes ranging
from the Haida all the way to
the Kwakwaka’wakw
 Way back in 1819 the British
and Americans decided that
a border be drawn from
Ontario to the East of the
Rockies along the 49th
parallel
 The area between the
Rockies and the pacific
ocean became known as the
Oregon Territory
 As there were few Europeans living here at the time,
the British and Americans were unsure who should
govern this area
 Who was left out in this consideration?
 The Hudson’s Bay Company did not want the area
settled as that would limit their fur trading
 The Americans, who had recently purchased
Mississippi from the French wanted to expand
westward
 What was the word for the American belief that they
were to rule all of North America?
 Many Americans began to settle south of the Columbia
River, which is now Portland, Oregon
 Created in 1824 by HBC
manager George Simpson
 Was built on the north
bank of the Columbia
River
 It was a great location and
it was made the main
trading post in the Oregon
Territory
 John McLoughlin (a
French Canadian) was put
in charge
 LOOK!- there are two
Vancouvers on this map!
 We are talking about the
one down in Oregon.
 He was a smart man
 Knowing that the
Americans wanted to
settle in the area he
gave them supplies
and money to build
south of the River
 This limited
American
involvement in the
HBC’s fur trade
 1841, George Simpson
was not happy with the
development of the fur
trading posts on the
Pacific Coast
 He decided to cut costs
and closed all forts on
the coast, with the
exception of Fort
Simpson...
 Fort Simpson in the winter of
1873.
 Built by the Hudson's Bay
Company in 1834, The fort
comprised a trade shop, a
warehouse, officer's quarters,
a mess hall, and houses and
shops for Bay Company
employees.
 Two bastions, each with four
guns, were situated at
opposite corners of a 5.5
meter palisade of thick cedar
planks.
 The post was closed in 1911.
After 1915, when the last
buildings were burned down
the settlement came to be
known as Port Simpson.
 The Beaver was the first
steamship used on the
Pacific Coast
 Used by Simpson to help
with the fur trade
 It would travel up and
down the coast,
eliminating the need for
costly forts...according to
Simpson
 It was used by the HBC
for 50 years
 McLoughlin was not too
happy about 15 years of his
work getting closed down
 To make matters worse his
son was killed in a fight
and Simpson
recommended a charge of
justifiable homicide for the
killer
 McLoughlin retired shortly
after from the HBC, he is
now known as the Father
of Oregon in the United
States
 Do you think it would have been a wiser move for the HBC
to encourage settlement in the Oregon Territory?
 Was McLoughlin doing the right thing by encouraging
American settlement south of Fort Vancouver? Should he
not have helped them at all?
 Did Simpson make the right decision to close the forts
along the west coast?
 How did the Beaver change the way furs were traded?
 With the rising
American population
the British felt it was
time to establish a more
permanent border
 Fearing this, Simpson
began to close Fort
Vancouver and created
Fort Victoria on
Vancouver island, with
the hope that the island
would remain in British
Hands
 In 1844 James Polk was




elected as President of the
US
Part of his campaign slogan
was 54 40 or fight
This referred to the 54˚ 40’
N latitude
This failed thankfully and
the border was just
continued along the 49th
parallel
With the exception of
Vancouver island
 Vancouver island was
turned over to James
Douglas who became the
governor in 1851
 Douglas encourage rapid
settlement of the area by
offering land for $5 an acre
 He also convinced the
British to build a naval
base near Fort Victoria
 Coal was discovered in
Nanaimo which helped
persuade them to build
the base there
 Douglas married a 16
year old Cree women
named Amelia
 She was a strong willed
woman
 They had 13 children
 She saved his life when a
Dakleh (Ka-kelh) Chief
wanted to kill him for
violating the sanctity of
his house
 Douglas realized early on that
in order for European settlers
to be successful on Vancouver
Island they had to peacefully
obtain the land
 He negotiated 14 treaties in a
four year period
 When he paid the First
Nations for their land it
acknowledged Aboriginal
Title to the land
 This would have huge lasting
impact on BC in the 20th
century
 Gold was discovered
in California in 1848
 Thousands of men
travelled to the
Sacramento River to
try and hit it rich
 Within a few years it
had all been mined
out
 A few made a lot of
money, most ended
up broke and unable
to get home
 1857 an HBC trader went to
Douglas informing that he
had found gold along the
banks of the Thompson
River
 Douglas feared a similar
Gold Rush akin to what he
saw in California
 By 1858 there were gold
prospectors along the
shores of the Thompson
and Fraser
 By the end of 1858, 10 000
Americans were in BC
 Why did Simpson not want a huge influx of gold
miners in BC?
 Why were thousands of Americans in BC a problem?
 Who do you think these gold prospectors would have
had the most problems with and why?
 Conflicts between the miners and First Nations were
very common during the rush
 In 1858 several gold miners were killed by members of
the Nlaka’pamux tribe (Ing-khla-kap-muh)
 This was in retaliation to an attack on a Nlaka’pamux
women by the miners
 The Americans formed several militias, some with
peaceful intentions, others...not so much
 The issue was resolved peacefully thankfully, but it
scared Douglas as the miners organized the militias on
their own
 It was difficult and
dangerous to reach the
gold fields of the upper
Fraser River
 Douglas ordered the
construction of the
Cariboo Wagon Road
in 1862
 It took three years to
complete and cost
$750 000
 By the time it was
completed the gold
rush was nearly over
 This left BC greatly in
debt
 Named after Billy Barker who participated in the California
Gold Rush
 Struck gold on Williams Creek 1862 which led to the
creation of the town around it
 When the road reached the town, it began to boom with
nearly 10 000 inhabitants
 Census data from 1861 put the population of Victoria at 2350
at this time
 It developed quite the nightlife with dancers brought direct
from Germany – “Hurdy Gurdy Girls”
 Many Black and Chinese immigrants came to live there as
well to open businesses and pan for gold
 September 16, 1868 most of Barkerville
was destroyed by a fire

 When the gold started
to run low in the
1870s people began to move out
 By 1920 it was a ghost town
 1958 the province restored Barkerville
and made it a tourist attraction
 It now looks like it did at the end of the
1860s
 Population of
Vancouver Island 1855
 First Nations 35 000
 Non-First Nations 774
 Run by James Douglas
 Until 1856 it was an
autocratic society
 Force in 1856 to create
a seven member
legislative assembly
 Only those who owned
property could vote
(40 people)
 1862 an American miner




brought smallpox to
Victoria
It spread quickly among
the population
Colonists were vaccinated
and treated
First Nations were
quarantined
On Haida Gwaii 70% died
 Villages that had been
there for thousands of
years were now gone
 By the time the epidemic
had run its course, over
half of the First Nations in
BC had died
 After the Gold Rush ended
the population of the two
colonies (British Columbia
and Victoria) was less than
10 000 non first nations
 Both colonies were in
tremendous debt
 $300 000 Victoria
 $1 000 000 BC
 They were refused loans
from the banks and Britain
said they would only
finance only one colony, so
in 1866 they united
Confederationists
Anti-Confederationists
 It would solve the
 Wanted to stay with
colony’s financial
problems as Canada
would take on their debt
 They demanded a road
be built from the great
lakes to New West
Britain OR join the
United States
 The US was booming
and they were closer to
Washington, Oregon
state than Ontario
 Those who wanted to join
the US sent around a
petition in Victoria
 They only got 125
signatures, the population
was 3000
 The colony sent a
delegation to talk to Prime
Minister Macdonald
 Macdonald agreed to all of
their terms and even added
on the railway promise
 Forestry emerged as a




dominant industry in
BC early on
1865 Mills were
beginning to appear in
the lower mainland
Hastings Mill and
Moodyville
Specialized in logging
“BC Toothpicks”
These were logs that
were so large that they
were prized around the
world to build ship
masts
 The Vancouver area was
quite “dry” until 1867
when John “Gassy Jack”
Deighton arrived
 He opened a saloon
that became extremely
popular
 It encouraged others to
open saloons as well
 Gastown was named
after him
 One of the first major
immigrant groups to arrive
were the Kanakas
 People of Hawaiian
Descent
 The HBC originally hired




them to work at the trading
posts
Married First Nations
women and started
families
When the border was
drawn at the 49th parallel
they moved north to BC
Settled in what is now
Stanley Park
Began working in the mills
 During the Gold
Rush many Black
Americans fled to
Canada knowing
that Britain did not
allow slavery
 James Douglas
welcomed them and
helped them find
work
 These new
immigrants asked
Douglas to allow
them to form a
militia to help
defend their new
home
 Largest group of non-
European immigrants to
arrive in BC
 Originally came up from
California during our gold
rush
 They worked old American
claims which could be
bought cheaply and
produce decent money
with patience
 They also opened many
stores and restaurants to
serve the communities
 Many groups arose to
protest the Chinese
settling into their towns
 The Knights of Labour
demanded that the
government remove all
Chinese immigrants
from BC
 They also boycotted
businesses that sold to
Chinese customers
 Chinese Contractors
 Chinese men who brought
immigrants to BC
 They made fortunes off
this new slave trade
 Chinese workers were paid
a fraction of their
European counterparts
 Many believed that the
Chinese were a treat
because they “could not
assimilate”
 Once the railway had




finished the Government
realized they no longer
needed Chinese labour
1885 Royal Commission
on Chinese Immigration
Goal was to limit
immigrants from China
$50 Head Tax
Only 1 Chinese passenger
per 50 tonnes of cargo