CONTENTdm
Northwest bookshelf. Vol. III
British Columbia Historical Books Collection
Lamb, W. Kayle
Provincial Archives of British Columbia
British Columbia Historical Association
"Supersedes the association's Annual report and proceedings. Table of contents, index in each volume. Indexed in Canadian index. Last number appeared in 1958."-- Lowther, B. J., & Laing, M. (1968). A bibliography of British Columbia: Laying the foundations, 1849-1899. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 193. "Published by the Archives of British Columbia in co-operation with the British Columbia Historical Association. Superseded the Association's Annual report and proceedings. Table of contents and index in each volume. Also indexed in the Canadian Index. Publication suspended with vol.21, Jan., 1957-0ct., 1958, i.e. 1963. Includes many articles and reviews of publications on the precolonial period."-- Strathern, G. M., & Edwards, M. H. (1970). Navigations, traffiques & discoveries, 1774-1848: A guide to publications relating to the area now British Columbia. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 32.
310 pages : coat of arms, table, photographs, facsimiles, maps (1 folded), graphs, portraits ; 25 cm
application/pdf
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA LIBRARY From the library of Dr. C.E. Dolman THE BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY 1939 VICTORIA, B.C. J EDITOR. W. Kaye Lamb. ADVISORY BOARD. nceton. F. W. Howay, New Wei mcouver. T. A. Rickard, Vici W. N. Sage, Vancouver. CONTENTS OF VOLUME III. om Colony to Province. By W. N. Sage st and Last Days of the " \ By Barrie H. E. Goult... Hudson's Bay Company Lands on the Mainland of British Columbia. 1858-1861. By F. W. Laing The Negro Immigration into Vancouver Island in 1858. By F. W. Howay. Captain St. Paul of Kamloops. By George D. Brown, Jr., and W. Kaye Lamb Drake's Course in the North Pacific. By R. P. Bishop Early Smelters in British Columbia. By S. S. Fowler Notes on the " Norman Morison." By A. N. Mouat_ Pioneer Flying in British Columbia. 1910-1914. By Frank H. Ellis The Evolution of the Boundaries of British Columbia. By Willard E. Ireland Sir James Goes Abroad. By W. Kaye Lamb Documents: An Early Colonization Scheme in British Columbia. By F. W. Howay '. _65, 129, 221, 293 Notes and Comments The Northwest Bookshelf: Howay: The Voyage of the New Hazard. By Clarence L. Andrews Ravenhill: The Native Tribes of British Ci By D. Jenness The Relations of Canada and the United Si Review article by W. N. Sage Journal of Occurrences in the Athabasca 1 By F. W. Howay :obs: Winning Oregon. By Hunter Miller irton: A History of the Cana By W. N. Sage_ i West to 1870-71. Page 155,1 ne 20. For reprint read report. Page 158,1 ne 32. For reach read reached. Page 169,1 ne 8. For correct read corrected. Page 173,1 ne 24. For to read to be. Page 177,1 ne 17. For note 7 read note 16. BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY JANUARY, 1939 BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Published by the Archives of British Columbia in co-operation with the British Columbia Historical Association. EDITOR. W. Kaye Lamb. ADVISORY BOARD. Goodfellow, Princeton. F. W. Howay, New Westminster. Editorial communications should be addressed to the Editor, Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. Subscriptions should be sent to the Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. Price, 50c. the copy, or $2 the year. Members of the British Columbia Historical Association in good standing receive the Quarterly without further charge. Neither the Provincial Archives nor the British Columbia Historical Association assumes any responsibility for statements made by contributors to the magazine. BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY B.C., January, 1939. CONTENTS. Articles : Page. From Colony to Province. By W. N. Sage_ 1 First and Last Days of the " Princess Royal." By Barrie H. E. Goult 15 The Use of Iron and Copper by the Indians of British Columbia. By T. A. Rickard 25 Documents : An Early Colonization Scheme in British Columbia. By F. W. Howay .._ 61 Notes and Comments : Contributors to this Issue 65 The Steamship " Abyssinia " 65 British Columbia Historical Association 67 Jonathan Hoiten Scott 70 The Northwest Bookshelf: Howay: The Voyage of the New Hazard. By Clarence L. Andrews . 72 Ravenhill: The Native Tribes of British Columbia. By D. Jenness 73 FROM COLONY TO PROVINCE.* The Introduction of Responsible Government in British Columbia. The years from 1866 to 1871 have been termed the " Critical Period of British Columbian History." The two colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia were united at the fiat of the Imperial Parliament. The union of 1866 was unpopular, especially upon the Mainland, and it did not succeed in solving the economic problems of the united colony. After the gold-supply had ceased to flow from Cariboo British Columbia sank deeper into debt. Three courses lay open to the colony: British Columbia might remain an isolated colony, having as her nearest British neighbours Red River on the east and Hong Kong on the west; she might follow what was alleged to be her "manifest destiny" and join the United States; or she might enter the Dominion of Canada. After much discussion and agitation and not a little heart-searching, British Columbia decided to join with the Canadian federation. Canada was desirous to extend her Dominion from sea to sea. The Imperial Government was most anxious to have British Columbia a part of Canada. After the death of Governor Frederick Seymour, Governor Anthony Musgrave was sent from Newfoundland to British Columbia to make certain that the necessary steps were taken so that British Columbia might secure entrance into the Dominion on mutually advantageous terms. Amongst the problems discussed between the three representatives of British Columbia and the Dominion Government two stand out: The building of a transcontinental railway to join British Columbia and Eastern Canada, and the demand of the people of British Columbia for responsible government. The railway clause, number eleven, was finally inserted into the Terms of Union and mutually agreed upon by the British Columbia delegates and the Dominion Government. The other, responsible government, was much more thorny. j the British Columbia Historical Associa- 1 2 W. N. Sage. January To put the matter in a phrase—responsible government did not exist in British Columbia prior to confederation. A Legislative Assembly had been set up in Vancouver Island in 1856 and had ceased to exist when the union of the colonies took place in 1866. During these ten years the members of the Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island had obtained the rudiments of a political education, but neither they nor Governors Douglas and Kennedy had succeeded in solving the constitutional problems which beset them. James Douglas in his dispatch of May 22, 1856, to Henry Labouchere, Secretary of State for the Colonies, admitted that he possessed but " a very slender knowledge of legislation." It was true; and the remark might apply rather well to the constitutional development of British Columbia prior to federation. Sir James Douglas was an " old colonial governor " who never progressed far beyond personal rule. The Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island had only a limited control over finance and no control whatever over the actions of the executive. Under Governor Kennedy the Assembly battled with the Governor over the question of the Civil List. British Columbia did possess a Legislative Council after 1864, but two-thirds of its number were composed of officials and magistrates, and the five popularly elected members could never hope to dominate the Council. The Legislative Council of the United Colony was in the main opposed to confederation. Amor De Cosmos, former member for Victoria District, ably assisted by John Robson, member for New Westminster, championed the cause of confederation, but it was only the timely death of Governor Seymour in 1869 which gave federation its chance. A long debate on the Terms of Union with Canada took place in the Legislative Council of British Columbia beginning on Wednesday, March 9, 1870, and lasting until April 6. A deputation of three, all members of the Executive Council—Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken, from Victoria; Joseph W. Trutch, Chief Commissioner for Lands and Works; and Dr. R. W. W. Carrall, from Cariboo, a Canadian by birth—was appointed by Governor Mus- grave to go to Ottawa and there discuss and, if possible, draw up mutually acceptable terms of union. At length success crowned the efforts of the British Columbian delegation and also of Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada. After the necessary steps 1939 From Colony to Province. 3 had been taken and addresses had been forwarded to Her Majesty from the Parliament of Canada and the Legislative Council of British Columbia, Queen Victoria signed at Windsor Castle on May 16, 1871, an Order in Council admitting British Columbia as a Province of the Dominion of Canada. The date set for the formal admission was July 20,1871.x In the Confederation Debate of the Legislative Council of British Columbia in March-April, 1870, a long discussion occurred on the subject of responsible government.2 The Attorney-General, Hon. Henry P. P. Crease, afterwards Sir Henry Crease, stated that responsible government did not form part of the Terms of Union, but claimed that" the question of the change of the Constitution of this Colony is one that lies between this Colony and the Imperial Government . . ."3 T. B. Humphreys, of Lillooet, and John Robson, of New Westminster, spoke strongly in favour of responsible government. Humphreys laid down the proposition " no Responsible Government, no Confederation; no Confederation, no pensions."4 Since the pension clause was vital to the officials, Humphreys' proposition carried weight. John Robson maintained that the people of British Columbia were fit for responsible government, and continued his argument as follows:— Look at the position this Colony would occupy under Confederation without the full control of its own affairs—a condition alone attainable by means of Responsible Government. While the other Provinces only surrender (1) " And whereas Her Majesty has sought fit to approve of the said terms and conditions [of Union], it is hereby ordered and declared by Her Majesty, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, in pursuance and exercise of the powers vested in Her Majesty by the said Act of Parliament [The British North America Act, 30 and 31 Victoria, cap. 3.], that from and after the twentieth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, the said Colony of British Columbia shall be admitted into and become part of the Dominion of Canada, upon the terms and conditions set forth in the hereinbefore recited Addresses." The full text of this order in council is given in the Revised Statutes of British Columbia, 1871, appendix, pp. 193- 216. (2) British Columbia. Legislative Council. Debate on the subject of Confederation with Canada, Victoria, 1870, pp. 91-124. Reprint, Victoria, 1912, pp. 95-128. The page citations which follow are from the 1912 W. N. Sage. January Federal questions to the Central Government, we would surrender all. While the other Provinces with which it is proposed to confederate upon equal and equitable terms retain the fullest power to manage all Provincial matters, British Columbia would surrender that power. Her local as well as her national affairs would virtually be managed at Ottawa. Could a union so unequal be a happy and enduring one? The compact we are about to form is for life. Shall we take into it the germ of discord and disruption? The people desire change; but they have no desire to exchange the Imperial heel for the Canadian heel. They desire political manumission.6 Robson offered as an amendment to clause 15 of the proposed Terms of Union:— I Whereas no union can be either acceptable or satisfactory which does not confer upon the people of British Columbia as full control over their own local affairs as is enjoyed in the other Provinces with which it is proposed to confederate; therefore, be it Resolved, That a humble address be presented to His Excellency the Governor, earnestly recommending that a Constitution based upon the principle of Responsible Government, as existing in the Province of Ontario, may be conferred upon this Colony, coincident with its admission into the Dominion of Canada.6 Robson's amendment, however, met with serious opposition. The question at issue was not whether responsible government, in itself, was superior as a form of government to rule by a governor and council, but whether or not responsible government should be included in the Terms of Union. Governor Musgrave was convinced that responsible government should not be introduced into British Columbia until after confederation. He had made his position quite clear in the following passage from the speech from the throne read at the beginning of the seventh session of the Legislative Council of British Columbia on February 15,1870 :— The form of the local Constitution must be to some extent modified in Confederation with the other Provinces; and even in anticipation of that event, I think that an enlarged application of the principle of Representative Government to the composition of your Honourable House would be expedient. I have already, by Her Majesty's permission, reconstituted the Executive Council by the addition of two Unofficial Members representing populous Districts, from whose advice I receive valuable assistance. I shall go further in the same direction, and on the same principle. I shall ask for authority so to reconstitute the Legislative Council as to allow the majority of its Members to be formally returned for Electoral Districts. And to a Council so reconstituted I should look for a final decision upon any terms to (5) Ibid., p. 101. (6) Ibid., p. 103. 1939 From Colony to Province. 5 which the Government of Canada may express readiness to agree. Further than this I frankly admit I do not think that it would be wise to go. I have had experience of several forms of Colonial Government, and I have no hesitation in stating my opinion that the form commonly called " Responsible Government" would not be found at present suited to a community so young and so constituted as this. It is not known in any of the neighbouring States or Territories. Experience has shewn that the system is expensive in its results, and its operation is not successful except in more advanced communities, with population of more homogeneous character than ours. But it will of course, after Union, be open to the Local Legislature, with the concurrence of the Government of the Dominion of Canada, to adopt what modification it shall choose of the existing Constitution. I have declared my opinion to you with candour. I think you will appreciate my motive. I wish to aid only in what I believe will conduce to the welfare and prosperity of the Colony.' His Excellency's views were supported by the "official" members of the council and also by some of the popular members. Joseph W. Trutch, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, and subsequently the first Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, spoke against Robson's amendment and stated that " Responsible Government is not desirable, and is not applicable to this Colony at present; is practically unworkable."8 George A. Walkem, a Canadian, agreed with the Chief Commissioner, as did Frank J. Barnard, who summed up the situation in the following sentences:— It is beyond a question that the intelligent portion of the community are [sic] in favour of Responsible Government, but there is a grave question in regard to its adaptation to the Colony. The words coming from His Excellency are worthy of careful consideration; they contain strong reasons against the introduction of Responsible Government.9 On division Robson's amendment was lost, and in the final Terms of Union as amended in Ottawa and presented to the reconstituted Legislative Council of British Columbia on January 5,1871, the clause in question reads as follows:— 14. The Constitution of the Executive Authority and of the Legislature of British Columbia shall, subject [to] the provisions of the British North America Act, 1867, continue as existing at the time of the Union until altered under the Authority of the said Act, it being at the same time under- (7) Journals of the Legislative Council of British Columbia . . . 1870, Victoria, 1870, p. 4. The States of Oregon and California and Washington Territory had at that time representative but not responsible government. (8) Debate on Confederation, 1912 Reprint, p. 109. (9) Ibid., p. 116. 6 W. N. Sage. January stood that the Government of the Dominion will readily consent to the introduction of Responsible Government when desired by the Inhabitants of British Columbia, and it being likewise understood that it is the intention of the Governor of British Columbia, under the authority of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, to amend the existing Constitution of the Legislature by providing that the majority of its Members shall be elective.*6 The final wording of the above section was largely due to the presence in Ottawa of H. E. Seelye, a newspaper man who " accompanied the delegates as special correspondent of the Daily Colonist and in the interests of responsible government."11 Sir Charles Tupper, in his Recollections of Sixty Years, records, as follows, the inclusion of responsible government in the Terms of Union:— In the terms formulated by British Columbia there was no provision for responsible government; in fact, a clause which was attempted to be inserted by members of the Council was defeated by a majority vote of that body. The late Hon. John Robson, the late Mr. H. E. Seelye, and Mr. D. W. Higgins held a conference, and decided that in order to secure parliamentary government it would be necessary for one of their number to proceed to Ottawa and inform the Government there that unless responsible government was assured they would oppose the adoption of the terms altogether, and thus delay Confederation. Mr. Seelye was selected as the delegate. He succeeded in convincing the Dominion Government that his contention that the province was sufficiently advanced to entitle it to representative institutions was correct. When the terms came back they contained a clause to that effect, and upon those lines the provincial government has ever since been administered.12 British Columbians can well afford to be grateful to Messrs. Robson, Seelye, and Higgins, and to Sir John A. Macdonald and his cabinet. It should be noted in this connection that Governor Musgrave asked John Robson to be a member of the delegation, but he refused because he felt he could not leave his business. He was then editor of the Victoria Colonist.13 During the months which elapsed between the formulation of the final draft of the Terms of Union, in the summer of 1870, (10) Journals of the Legislative Council of British Columbia, Session 1871, Victoria, 1871, pp. 5-6. (11) Howay, F. W., and Scholefield, E. 0. S., British Columbia, Vancouver, 1914, II., p. 293. (12) Tupper, Sir Charles, Recollections of Sixty Years in Canada, London, 1914, pp. 127-28. (13) See the article entitled " Personal-Historical," in the British Columbian, July 8,1882. 1939 From Colony to Province. 7 and the meeting of the Legislative Council in January, 1871, Her Majesty's Government had issued the Order in Council of August 9, 1870, whereby the constitution of the Legislative Council of British Columbia was altered so as to permit that the majority of the members should be elective. Professor Arthur Berriedale Keith, that eminent authority on constitutional law is therefore legally, though not absolutely historically, correct when he writes:— In the case of British Columbia self-government was granted on its entry into the Dominion of Canada, by the creation of a representative Legislature by an Order in Council of August 9, 1870, under the Act 33 & 34 Vict. c. 66 and by the local Act No. 147, 1871, and was continued by the instructions to the Lieutenant-Governor given by the Dominion Government . . M Of the three representatives sent by British Columbia to Ottawa, Dr. Helmcken had been opposed to confederation, but Trutch and Dr. Carrall had supported confederation but not responsible government. After the conclusion of negotiations Trutch went to England, Carrall remained one month in Ottawa and Helmcken and Seelye at once returned to British Columbia. The next move now lay in the hands of the Dominion Government. The Order in Council, to which reference has already been made, issued at Windsor on May 16, 1871, provided for the incorporation of British Columbia with the Dominion of Canada on the terms set forth in the Addresses from the Parliament of Canada and the Legislative Council of British Columbia. The Queen's Privy Council for Canada, the Canadian Cabinet, now had to provide for the setting-up of the provincial government of British Columbia. The first office to be filled was that of Lieutenant-Governor. Ottawa's choice fell upon Joseph William Trutch. In his life of Macdonald, Sir Joseph Pope records the esteem in which Sir John A. Macdonald held Trutch:— Sir John Macdonald considered Sir Joseph Trutch a man of high honour and integrity, whose advice was always dictated by a regard for the public Dr. Helmcken, who knew Trutch well, states in his unpublished memorandum that he considered that Trutch was head (14) Keith, A. B., Responsible G01 ernment in the Dominions, Oxford, 1912, I., p. 24. (15) Pope, Sir Joseph, Memoirs of Sir John Alexander Macdonald, Toronto, 1930, p. 505 n. 8 W. N. Sage. January and shoulders above them all. This was high praise coming from Dr. Helmcken, whose political experience antedated that of Trutch by several years. Joseph William Trutch was an Englishman, the son of William Trutch, solicitor, of Ascot, Somerset, and St. Thomas, Jamaica. He trained as a civil engineer and became a Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers. In 1849 he joined in the gold-rush to California, but later returned to the practice of his profession and was for several years employed by the United Government. When in England in 1858 he applied for the position of Surveyor-General of the new colony of British Columbia, but was unsuccessful. Next year he came out to British Columbia and for five years built roads and bridges. The Alexandra Bridge at Spuzzum was one of his ventures. In 1864 he was appointed Colonial Surveyor and Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for British Columbia. This office he held till confederation. On July 1,1871, he was gazetted as first Lieutenant- Governor of the Province of British Columbia. Governor Musgrave remained in British Columbia until after the formal entrance of the new Province into the Dominion. Trutch was on his way out from England, but was delayed. Musgrave accordingly left Victoria on July 26, 1871, and Trutch did not arrive until August 13. He was duly sworn in on August 14. During the intervening weeks British Columbia was officially without a government, although, as might be expected, the former colonial officials continued to function. The Victoria Colonist lamented the interregnum but there was really nothing to be done but to await the arrival of the Lieutenant-Governor. Trutch was in rather a difficult position. Nearly three thousand miles from Ottawa, with no direct railway communication across Canada, in fact with no railway communication at all north of San Francisco, without money and with few precedents to guide him, he had to create the provincial government of British Columbia. On the whole he proved equal to the task. Fortunately for Trutch, Sir John A. Macdonald was prepared to give him all possible assistance. Among the Macdonald Papers in the Public Archives in Ottawa, Trutch's letters to the Prime Minister are carefully preserved, and from them and from the letter-books in the Archives of British Columbia it is 1939 From Colony to Province. possible to obtain the Lieutenant-Governor's own story of his efforts. The first letter from Trutch to Macdonald introduces Captain Philip Hankin, former Colonial Secretary, and bears the date of August 15, 1871. Hankin was leaving Victoria for Ottawa on his way to England. The gist of the letter is contained in the sentence: " Captain Hankin is desirous to arrange personally with you the Exact amount of Pension to be paid him and the place and manner of its payment." Let us hope Hankin received his pension and found it adequate.16 Two days later, on August 17, Trutch dispatched the following enlightening telegram in cipher to Macdonald:— No funds to meet outstanding debts and current liabilities of local Government. Please telegraph authority to bank to pay half years subsidy in advance, say, $100,000. It was evident that Ottawa was to finance for the first year the cost of provincial government in British Columbia from the subsidies to be provided under the Terms of Union. In his first lengthy dispatch to Sir John A. Macdonald, dated Victoria, August 22, 1871, Trutch records that he had been detained for a fortnight in San Francisco awaiting Governor Musgrave's arrival and had had " a protracted trip of eleven days up the coast in the Sparrowhawk." His reception in Victoria had been cordial and he had spoken freely as to his " position and intentions " when replying to an address of welcome. Amor De Cosmos, editor of the Victoria Standard, had " not found anything to take exception to " in the Lieutenant-Governor's programme, although he had cautiously abstained from approving it. Trutch also states that he is hurrying on the revision of the voters' list and expects to hold the first Provincial elections about the middle of October. The following passage explains his attitude towards the introduction of responsible government:— Until the Election takes place I have determined not to attempt to establish a responsible Ministry for the reasons stated in reply to the Civic Address, but as it is absolutely necessary for the Conduct of Public business (16) Macdonald Papers, Public Archives, Ottawa. The correspondence has been bound, and one volume is entitled, Letters from Lt. Governor Trutch, Victoria, B.C., 1871-1873. The citations which follow are all taken from the same volume. II 10 W. N. Sage. January that there should be an Executive Council I have appointed the Asst. Col. Sec'y. Mr. Good whom you saw at Ottawa and Mr. Pearse, the Surveyor General, Heads of their respective Departments and I have been fortunate enough to get Mr. McCreight the leading barrister here—a gentleman who commands the respect and confidence of the Community to a greater Extent than that of any other member of the profession—although he has hitherto consistently abstained from politics—to act as Attorney General on the clearly expressed understanding that their appointments are to remain only until the Election when I shall select and appoint a ministry from the Representatives then Elected." The Lieutenant-Governor also explains that all customs dues from July 20 had been paid into the Bank of British Columbia "to Dominion Account," and that as no moneys had been paid over by the Dominion to the Province he had accordingly found the local treasury nearly empty. For that reason he had sent his cipher telegram, but having received no reply had arranged for a loan from the bank without interest. The credit of the Dominion of Canada was evidently superior to that of the former colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. There were occasions when Governor Seymour had to pay 18 per cent, interest on advances from the Bank of British Columbia! Trutch adds that he had talked over the situation with the Honourable Hector Langevin, who was then visiting the new Province. A telegram, dated August 28,1871, brings up a rather important administrative problem. It runs, in part, as follows:— Many of Colonial Office despatches to Govt. Musgrave which I am instructed by Secretary of State for Provinces to send to Ottawa relates [sic] to matters of importance under jurisdiction of local government and in some cases are directed to be laid before legislative council—ought I not to retain original if not certified copies or will such copies be returned to me from Ottawa.18 The Government Gazette of British Columbia, under the date of September 16, 1871, contains Trutch's proclamation for issuing writs calling the Provincial election. Returning officers were named for two various ridings. A revised list of returning officers was forwarded by Trutch to Macdonald on September 17. On October 9 the Lieutenant-Governor penned a lengthy letter to Sir John A. Macdonald. He tells of his inability to persuade (17) Trutch to Macdonald, August 22, 1871, Macdonald Papers, Trutch Correspondence 1871-73, pp. 14-16. (18) Ibid., p. 30. From Colony to Province. 11 Dr. J. S. Helmcken to accept the office of Prime Minister of British Columbia. Dr. Helmcken had announced his intention of retiring from politics and devoting himself to his profession. Trutch was even doubtful as to whether he would accept a seat in the Canadian Senate. A few weeks later, when the good doctor was offered a senatorship, he refused it. He probably felt that he had done all he could for British Columbia when he went to Ottawa to arrange the terms of union. Dr. Helmcken really belonged, politically, as did Sir James Douglas, to the Colonial Period. He was to live on into the twentieth century —his death occurred in 1920—but he never again took an active part in politics. Trutch continued his report to Macdonald on events since his swearing in as Lieutenant-Governor:— Since then, as Langevin has probably told you I have been getting on well enough, but the difficulty of forming a respectable Ministry is yet to come and until that is over I am not in a position to congratulate myself. However I think I can manage to get some decent men to take a hand in government—although most of our representatives will be queer kittle cattle I fear. A wild team to handle no doubt they will be but after kicking and plunging awhile they'll settle into their collars all right I trust.16 A later passage in this letter clearly shows that Trutch was still in doubt as to his position as Lieutenant-Governor. Responsible government was not yet a reality in British Columbia, and he seeks Macdonald's advice on the statement of government policy in the speech from the throne:— I wish you would also if you please give me a hint as to how far my speech in opening the House is supposed to express my own opinions or to be simply an Exposition of the policy of my responsible Ministers as I confess I am somewhat puzzled on this point. Of course I know how this would be in the House of Parliament at home—or at Ottawa, but are we under the same understanding here?26 The question of the defence of the Pacific Coast is next raised. Trutch has been informed that H.M.S. Sparrowhawk is to be recalled. That would leave only the Boxer, a gunboat totally inadequate for the protection of the coast. Trutch's comments are penetrating:— (19) Ibid., pp. 53-54. The italic (20) Ibid., pp. 58-59. Here Tru to the crux of the question. e Trutch's. rely getting close J 12 W. N. SAGE. January The Province will be at a great disadvantage—indeed I Look upon it that if you cannot get the Imperial Gov't to continue the Sparrowhawk or send some similar ship in her place you will have to provide a Dominion cruiser for the purpose—and this will involve an annual expenditure of $70 or $80,000 I suppose. On the same subject I may remark that you will need one or more revenue cruisers to protect your Customs along the Coast—as well as for the purpose of visiting and keeping the Indians and outlying white settlers in order, if not to suppress entirely the sale of liquor to the tribes along the Coast of Vancouver Island and the N. West of the Mainland. Deeming this a most important matter (in which I think Mr. Langevin will coincide) I have today telegraphed to you to the effect that the Sparrow- hawk was ordered home and asking you to prevent her leaving B.C. if possible.21 In his dispatch of November 21, 1871, Trutch reports to Macdonald that he had "established a Responsible Cabinet" and adds that he hoped " soon to be relieved by them from the rather over amount of work " he had had of late.22 The first cabinet of British Columbia was constituted as follows: J. F. McCreight, Q.C., Premier and Attorney-General; A. Rocke Robertson, Q.C., Provincial Secretary; Henry Hol- brook, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, President of the Council. The Lieutenant-Governor thus comments upon his selection of ministers of state:— Langevin very well knows the gentleman whom I called upon to form a Ministry—Mr. McCreight—and I am sure he will agree with me he was the man of all the Province for the post and that his selection of Mr. Robertson as Colonial Secretary is also unexceptionable. The other Member of the Govt as yet appointed Mr. Holbrook is only holding the office of Lands and Works temporarily until the Cariboo Election returns are received when a Member from that important district is to be substituted for him.26 With the creation of the first ministry, responsible government was legally introduced into British Columbia. But it was far from being responsible government in the fullest sense of the term. Lieutenant-Governor Trutch was still in control of the government and he remained so during the whole of the McCreight regime. Space forbids a full discussion of this important topic. Trutch realized that he was conducting an (21) Ibid., pp. 68-70. (22) Ibid., p. 98. (23) Macdonald Papers, Trutch Correspondence 1871-73, pp. 98-99. 1939 From Colony to Province. 13 experiment in popular government and leaned heavily upon Ottawa. The concluding sentence of his dispatch makes this clear:— I am so inexperienced and indeed we all are in this Province in the practice of Responsible Govt, which we are initiating that I step as carefully and guardedly as I can—and whilst teaching others I feel constantly my own extreme need of instruction on this subject which must account to you—if you please—for the trouble which I have put you to—and which I know ought not to have been imposed on you.24 Writing over forty years later R. E. Gosnell reviewed the introduction of responsible government by Trutch in the following penetrating passage:— During the McCreight regime Joseph Trutch as Lieutenant-Governor, sat in the Executive Council, and discussed all matters submitted with the members. He was the dominating influence of the cabinet, so that it might be said that he was not only the Throne itself, but the power behind the Throne. He was a man of more than ordinary ability, who combined professional knowledge with practical business experience and capacity. From his former connection with the Government as chief commissioner of lands and works, he was familiar with all the details of governmental machinery. He had also a peculiarly practical mind, and possessed a sound and evenly- balanced judgment. To the members of his administration his advice and In the transition period from colony to province in the setting-up the machinery of responsible government Joseph William Trutch played a useful part. In the colonial period down to 1871 responsible government did not exist. The Confederation Debate made it clear that the official members, following the lead of Governor Musgrave, were unwilling to include responsible government as one of the terms of union. John Robson and T. B. Humphreys strove for its inclusion, but even Amor De Cosmos, that champion of popular rights, gave at that time only a qualified support. The Dominion Government was willing to have responsible government set up in the Province of British Columbia after federation. It fell to the task of Lieutenant- Governor Trutch to set up and put in motion the machinery whereby the new Province obtained responsible government. None the less some time had to elapse before the elected repre- (24) Ibid., pp. 101-102. (25) Scholefield, E. 0. S., and Gosnell, R. E., British Columbia, Sixty Years of Progress, Vancouver and Victoria, 1913, Pt. II., p. 15, n. I. Trutch not only sat in the executive council but presided at the meetings. sentatives of the people of British Columbia had full control over provincial affairs. Even in 1871 the political education of British Columbians was far from complete. FIRST AND LAST DAYS OF THE I PRINCESS ROYAL." More than eighty-four years ago, on November 27, 1854, a party of Staffordshire miners set foot in what is now Nanaimo,1 brought from their native land to work the coal-mines discovered in 1852, along the shores of Wintuhuysen Inlet.2 The vessel that carried them to this coast was the Princess Royal. The barque, and those original passengers, are held in high esteem by the pioneers of Nanaimo. Indeed, it is said by one of the descendants of Edwin Gough,3 a miner, that when the party was put ashore from the steamer Beaver and the brig Recovery, about eleven o'clock of a cloudy November Monday morning, the sun broke through the clouds and shone cheerfully—a precedent which, tradition has it, once set by Nature, has been faithfully observed in the intervening years. In view of this anniversary it seems worth while to recall the circumstances under which the ship was constructed, and to chronicle, possibly for the first time, an accurate account of both her maiden voyage and her final destruction.4 The Princess Royal was designed in accordance with a recommendation made by Sir George Simpson and the Council for the Northern Department of Rupert's Land. He had suggested the importation of spars from Fort Rupert, and the Company, writing him from London on April 5, 1854, admitted that such commerce would " be a profitable branch of trade provided outward cargo could be obtained for the vessel sent to bring them home " (1) Then commonly called Colviie Town. (2) " Wintuhuysen Inlet, commonly known as Nanymo Bay . . ." Chief Factor James Douglas, Fort Victoria, to J. W. McKay, August 24, 1852 (transcript in Provincial Archives). (3) E. H. Gough, of Nanaimo, to the writer, March 20, 1936. (4) This has been made possible through the courtesy of the Governor and Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company, who have kindly granted permission to publish the excerpts from documents in the Company's Archives which are incorporated in this paper, and of Mr. H. M. S. Cotter, of Victoria, son of James Cotter, Factor at Moose Factory in 1885, who was then in residence at the post. 16 BARRD3 H. E. GOULT. January —but they saw " no prospect of that" at the moment. Nevertheless the letter continued:— With the view however of testing the market here, and of being prepared for operations on a large scale should that be deemed expedient, we have, in constructing the Princess Royal, which is to replace the Norman Morison, made provision for her taking in spars of a large size, with which we intend that any room there may be over and above that required for the furs shall be filled up. A later paragraph in the same communication reads as fol- The Norman Morison, from her great draught of water, being found ill adapted for the harbour of Victoria, which she could not enter until she had discharged part of her cargo, at the neighbouring harbour of Esquimalt, we have sold and replaced her (as already stated) by one built on purpose for the voyage between London and Victoria. . . . The new vessel, which we have named the Princess Royal, while she draws less water than the Norman Morison, will carry considerably more cargo, and will be able to Stow spars of the largest size.6 Tenders had been requested in June of the previous year for the building of a ship of 583 tons, and that of Messrs. Money Wigram & Sons, of Blackwall, was accepted July 6, 1853.6 The work was to cost £10,200 and " was to allow her to class 13 years A. 1 in Lloyds Register of Shipping."7 The vessel was of oak and teak construction, and was copper-bottomed.8 She was 145 feet in length, 29.5 feet in breadth, and 18.2 feet in depth.9 At her last survey, in 1885, her character was given as " A. 1." In April, 1854, the Company informed Chief Factor James Douglas that the Princess Royal was scheduled to sail for Victoria in May, and the dispatch adds that arrangements are being made to engage twenty Colliers from Staffordshire. These men will be accompanied by Mr George Robinson, also from that County, who has been engaged as Manager of the Coal and Brick works in Vancouver's Island. (5) H.B. Co., London, to Sir George Simpson, April 5, 1854. (H.B.C. Arch. A. 6/31, pp. 5, 13.) (6) H.B. Co., London, to Money Wigram & Sons, July 6, 1853. (H.B.C. Arch. A. 5/18, f. 150.) (7) Money Wigram & Sons to H.B. Co., London, July 4, 1853. (H.B.C. Arch. A. 10/32.) (8) H. M. S. Cotter to the writer, September, 1938. According to Mr. Cotter the vessel had a magnificent figurehead. (9) Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, for 1860-61, 1878-79 and 1885-86. 1939 First and Last Days of the " Princess Royal." 17 The party was to sail in the Princess Royal, and the Governor and Committee trusted that nothing would happen " to prevent these people being landed in Vancouver's Island in due course."10 Some delay in the vessel's departure occurred, but under the command of Captain David Wishart, and with Charles Gale as first mate, the Princess Royal was hauled out of the East India docks at four o'clock on the morning of June 3, 1854, and towed below Gravesend in charge of the pilot.11 She carried more than a hundred passengers, as the following entries indicate:— The Cabin passengers consist of Mr & Mrs. Clark, and Mr. & Mrs. Robinson with two children;—Mr Clark is the Schoolmaster about whom I wrote to Mr Douglas on the 21st April,i2 and Mr Robinson the intended Manager and Superintendent of the Company's Coal Mine and Brick works at Na- Four females take their passage in the intermediate accommodation, three of them are the wives of men employed in the engineering department of the Steamer Otter, and the fourth the Servant of Mr Robinson. The Steerage passengers consist of 23 Miners and their families (numbering together 83 persons)—10 Norwegians, & a Mrs. Laing and her family of 5 children, who are going out to join her husband on Vancouver's Island. The miners have been selected by Mr Robinson, & will accompany him to Nanaimo immediately on the arrival of the vessel, and the Norwegians have been engaged for general service, to be employed where they may be most required.16- The only chronicle of the voyage itself is the log of the first mate, Charles Gale.14 It is a gloomy history of death, misery, and dissatisfaction. Probably it is just as well the landsmen (10) H.B. Co., London, to Chief Factor James Douglas, April 21, 1854. (H.B.C. Arch. A. 6/31, p. 32.) (11) Log of the Princess Royal for 1854-55, kept by Charles Gale, 1st Mate. (H.B.C. Arch. C. 1/975.) (12) " W. G. Smith, Secretary of the Company in London, wrote to Chief Factor James Douglas on 21st April, 1854, and informed him that a Mr. Clarke had been engaged as a schoolmaster. He had been educated at Battersea Training College and intended to marry before proceeding to Vancouver Island. He was to be stationed in the neighbourhood of " Mr. McKenzie's farm." (H.B.C. Arch. A. 6/31)." (Note by Hudson's Bay Archives.) Clarke was the first teacher at the famous Craigflower School. See D. L. MacLaurin," Education before the Gold Rush," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, II. (1938), pp. 254-263. (13) W. G. Smith, Secretary, H.B. Co., London, to the Board of Management of the Western Department, June 1, 1854. (H.B.C. Arch. A 6/31, p. 52.) (14) H.B.C. Arch. C. 1/975. 18 Barrie H. E. Goult. January objected on occasion to the condition of the rice ration, for there was no list of passengers,16 and their mild insurrection,16 certainly not the last to take place aboard the Princess Royal,1"1 caused Gale to list the names of the men who refused to work. Mrs. Clarke, wife of the teacher who was to be stationed in the vicinity of " Mr. McKenzie's farm " (Craigflower) lost her baby July 1, and the child was buried at sea the evening of the same day. Fourteen days later (July 16), all able to attend Divine Service did so. It is recorded that " Jhon [sic] Bakers Wife was taken with a Fit while in church [and] taken out." Towards the end of the month there was a mild mutiny. The landsmen objected to the condition of the rice served out to them, and refused to work pending the outcome of an inquiry into the matter. Thomas York and John Malpass were assigned to serve out stores with the third officer. William Harrison and Daniel Dunn assisted the cook, George Bull helped the steward, and Jesse Sage attended to the stock. No such sinecures were the lot of the others. These men made their complaint and stood by it, returning to work the following day, when the matter was evidently cleared up to the satisfaction of all. The " Names of those that Refused," as given by Gale, are as follows: George Baker, John Baker, Matthew Miller, John Meaking [Meakin], William Incher, Joseph Webb, Richard Turner, Richard Richardson, John Richardson, Thomas Jones, Elijah Ganner, John Thompson, Thomas Lownds, Thomas Hawkes, Joseph Bevilockway, John Beggs, and Edward Gough.18 Early in August Mrs. Bull lost her child, and a third death, September 20, took one of the Malpass children. Four days later a child was born to Mrs. John Baker—" in a Very great haste—at 10 AM the woman Was on Deck Washing (15) J. Chadwick Brooks, Secretary, H.B. Co., London, to the writer, March 2, 1936. (16) Gale's log, July 29, 1854. (17) See Agnes Mackay, "Voyage on tl Colonist, August 15, 1937. Two mutinies occ tion, in 1879. (18) Gale's log, July 30, 1854. 1939 First and Last Days of the " Princess Royal." 19 —at 3.30 PM she Was Confind . . ." The child lived two weeks; and there is a touch of infinite pathos in Gale's note recording its passing:— October 14. ... at 8 AM In consequence of the Surgion having Reported to Capt Wishart that John Bakers child was not expected to live & the parents Particularly requesting to have the child Christened the Capt did accordingly Christen The Child By the Name of Anne Maria With and by the Forms of the Church of England according to the parents Request. October 15. . . . NB at 3.45 AM John Bakers Infant died, the same that was christened yesterday by the Capt. ... at 11.25 AM Buried Bakers child that died Last Night the usual ceremoney performed By the Capt. On September 30 a child was born to Mrs. Sage. The Princess Royal was now safely round the Horn and beating northward, anchoring off Honolulu, October 20. The welcome landfall and sight of a pleasant land was tinged with tragedy. Thomas Lownds, one of the Staffordshire miners, " ill almost Ever Since We left London," died and was interred on shore, " With about 10 of his Mates to follow him to the Grave." While the ship was still at anchor, October 28, Mrs. Incher passed away in childbirth, though the baby lived. One of the Ganner children died about the same time, and the two bodies were buried on shore. October 31 the Princess Royal left Honolulu. Gale's gloomy chronicle of deaths continued to the very end of the voyage. He noted the death of the Incher baby on November 8, and the body, he says, and you can mark his disgust, " Was Throwen over board, and no more Notice taken of it then as if it Had been a ded Cat." On November 13 the Richardson baby passed away, and " the usual Cerimoney [was] performed by the Capt."19 The ship entered the Straits of Juan de Fuca November 20, to encounter one of the winter gales that are not unrare in these waters. It was three days before the Royal could anchor in Esquimalt Harbour. Chief Factor Douglas, writing of the arrival of the craft, speaks of seeing the vessel " safely at anchor, the weather being dreadful and they being glad of a shelter in any secure place." He added that she had made " a remarkably 20 Barrie H. E. Goult. January expeditious voyage, having been little over 5% months from Gravesend." The letter continues:— She was detained 12 days at the Sandwich Islands, and has for the last three days been driving about the Straits, in consequence of thick stormy weather. The passengers are in tolerable health, and have all arrived here except two, a miner and one female passenger, who both died at the Sandwich Islands, and were there decently buried. Captain Wishart reports that the Princess Royal, is now tight, and that the cargo is in good order, which I hope may prove to be the case. I propose sending off the Miners immediately to Nanaimo, and gave Mr. Robinson directions to make his arrangements accordingly. The Otter not having returned from Fort Simpson, the Beaver will be employed in that service.26 Gale relates on November 24, that the Robinsons and party had " been Busey packing up all the day—and getting all ready to leave To Morrow By the Steamer." On November 25, his entry reads:— Landed Mr. Clarke and his Mr. Robinsons servant that was is gone with Mr. Clarke ... at 4.30 p m the schooner Recovery was Brought alongside for the passengers put every Thing into her. At 7 PM she hailed off and came to Anchor With the passengers for the cole mines on board. The Norwigens still Remains on board.21 Douglas, writing to London on November 28, speaks of the passengers from the Princess Royal leaving for Colviie Town in the Beaver and Recovery. They had, he noted, " a good supply of potatoes and fresh meat."22 While the Company can not throw any light upon the time of the arrival of the party at Nanaimo,28 it has come to be an accepted fact amongst the pioneers of that city that the passengers landed about eleven o'clock on the morning of November 27, 1854. There on a rocky prominence they saw the octagonal bastion, completed in June of the year by the French-Canadian axemen Leon Labine and Jean Baptiste Fortier, to protect the newcomers from possible violence at the hands of the Sne-ny-mo. Prepared for the settlers' occupancy were dwelling-houses of logs, four (20) Chief Factor James Douglas, Fort Victoria, to H.B. Co., London, November 23, 1854. (H.B.C. Arch. B. 226/b/ll.) (21) Gale's log, November 26, 1854. (22) Chief Factor James Douglas, Fort Victoria, to H.B. Co., London, November 28, 1854. (H.B.C. Arch. B. 226/b/ll.) (23) J. Chadwick Brooks, Secretary, H.B. Co., London, to the writer, March 2, 1936. 1939 First and Last Days of the " Princess Royal." 21 26 by 15 feet, and three others 30 by 20 feet. Filling-pieces had been raised for three more cabins which measured on completion 30 by 20 feet.24 The rigours of the voyage definitely ended any further consideration of the project of using the Princess Royal for carrying spars, " in consequence," says Douglas, " of the leaky state of her deck, and other causes."26 The barque continued her journeys between England and this coast until 1885. In that year, under command of Captain William Barfield, her master since 1879, the vessel made her last ill-fated voyage to Moose Factory, on James Bay. Barfield is said to have been a good master, though irritable, and careless with his aspirates. He, too, had trouble with his crew on the voyage about the Horn in 1879. The men on that journey declared " their quarters were always wet, their blankets and clothes never dry, and that they wanted a stove. . . ." Barfield and his mate, Campbell, met the men with a revolver lying on the table between them, but agreed to their demands. The fact that the Captain had his wife aboard, then a bride of but a few weeks, may have had something to do with his passivity.26 In 1885 the Princess Royal was ordered to Moose Factory and had completed loading by October 3. On that Sabbath day the Factor, James Cotter, looked forward to some rest, for with her sailing the season's rush was over. He had been ill that autumn, and was pale from his indisposition. Outside the wind was rising, snow was falling fast, and visibility was difficult. His son, H. M. S. Cotter, relates that his father had voiced his thanks that the Princess Royal had sailed for England. The Factor's anticipated relaxation was, however, of brief duration. There came a pounding on the door. Breathless from running, snow on his garments, Joe Taylor, a youth from the pilot's boat, (24) Details from data supplied by the late Mark Bate, many times Mayor of Nanaimo, who was a resident of Colviie Town at the date of the arrival of the passengers from the Princess Royal. See Nanaimo Daily Free Press, April 16, 1934. (25) Chief Factor James Douglas to Captain Wishart, January 11, 1856 [1855?]. (H.B.C. Arch. B. 226/b/12.) (26) Agnes Mackay, " Voyage on the Princess Royal," Victoria Colonist, August 15, 1937. 22 Barrie H. E. Goult. January presented himself before the astonished Cotter and his friends. " Sir," he said, " the ship went ashore on the bar and is a total loss."27 The Royal had loaded 10 miles below the Factory on Moose River. She cleared for the north-east, and passed on beyond Moose River Bar, only to encounter a terrific snowstorm. She lost all her anchors and became unmanageable. Captain Barfield put about, and endeavoured to pass the bar, seeking the calmer water inside. But the ship " went ashore inside causing [a] total wreck and entire loss [of] cargo. . . ." The crew remained at Moose. This information was sent by Cotter to the Company's Commissioner, Joseph Wrigley, at Winnipeg, who forthwith cabled it to London.28 About Moose Factory roved a tribe of Algonquins, the Swampy Crees, who were soon drawn to the hulk that lay with broken back on the Moose River Bar. They found the master's cabin had been pre-empted by a tribesman from Albany who made the wreck his headquarters. The Albany man welcomed the Crees. They broached a keg of tar for use on their canoes, and finding the stuff hard in the congealing cold of the northern winter (it was then January), they kindled a fire to start the pitch. The deck was soon ablaze. The frightened Indians threw snow on the conflagration, and might have extinguished it successfully had not the Albany native sent one of the Crees for water, which he thought he had seen in the Captain's cabin. The Cree returned from his errand. He threw the liquid well and truly into the heart of the blaze—only to turn, to cry aloud in terror, and run from the blast, as the "water" exploded. Thus it was that the Indians used paraffin intended for the Royal's lamps to make of the ship itself a torch whose light was seen for miles. (27) H. M. S. Cotter to the writer, September, 1938. (28) Wrigley received the news October 31, and cabled to London on November 1. For his confirming letter see Commissioner Joseph Wrigley, Winnipeg, to H.B. Co., London, November 5, 1885. (H.B.C. Arch. Comr. Wrigley Out. L.B. (London) 1884-86, f. 283.) 1939 First and Last Days of the " Princess Royal." It is related that Captain Barfield29 took the trail from Moose Factory to look again on his old command, and that he returned in due course with the carven, charred, arms of the figurehead, and various pieces of oak and teak from the ship's structure. These, made into chests, are said still to grace Montreal households. It is further related, that with the passage of winter, the ice carried with it all that was left of the skeleton of the Princess Royal that lay on Moose River Bar. Victoria, B.C. BARRIE H. E. GOULT. APPENDIX. . Alphabetical list of the colliers carried in the Princess Royal, 1854, jiled from the log of Charles Gale, master's mate. (H.B.C. Archives, Baker, George Baker, John Beggs [sic], John Bevilockway, Joseph Bull, George Dunn, Daniel Ganner, Elijah Gough, Edward Harison [sic], William Hawkes, Thomas Lowands [sic'], Thomas. Malpass, John Meaking [sic], John Miller, Matthew Sage, Jesse Thomson, John Turner, Richard Incher, William York, Thomas Jones, Thomas Webb, Joseph ;e persons who travelled to British Columbia as childrei i Royal, are still living—John Meakin, of Nan s of their fathers appear in the list give Thi the Pr, old; J. York, in the Fraser Valley; and James Hawkes, i the United States. 2. Chronological list of births and deaths aboard the Princess Royal, July 1 to November 13, 1854, compiled from the log of Charles Gale, master's July 1. Mrs. Clarke's baby died and was buried at sea. August 8. Infant of George Bull died and was buried at sea. September 21. Malpass child died and was buried at sea. September 24. Child born to Mrs. John Baker. (29) H. M. S. Cotter to the writer. Mr. Cotter relates that Captain Barfield, by then proficient in the use of snow-shoes, trekked the perilous 500 miles south to Canada, and returned to England, via Montreal. Gulland, Barfield's first mate, waited until spring, and came out by canoe. Barrie H. E. Goult. October 21. Thomas Lowands [sic] died and was buried ashore, in Honolulu. October 28. Child born to Mrs. William Incher. Mrs. Incher died. Ganner child died. Both buried ashore in Honolulu. November 8. Infant of William Incher died and was " throwen November 13. Richard Richardson's child died and was buried at 3. Chronological list of voyages made by the Princess Royal, compiled from a Book of Ships' Movements covering the period 1719-1929 (H.B.C. Arch. C. 4/1) :— Year Captain Voyage to L855 David Wishart Sandwich Islands, Fort Victoria 856-1857 J. F. Trivett Fort Victoria 857-1858 | „ 858-1859 J. L. Sinclair .859-1860 J. F. Trivett >-1861..._ „ -1862 W. Kingcome _J. N. Marshall-. 866-67-68 James Anderson -69-70 „ _ L872-1873_ .873-1874.... 875-1876 . .876-1877.... 877-1878— .879-1880— Fort Victoria, Burrard Inlet, Valparaiso, Havre _.Fort Victoria, Valparaiso, Pisa- gua, Santa Cruz, Fort Victoria, Burrard Inlet, Fort Victoria Fort Victoria, San Francisco Fort Victoria THE USE OF IRON AND COPPER BY THE INDIANS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA.* In 1778, when Captain James Cook landed at Nootka, on the western coast of Vancouver Island, he found the Indians in possession of iron knives and spears pointed with copper. They also had, strange to say, two silver tablespoons.1 Whence came the iron and copper, and how did the spoons reach this remote spot? Captain Cook made such inquiries as he could, by signs, among the Indians of Nootka Sound, and therefrom he came to the conclusion that no ships like his had ever been there before, disbelieving the report heard by him in England on the eve of his departure that in the previous year two Spanish ships had visited this part of the world. It was inferred, incorrectly, by him and his officers, that the indigenes of Vancouver Island had never before been in contact with Europeans, because they showed an ignorance of firearms.2 The facts were otherwise. In 1774 Juan Perez, on the Santiago, sailed from Monterey up the western coast. He went as far north as the Queen Charlotte Islands, where he gave the inhabitants, the Haidas, some knives, cloth, and beads in exchange for the skins of beaver and otter. ". . . It was perceived that they had a great fondness for articles made of iron for cutting; but they did not want small pieces."8 So they knew about the use of iron already! The friar Juan Crespi, who recorded the adventure, says: " We were interested also to see that the women wear rings on their fingers and bracelets of iron and copper, and the great value they set by them. Of these metals some were * The presidential address to the Victoria Section of the British Columbia (1) The Three Voyages of Captain James Cook Round the World, London, 1821, VI., p. 259. (2) James Burney, A Chronological History of North-Eastern Voyages of Discovery, London, 1819, p. 215. (3) Herbert Eugene Bolton, Fray Juan Crespi, Missionary Explorer on the Pacific Coast, 1769-1774, Berkeley, 1927, p. 331. British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol IIL, No. 1. 25 26 T. A. Rickard. January seen, though very little."4 On his return southward, Perez stopped at Nootka, which he named San Lorenzo, and came in contact with the Indians, although he did not go ashore. It is recorded that "some pieces of iron and copper and pieces of knives were seen " in the hands of the Indians that came to the Santiago in their canoes.6 Crespi saw an iron-pointed harpoon. The silver spoons found by Captain Cook were obtained by the Indians of Nootka from the Spaniards at that time. In 1775 Bruno Hezeta, in command of the Santiago, and Juan de Ayala, in command of the Sonora, sailed northward from the Mexican port of San Bias on an exploratory voyage. The farthest point they reached was Cross Sound in latitude 58° north. They found the Indians of northern California in latitude 41° 18' eager to obtain iron. Some of their arrows were pointed with copper or iron, which, they said, were procured from the north. " But what they chiefly value," says the record, " is iron, and particularly knives or hoops of old barrels . . ."6 A few of the natives had curious ill-made knives of iron, like cutlasses, with wooden handles; these were sheathed in wood and hung by cords from the wrist or neck, by reason of their precious- ness. It was understood by the Spaniards that the knives came from somewhere in the north, presumably the Russian settlements, but such a provenance was improbable. They were too valuable to be passed by intertribal trade for such a distance unless the Indians had plenty of them. It is equally unlikely that they were the " long knives," or machetes, as the Spaniards called them, that Drake gave to the natives on this part of the coast in 1579; because they could not have survived the hard wear of two centuries. Unfortunately, in their eagerness to get hold of iron, the Indians farther north, in latitude 47° 29', on the coast of Washington, attacked a boat manned by seven Spaniards and killed all of them; then they smashed the boat, " carrying off with them every piece of iron it contained."7 (4) Ibid., p. 333. (5) Ibid., p. 350. (6) Miscellanies by the Honourable Daines Barrington, London, 1781, p. 489. (7) " Fray Benito de la Sierra's Account of the Hezeta Expedition to the Northwest Coast in 1775," translated by A. J. Baker, California Historical Quarterly, IX. (1930), p. 228. 1939 The Use of Iron and Copper by the Indians. 27 The Franciscan friar Miguel de la Campa accompanied Hezeta, and, in his diary, says: " A few of them had also some pieces of sword-blades about a span long which they told by signs came from the north. On our asking them if they obtained any from some other part they answered no and that they only obtained them from the north where there were larger ones. One of them [Indians on the Calif ornian coast in latitude 41° 18' north] gave us to understand by very expressive signs that he had made his [knife] from a nail which he had found in a piece of wreckage and had beaten out with a stone."8 This statement is most significant, as we shall see. In 1779 another Spanish expedition was organized at San Bias. This time Juan Francisco Bodega9 and Ignacio Artega were in command of two ships. They explored the Gulf of Alaska and followed the northwestern coast as far as Cook Inlet. On Prince of Wales Island, in southeastern Alaska, the natives were wearing bracelets of copper, iron, and whalebone on their wrists, says Bodega, " and on their neck sundry rows of the beads they make of bone, and necklets of extremely fine copper; and in their ears, twisted wires of the same metal . . ."10 Westward, in Prince William Sound, the natives had " large glass beads," probably of Russian provenance. Bodega had his surmises'as to the sources of the metals he saw in the possession of the Indians on this part of the Pacific coast. " Respecting the iron and copper they all wear," he says, " it must be concluded that they may be metals extracted by them from the ore, or that they were brought to this creek [harbour] by other ships, or that a trade must be kept up with people who can supply them; and in order to ascertain this we omitted no indications or experiments that seemed necessary, but we never got any further result than to fall into greater confusion, for sometimes it appeared to us that they had seen ships, at others (8) Ibid., p. 218, note 4. (9) He is usually known as Quadra, but that was his mother's name, which, as is customary among Spaniards, was added to his patronymic, so he was named Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra. (10) Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, Expeditions in the Years 1775 & 1779 towards the West Coast of North America, translated from Anuario de la Direccion de Hidrografia, Ano III., 1865, p. 37 (p. 315 of original). MS. in Provincial Archives; translated by G. F. Barwick. 28 T. A. Rickard. January that there were places on the borders where people dwelt with whom they traded; and sometimes they pointed to the mountains to signify that they got it from there, which is most likely [unlikely?], though anything is possible."11 Evidently the effort to extract information by means of signs was ineffective. The idea that the Indians knew how to obtain the metals by smelting of the ores was of course wholly unwarranted. In none of these three expeditions of 1774,1775, and 1779 did the Spaniards see any Russians or any signs of them, but the possession of large glass beads by some of the northern Indians suggested communication, probably intertribal, with the fur- traders from Kamchatka. Indeed, farther north, at the foot of Mount St. Elias, in the country of the Tlingits, it was said, so Bodega understood, that " other large vessels " had been seen by the natives. They may refer to Captain Cook's ships which had been thereabouts in May of 1778. According to Antonio Maurelle, who was pilot for Bodega in 1779, the Indians in latitude 55° 18', which would be near Prince of Wales Island, had long lances pointed with iron and some knives " longer than an European bayonet."12 He confirms the statement of Bodega that the natives wore bracelets of copper and iron, or, for want of these metals, of whalebone, and some of them displayed collars of copper two fingers thick. " In some of the Indians," says Maurelle, "the desire of procuring iron, cloth, or other stuffs, was stronger than parental affection: they sold their children for a few yards of cloth, or pieces of iron hoops. The Spaniards purchased in this manner three boys . . . not to make slaves of them, but Christians."18 The copper, with which their arrows were pointed, led the Spaniards to suppose that they had mines of that metal in the vicinity. Captain Cook surmised that the copper and iron in the hands of the Indians had been brought thither by intertribal trade from Hudson Bay or from the northwestern parts of Mexico.14 John Ledyard, an American from New England, who served as ser- (11) Ibid., p. 42 (p. 319 of original). (12) J. F. G. de la Perouse, A Voyage Round the World Performed In the Years 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788 . . ., London, 1799, I., p. 247. (13) Ibid., p. 250. (14) The Three Voyages of Captain James Cook Round the World, London, 1821, VI., p. 305. 1939 The Use of Iron and Copper by the Indians. 29 geant of marines with Captain Cook, published an account of this voyage, at first anonymously, and then under his own name, in 1783. He said: " We found a few copper bracelets and three or four rough wrought knives with coarse wooden hafts among the natives of this place [Nootka], but could not learn from the appearance of either of those articles or from any information they could give us how they became possessed of them, but it was generally thought they came from a great distance and not unlikely from Hudson's-Bay. Commerce is defusive, and nothing will impede its progress among the uninformed part of mankind, but an intervention of too remote a communication by water, and as this cannot be the case with regard to the inhabitants of a continent, it seems entirely conclusive to suppose no part of America is without some sort of commercial intercourse, immediate or remote."16 Barrington, who, in 1781, collected records of the early voyages, also believed that the iron and copper in the hands of the Indians of northern California had come overland from the forts on Hudson Bay by means of migrating Indians.16 Both he and Ledyard were wrong, as will be shown in due course. In 1786, eight years afterward, Jean Francois de la Perouse, during a scientific expedition round the world, came to the Alaskan coast. He found that the Indians were eager to obtain iron. Copper was common among them, being used for necklaces, bracelets, and other ornaments, as well as for pointing their arrows.17 In considering the possible sources of the copper and iron in possession of the Tlingits on the coast of southeastern Alaska, La Perouse said:— It was a matter of great question with us whence they procured these two metals. There was no improbability in supposing this part of America to contain native copper, which the Indians might reduce into sheets or ingots: but native iron perhaps does not exist, or at least is so rare, that it has never been seen by the majority of mineralogists. It cannot be admitted, that these people are acquainted with the method of reducing iron ore to the state of metal. Beside, the day of our arrival we saw necklaces of beads, and some little articles of brass, which, as is well known, is a composition of copper and zinc. Every thing, therefore, leads us to presume, that the metals we saw came either from the Russians, from the servants of (15) John Ledyard, A Journal of Captain Cook's Last Voyage to the Pacific Ocean in Quest of a North-West Passage, Hartford, 1783, p. 77. (16) Barrington, op. cit, p. 488. (17) La Perouse, op. cit, I., p. 369. 30 T. A. Rickard. January the Hudson's Bay company, from American merchants travelling into the interior parts of the country, or from the Spaniards: but I shall hereafter show that it most probably came from the Russians. We brought away many specimens of this iron, which is as soft and easy to cut as lead [an obvious exaggeration]: perhaps mineralogists may be able to point out the country and mine that produce it. Gold is not an object of more eager desire in Europe, than iron in this part of America, which is another proof of it's scarcity.1^ The editor of this account of La Perouse's voyage adds a note saying that the softness of the iron indicated that it was " native or virgin."19 These conjectures are interesting; the idea that the Indians had native iron was without the warrant of evidence; the iron was soft wrought iron; the beads suggest a Russian origin; the Hudson's Bay provenance will be disproved. Here I may mention that native iron in large masses was discovered by Adolf Nordenskiold in 1870 at Ovifak, on Disko Island, on the western coast of Greenland.20 The largest mass was reported to weigh 23 tons; it lay, with several smaller lumps, on the shore at the foot of a basalt cliff, in which nodules of similar iron were found by Nauckhoff in 1871.21 The basalt is in dyke form, and the presence nearby of a bed of lignite suggests that this carbonaceous substance may have been the means of reducing an iron compound in the magma to the metallic state. Since then telluric iron has been detected in many localities so far apart as Arizona and Bohemia, but only in small lumps. In a basalt near Kassel in Hesse Nassau, and at Spechthausen in Germany, there have been discovered nodules of such iron in basalt.22 The native iron of Ovifak, however, is unique inasmuch as it only has been used by man for implemental purposes. John Meares was at Nootka in 1788 and records the fact that "A present, consisting of copper, iron, and other gratifying articles, was made to [the two chiefs] Maquilla and Callicum, who, on receiving it, took off their sea-otter garments, threw them, in the most graceful manner, at our feet, and remained in (18) Ibid., pp. 369-370. (19) Ibid., p. 370, note. (20) Geological Magazine, London, IX. (1872), p. 516. (21) Walter Flight, A Chapter in the History of Meteorites, London, 1887, p. 26. (22) Carl Hintze, Handbuch der Mineralogie, 1904,1., p. 161. 1939 The Use of Iron and Copper by the Indians. 31 the unattired garb of nature on the deck."28 Again we have evidence of the keen desire for iron and copper. The natives were much interested in watching the smiths at work in forging iron tools. "Their simple minds, in a state so distant from the knowledge of enlightened nature and the cultivated world, beheld, with all the extravagance of infantine delight, the mechanic skill of our artificers. Nor was their interest less engaged than their curiosity, in attending to those powers which fabricated the variety of articles that added so much to the pride, the pleasure, and the convenience of their lives. Indeed they were continually making application to have iron forged into forms of use or ornament; and so very fickle [like children] were they in the objects of their fancy, that it became a matter of considerable trouble to satisfy their varying inclinations."24 Meares makes reference to the copper he saw among the Indians. " The pure malleable lumps of copper ore seen in the possession of the natives, convince us that there are mines of this metal in the vicinity of this part of the Western coast. We once saw a piece of it, which appeared to weigh about a pound, through which an hole had been perforated sufficiently large for an handle to pass, in order to make a kind of hammer. On enquiring of the man in whose possession it was, from whence he procured it, he made us understand that he had received it in barter from some of the native people who lived more to the Northward. We had also occasionally seen necklaces and a sort of bracelets worn on the wrist, which were of the purest ore, and to all appearance had never been in the possession of an European."26 The " pure ore " mentioned in the foregoing quotation is, of course, native copper. This, being soft, would be an unsuitable material for making a hammer. The tool may have been a scraper. The hole in it may have been intended for a thong wherewith it could be hung from the neck. Such copper ornaments were worn by the Indians. The suggestion of a northerly provenance is correct, as we shall see. (23) John Meares, Voyages Made i China to the North West Coast of Amer, (24) Ibid., p. 185. (25) Ibid., p. 247. the Years 1788 and 1789, fro ,, London, 1790, p. 113. 32 T. A. Rickard. January The appreciation of copper is indicated by an Indian tradition, as related to Meares at Nootka, about an old man that entered the Sound in a copper canoe, with copper paddles, and everything else that he had was likewise made of copper. This old man said he came from the sky. The natives killed him, and took his canoe, " and from this event they derived their fondness for copper." Evidently an Indian from the north had come to them with pieces of native copper for the purpose of trading; and they had killed him in order to rob him of his precious freight. The Tsimshian Indians, on the Skeena River, in northern British Columbia, have a tradition of fire that fell from heaven and was transformed into copper.26 This suggests the finding of copper in nugget form, like a drop of molten metal from the sky. Etienne Marchand, commanding the Solide, in 1791, visited Norfolk Sound, in the Gulf of Alaska. He found copper in use among the natives. " Most of them are adorned," he says, " with a necklace, composed of copper wire interwoven; and this ornament appears not to be of European manufacture; it might be taken for a work of their own hands. They therefore possess mines, whence they extract this metal; and nothing contradicts this first supposition: but it would be necessary to suppose too that they possess the art of melting metal, of drawing it into wire, of working it; and what we have been able to learn of - their industry, does not favour the idea that we can grant them this knowledge. What seems most probable, is, that these necklaces, fabricated in some of the European settlements of the interior, came to them ready made, from tribe to tribe, through the channel of the intermediate nations."27 Thus he repeats Cook's guess. It is evident that he overlooked the probability that the copper was native metal, which the natives had hammered into thin sheets, cut into strips, and then rounded, by abrasion, into the shape of wire. No melting or wire-drawing was necessary. (26) Franz Boas, " Tsimshian Mythology," Thirty-first Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, 1916, p. 467. (27) Etienne Marchand, A Voyage Round the World performed during the Years 1790, 1791, and 1792, London, 1801, I., pp. 222-223. 1939 The Use of Iron and Copper by the Indians. 33 Let us first consider the provenance of the copper that we have seen in the hands of these northwestern Indians; for copper was the first metal used by primitive man in the fabrication of useful implements. It was surmised by Captain Cook, as we have noted, that the metal came westward to the Pacific Coast by means of intertribal trade. This might point to the Coppermine River as the source, for Samuel Hearne in 1771 discovered that the Eskimos of that district, near Coronation Gulf, on the Arctic Coast, were using native copper to fashion their implements.28 We have no evidence, however, that this copper was carried overland to the Pacific Coast, which is 900 miles distant; nor should we expect so extended a trade, because the Indians on the western coast had other and better sources of the metal much nearer to them. It has been suggested that this source was the Queen Charlotte Islands, the natives of which are known as Haidas. Father Morice says that the Carriers, a tribe of Indians belonging to the Dene (meaning " men ") race and living in central British Columbia, have a tradition that in times not very remote all the tribes, including their own, assembled at a certain place on the coast " around a tower-like copper mountain emerging from the depths of the water." They proceeded to decide which tribe was to possess this great mass of copper. " When all had united in shouting, the mountain began gradually to totter, and the Haidas, who are blessed with big heads and strong voices, caused it to fall on their side."29 So they won the copper mountain, and ever since the other tribes have had to go to them for the copper needed to make bracelets for their wives and daughters. The putting of the metal to ornamental, rather than implemental, use is a characteristic of primitive metal culture. From this myth Morice concludes, too confidently, that it was from the Haidas that the coastal tribes derived their copper in prehistoric times. He says that " The copper came to them in small bars [" strips " would be a better word in this context] of which they made dog collars, arm-bands, bracelets and (28) Samuel Hearne, A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean In the Years 1769, 1770, 1771, and 1772. Edited by J. B. Tyrrell. Toronto, 1911, p. 198. (29) A. G. Morice, The Great Dine" Race, Vienna, n. d., p. 224. 34 T. A. Rickard. January tweezers. They occasionally converted it into arrow-points. To this day native copper is highly prized even on the coast, especially when fashioned into the shield-like ' coppers,' which are the property of the hereditary chiefs."30 The " coppers " were suspended from the neck and worn as decorations on the chest. All along the Pacific Coast of Alaska and British Columbia one finds these curiously shaped copper plates, formerly made of native copper, which, as Franz Boas says, is found in Alaska and probably also on the Nass River, near the Skeena. " These coppers have the same function which bank notes of high denominations have with us. The actual value of the piece of copper is small, but it is made to represent a large number of blankets and can always be sold for blankets."31 Alexander Mackenzie, an anthropologist of the same name as the famous Canadian explorer, tells us that when on Graham Island, one of the Queen Charlotte group, in 1890, he saw a carved copper bracelet that had been in the possession of a Haida family " for several generations." He gives some interesting information concerning the ornamental plates of copper, which the Haidas call taow, the Sitka Indians, tinneh, and the Tshim- sians, hy-y-etsk. Among the Sitkans, esk was the word for copper; among the Tlingits, ee-ek. These "coppers" were made before the islanders obtained sheet copper from the Russians in the north; they were made, so says local tradition, from native copper that came from Alaska; and many of them have been in the possession of families " through a long line of chiefs who displayed them on festal occasions."32 The size of these plates of copper varied from 7 or 8 inches to 4 feet in length, the upper part being engraved with totemic designs of the bear, eagle, crow, or whale. John R. Swanton records a Haida myth that tells of an Indian who caught a copper salmon in a small stream and put it into a fire; then he took hold of the hot copper with a piece (30) Ibid. (31) Franz Boas, " The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians," Report of the United States National Museum for 1895, Washington, Smithsonian Institution, 1897, p. 344. (32) Alexander Mackenzie, " Descriptive Notes on Certain Implements, Weapons, etc., from Graham Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C." Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, IX. (1891), Section II., p. 52. 1939 The Use of Iron and Copper by the Indians. 35 of cedar bark and cut off first one fin and then another, and lastly, the tail. These he "pressed," and when the copper became cold, he returned it to the fire, and then pressed it again. Thus he made five " coppers," or tinnehs, which he took home to his tribe, by whom he was acclaimed.33 Here we have the tale of the finding of a piece of native copper, of the breaking of successive pieces, and the beating of the metal into the shape of plates. The repeated placing of the copper in the fire suggests the annealling, or softening, of the metal when it became brittle, and cracked, in consequence of being hammered excessively. It must be added, however, that the Indians on this coast do not appear to have understood how to anneal, therefore the prehistoric tinnehs, made of native copper, are small—from 5 to 7 inches long, and patched. The larger ones are of later date and were made out of pieces of copper sheathing derived from vessels that came to grief on the shores of Alaska and British Columbia. These " coppers " were venerated as heirlooms and as evidence of great wealth; any chief that could afford to purchase one of them and cut it into pieces for distribution at a potlatch, or gift festival, was highly regarded. Such pieces were given to the chiefs among the guests, and, in turn, were highly prized by them. Occasionally a " copper " was fixed to a carved heraldic column or pole, and thus served as an ostentatious display of the owner's wealth; sometimes it was attached to a mortuary receptacle in honour of the deceased. The estimation in which the " coppers " were held is indicated by the fact that when they were sold they could be exchanged for ten slaves or for a thousand blankets. When, however, the Indians began to buy sheet copper from the Russians at Sitka and the English at Victoria, their value decreased promptly, and, subsequently they were completely debased when several natives on the coast began to manufacture spurious, or commercial, " coppers." These glutted the market, and, as Mackenzie says, " destroyed the romance of the idea that the copper was one of earth's rarest and choicest treasures, fit only to be purchased by great chiefs who desired a Texts," Jesup North Pacific Expedition, 36 T. A. Rickard. January to squander away their property for the sake of gratifying their self esteem."84 In the Provincial Museum at Victoria, B.C., there is a carved wooden figure of the man that first brought copper to the Indians. It was found at Bella Bella, on Denny Island. The figure bears a " copper." In striving to display ostentation a chief would break a " copper," thereby showing a superb disregard for the value of his property. At a potlatch the chief would detach a piece of his " copper " and give it to his rival. If the latter meant to maintain his prestige, he felt compelled likewise to break a " copper " of equal or higher value; and then he returned both pieces, his own and the other's, to the chief that started this competition in munificence. Still more splendid it was to throw both pieces into the sea. Usually, however, the pieces were preserved; the owner might break off one part after another until only the central T-ridge remained; this was valued at two-thirds the total value of the " copper," and was the last to be given away. Not infrequently somebody succeeded in buying the fragments, which were then riveted, with copper, into their former places, and thereby reconstituted a complete " copper," which was of enhanced value. If formerly it was worth a thousand blankets, it now might be valued at two thousand.86 Various localities near the northwestern Pacific Coast have yielded small amounts of native copper; among these may be cited the placers on Manson Creek, at the head of one of the tributaries of the Peace River. Some came from the copper lodes on the Queen Charlotte Islands; some metal has been obtained on the Nass River, in the Cassiar district, and from the veins of Aspen Grove, not far from the southern border of British Columbia. Native copper has also been mined successfully on Prince of Wales Island and on the shores of Prince William Sound. The chief source of supply for the Indians, however, before the European came to the coast, was undoubtedly in southeastern Alaska. The Haidas themselves in later years have stated that (34) Alexander Mackenzie, op. cit, p. 52. (35) Franz Boas, " Social Organization ... of the Kwakiutl Indians," Report of the U.S. National Museum for 1895, p. 364. 1939 The Use of Iron and Copper by the Indians. 37 their " coppers " came from the Chilkat country, north of Sitka, which points to the Alaskan district.36 The Chilkats, a Tlingit tribe, not the Haidas, were the prehistoric purveyors of copper to the tribes on the coast south of them. These Chilkats had their habitat in the country lying at the foot of Mount St. Elias and along the Lynn Canal. In 1805 Urey Lisiansky was told that they got their copper from the Copper River district, which abounded in native metal, but that the Indians kept secret the places where large pieces of it were to be obtained.87 William Dall, in 1870, refers to this copper trade among the Indians. " Native copper, occasionally associated with silver, has long been obtained from the natives of the Atna or Copper River. It occurs in rounded masses sometimes weighing 36 lb. The original locality is unknown and carefully concealed by the natives, with whom it is an article of trade. The specimens have a worn appearance, as if from the bed of a stream."38 The silver in the copper gives the necessary clue, for copper containing silver—both metals being in the native condition—is found in nugget form along the Dan and Chitutu creeks, which are tributaries of the Chitina.89 This name means " copper river," for, in the language of the aborigines, chiti means " copper " and na means " river."40 It is significant that the Indians of Alaska have a word for copper, but none for gold or iron. Spear-heads and arrow-heads made by the Indians out of the native copper have been found by American miners in the sluice-boxes of their placer-workings on these tributaries of the Chitina River. The Indians on the White River, which flows eastward from the range in which the Copper River also has its source, used caribou horns to dig the copper nuggets out of the stream- (36) George M. Dawson, Report on the Queen Charlotte Islands, 1878, Montreal, 1880, p. 135 B (Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress, 1878-79). (37) Urey Lisiansky, A Voyage Round the World, in the Years 180S, 4, 5, & 6, London, 1814, p. 188. (38) William H. Dall, Alaska and its Resources, Boston, 1870, p. 477. (39) The Chitina is an eastern tributary of the Copper River as known (40) Fred H. Moffit and A. G. Maddren, Mineral Resources of the Kotsina-Chitina Region, Alaska, Washington, 1909, p. 19 (U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin 374). JJ 38 T. A. Rickard. January gravel;41 in later days they bartered this native copper, which was employed by several tribes in the making of arrow-heads, knives, and cooking-utensils, and also for bullets when lead was not obtainable.42 One mass of 3 tons was found on a bank of the White River,43 but most of the copper was in the form of lumps weighing about 5 or 6 lb., such as were suitable for immediate fabrication. Evidence of a conclusive character, therefore, points to the White and Chitina Rivers as the source of the copper used by the Indians before the white man came. These two rivers flow in opposite directions from the same range of hills, and, as the metal is found in their upper reaches, the copper-producing localities constitute one district. The Tlingits, on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Alaska, had the monopoly of the trade in this detrital metal until Canadian and American prospectors broke into the Yukon watershed in search of gold. Let us now consider the provenance of the iron. To do this we must review the history of Russian adventure in Alaska and its outlying islands. The Russians reached Kamchatka in 1690, and they went to the Kurile Islands in 1706. Vitus Bering, a Dane, acting under orders from Peter the Great, sailed from Kamchatka in 1728, in a 30-ton boat, to explore the northern ocean, and reached 67° 18' north, into the strait that now bears his name. So the fable of the Strait of Anian was fulfilled. In 1741 he discovered the Aleutian Islands, and reached the American Coast, at the southern base of Mount St. Elias, in Prince William Sound. He died on his return when off the island that now bears his name, in the Komandorski group. When Bering, in 1741, first reached the American Coast, he found the Aleuts in possession of " long iron knives, apparently their own manufacture."44 Morice questions this last statement, (41) A. H. Brooks, A Reconnaissance from Pyramid Harbour to Eagle City, Alaska . . ., Washington, 1900, p. 381 (U.S. Geological Survey, Twenty-First Annual Report, 1899-1900, Part II.). (42) C. Willard Hayes, in National Geographic Magazine, Washington, IV. (1892), p. 143. (43) D. D. Cairnes, Upper White River District, Yukon, Ottawa, 1915, p. 1 (Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 50). (44) W. H. Hooper, Ten Months among the Tents of the Tuski, London, 1853, p. 9. 1939 The Use of Iron and Copper by the Indians. 39 and suggests that it is more likely the iron was derived from the Russian merchants of eastern Siberia.46 Steller, who was with Bering, says that one of these knives was examined by him, and it was " not like European workmanship."46 It is probable that, before the Russian fur-traders came to Alaska, the natives obtained iron from the Chukchees of northeastern Siberia.47 These met the Aleuts on the Diomede Islands, half-way across Bering Strait. The Chukchees could obtain iron from the Russian traders at Anadyrsk. While Bering was on the Alaskan Coast, one of his officers found in an Indian hut a whetstone, on which copper knives had been sharpened. " So necessity teaches," says Muller, " the making use of one metal instead of another. Even in Siberia, in the upper-most parts of the river Jenisei, all sorts of edge tools of copper have been found in the ancient Pagan graves, and none of iron, which is a proof that the use of copper had been of greater antiquity in those regions than that of iron."48 The gentleman reasons correctly. Alexei Chirikov, who commanded one of Bering's ships in 1741, reached the American coast at a point about 50 miles south of the site of Sitka. He lost two boats with their crews, probably in the treacherous current of Latuya Bay.49 These Russians were massacred by the Indians, who thereby provided themselves with iron in many forms. This suggests one source of the iron possessed by the natives in these parts when the Spaniards first encountered them. A lively trade in furs with the Aleuts began at once, the Russians paying for them with beads, hatchets, copper knives, and goat's wool. It is recorded that one of the Russian traders, Tsiuprov, was affronted because some Aleuts refused to give him an iron bolt that he saw in their possession.60 Hostilities ensued. (45) A. G. Morice, The History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Third Edition, Toronto, 1905, p. 346. (46) William Coxe, Account of the Russian Discoveries between Asia and America, London, 1803, p. 48. (47) F. A. Golder, Bering's Voyages, New York, 1925, II., p. 98. (48) S. Muller, Voyages from Asia to America . . ., Translated from the High Dutch ... By Thomas Jeffreys, London, 1761, p. 42. (49) F. A. Golder, Russian Expansion on the Pacific, 1641-1850, Cleveland, 1914, p. 187. (50) Coxe, op. cit, p. 90. 40 T. A. Rickard. January This was in 1745. Serebranikov, in 1754, found the Aleuts using stone knives, but some of them had iron knives also. Prapesni- kov, however, in 1759, reported that the natives had no iron. Evidently it was rare. When Glottov visited Kadiak Island, off the southern Alaskan coast, in 1763, he found the Indians using bows, arrows, and lances. The points, like their small hatchets, were made of sharp flint; but a few of them had made knives and lance-points out of reindeer bones. The Russian trader Korovin in 1765 visited Unalaska, one of the Aleutian Islands, and reported that the women made needles of bone from bird's wings, and they used sinews for thread. The men's darts and spears were formerly tipped with bone, but when Korovin arrived they were using iron to point them, this iron having been procured from the Russians. With such iron " they ingeniously form little hatchets [adzes ?] and two-edged knives. They shape the iron by rubbing it between two stones, and wetting it frequently with sea- water."61 Sarytschev says that the natives of Unalaska in 1801 obtained their knives and axes from the Russians, " but they are not well acquainted with the use of the latter, to which they fasten a wooden handle, so that they can chip them as with a hatchet [adze], but neither split nor hew; they rive their large trees therefore by means of wooden wedges."62 This is an interesting survival of primitive technique. They converted the axe-head into an adze by attaching a handle at right angles, so that it became like a ship-carpenter's adze or a small hoe. Even long afterward the Indians did not care for axes, preferring to cut a tree by chipping it, as the beaver does. They shared this primitive method with the South Sea Islanders. Benyowsky, speaking of the Aleutian Islands, in 1790, says that " The inhabitants know how to work in iron and copper. They obtain the iron from the Russians, and the copper is the produce of their own country."63 This is not quite correct, for the country of (51) Ibid., p. 141. (52) Gawrila Sarytschew, Account of a Voyage of Discovery to the north-east of Siberia, the Frozen Ocean, and the North-east Sea. Translated from the Russian. London, 1807, II., p. 73. (53) Mauritius Augustus, Count de Benyowsky, Memoirs and Travels, Dublin, 1790, I., p. 263. 1939 The Use of Iron and Copper by the Indians. 41 the Aleuts is distinct from the Alaskan mainland, whence they obtained their copper. According to a Dene tradition, the first of their people able to boast of possessing an iron adze was Na'kwoel, a chief of the Carrier Indians on Stuart Lake, at the head of the Fraser watershed, in British Columbia. This came to him probably, says Morice, in about 1720 by way of Tsechah, an Indian village close to the present Hazelton, on the Skeena River; it came, he says, from one of the navigators that were exploring the Northern Pacific Ocean.64 But is not 1720 too early for such an importation? It is told that when Na'kwoel obtained the iron implement, he convoked his tribesmen to a great banquet or ceremonial feast, a potlatch, at which all the guests were given the opportunity to admire the precious thing as it hung above their heads from one of the rafters of the big lodge in which they were assembled. This keen appreciation of the value of the iron indicates obviously that they had been previously acquainted with the use of it, and that therefore they had seen or heard of the precious substance, but that it was an extremely rare commodity. In regard to the idea that the iron found among the Indians of the Pacific Coast in 1778 came from the Hudson's Bay factories, we have the evidence, to the contrary, of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, the first European to cross the continent westward in these northern latitudes. He started from the Hudson's Bay Company's post, Fort Chipewyan, on Lake Athabaska, in October, 1792. The Peace River flows into this lake, and he proceeded up the river, spending the winter at Forks Fort. On the 9th of May he resumed his journey. Near the head of the Parsnip River, a southern tributary of the Peace River, and in a near approach to the continental divide, the Rocky Mountains, he encountered a tribe of Indians, the Sekanai, who had never before seen white men. They possessed spears headed with bone and with iron. Their knives were made of iron shaped and hafted by themselves. These Indians told Mackenzie that they obtained their iron, in exchange for beaver and moose skins, from a people (the Carriers) that lived on a lake and a river (54) A. G. Morice, History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, [First Edition] Toronto, 1904, p. 9. In the third edition (Toronto, 1905), the date is altered to 1730. 42 T. A. Rickard. January distant eleven days march, which might be about 200 miles. These other Indians, they said, had to travel for a moon, or month, to reach the country of still another tribe that lived in houses, and extended their journeys in the same way, for trade, to the sea, to which they referred as the stinking lake, where they had commerce with people like Mackenzie, that is to say, Europeans, who came thither in vessels as big as islands.66 " Their axes," says Mackenzie, " are something like our adze, and they use them in the same manner as we employ that instrument. They were, indeed, furnished with iron in a manner that I could not have supposed, and plainly proved to me that their communication with those, who communicate with the inhabitants of the sea coast, cannot be very difficult, and from their ample provision of iron weapons, the means of procuring it must be of a more distant origin than I had at first conjectured."66 The data given by the Indians point to the source of their iron as being a long way northwestward; the route indicated was probably that of the so-called grease trail, as known in later years, over which the oolichan, or candle-fish, was brought inland, largely for use as a laxative. This trail went by way of the Babine Lake and along the Nass River to the tidal waters of the Portland Canal.57 Two days after leaving the Sekanais, Mackenzie crossed the continental divide, and ten days later while on the Fraser River he met other Indians that told him they obtained iron and copper from the west, and from white men. " It occupied them, they said, no more than six nights, to go to where they meet the people who barter iron, brass, copper, beads, &c, with them, for dressed leather, and beaver, bear, lynx, fox, and marten skins. The iron is about eighteen inches of two-inch bar. To this they give an edge at one end, and fix it to a handle at right angles, which they employ as an axe [adze]. When the iron is worn down, they fabricate it into points for their arrows and pikes. Before they procured iron they employed bone and horn for those purposes. The copper (55) Alexander Mackenzie, Voyages from Montreal . . . to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans, New York, 1814, II., p. 191. (66) Ibid., p. 196. (57) P. E. Goddard, Indians of the Northwest Coast, New York, 1924, p. 19 (American Museum of Natural History, Handbook Series, No. 10). 1939 The Use o Iron i ) Copper by the Indians. 43 and brass they convert into collars, arm-bands, bracelets, and other ornaments. They sometimes also point their arrows with those metals. They had been informed by those whom they meet to trade with, that the white people, from whom these articles are obtained, were building houses at the distance of three days, or two nights journey from the place where they met last fall."68 The houses were probably those built by the Spaniards on Vancouver Island in 1789 and 1790. When near the coast, in latitude 50° 25' north, Mackenzie found the Indians had a high regard for copper and brass, and of the former they had plenty; they pointed their arrows and spears with it, and used it also for fabricating ornaments, such as collars, ear-rings, and bracelets. They used copper in their trade with the inland tribes, a fact that points to the coast as the source of the metal. They had iron collars that weighed more than 12 lb. Some of the copper appeared to come from old stills that had been cut into suitable sizes by European traders.69 In 1806 Simon Fraser explored northern British Columbia; the Indians living on the Finlay, a northwestern tributary of the Peace River, told him that they obtained their iron by trade along a river that flowed in a northwesterly direction, and to obtain the metal they had to go far beyond a lake, a journey that they performed on foot.60 The lake probably was Babine Lake, and the river was the Skeena. The iron came from the Tsimshian Indians in the Skeena valley, and they obtained it from their kinsmen on the coast. This corroborates Mackenzie's statement concerning the source of the iron in the hands of the Indians. Another interesting bit of evidence to indicate that the iron of the Indians on the western slope of the continental divide did not come from the Hudson's Bay Company's trading-posts is the statement from an Indian woman whom Hearne found captive to a tribe near Lake Athabaska in 1772. She told him " that her country lies so far to the Westward, that she had never seen iron, or any other kind of metal, till she was taken prisoner. All of her tribe, she observed, made their hatchets and ice-chisels of , II., p. 243. 44 T. A. Rickard. January deer's horns, and their knives of stones and bones; that their arrows were shod with a kind of slate, bones, and deer's horns; and the instruments which they employed to make their woodwork were nothing but beavers' teeth."61 The Russians traded with the Indians on the insular fringe of Alaska; the Spaniards left pieces of iron with the natives on the southeastern coast of Alaska and along the shores of British Columbia; but how did the Indians get the knowledge of iron they evidently possessed before any European came in contact with them, how had they learned the great usefulness of the metal before they obtained more of it in barter for the furs that the white strangers wanted? We shall find a clue in the strange iron knives that Bering found in possession of the natives on one of the Schumagin Islands in 1741; we obtain another hint from the iron bolt that Tsiuprov saw in the hands of an Aleut in 1745, and even more suggestive is the knife that the Indian on the northern coast of California had made out of a spike that he had found in a piece of wreckage cast upon the shore. Captain Cook remarked that most of the knives he saw in the hands of the Indians were about the breadth and thickness of an iron hoop.62 The hoop-iron from stranded casks would suit their purpose admirably. In sort, we have good reason to infer that the indigenes on this northwestern coast made their first acquaintance with iron, as the South Sea Islanders did, by means of drift-wood, brought by the oceanic winds and currents, both moving persistently eastward from the Asiatic shore to the American mainland. Vessels, Japanese and Russian, wrecked on the Kamchatkan coast, would yield woodwork, containing iron, that drifted northeastward and then eastward toward the American coast, to be cast ashore on the Aleutian Islands, and southward along the mainland. We find many wrecks recorded in the history of navigation in this part of the world during the eighteenth century; we have every reason to believe that at an earlier date the clumsily built vessels that plied along the Asiatic coast met an untimely fate and strewed the sea with their fragments. Iron (61) Hearne, op. cit, p. 267. (62) Cook, op. cit, VI., p. 302. 1939 The Use of Iron and Copper by the Indians. 45 was known and used by the Japanese and Russians at a period so early as not to require further explanation. The Haidas say that the first white men to come to them were on a ship that entered Parry Channel. Their description of the vessel indicates that it was a scow or brig with two masts, of the Spanish type; they say that the crew wore rings in their ears. These strangers were enticed ashore and then massacred; the Indians wrecked the vessel and used the iron and brass they recovered. The door-keys of the cabins were employed as ornaments by them, and were buried with their chiefs. The Russians began to build ships on the Asiatic coast, at Okhotsk, in 1714. Chirikov, in 1741, lost two boats on the Alaskan coast. In 1768 four Russian ships disappeared during a voyage to the Gulf of Anadyr, on the Siberian coast. When Alexander Baranov, the Russian Governor at Sitka, in 1793, lost his vessel, which was wrecked near Unalaska, he built another, despite the lack of iron, which he obtained from " rusty remnants of old wrecks."68 The records show that many Russian ships were wrecked on the islands that link Asia with America. Wood is driven on the Aleutian coast in great abundance. Hardwood and bamboo from Asia are washed ashore on the Queen Charlotte Islands. To-day many of the glass balls used by Japanese fishermen for buoying their nets find their way over seas to the shores of Vancouver Island. Some of them are as much as 15 inches in diameter, and they bear Japanese lettering on them. The main factor in the dispersion of wreckage and in bringing it eastward is the Kuro Shiwo, or black stream, usually called the Japanese Current, an oceanic flow of warm water that sweeps northeastward from Japan toward the Kurile and Aleutian Islands, thence curving eastward and southeastward so as to pass along the North American coast at an average speed of fully 10 miles per day.64 No Chinese wrecks have come to America on this stream; they would be swept north along the Asiatic coast by the Kamchatkan Current. (63) Agnes C. Laut, Vikings of the Pacific, New York, 1905, p. 325. (64) Charles W. Brooks, Japanese Wrecks stranded and picked up adrift in the North Pacific Ocean, San Francisco, 1876, p. 7. (Reprinted from the Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences.) 46 T. A. RickaRd. January The Japanese paid heavy toll to the sea, because in 1639, under the shogun Iyemitsu, an edict was issued commanding all junks to be built with open sterns and large square rudders, such as rendered them unfit for voyages in the open ocean. The intention was to keep the Japanese people isolated. When such vessels were forced from the coast by stress of weather, the rudders were soon broken and carried away in a heavy sea, whereupon the disabled vessel fell off into the trough of the wave and rolled so that the mast was unloosened. In this manner many hundred junks were lost. Out of sixty recorded wrecks of Japanese junks up to 1875, twenty-seven were seen at sea, eight were stranded on the Aleutian Islands, six on the coast of Kamchatka, two on the shores of Alaska, and two on both the Hawaiian and Brooks Islands, besides one in Nootka Sound, one on the Queen Charlotte Islands, the others being scattered elsewhere on the northwestern coast of America. Both wind and current assist in driving such disabled vessels and wreckage along the great circle of the Kuro Shiwo, which, after being deflected down the British Columbian coast, moves westward toward Hawaii. In 1805 a Japanese junk was stranded on the Alaskan coast, near Sitka. The survivors were assigned, by Baron Von Wrangel, the Governor of the Russian colony, to an island, which became known thereafter as Japonski. Eventually the Japanese sailors built another boat out of their wreck, and returned safely to Japan. In 1815 Captain Alexander Adams, commanding the brig Forester, came to the assistance of a Japanese vessel, on which he found three dying Japanese, who were rescued. They said that their ship had come from Osaka, and, overtaken by a storm, had lost first her rudder and then her mast. They had been the sport of the waves for seventeen months, and out of a crew of thirty-five, only these three had survived. This vessel was found 350 miles westsouthwest of Point Concepcion, on the coast of California. She probably had been carried on the Japanese Current for 5,300 miles in 516 days, or at the rate of about 10 miles per day.66 (65) Horace Davis, Record of Japanese Vessels driven upon the Northwest Coast of America, Worcester, Mass., 1872, p. 7. (A paper read before the American Antiquarian Society, April, 1872.) 1939 The Use of Iron and Copper by the Indians. 47 In 1833 a Japanese junk was wrecked off Cape Flattery, on the coast of Washington; she had been out a very long time, and most of her crew had perished by starvation or disease before she was wrecked, for " several dead bodies were found headed up in firkins, in customary Japanese style, ready for burial." After stranding, the wreck was plundered and the survivors were enslaved by the Indians. In the sequel three survivors were rescued by men of the Hudson's Bay Company and were returned to Japan in 1837.66 Another story says that in 1833 also several Japanese were purchased from the Haidas, at Fort Simpson, and given their freedom. In 1853 the wreck of a Japanese junk was found on the shore of the largest of the San Benito Islands, off Lower California, in latitude 28° north and longitude 116° west. " The planks were fastened together on the edges with spikes or bolts of a flat shape, with the head all on one side." On November 1, 1927, a Japanese fishing-boat, named the Riyo Yei Maru, or " Good and Prosperous," was found adrift off Cape Flattery, at the entrance of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It was towed to the quarantine station at Port Townsend and there carefully examined.67 The hull was encrusted with barnacles and smothered with seaweed. Two bodies, emaciated and mummified, were found on board, besides the bones of eight other human beings, in a dismembered condition, indicating that they had been used for food. The log stated that the boat had cleared from Misaki, near Yokohama, on December 5, 1926; the engine was disabled and the boat cast adrift on December 20. It was also recorded that the boat at first had drifted south, and then had swung northward. The last of the crew had died of starvation at the end of the second month, of the eleven months during which this derelict had drifted in the Japanese Current toward Alaska eastward and along the American coast southward. Thus we have evidence, both recent and tragic, that Japanese vessels, when disabled, drift to the American coast. In their wreckage the Indians would, and did, find pieces of iron. This evidence of the wrecking of Japanese vessels suggests an obvious source of the iron in the hands of the Indians when (66) Brooks, op. cit, p. 11. (67) Victoria Colonist, November 2, 1927. See also the New York Times, November 6, 1927. 48 T. A. Rickard. January they were first seen by Europeans. The enslavement of Japanese survivors is particularly interesting, because it indicates a means of acquiring a knowledge of methods for fabricating implements out of the scrap-iron. It is recorded that a Japanese was found working as a blacksmith in the service of an Indian chief at the mouth of the Columbia River about 1808.68 Indeed, there is reason to believe that many Japanese survivors from wrecked ships were not only captured by the Indians but cohabited with them and gave them an infusion of their racial stock. Shipwrecked Japanese sailors informed Charles Brooks, when acting as consul for Japan in San Francisco, sixty-seven years ago, that they were able to communicate with and understand the natives of Atka and Adakh, islands of the Aleutian group.69. Among the Indian dialects of the tribes in Oregon and California there are found Japanese words, " either pure, as tsche-tsche, milk, or clipped, as hiaku, speed, found reduced to hyack, meaning fast, in Indian; or yaku, evil genius in Japanese, similarly reduced to yak, devil, by the Indians."70 In almost all words that show Japanese origin the Indian word is abbreviated, from which it may be argued that the latter was derived from the former. With the words came also pieces of iron from Asia to America. The Indians at the mouth of the Columbia River have a tradition concerning a ship, a big thing like a whale, they say, that had two trees standing upright in it, and was cast ashore, and burned. Thereupon the Indians, the Clatsop tribe, obtained possession of some iron and copper. On the ship were two men with long beards. " One of the men possessed the magical art of taking pieces of iron and making knives and hatchets." As Lyman remarks, it was a marvellous thing that the Indians " should have a man among them that could perform that priceless labour, for the possession of iron knives and hatchets [probably adzes] meant the indefinite multiplying of canoes, huts, bows and arrows, weapons, and implements of every sort."71 These strangers, the Indians say, had many pieces of money, (68) Marius Barbeau British Columbia, Ottawi letin 61). (69) Brooks, op. cit, p. 19. (70) Ibid. (71) William D. Lyman, The Columbia River, New York, 1911, p. 37. 1939 The Use of Iron and Copper by the Indians. 49 which from the description may have been Chinese " cash." The wrecked ship may have been a Spanish ship from the Philippines. In 1811 an old half-breed told Gabriel Franchere, when at the Cascades, also on the Columbia River, that four Spaniards, one of whom was the half-breed's father, were cast ashore on Clatsop beach in about 1745.72 Merriweather Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark expedition, in 1806, found the Indians near the mouth of the Columbia River in possession of " a number of large symeters [scimitars] of Iron from 3 to 4 feet long which hang by the heads of their beads [beds]; the blade of this weapon is thickest in the center tho' thin even there, all it's edges are sharp and it's greatest width which is about 9 inches from the point is about 4 inches . . . this is a formidable weapon, they have heavy bludgeons of wood made in the same form nearly which I presume they used for the same purpose before they obtained metal."73 These weapons had been made by two seamen from iron found on a vessel wrecked in that locality. The unfortunate mariners had been enslaved by the Clatsops " until it was found that one was a worker in iron, of which the Indians began to see the value, when they made him a chief." So says George Gibbs, in recording the same episode.74 The three foregoing stories evidently have their origin in the same episode. We infer from them that the Indians at the mouth of the Columbia River had a knowledge of iron long before the earliest European fur-traders visited this part of the coast. In 1803 the ship Boston, on arrival in Nootka Sound, was seized by the islanders under a chief named Maquinna. All on board were killed except a man named Jewitt, whose life was spared " on condition of his working at the armourer's business, and agreeing to serve for life," so says the English chronicler.76 Another man, named Thompson, also was spared because Jewitt (72) S. A. Clarke, Pioneer Days of Oregon History, Cleveland, 1905,1., pp. 173, 175-176. (73) Reuben G. Thwaites (editor), Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806, New York, 1905, IV., p. 215. (74) George Gibbs, Tribes of Western Washington and Northwestern Oregon, Washington, 1877, p. 237 (U.S. Geological Survey, Contributions to North American Ethnology, I., Part II.). (75) Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of Samuel Patterson, Palmer, Mass., 1817, p. 60. 50 T. A. RICKARD. pretended that Thompson was his father. Both escaped in 1805. The ship was burned by the Indians. In 1811 when the Tonquin was captured by the Indians of Woody Point, near Nootka, all on board were massacred, but the blacksmith was spared because the savages meant to make use of his skill in fabricating iron implements.76 A life-buoy lost overboard from the Brynje, a Norwegian ship, when off the coast of Luzon Island, one of the Philippine group, in October, 1932, was cast ashore near Nootka, nineteen months later.77 It has been suggested by Petitot, that the Indians, as migrants from Asia, would know about iron. He asserts that the Denes had a tradition concerning the metal, but they found none in the new continent and therefore were compelled to revert to the use of stone.78 If the indigenes of North America are descended from the savages of northeastern Asia, as we believe, it is not necessary to concede a knowledge of iron to the Americans. It is unlikely that their progenitors before migrating had reached the point of smelting the metal from ore. They may have seen some of it before they left Asia, but it is improbable that, many centuries later, they would retain any memory of iron. On September 9, 1930, while spending an afternoon at the house of Mrs. Arthur Robertson, on Saanich Inlet, which indents the southeastern coast of Vancouver Island, I strolled along the rocky strand, and, while picking up some pieces of quartz and hornblende, I came upon one rusty nail and part of another. So the Indian many hundred years ago had found pieces of the strange substance that was more valuable to him than gold was to me. It had been brought thither in drift-wood. It was the spoil of the sea. T. A. Rickard. Victoria, B.C. (76) Peter Corney, Voyages in the Northern Pacific, Honolulu, 1896, AN EARLY COLONIZATION SCHEME IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. We are accustomed to think of the fur-trader as a man wholly engrossed in the barter for peltry: "without a soul above a beaver skin " to use the words attributed to David Douglas. We regard him as one who sees the land only as a fur-farm whose harvest, though he sowed not, he yet may reap, and having reaped, depart. Occasionally we meet one who responds to its scenes of beauty and grandeur, or even dreams of its future. ^Needless to say such views are scarcely accurate; the fur-trader had, like ourselves, interests outside of his regular business. It is, however, a trifle surprising to find him a speculator in land on the coast of British Columbia nearly a hundred and fifty years ago. John Kendrick, the commander of the first fur-trading venture to the Northwest Coast from Boston, carried instructions from his owners, Joseph Barrell and his associates, which contain the following paragraph:— If you make any fort or improvement of land upon the coast, be sure you purchase the soil of the natives; and it would not be amiss if you purchased some advantageous tract of land in the name of the owners; if you should, let the instrument of conveyance bear every authentic mark the circumstances will admit of.1 The expedition consisted of the ship Columbia and the sloop Lady Washington. In the course of the voyage Kendrick took over the command of the sloop, in which he arrived in China on January 7,1790. He was a leisurely-moving man and somewhat of a dreamer, as we shall see. To dispose of his cargo of furs, to change the rig of the Lady Washington from a sloop to a brig, and to return to the coast occupied him until June 13,1791, when he reached the southern part of Queen Charlotte Islands. On July 12 he entered Nootka Sound. As he passed the Spanish fort on Hog Island at its mouth, the Dons, through a speaking (1) Senate Document, 32d Congress, 1 No. 335 (1852), p. 16. The date of the must have been late in September, 1787. J I 52 F. W. Howay. January trumpet, warned him not to enter; but he had a conveniently deaf ear. They then sent an officer in a launch to the Lady Washington, anchored in Marvinas Bay, to forbid Kendrick to trade in the sound. He acquiesced, stating that he would depart immediately. However, he was still there on July 20, on which date he bought from Maquinna and the other chiefs, for ten muskets, a piece of land 9 miles square. As this is the first transaction in land of which we have any record I give a copy of the instrument of conveyance. Meares, it is true, alleged that he, in 1788, had purchased land from the native chiefs, but his allegation may be doubted; certain it is that he never produced any document to support his statement. The Spaniards also claimed that they had received from Maquinna a cession of the land on which their village at Friendly Cove was built; and on August 27, 1791, Malaspina records that this chief " ratified the cession of land previously made for the present settlement."2 Only a little over a month before Malaspina's visit Kendrick had obtained from Maquinna the following document:— To all persons to whom these presents shall come: I, Macquinnah the chief, and with my other chiefs, do send greeting: Know ye that I, Macquinnah, of Nootka sound, on the north-west coast of America, for and in consideration of ten muskets, do grant and sell unto John Kendrick, of Boston, commonwealth of Massachusetts, in North America, a certain harbor in said Nootka sound, called Chastacktoos, in which the brigantine Lady Washington lay at anchor on the twentieth day of July, 1791, with with [sic] all the land, rivers, creeks, harbors, islands, etc., within nine miles north, east, west and south of said harbor, with all the produce of both sea and land appertaining thereto; only the said John Kendrick does grant and allow the said Macquinnah to live and fish on the said territory as usual. And by these presents does grant and sell to the said John Kendrick, his heirs, executors and administrators, all the abovementioned territory, known by the Indian name Chastacktoos, but now by the name of Safe Retreat harbor; and also do grant and sell to the said John Kendrick, his heirs, executors and administrators, a free passage through all the rivers and passages, with all the outlets which lead to and from the said Nootka sound, of which, by the signing these presents, I have delivered unto the said John Kendrick. Signed with my own hand and the other chiefs', and bearing even date, to have and to hold the said premises &c, to him, the said John Kendrick, his heirs, executors, and administrators, from (2) Translation of La Vuelta al Mundo (Malaspina's Voyage), Madrid, 1885, p. 194. According to Ingraham's MS. Journal of the Hope, September, 1792, the Indian Chief, Maquinna, about that date executed a deed to the Spaniards. 1939 An Early Colonization Scheme in British Columbia. 53 henceforth and forever, as his property absolutely, without any other consideration whatever. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and the hands of my other chiefs, this twentieth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one. MACQUINNAH, his X mark (L.S.) WARCLASMAN, his X mark (L.S.) HANNOPY, his X mark (L.S.) CLOPHANANISH, his X mark (L.S.) TARTOOCHTHEEATTICUS, his X mark (L.S.) CLACKOEENER, his X mark (L.S.) Signed, sealed and delivered in preseni John Stoddard. John Redman. Thomas Foster. William Bowles. Florence McCarthy. John Porter. James Crawford. Robert Green. John Barber. A true copy from the original deed. !Of— Attest: J. Howel.8 It would be interesting to ascertain who drew the document. Its language plainly shows that the author had not legal training, and yet its terminology suggests he was some one who had been in touch with legal phraseology. Kendrick had scarcely the necessary education, if we may judge from the few samples of his composition that now remain. It may have been the first witness, John Stoddard, who was the captain's clerk. Of the other witnesses, Redman was second officer; Foster, the carpenter; Bowles, the sail-maker; Porter, the carpenter's mate; Crawford, the gunner; Green, the cooper; and Barber, the (3) Senate Document, 32d Congress, 1st Session, Rep. Com., No. 335 (1852), p. 20. Copies of the other deeds mentioned later in this article will be found in that document. The descriptive parts of these deeds are also in House of Representatives, Doc. No. 43, 26th Congress, 1st Session, 1840. There is no reason to believe that the Indian signatories to the deeds were not actual persons. Maquinna is well known to history, and references to several of the other chiefs are found in contemporary voyages and journals, though the spelling of the names varies greatly. Vancouver, for example, mentions having been "visited by Maquinna, Clewpenaloo, Annapee, and other chiefs," and refers a few sentences later to Tahtoochseeatticus. (A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean . . ., London, 1798, II., pp. 254-255.) 54 F. W. HOWAY. January blacksmith. As to Florence McCarthy, neither sex nor occupation is known to me. Nor can I make a sure and safe identification of " Safe Retreat harbor." So far as I know, the name is not used by any other trader. It is probably Marvinas Bay, but then the Indian name given in the deed does not correspond, for it was called by them Mawina, and Haswell in his First Log gives it as Mawenah. Ingraham in his MS. Journal of the Hope, September, 1792, states that Maquinna acknowledges Captain Kendrick to be the proprietor of lands round Mahwinna. In leaving Nootka Sound Kendrick resolved to take the route by Tashis Arm and Canal, which he knew would lead to Esperanza Inlet. That passage had been discovered in 1789 by John Kendrick, but whether himself or his son is not certainly known. Perhaps he feared that the Lady Washington might be seized by the Spaniards or, it may be, that he wished to avoid being called to account for the $8,000 owing by him to Martinez for the skins he had sold in China.4 On his way out Kendrick went in for land purchases on a wholesale scale. On August 2, 1791, the Lady Washington lay at anchor in " New Chatleck called by the natives Hoot-see-ess, but now called Port Montgomery." By a deed dated August 5, 1791, Kendrick purchased the harbour which, says the deed, " is situated in latitude 49° 46' north and longitude 127° 02' west, on the south side of the sound of Ahasset, and now called Massachusetts sound, being a territorial distance of eighteen miles square, of which the harbor of Hoot-see-ess alias Port Montgomery is the centre, with all the lands, mines, minerals, rivers, bays, sounds, harbors, creeks and islands, with all the produce of both sea and land appertaining thereto." The deed was signed by Tarassom and three other chiefs, and witnessed by eleven persons, including seven of those who had witnessed the deed from Maquinna. The consideration was " two muskets, a boat's sail, and a quantity of powder." Captain Walbran suggested in his British Columbia Coast Names that this purchase was of land at Ahousat of to-day. But this is plainly an error. There is no difficulty in identifying New Chatleck with Nuchalitz, now an inlet near Esperanza Inlet; and Kendrick tells us that Ahasset Sound was renamed Massachusetts Sound, while Ingraham's map shows Massachusetts (4) See Oregon Historical Quarterly, XXX. (1929), pp. 97, 104. 1939 An Early Colonization Scheme in British Columbia. 55 Sound to be Esperanza Inlet. It is more difficult to identify Hoot-see-ess or Port Montgomery. The substituted name is not used by any other trader, though the Americans named at least one other Port Montgomery. Hoot-see-ess, so far as I know, rarely appears; though Captain Barkley's son mentions it in a letter which will appear in the next issue of the Oregon Historical Quarterly. Timidly I would identify it as the Indian village now known as Owassitsa, on the south side of the entrance of Esperanza Inlet. Then the Lady Washington moved to the north side of Esperanza Inlet, and on August 5, 1791, was at anchor in " a certain harbor in said Ahasset, called by the natives Chenerkintau, . . . which is situated in latitude 49° 50' north, and longitude 127° 08' west, on the north side of the sound of Ahasset." By a deed dated that day Kendrick obtained " a territorial distance of eighteen miles square, of which the harbor of Chenerkintau is the centre, with all the lands, mines, minerals, rivers, bays, harbors, sounds, creeks, and all islands, with all the produce of both land and sea." The document was signed by Norry-Youk, the chief of Ahasset, and three minor chiefs, and witnessed by eight of the Lady Washington's crew. The consideration was " six muskets, a boat's sail, a quantity of powder and an American flag." With great trepidation I would identify Chenerkintau as the Indian village Cheninkint, on Queen's Cove, Port Elisa, Esperanza Inlet. On August 6, 1791, Kendrick obtained a deed from Caarshu- cornook, the chief at Tashis, and Hannopy, a minor chief who was one of the signatories of Maquinna's deed, granting " in consideration of two muskets and a quantity of powder," the head of Nootka Sound, called by the natives Tashees, being a territorial distance on an east and west line from the mouth of the straits which lead to Ahasset sound, now called Massachusetts sound, with the land nine miles round said Tashees,. together with all mines, minerals, rivers, bays, sounds, creeks, harbors, and all islands, with the produce of both land and sea appertaining thereto. It seems impossible that Kendrick could have sailed the Lady Washington from Port Elisa to Tashis in the twenty-four hours that intervened between the earlier deed and this one. Hence I conclude that he made the voyage in the brig's boat, unless there is some mistake in the dates. 56 F. W. Howay. January The Lady Washington sailed from Esperanza Inlet to Clayo- quot Sound, and there Kendrick completed his purchases by buying for " four muskets, a large sail, and a quantity of powder, (they being articles which we at present stand in need of, and are of great value,)" from Wickananish and five subordinate chiefs a territorial distance of eighteen miles north, eighteen miles south, eighteen miles east, and eighteen miles west of the village called by the natives Opisita, which village is to be the centre of the said territorial distance, with all mines, minerals, rivers, bays, sounds, harbors, creeks, &c., and all the islands, with both the produce of land and sea within" the limits of said territorial distance. Opisita being the centre is situated in latitude 49° 10' north, and longitude 126° 02' west from the meridian of London. The four deeds last mentioned bear a general similarity to that signed by Maquinna and reproduced above, except that they do not contain the clause permitting the Indians " to live and fish on the said territory as usual." It will be observed that in each case the deed is taken to John Kendrick and not to his owners as his instructions required; but Kendrick, from the moment that Boston sank below the horizon in 1787, paid little attention to his employers' rights or instructions. Each deed is certified as a true copy by John Howel, who from 1793 till Ken- drick's death in December, 1794, was continually with him and appears to have been a sort of confidential adviser. It is claimed that there was another deed covering land as far south as the Chehalis River, but of that there is no evidence; moreover, Kendrick never traded nor ever was south of the Straits of Juan de Fuca. How this claim originated is not known, for Kendrick in writing to Barrell, March 28, 1792, after reaching China, said: " In my last voyage I purchased of the natives five tracts of land and copies of the deeds which were signed shall be sent to you the first opportunity."6 Howel, who was by no means a reliable man, retained the originals, but Kendrick sent on March 1, 1793, the attested copies to Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State of the United States. The five deeds in their vague way cover 72 miles square, or 5,184 square miles, though Barrell stated that they covered 240 miles square or 57,600 (5) Oregon Historical Quarterly, XXX. (1929), p. 97; Yet in the letter of March 1, 1793, transmitting copies to the Secretary of State, Kendrick claims the land as his own. See House of Rep., Doc. No. 43, 26th Congress, 1st Session (1840). p. 8. 1939 An Early Colonization Scheme in British Columbia. 57 square miles. The original deeds were never handed over by Howel, but they were not by any means the only things belonging to others that, having got into his possession, could never be obtained. The venture of the Columbia and Lady Washington, like many another pioneering effort, did not prove a financial success. In fact, so far as Kendrick's operations in the Lady Washington were concerned he never rendered his owners an account nor ever remitted them a nickel on their investment. So, too, the Columbia's part of the business had not brought a profit. In consequence, Barrell and his associates were most anxious to salvage something out of the great area of land which Kendrick had bought for a few muskets and powder and sails and an American flag. Though they could not obtain the deeds from Howel, who always had some dilatory excuse for not sending them, they kept up the correspondence with him. In one of his letters dated May 11,1795, Howel wrote :— The deeds of the Land purchased on the N.W. Coast, are in my possession. I shall leave them here [Canton] to be forwarded by the first vessel of the season for Boston. If you knew the lands as well as I do, you would not be very anxious about the fate of them. Outside of his promise to send on the deeds the above extract is quite true. The lands were valueless. On December 23,1796, Howel wrote again to Barrell. In that letter he said:— I have had an opportunity of seeing most parts of Capt. Kendrick's purchases on the No. Wt. Coast of America; and cannot flatter you with any hopes of profit from them even to your great, great grandchildren. They cost but little it is true; and when the Millenium shall come and all the nations of the earth shall be at peace, your Posterity may, perhaps, settle But before Barrell received either of the above letters he had entered into correspondence with Colburn Barrell, in London, telling him he had upwards of six million acres of land on the northwest coast of America for sale; better land and better climate, he said, than Kentucky. How he came by these ideas of area, quality of soil, and climate it is difficult to surmise. Kendrick's letter notifying Barrell of the purchases is dated March 28, 1792. It shows that he reached Macao on December (6) The letters from which the two quotations above are taken will be found in Oregon Historical Quarterly, XXX. (1929), pp. 99 ff. 58 F. W. Howay. January 7, 1791; and we know that he spoke of his deeds and showed them to almost any and every person. But it took him three months and a half after his arrival in China to make the fact known to his employers. When the quotation already given from that letter is examined it will be seen that he does not categorically say that he purchased the land for them. In transmitting the attested copies to Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State, on March 1, 1793, Kendrick uses language that would make it appear that he had bought on his own personal account. He speaks of the land as having " been conveyed to me and my heirs forever by the resident chiefs of those districts "; later he says: " I know not what measures are necessary to be taken to secure the property of these purchases to me, and the government thereof to the United States"; again: "My claim to those territories has been allowed by the Spanish crown, for the purchases I made at Nootka were expressly excepted in a deed of conveyance executed in September last to El Senor Don Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, in behalf of his Catholic Majesty, by Maquinnah and the other chiefs of his tribe to whom those lands belonged "; and yet again: " When I made these purchases I did it under an impression that it would receive the sanction of the United States, and that should an act of the legislature be necessary to secure them to me, I should find no difficulty in obtaining it." It is difficult to square these quotations with any recognition of the rights of his employers in the land. However Kendrick sent the letter saying that he had made the purchases to Barrell by the Fairy, a fast-sailing snow which probably reached Boston in early July, 1792. Her master, William Rogers, and her second officer, Mr. Treat, were well acquainted with the Northwest Coast, and it is possible that from them he obtained his inflated idea of the enormous area of land: 240 miles square, larger than England. It seems clear that he did not realize that the land was in five disconnected pieces: one at Marvinas Bay; one on the north side and another on the south side of Esperanza Inlet; one at Tashis; and one at Opitsat, Clayoquot Sound. He speaks of them as though they were a continuous, unified property. For example in a letter to Col- burn Barrell, on June 18, 1795, he writes:— 1939 An Early Colonization Scheme in British Columbia. 59 The deeds of these lands are yet in China, where I understand they are registered in the office of the American consul. They are from the chief of the country and contain all the authority that could be given of four degrees of latitude, or two hundred and forty miles square. This tract was purchased by Captain John Kendrick for the owners of the ship Columbia and sloop Washington, the first American vessels that ever went round the world.7 Plainly when Barrell wrote this he did not know the contents of Kendrick's letter to the Secretary of State, already quoted, nor did he have at that time John Howel's letter of May 11, 1795, mentioned earlier in this article. He was in complete ignorance of the claim that Kendrick had made to personal ownership, and equally ignorant of the nature and location of the various pieces. The exaggerated ideas of the area of the land is well shown by the concluding words of Document No. 43, House of Representatives, 26th Congress, 1st Session, 1840. There, after giving the size of the land at Marvinas Bay as 18 miles square; that on the north side of Esperanza Inlet as 18 miles square; that on the south side of the same inlet as 18 miles square; that at Tashis as a circle 18 miles in diameter; and that at Opitsat as 36 miles square, the document continues:— The company's territory embraced all Quadra's (Vancouver) Island not sold to Kendrick or the king of Spain, and likewise the possessions of Tatooche and other chiefs on the coast, extending as far south as the 47th parallel of latitude. These lands, embracing about four degrees of latitude, are bounded on the east by the whole extent of the westerly shores of the northern and southern arms of De Fuca's straits. Such language is surprising, even after all allowances for the vagueness of the descriptions in the deeds are made, for it shows a lamentable ignorance of the size of Vancouver Island and of its geography and that of the neighbouring coast. However, with the belief that the five purchases made a compact tract of 240 miles square and that the title was good, even though the deeds were not in his possession, and in blissful ignorance of Kendrick's claim to personal ownership, Barrell, through the firm of Barrell & Servante, issued in 1795 a circular in four European languages: English, French, German, and Swedish, inviting the public of those countries to invest in these lands and settle them. Frequent references to this document are to be found: for example, in Greenhow's Memoir on the Northwest 60 F. W. HOWAY. January Coast of North America, Washington, 1840, p. 121; Greenhow's History of Oregon, London, 1844, p. 229; and in Senate Document, Report of Committee No. 335, 32d Congress, 1st Session, 1850. These references contain some quotations from it, but the circular as a whole has, it is believed, never been published. This year I came across the complete circular and its annexes in the Library of the Massachusetts Historical Society. It is an unique publication, full of glittering generalities and expressions that have the savour of Rousseau and the French Revolution. Its reference to the Land of Goshen which it pictured was as vague as, or even more vague than, the deeds themselves. The reader has nothing to guide him and can place it in any part of the Northwest Coast that suits his particular fancy. The complete document and its annexes follow:— TO THE INHABITANTS OF EUROPE. The Era of Reason is now dawning upon Mankind, and the restraints on mens laudable endeavours to be useful will cease; The Agents for the Sale of American Lands, therefore take this method of informing all classes of Men in Europe, that by application at their Office No. 24, Threadneedle- Street London, they may meet objects worthy of their serious attention. That such as wish to hold Lands (though aliens) in America, may purchase to any amount, on very low terms, and a perfectly secure Tenure. That such who wish to reside in that Country, may be accommodated with most eligible Estates of all descriptions. That such as are inclined to hold Lands in association, and improve them by reasonable Tenantry, may accomplish their desire. That such whose means are restrained to narrow limits, may become perpetual Lease-holders on very reasonable terms, with the privilege of purchasing the Free-hold at certain limited prices within the first Ten Years. That such as would assist their still poorer Neighbours, may have a Freehold Estate granted them in proportion to the number of Tenants they may be the means of placing on such Tracts of Land, as may be appropriated for the purpose. 1939 An Early Colonization Scheme in British Columbia. 61 That individuals who chuse may have such portions of Lease-hold Lands, with the abovementioned option, as they can undertake to manage. That such as may be inclined to associate for settling a Commonwealth on their own Code of Laws, on a spot of the Globe no where surpassed in delightful and healthy Climate and fertile Soil;—claimed by no civilized Nation and purchased under a sacred treaty of Peace and Commerce and for a valuable consideration of the friendly Natives, may have the best opportunity of trying the result of such an Enterprise* and Finally, That Men under the guidance of rationality, in every rank, may have opportunities of becoming essentially useful to their Neighbours while they proportionably mend their own condition. Such, and such only, as are in earnest, are requested to make their applications (free of Charge) to the Agents, and they will be duly attended to. * In consequent of an Expedition fitted out at Boston North America in the Year 1787, Capt. J. Kendrick, while prosecuting an advantageous Voyage with the Natives for furs, purchased of them for the owners, a tract of delightful Country, comprehending 4 degrees of latitude, or 240 miles square. The Deeds are at present in China, and registered in the Office of the American Consul, and the Agents are authorized to treat with any Gentleman, or Association, for the purchase of a tract of Land, no where exceeded for fertility and Climate, and which may by a prudent management of some wise Institution become of the utmost importance. The benevolent Mr. WADSTROM, in his ingenious publication concerning the Principles of true Colonization, has taken some notice of this Expedition, and favored his readers with the annexed plate. AMERICAN AGENCY OFFICE. No. 24, Threadneedle-Street, SIR We entreat you will have the goodness to excuse the liberty we now take in this transmission of a general Notice of the Advantages derivable in our Office to all such Persons as incline to hold Lands, improve them in various ways, or reside upon them in North America. Should the Public Printers think proper to circulate them in their Newspapers, it will be taken very kind, and if you will be pleased to use such means as are most convenient for disseminating said Notice, you will besides promoting a public good, confer a great obligation on SIR Your most Obedient humble Servants, THE AGENTS. I 62 F. W. HOWAY. January London 18 August 1795 Sir At the instance of Friends we take the liberty of addressing this Circular to your house. We are very respectfully Sir Your most Ob't Serv'ts Barrell & Servante The appeal to the inhabitants of Europe and the agents' letter are printed; but the letter from Barrell & Servante is in handwriting. No fish were caught by this glittering bait of a distant, vague Utopia; whether there were any bites as a reward of the angling is not known. If there were it would be pretty safe to assume that as soon as the locality of the eighteenth-century Land of Promise was known the " prospect" lost his interest. We cannot but wonder how a cool-headed, far-seeing, fact-facing man like Joseph Barrell could have brought himself to believe that such an appeal and such a scheme would attract settlers, especially as in January, 1793, he had written to Kendrick concerning these lands: " At present they appear to be of little value, but in some future time they may possibly be worth possessing." Why should any one pass by the practically unoccupied region west of the Alleghanies to make a home on the unknown Northwest Coast which had only just emerged to view and was a land of wonders where the credulous might expect to find almost any kind of strange creature or creation? Nothing came of the effort. No one was interested. The scheme was stillborn. Before Barrell issued this unique circular Kendrick had been accidentally killed, on December 12, 1794, in Honolulu Harbour. His heirs never brought forward his personal claim in opposition to that of the owners, Barrell and his associates. John Kendrick, the captain's eldest son, who had been on the coast in the Spanish service for years, must have known how chimerical it was to think that those lands would have any real value for a century to come. To conclude. Though the absurd colonization dream had vanished, the heirs of the owners and of Kendrick joined in bombarding Congress with petitions in 1838 and 1840 to confirm their title, or to make them some grant of equivalent value. 1939 An Early Colonization Scheme in British Columbia. 63 Finally, in 1852, these heirs and the widow of Captain Robert Gray, the discoverer of the Columbia River, joined in another petition for the recognition and confirmation of the land grants or some other form of recompense. In the interval the boundary- line had been drawn by the Treaty of Washington, 1846, whereby Vancouver Island, upon which the Ave grants were located, became a British possession. The committee to whom the petition was referred made a lengthy report, No. 335, which has been frequently cited in this paper. In it they stressed the discovery of the Columbia, the pioneer trading voyage from Boston, and the land grants, and recommended a Bill whereby the heirs of the owners and the captains be given five sections of land in Oregon for each interest. Whether such a Bill was passed I am unable to state. In conclusion I may say that the report is filled with inaccuracies and cannot be relied upon in its so-called facts; and the only use that has been made of it in this paper is to quote from the letters that are contained in or appended to it. F. W. Howay. New Westminster, B.C. NOTES AND COMMENTS. Contributors to this Issue. Dr. Walter N. Sage is Head of the Department of History at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Barrie H. E. Goult, B.A., was for some years editor of the Nanaimo Free Press, and has made a special study of the pioneer days of that city. Dr. T. A. Rickard, author of Man and Metals and many other books, is an authority upon the use of metals by primitive man. Judge F. W. Howay is recognized as the leading authority upon the maritime fur trade on the Northwest Coast. His latest book, The Voyage of the New Hazard, is reviewed in this issue of the Quarterly. Clarence L. Andrews is the author of The Story of Alaska, the standard history of the territory, which recently appeared in a revised and enlarged edition. Dr. Diamond Jenness, author of The Indians of Canada, is Chief of the Division of Anthropology of the National Museum of Canada, Ottawa. The Steamship " Abyssinia." An interesting description of the Abyssinia, the pioneer steamer of the Canadian Pacific service from British Columbia to the Orient, has been received from J. E. Macrae, of New York City. Mr. Macrae joined the Abyssinia as Purser at Vancouver in August, 1888, and served in her until August, 1890, when he was ordered to England to join the new Empress of India, the first of the Empress liners to be completed. The Empress of India arrived at Vancouver on her maiden voyage in April, 1891, and Mr. Macrae was her Purser until August, 1894, when he joined the firm of Dodwell & Company, of Hong Kong. His description of the Abyssinia follows:— " She was a steamer of about 3,500 tons, of the spar deck type, that is to say, her upper deck ran flush from stem to stern, surrounded by an open rail. There was a small steering-engine house under the bridge, and a long house further aft, which contained a deck cabin for the Captain, the chart house, a small drawing room and.a smoking room, and the stairs leading below to the dining room. This was very different from to-day's conception of that apartment. It ran from the foot of the stairs to the stern of the ship, a long narrow room, the table nearly its entire length, and benches with reversible hinged backs on each side of it. The Captain, who sat at the end of the table, was the only one who had a chair. From each side of the dining room the sleeping cabins opened, and at the extreme after end five large ports looked out astern, but could be opened only in the finest weather. A long skylight was over the table and underneath this were racks for holding bottles and glasses, and also the oil lamps which made the room quite cheerful after dark. There was no electric light—few ships had 66 Notes and Comments. January it at that time—and no electric bells. If you wanted a steward you put your head out of the door and yelled " Boy " when one of the soft-footed Chinese stewards would appear to answer your summons. There was no running water, no refrigeration, no steam heat. Somewhere towards the bows was an ice room which carried a certain amount of fresh meat, but the main reliance was placed on the live stock which was carried on deck. Along the upper deck, amidships, were pens for sheep and fowl of all kinds, chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, etc. Once in a while these would be swept away in bad weather, and then the steward would have to make the best of it with the contents of the ice room and such canned goods as were on hand. " The engines had originally consisted of two cylinders of the same size, of the old-fashioned inverted type, but some genius had added two smaller cylinders on top of these so as to make it into a compound engine. She was capable of twelve and a half knots at sea, a fair average for those days. Three tall masts gave her a spread of canvas, the two forward masts having cross-yards with square sails. These sails were set in fine weather when the wind was favourable to help the ship along. They may have eased the engines, but certainly did little to increase the speed of the ship. " There was accommodation for thirty or forty first-class passengers which, while fairly comfortable, would hardly draw any passengers to-day. Forward and on the deck below was accommodation for an undetermined number of Chinese passengers. Occasionally there would be as many as five or six hundred, and if there were less, the space was given over to cargo, and the berths temporarily removed. She was low in the water and in bad weather seas would break over the upper deck, making it impossible for passengers to remain outside. There was no shelter at all, either for the passengers or for the unfortunate officers on the bridge. They had to keep their watch in their oilskins and the man at the wheel was in the open. That was a carry-over from the days of the sailing ship; it was not considered good for the men on deck to have any shelter from the weather, and how they kept their watch on some of the cold and stormy nights in winter is a mystery. In winter the ship rolled and pitched her weary way across the stormy North Pacific, and it was a relief to get on the coast of Japan and China, where the weather was usually milder and less stormy. In her way she was a good sea boat, but what a difference there is to-day in the great modern liners with so many comforts and conveniences, and where the watch is kept on a bridge which is high and dry and out of the wet, and where the passengers may stay on deck in shelter even in the worst of weather." Mr. Macrae adds that while in the Abyssinia he crossed and recrossed the Pacific " in fine weather and bad, in gales, typhoon and fogs, but on the whole my recollection of these voyages is a very happy one."* Notes and Comments. British Columbia Historical A The annual meeting of the Association was held in the Provincial Library, Victoria, on Friday evening, November 18. The large number of members who attended greatly enjoyed the presidential address, which was delivered by the retiring President, Dr. W. N. Sage. Dr. Sage's paper, which is printed in this issue of the Quarterly, was entitled From Colony to Province: The Introduction of Responsible Government in British Columbia, and his illuminating and amusing account of the transition from the old Crown Colony form of government to the first Provincial administration was greatly appreciated. Reports covering the activities of the past year were presented by the Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer. At the close of the year the paid-up membership of the Association had reached the very satisfactory total of 451, which compares with a total of 414 in 1937. This was divided as follows: Victoria Section 140, Vancouver Section 220, members-at-large 91. The Treasurer reported a balance of $116.40 on hand after the payment of all accounts, including the Association's share of the cost of publishing the Quarterly. It was announced that the election of Officers and Council had resulted in the return of the following slate for 1938-39:— President Dr. J. S. Plaskett. 1st Vice-President Dr. T. A. Rickard. 2nd Vice-President Mr. Kenneth Waites. Honorary Secretary Mrs. M. R. Cree. Honorary Treasurer Mr. E. W. McMullen. Archivist Dr. Robie L. Reid. Members of the Council Mr. J. M. Coady. Rev. J. C. Goodfellow. Judge F. W. Howay. Mr. B. A. McKelvie. Major H. T. Nation. At a meeting of the Council held on the afternoon of November 18 it was resolved unanimously to confer an Honorary Membership upon Dr. Robie Reid, of Vancouver, as a mark of appreciation of his great and untiring interest in the Association, and his unceasing efforts to increase its membership. At the suggestion of Dr. Sage, the Council discussed various ways and means in which the Association might keep i: societies in other Provinces, and the matter w Council for further consideration. The progress of the Quarterly was reported upon in some detail, and the Editor reported that the issues for January and April, 1937, and January, 1938, were out of print, and that only a few copies of the issue for July, 1937, remained on hand. The Editor will be very glad to receive a few copies of these numbers from members who are not planning to preserve 68 Notes and Comments. January their files, as he is in communication with a number of libraries and collectors who are very anxious to complete their sets. Victoria Section. The first meeting of the new season was held in the Provincial Library on September 27, the speaker of the evening being Mr. F. C. Green, Surveyor-General of British Columbia. His subject was Forty Years of Surveying in British Columbia, and his address included interesting references to his predecessors in the office of Surveyor-General, several of whom he had known well personally, and to the changes which had taken place in forty years in both the status and practice of the surveying profession in the Province. Mr. Green concluded his address, which was flavoured with many interesting and amusing personal reminiscences and anecdotes, with a description of the topographical surveys to which his department is now devoting special attention, and an explanation of the many ways in which the resulting topographical maps saved large sums of money and aided the progress of industry and settlement. At the second meeting of the season, which was held on October 14, Dr. T. A. Rickard delivered his presidential address. His paper was entitled The Use of Iron and Copper by the Indians of British Columbia, and consisted of a careful and critical review of the evidence concerning the provenance of the iron and copper found in the possession of the Indians when the first explorers and traders visited the Northwest Coast. Dr. Rickard's paper is printed in this issue of the Quarterly. The annual meeting of the Section took the form of a formal banquet, held at the Empress Hotel on October 26. Detailed reports of the year's activities were presented by the Honorary Secretary, Mrs. M. R. Cree, and the Honorary Treasurer, Miss Madge Wolfenden, as well as by the convenors of most of the standing committees, including Mrs. George Phillips, Necrology; Major H. T. Nation, Mining; Mr. C. C. Pemberton, Historic Features, and Dr. Kaye Lamb, Public was presented by Mr. G. H. Harman. Some time ago the Section decided Council was chosen, and the new plan 7 A ballot bearing the names of twenty cillors were to be elected, was mailed to at the annual meeting that the n lowing persons:— Mrs. M. R. Cree. Dr. E. H. W. Elkington. Dr. Kaye Lamb. Mr. J. B. Munro. Mr. T. W. S. Parsons. Dr. J. S. Plaskett. The report of the auditors change the method by which its used for the first time this year. j, from which twelve Coun- each member, and it was announced j Council would be composed of the fol- Mrs. Curtis Sampson. Mr. L. deS. Duke. Mr. John Goldie. Mr. E. W. McMullen. Major H. T. Nation. Miss Madge Wolfenden. 1939 Notes and Comments. Subsequently the new Council met and elected the following officers:— President _Mr. John Goldie. Vice-President Mr. J. B. Munro. Secretary Mrs. M. R. Cree. Treasurer Miss Madge Wolfenden. Immediately following the toast to the King, a large illuminated and decorated cake was brought in and placed before the President's wife, Mrs. T. A. Rickard, whose birthday happily coincided with the annual meeting, and. Mrs. W. F. Bullen presented Mrs. Rickard with a large bouquet of pink carnations on behalf of the Association, and expressed the good wishes of the Society. No meeting of the Section was held in November, in view of the fact that the annual meeting of the Provincial body was being held in Victoria on the 18th. Vancouver Section. The old Hastings Mill Store, which is maintained as a museum by the Native Daughters, formed an appropriate setting for the second annual meeting of the Vancouver Section, which was held on Monday, October 3, with Dr. W. N. Sage, Provincial President, in the chair. Mr. J. R. V. Dunlop was the unanimous choice for the presidency, succeeding Dr. Robie L. Reid in that office. Other officers for the coming Vice-President Mr. D. A. McGregor. Secretary Miss Helen R. Boutilier. Treasurer Mr. Kenneth A. Waites. Members of the Council:— Mr. J. M. Coady. Mr. E. S. Robinson. Mr. W. C. Ditmars. Dr. W. N. Sage. Mr. J. E. Gibbard. Miss Anne Smith. Miss Thelma Nevard. Mr. G. B. White. Dr. Robie L. Reid. Dr. M. Y. Williams. The annual report of the Secretary showed that four meetings of the Section had been held, and the Treasurer reported a paid-up membership of 216, and a balance of $79.51 to the credit of the Section. Dr. Reid, the retiring president, chose as the subject of his address Captain Evans of Cariboo. This was a companion study to the address on The Welsh Adventurers which was delivered to the Section some time ago. The speaker brought to life one of the " forgotten men " of Cariboo, who ' was before his time in his references to the value of quartz deposits in the Province. A vote of thanks to the retiring executive was proposed by Mr. J. E. Gibbard and extended by Dr. Sage. His Honour Judge Forin was the speaker at the meeting of the Section held in the Hastings Mill Store on Thursday, November 24. The subject of his address was The History of Lode Mining in the Kootenays. The antecedent of the gold-mining industry in British Columbia, Judge Forin stated, I 70 Notes and Comments. January i 1849 in California; and he traced the drift ) British Columbia when the goldfields of Cariboo were discovered. It was when prospectors were seeking for placer gold in the neighborhood of Nelson that the first lode mine was discovered. This was the famous Silver King Mine on Toad Mountain, located in 1886. It was the earliest lode mine for strictly commercial purposes in the Kootenay country, though the silver-lead ore of the Blue Bell Mine was known to the Indians before the location of the Silver King. This is situated on the shore of Kootenay Lake, opposite Ainsworth, and was very productive. A smelter was built at Nelson to treat Silver King ore, and another at Pilot Bay to handle the ore from the Blue Bell. The story of the opening of the Rossland area was told. The mining locations made on Red Mountain, the early name for Rossland, were four in number—the War Eagle, Centre Star, Virginia and LeRoi. Following these locations came the erection of the original smelter at Trail by Auguste Hinze, a well-known Montana operator—a plant which was destined to expand until it became the largest smelter in the British Empire, covering The year in which the first ore was smeltered at Trail—1896—also saw the appointment of the first Judge of the Kootenay District, Judge Forin, who presided for thirty-two years, and has witnessed the marvellous growth of the mining industry in the Kootenays. Jonathan Hoiten Scott. To mark the grave of Jonathan Hoiten Scott a fitting memorial was unveiled on the Sugarloaf Hill, on the Fraser River highlands near Lillooet, on November 11, 1938, in belated recognition of the services he rendered to the placer miners during the first gold rush to Cariboo. J. H. Scott was born in Winchester County, New York State, in 1805. He travelled and lived in some of the southern tobacco-growing states, and finally came to this country and settled on land adjoining the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Berens about eighty years ago. Apparently he neither applied for nor secured title to this land, on which he produced and processed the first tobacco grown commercially on the mainland of British Columbia. The property in question is situated on the second bench east of the Fraser River, opposite the town of Lillooet. For many years the place was known as Parsonville, after Ottis Parsons, who, with his partner, Nelson, operated a freight-forwarding depot at the place in the hectic days of the mining excitement in Cariboo. J. H. Scott never severed his connection with the Lillooet District after locating there, sometime prior to 1860. He found that the land was fertile and that with a little water he could produce the finest of leaf tobacco. He was an experienced tobacco grower and processor, and he not only produced fine leaf but he aged and treated it in the excavated basement which may still be seen near the north boundary of Lot 704, Group 1, Lillooet. His tobacco found a ready sale and brought pleasure and comfort to the miners, whose opportunities for relaxation and enjoyment were limited enough. At the unveiling of the n Murray, M.L.A., spoke of the contributio: as follows:— Following a hard day on the trail or the gravel workings, there was solace in a pipe of this fragrant Lillooet leaf. Through its mellow haze, camp rivalries were forgotten and old feuds dissolved. Some saw through the kindly fog the distant Hebrides, others the leafy lanes of Old England, and still others the good little people dancing over the bogs of Donegal. Southerners recalled cotton fields and manor houses of the Southland as they smoked; the Californian had visions of adobe houses and orange groves; the Mexican as he rested his mule team on the road rolled a smoke from the local blended mixture and back to his memory came the sound of soft guitars in far off Mexico; Chinese with heavy poke of gold from Cayoosh Creek exchanged some of it with Scott for one of the few luxuries the son of Ham permitted himself in this western land. But we do not raise this monument to Jonathan Hoiten Scott because tobacco alone was his product, rather we do so as an honour to all our pioneers of the Lillooet country. Some raised cattle and some grew cereals or fruit, but to this man from the south the growing of leaf tobacco came as second nature. We honour him to-day, 58 years after his death, because he helped to lay the foundations of industry and commerce on the Pacific slope of British North America. The last resting-place of J. H. Scott is 01 western edge of the Parsonville Plain, whei a bronze tablet engraved as follows:— Jonathan Hoiten Scott Born, Winchester Co., New York, 1805 Died Lillooet, B.C., Oct. 18, 1882. Grew and processed first tobacco on mainland of British Columbia between 1858 and 1864 and sold his product to miners during the first Cariboo gold rush. The tablet was engraved and provided by courtesy of the Hon. K. C. MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture of British Columbia. [J. B. Munro.] THE NORTHWEST BOOKSHELF. The Voyage of the New Hazard to the Northwest Coast, Hawaii, and China, 1810-1818. By Stephen Reynolds, a member of the crew, edited by Judge F. W. Howay. Salem: Peabody Museum. 1938. Pp. xxii., 158. Illustrated. $4. The special interest which attaches to this journal of the voyage of the brig New Hazard from Boston to the Northwest Coast, Hawaii, and China, is explained by Judge Howay in the first paragraphs of his interesting introduction to this volume. " It was kept," he tells us, " by Stephen W. Reynolds, then a mere foremast hand, for his own satisfaction, and, although not the official log, it is, so far as is known, the only account now existing of the voyage. Journals of entire voyages from New England to the Northwest Coast are rare. As Reynolds describes one of the few ever made by a Salem vessel, his not too literate narrative seems worth printing. Moreover he describes from the forecastle a type of life which, from the shore a century later, has been over romanticised." Reynolds himself, Judge Howay adds, " appears to have been largely a self-taught man, of marked native ability, with a love of music and the better things of life." He celebrated his twenty-eighth birthday a month after the New Hazard put to sea. Many of his later years were spent in Honolulu, where he was well known as a merchant, trader, harbour master, pilot, and even as a lawyer of sorts. Reynold's journal, which gives a day-to-day memorandum of the events of the voyage as they occurred, is perhaps of more value than the log of the ship or a personal narrative by the Captain, as it records much that the master of the ship might not have cared to have appear in the story. Those facts give a clear insight into the character of some of the men who sailed their ships in those seas in the days of domineering captains, " bucko " mates, and hardy, but sometimes mutinous, seamen. The tale is of the trade in sea-otter and other furs on the Coast, when ships cleared from New England, from British ports, and even from France and Russia, ran south to round Cape Horn, and worked their way northward to the channels of what is to-day known as the Inside Passage. There they bartered in every kind of goods that could be sold to advantage to a denizen of the country. These ships gathered the furs, set sail for Canton, traded for china, silk, and other merchandise of the Orient, and went flying across the Indian Ocean homeward to count their gains. Their dangers were many, their risks were great. They traded behind bulwarks of dried bull-hides purchased in California and stretched around the ship. Shotted cannon were planted in places commanding the deck, with lighted matches alongside for instant use in case of sudden attack. This was not a foolish precaution, The Northwest Bookshelf. 73 for sullen natives, burning with injustices and insults previously received, were watching for an opportunity for vengeance and in hope of plunder, and had to be reckoned with. If a ship stranded on the rocks, where even to-day, in this time of lights and warning signals, steamships meet disaster, the tribesmen flocked from far and near to endeavour to profit by the misfortune and to ply the old trade of beach comber. The trading customs pursued are told with frankness unashamed. It is related: "Thursday, 20 June [1811]. Several canoes came alongside. . . . Sold all shrowton [oolachan-oil] and two slaves: one slave five skins [sea-otter], one, three." Another casual remark is: "Sold a little girl slave for five skins." Under date "Sunday, 23 June" is the entry: " Captain Nye dined with Porter. . . . • Gale flogged Sampson with knots in the rope." A foot-note tells that " Sampson was a seaman, seventeen years of age." With some it has been a source of pride that those were days of " wooden ships and iron men." It would seem to have been necessary that they should be, to endure what sometimes fell to their lot. The format is fine, the plates are admirably reproduced, and the editing is characterized by the judgment and scholarship one has come to expect as a matter of course from Judge Howay. The volume should be most interesting to any one wishing to know the life of the time, of which it undoubtedly gives a correct picture. Clarence L. Andrews. Seattle, Washington. The text of this book runs to some 130 rather closely printed pages, of which the first twenty are introductory in character, outlining the origin of the British Columbia Indians, their tribal divisions, and their geographic and social environment. The main body of the book then divides into two parts, the first treating of the arts and crafts, the dwellings, clothing, and methods of gathering and handling food, the second of social organization and social life, religion, pastimes, music, the potlatch and kindred topics. The coast-line of British Columbia was a region of unusual localization. When contrasting it with other regions of North America we may say that it presented a broadly uniform culture. Actually, however, this culture varied in its details from district to district, even from inlet to inlet. The notion of what constituted personal, family, or clan property was so all- embracing that it sometimes led to different methods of fishing, different ways of erecting houses, different puberty and marriage rites, and even different religious beliefs, within the confines of a single village. So great indeed was the complexity that our knowledge of certain districts is still very contradictory and incomplete. We therefore owe Miss Ravenhill a deep debt of gratitude for her compilation of this valuable source-book. The section on material culture will be especially appreciated by museum workers who have to arrange and display ethnological specimens from I 74 The Northwest Bookshelf. British Columbia. Not that it is entirely free from errors. Thus, contrary to the author's statement (p. 23), pipes were used, though rarely, on the southern coast, and only the Haida and Tlinkit Indians are known to have chewed a tobacco-like plant. Copper, again, was not available in the interior of the Province (p. 29), but came from the White River in Alaska; and sopallaly (from English " soap" and " olalie," a Chinook jargon word for "berry") was not a seaweed (p. 75), but dried amelan- chier berries whipped up with water and eaten usually with fish-oil. A number of mistakes of this character were almost unavoidable, and detract very little from the usefulness of the book as a very convenient source of information on the houses and household utensils, the tools, weapons, and other appliances used along this coast. The later chapters dealing with the political organization, social life, religious beliefs, and secret societies seem a little less satisfactory, because here description has to be accompanied by interpretation, and the author seems not to have fully understood some of the phenomena she describes. Moreover, there is the inescapable tendency to generalize, and ascribe to the whole coast-line phenomena that were restricted to one locality. Thus (p. 100) we read that " Wealth was estimated according to the amount of a man's property which he had out at interest. The manipulation of this wealth involved ideas of capital, a high rate of interest, and conspicuous waste." This statement, which is amplified in the section on the potlatch (Ch. XVIII.), surely applies only to the Kwakiutl in the north of Vancouver Island, and even to them not in the earliest days, but only during the second half of the 19th century. The entire section on the potlatch, indeed, will need extensive revision in the light of two recent papers: Murdock, " Rank and Potlatch among the Haida " (Yale University Publications in Anthropology, No. 13, 1936), and Barnett, "Nature of the Potlatch" (American Anthropologist, July-September, 1938). Nevertheless, the reviewer knows from personal experience how difficult it is for a white person to comprehend the Indian's outlook on society and on life, and if he finds Miss Ravenhill's interpretations of Indian society and religion not always convincing, this in no way lessens his admiration for her diligence and skill in condensing so great an amount of indisputably authentic fact within so short a space. We would congratulate her also on the number and excellence of her D. Jenness. National Museum of Canada, Ottawa. We BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Organized October 31st, 1922. PATRON. His Honour Eric W. Hamber, Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. OFFICERS, 1938-39. Hon. G. M. Weir - Honorary President. J. S. Plaskett President T. A. Rickard 1st Vice-President. Kenneth A. Waites - - - -2nd Vice-President. E. W. McMullen ... - Honorary Treasurer. MURIEL R. CREE ----- Honorary Secretary. Robie L. Reid Archivist. MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. F. W. Howay J. M. Coady H. T. Nation J. C. Goodfellow B. A. McKelvie John Golde (Victoria Section). J. R. V. Dunlop (Vancouver Section). OBJECTS. To encourage historical research and stimulate public interest in history; to promote the preservation and marking of historic sites, buildings, relics, natural features, and other objects and places of historical interest, and to publish historical sketches, studies, and documents. MEMBERSHIP. Ordinary members pay a fee of $2 annually in advance. The fiscal year commences on the first day of October. All members in good standing receive the British Columbia Historical Quarterly without further charge. All correspondence and fees should be addressed in care of the Secretary, Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. THE BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY APRIL, 1939 We BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Published by the Archives of British Columbia in co-operation with the British Columbia Historical Association. EDITOR. W. Kaye Lamb. ADVISORY BOARD. J. C. Goodfellow, Princeton. F. W. Howay, New Westminster. Robie L. Reid, Vancouver. T. A. Rickard, Victoria. W. N. Sage, Vancouver. Editorial communications should be addressed to the Editor, Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. .-Subscriptions should be sent to the Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. Price, 50c. the copy, or $2 the year. Members of the British Columbia Historical Association in good standing receive the Quarterly without further charge. Neither the Provincial Archives nor the British Columbia Historical Association assumes any responsibility for statements made by contributors to the magazine. We BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Victoria, B.C., April, 1939. CONTENTS. Articles: Page. Hudson's Bay Company Lands on the Mainland of British Columbia. 1858-1861. By F. W. Laing 75 The Negro Immigration into Vancouver Island in 1858. By F. W. Howay 101 Captain St. Paul of Kamloops. By George D. Brown, Jr., and W. Kaye Lamb 115 Notes and Comments: Contributors to this Issue 129 British Columbia Historical Association 129 Similkameen Historical Association 132 The Northwest Bookshelf: The Relations of Canada and the United States. Review article by W. N. Sage 135 Journal of Occurrences in the Athabasca Department by George Simpson. By F. W. Howay . 143 Jacobs: Winning Oregon. By Hunter Miller 146 HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY LANDS ON THE MAINLAND OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 1858-1861. Consequent upon the influx in 1858 of miners and other settlers attracted by the discovery of gold on the Fraser River and its tributaries, great changes became necessary in the administration of the affairs of the territory now comprising the mainland of British Columbia. Up to that time there had been only one recognized authority in the whole vast area—the Hudson's Bay Company—which had established numerous posts at strategic points for carrying on trade with the Indians. At these posts the Company had occupied land for fort sites, for the production of crops, and for pasturage of the large number of horses used in transporting supplies and furs. In so doing, the Company was only exercising a privilege which it had enjoyed ever since it secured its original charter in 1670. It was naturally assumed that its right of trade with the Indians carried with it the right to appropriate such lands as were found necessary for the efficient conduct of its trading operations. When the gold rush commenced, however, all this was changed; and it soon became necessary to provide for the public administration of the affairs of the new settlers and, incidentally, to determine the respective rights to land of these newcomers and the Hudson's Bay Company. As a first step toward this end, the Imperial Parliament passed in August, 1858, An Act to Provide for the Government of British Columbia, as the new Crown Colony was called. Under authority of that Act the licence of the Hudson's Bay Company to carry on exclusive trade with the Indians was revoked on September 2, and on October 12 the Company, through its Deputy Governor, H. H. Berens, addressed a communication to Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Secretary of State for the Colonies, bringing to the attention of Her Majesty's Government the whole question of the possessions of the Hudson's Bay Company in British Columbia. As this communication outlines the basis of the claims of the Company to the extensive areas to which it desired to secure title, it is worthy of quotation in full. 75 76 F. W. Laing. April Hudson's Bay House London October 12th 1858 Sir I now avail myself of your permission to address Her Majesty's Government upon the subject of the possessions of the Hudson's Bay Company around their forts in British Columbia which were occupied by them long before the influx of miners into that district. Up to the period of the Treaty between this Country and the United States in 1846, the Hudson's Bay Company carried on their trade and intercourse throughout the Interior of that vast Continent by way of the Columbia River. When however the Country South of the 49th parallel of Latitude and consequently both the shores of the Columbia River, were ceded to the United States, the Company foresaw that difficulties might arise and expences be incurred by navigating the waters of a Foreign Power, although the Free Navigation was confirmed to them; they therefore endeavoured to find another route through British Territory, and commenced their operations of Discovery from Fort Langley, a post on Fraser's River, which had long previously been established. After much trouble danger, and expence they completed their exploration by the route of Fraser's River which has since been adopted as the way of communication throughout the Interior of the Country, and to Hudson's Bay. As all communication was carried on by small boats, and horses, it became necessary to establish relays of Posts where the Brigade could find provisions and Supplies, and further, where the large Bands of Horses could be foddered and pastured. The Officers of the Company fixed therefore upon those spots which were most convenient for their purpose, and in order to render each Post as far as possible self supporting and independent of imported provisions a certain quantity of land was squatted upon for the purpose of raising potatoes and grain, and also for pasturing and foddering the Cattle. The Company did not fence off this land as there were no neighbours to fence against, but now that so large an influx of strangers is taking place, of a class proverbially unscrupulous it becomes necessary to guard against the infringement of the Company's property, and I would request Her Majesty's Government, through your kind intervention, to instruct Governor Douglas that he should take a liberal view of these possessions, and define their extent, taking as his basis the land occupied and pastured by the cattle of the Company before the influx of miners into that Country. The Company possess the same title to these lands that they do to those in Oregon, which title has-been fully recognized by Her Majesty's Government, and by the Government of the United States by the Treaty of 1846, and which will of course be recognized in the present instance. I have, &c, 1939 Hudson's Bay Lands on the Mainland. 77 The request of the Company was duly referred by the Colonial Secretary to Governor Douglas in a dispatch dated November 16, 1858, which instructed the Governor to report upon the character and extent of the lands involved and stated, in brief, the principles upon which the British Government proposed to deal with the Company's claims. " I am not prepared at this moment," Lytton wrote, " to return a definite answer to the request of the Company, as I am wholly without information as to the extent of Territory which would be included in their claim, and the relation which in parts of British Columbia it may bear to the Gold Fields. I further am prepared to draw a considerable distinction between land which has been subjected to cultivation or has involved outlay on the part of the Company, or is necessary to the maintenance of their existing Stock or establishment, and land which has served the more occasional purpose of affording pasturage to herds or beasts of burden. " You will therefore at your earliest convenience be good enough to inform me as accurately as you can of the extent and character of the land claimed by the Hudson's Bay Company around their Forts, adding at the same time any suggestions which your experience and local knowledge may enable you to furnish. " Meanwhile you will understand that it is the wish of Her Majesty's Government to take a liberal view of the claims of the Company, consistently, of course with what is due to the public interests of the Colony, and that wherever a fair title to property can be made out by them, Her Majesty's Government are ready to afford their support and countenance for the protection of that property."i A copy of this dispatch was sent to H. H. Berens, who in the interval had advanced from the post of Deputy Governor to that of Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, by Lord Carnarvon, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, who, on behalf of Lytton, asked for " any further details as to the nature and character of the possessions thus claimed " which the Company had available. In reply Berens stated that the Company had no such information, but that no time would be lost in referring the matter to the Company's officers in British Columbia in order to secure the details desired.2 (1) Lytton to Douglas, November 16,1858. (Archives of B.C.) (2) Berens to Lytton, December 1, 1858. Hudson's Bay Company correspondence with the Colonial Office, Vol. 728, p. 12 (original in the Public Record Office, London; here quoted from Record Office Transcripts in Archives of B.C.). The series is cited hereafter as " H.B.C. Correspond- 78 F. W. Laing. April Meanwhile the whole question of the Company's lands in the new Crown Colony had been the subject of correspondence between the Hudson's Bay Chief Factors at Victoria, John Work and Dugald Mactavish, and the Governor of British Columbia. Whether or not the Chief Factors were acting in response to instructions or a suggestion from London does not appear, but on November 24,1858, they forwarded to Douglas the following communication, which is of particular interest because it embodies the earliest tabulated list of lands claimed by the Company which has so far come to light.8 Fort Victoria Vancouver's Island 24 November 1858 His Excellency James Douglas Esquire Governor of British Columbia &c &c &c Sir We beg to call your Excellency's attention to the following list of claims to land in British Columbia—which we consider as belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company—and trust that their title to the same will eventually be confirmed by Her Majesty's Govern- No 1 Old Fort Langley. 2 New Fort Langley and adjacent farms. 3 Point at the Forks of Smess River. 4 Point at the Forks of Harrison's River. 5 Fort Hope—with cleared land adjoining—especially block No 1 on official map of the town—which encroaches on the Fort. 6 Fort Yale—portion marked " reserve " and block XVII on official map of the town. 7 Fort Dallas. 8 Fort at Kamloops known as Thompson's River with lands adjacent. 9 Fort Douglas. 10 Fort Shepherd on the Columbia River with adjoining lands. 11 Fort in the Kootanais Country if North of the 49 Parallel. 12 The various posts in New Caledonia belonging to the Com pany—and other points along the route from Fort Hope to Thompson's River and New Caledonia—not permanently Occupied—but improved by the sowing of (3) Original letter in Archives of B.C. 1939 Hudson's Bay Lands on the Mainland. 79 No 13 Fort Simpson with lands adjoining. 14 Fort McLoughlin. Your Excellency is no doubt aware, that we are unable at present, more particularly to define the limits of the Company's claims, but we hope the f explicit for the authorities to act upon, x of the whole. We have the honour to be Sir Your Excellency's Most obedient Servants John Work Dugald Mactavish Chief Factors—Hudson's Bay Company. A fortnight later, on December 7, Douglas forwarded this letter to Lytton, with a covering dispatch which introduced a further aspect of the problem—the likelihood that the treatment afforded the Company in British Columbia might well determine the policy of the United States Government regarding the Company's unsettled claims in Oregon. In part the dispatch read:— Her Majesty's Government may probably consider that the Hudson's Bay Company have acquired rights to the soil through permissory occupation and improvement, as well as by the public services which the Company have rendered to the country, and may therefore meet their claims in a spirit of judicious liberality, especially as the settlement of the Company's possessory rights in Oregon, resting on the construction of the third article of the Treaty of the 17th of July 1846 with the United States of America, will probably be influenced by the decision of Her Majesty's Government in allowing or disallowing the possessory rights of the Company in British Company.* In acknowledging receipt, on February 8, 1859, Sir E. B. Lytton simply referred to his dispatch of November 16, which Douglas had not received at the time he forwarded the letter from Work and Mactavish, and, supplementing his previous instructions, asked for a report from the Chief Commissioner of Lands, Colonel Moody, through the Governor.6 Douglas replied at very great length on May 31,1859, stating that he had called upon the officers of the Company to furnish details of the lands occupied by them previous to the immigration (4) Douglas to Lytton, December 7, 1858. Quoted from Papers relative to the Affairs of British Columbia, Part II., London, 1859, p. 44. (5) Lytton to Douglas, February 8,1869 (Archives of B.C.). 80 F. W. Laing. April of miners, and enclosing copies of the letter and tabulated list of properties which he had received in return. The tabulated list, ' which is printed in the appendix, was intended to indicate the conditions under which the various lands were held, and in particular whether each individual property (1) had involved outlay, (2) had been brought into cultivation, (3) was necessary for maintenance of existing stock and establishment, or (4) served for occasional pasture. " The lands thus claimed," Douglas noted, " have no connection with the Gold fields, none is used for Gold mining, nor is any part of the land known to be auriferous." The reasons why the Governor considered that the claims of the Company merited specially favourable consideration are interesting:— First The Country West of the Rocky Mountains was previous to the Company's occupation held by Foreigners. The Company succeeded, but not without great exertion and heavy expense in gaining possession and holding it for Great Britain. Secondly. The Company have incurred heavy pecuniary loss through the revocation of their exclusive rights of Trade in British Columbia nearly twelve months before the legal termination of the License under which they enjoyed the privilege. I am not entirely considering the losses which must naturally have resulted from the interruption to the ordinary pursuits of the Company, but more particularly, the losses which it has been represented to me they have sustained from special causes connected with and dependent upon their position in the Country. For example, viewing their rights of Trade in the Country as exclusive, the Company justly conceived that Her Majesty's Government would hold them morally responsible for the safety of the mining population, and on that supposition, to my own knowledge, they made prodigious efforts, and spared no expense, even when prices ruled high, in laying in large stocks of food to meet the probable demand. In consequence of the opening of the Trade these supplies have been left on hand, and only a few days ago I was informed on the most credible authority that the actual loss incurred merely through the subsequent fall of prices was upward of Fifteen thousand In the third place, Douglas reverted to the bearing which the whole question had upon the Company's claims in Oregon, and pointed out further that the Company in part based its claim to title to the lands occupied by their establishments in British Columbia on the Treaty of 1846, wherein Her Majesty's Government, as well as the Govern- 1939 Hudson's Bay Lands on the Mainland. 81 ment of the United States, have recognized the title of the Company to land in Oregon.6 A report from Colonel Moody, Chief Commissioner of Lands, was enclosed by Douglas, who pointed out that Moody was in favour of recognizing the general principle of the Company's claims, with a suggestion that the lands claimed at Langley and Fort Hope should be curtailed in extent and an equivalent given at other places on Fraser's River. Unfortunately, the actual text of Colonel Moody's report is not available. At this point in the negotiations a change took place in the Government of Great Britain and in June, 1859, the Derby administration was replaced by that of Lord Palmerston. Sir E. B. Lytton was succeeded at the Colonial Office by the Duke of Newcastle, under whose direction a copy of Douglas' report was forwarded to the Hudson's Bay Company on September 14,1859, by the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, Herman Merivale. It was accompanied by a covering letter which indicated clearly the attitude of the new Colonial Secretary toward both the Company and its claims; and as this letter was to have highly important consequences, it merits quotation at some length. In part, Merivale wrote:— Although fully participating in the wish expressed by his predecessor [Lytton] to deal liberally with those claims, his Grace [the Duke of Newcastle] feels himself nevertheless compelled to indicate certain principles which must guide him in reference to them. He cannot allow (what the Governor [Douglas] appears to claim) that the Company stand in the position of land owners, with regard to all the soil which they may have partially appropriated, whether by clearing, fencing, pasturing stock, or even raising occasional Crops. The land so used was occupied by them without any title from the Crown in which the ultimate dominion over all waste land in the Colonies is vested: they could derive no right to it from anything contained in their license of trade: and mere permitted but unrecognized occupation in a region where no civil Government was established, cannot confer such a title. But he holds them entitled in justice to be indemnified from all loss occasioned to them, (other than mere dispossession from an ownership which he does not recognize) through Government's resuming possession of land which they have improved, or on which their Capital has been in any way expended; and he would wish to see such indemnity carried into execution in a liberal manner whether in the form of land to which a title should be given, or in any other shape which may be agreed upon. (6) For the full text of Douglas' dispatch and its enclosures, except the report from Colonel Moody, see H.B.C. Correspondence, Vol. 728, pp. 115-122. According to the natural course of events, the Company fixed their establishments in the first instance at the spots which seemed most eligible for their trading interests: and the same spots have become, or will become, in ~the course of time, centres of population so that the soil immediately round their posts will acquire, or has already acquired, high value in the shape of Town lots. Such appears to be already the case at Fort Langley, and at Fort Hope. To recognize the right of the Company to profit, as land owners, by the enormous increase of value given by adventitious circumstances to land thus occupied without any original title would be to acquiesce in their enjoying an advantage to which his Grace cannot consider them entitled, and at the same time to interpose a serious obstacle to the natural progress of Settlement in such places. He must therefore direct the Governor to disallow claims of this character except for the actual sites of existing buildings; although willing to allow compensation for losses such as he has above described, and willing also to allow considerable latitude in effecting such compensation by grant of Country Lands in lieu of what may be thus resumed. This object provided for, his Grace does not conceive that there would be much difficulty in dealing with the remaining claims in a manner at once satisfactory to the Company and safe for the public. In the case of Country Lands on which actual expenditure of Capital can be shewn, he would approve of their having property in such Lands granted to them, or else a fair compensation for surrender. The principle of exchange might also enter into the arrangement if desired. And in respect to the large tracts of land which are alleged to have been occupied by the Company's Stock, his Grace would entertain no objection to their receiving licenses of occupation, provided such licenses were guarded with proper precaution so as to become gradually terminable as the lands were actually required for purposes Such are the principles of the arrangement which the Duke would propose : but it is obvious that they could only be applied in detail after enquiry on the spot. As there are obvious reasons against employing the Governor as Agent for the Crown in this matter (both from his public position, and from his former connexion with the Company) his Grace proposes to entrust this duty to Colonel Moody. He would be glad to be informed by the Directors whether they accede to the principles above laid down, and whether they are prepared to nominate any one to cooperate with Colonel Moody in making the necessary investigation and report.7 The tone of this communication was not at all to the liking of the Hudson's Bay Company; and in a reply, dated October 6, 1859, Governor Berens contended that the principles outlined could be applied with justice only to the lands acquired subsequent to 1846, and once more insisted that the Company's land (7) Merivale to Berens, September 14, 1859. (H.B.C. Correspondence, Vol. 728, pp. 113-115.) 1939 Hudson's Bay Lands on the Mainland. claims in British Columbia were on a par with those in Oregon, which the British Government had itself recognized when negotiating the Oregon Treaty. In further support of this contention, Berens referred the Colonial Secretary to a report made in 1854 by the Law Officers of the Crown to the Earl of Clarendon, the then Foreign Secretary, which considered at great length the Oregon claims in question and included the following important decision which, in the opinion of the Company, had a direct bearing upon its analogous claims in British Columbia:—8 In the vocabulary of conventions and treaties the term " possessory rights " is well known and has long exercised and borne a clear and well understood meaning. It refers to the enjoyment of land and the incidents thereof, and when used as in the 3rd Article of the [Oregon] Treaty its meaning is that possession and absolute property shall be considered and treated as identical, and that whatever lands tenements or territorial franchises the Company, being the privileged party, is found to be in the actual de facto enjoyment of, they shall be considered as de jure entitled to, and the same shall be guaranteed to them accordingly.9 The assumption of this attitude by the Company made the decision with reference to lands in British Columbia as much a matter of law as of negotiation, and, presumably for this reason, the Duke of Newcastle now referred the whole subject to the Government Emigration Board.10 Early in December a meeting took place between the Emigration Commissioners and the Directors of the Company, but it quickly became evident that no settlement could be reached by negotiation, in view of the wide divergence of opinion existing between the Government and the Company. Resort to the law thus became unavoidable, and the circumstances were well summarized by Herman Merivale in a letter to Governor Berens dated December 30,1859:— His Grace [the Duke of Newcastle] is informed that the Directors consider themselves to have a legal claim to a large part at least of the Lands so occupied, and that they are not inclined to enter into any c except on the basis of receiving pecuniary compensation for their s advised o: is plainly in (8) Berens to Newcastle, October 6, 1859. (H.B.C. Correspondence, ol. 728, p. 124.) (9) Quoted from H.B.C. Correspondence, Vol. 728, p. 168. (10) S. Walcott, Secretary of the Board, to Berens, November 25, 1859. H.B.C. Correspondence, Vol. 728, p. 140.) 84 F. W. Laing. April while so material a difference of view continues to exist, he concurs in the opinion, which he understands to be also that of the Directors, that it would be desirable to obtain an authoritative decision on the subject from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council with as little delay and expense This proposal was accepted by the Company, and on January 16,1860, Berens forwarded to the Duke of Newcastle the lengthy brief which the Company proposed to submit to the Judicial Committee in support of its land claims in British Columbia. This brief commenced with a recital of the steps which had led up to the amalgamation of the North West Company with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821, and the issuance on May 30, 1838, of a fresh licence to the Hudson's Bay Company alone, giving it the exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians in the territories in question for a period of twenty-one years. It then continued:— The Hudson's Bay Company under these circumstances extended considerably their various establishments in the North West Territory and as the District in question was one which offered no inducements for Settlers except in connection with the Fur Trade the only occupants were either the Indians who were engaged in the pursuit of the wild fur bearing animals or the representatives of the Hudson's Bay Company who occupied the Posts and Stations and carried on the Fur Trade with the Indians. It may be right to mention that in carrying on this trade it was necessary to provide both food and accommodation for a large number of persons as well as space for the collection of the Furs and in many instances accommodation for the Indians, and in this manner the Hudson's Bay Company became the possessors of numerous Forts and Stations with such land surrounding them as it was found necessary to use for the purposes of the Trade. In the progress [process] of carrying on the Trade by the Hudson's Bay Company it was found desirable to embark a considerable Capital in purposes purely Agricultural and as it was doubtful whether the Hudson's Bay Company could properly apply their Capital to such purposes, an independent Company called the " Puget's Sound Agricultural Company " was formed towards the close of the year 1840 for simply agricultural purposes. This Company acted in concert with the Hudson's Bay Company and may be considered as a species of offshoot from it, and with a view to carry on its operations the representatives of the Company also took possession of large tracts of land which from the nature of the soil were suited to Agricultural purposes—whereas in the choice of the localities for establishing Forts and Stations, the Hudson's Bay Company necessarily had more reference to the habits of the Indians and the districts which they frequented. (11) H.B.C. Correspondence, Vol. 728, p. 147. Hudson's Bay Lands on the Mainland. 85 Then followed a summary of the terms of the Oregon Treaty of 1846, and in particular the property rights it recognized, together with a reference to the 1854 ruling of the Law Officers of the Crown upon the question of possessory rights which has been quoted above. The differentiation between lands and establishments acquired before and after 1846, to which the Company attached such importance, was dealt with in three short paragraphs :— It should be mentioned that after the Treaty of Oregon the Hudson's Bay Company had expended a considerable amount of money in endeavouring to find a route through the British Territory independent of the Columbia River—both the Shores of which were by the Treaty ceded to the United States and they succeeded in establishing a route through the Interior of the Country but not without much trouble danger and expense. For the purposes of making this new route available it was necessary to establish relays of Posts where provisions and supplies might be provided and the large bands of horses foraged and pastured and they also took a of land for the purpose of raising potatoes and grain and for o recently a like n A distinction therefore will probably be drawn betw acquired for purposes of a somewhat temporary chara had been long before in the possession of the Company in connection with the trade which they were carrying on under the Licenses granted to them by the Crown. The brief concluded as follows:— In this state of things, the Hudson's Bay Company contend that their rights to the land, buildings, &c, possessed by them in that part of the North West Territory which was found to belong to Her Britannic [Majesty], must stand upon at least an equally good footing, as tneir rights in those parts of the Territory which was proved to belong to the United States. The Oregon Treaty distinctly recognizes the property possessed by the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company as being property belonging to them, and the rights of the Hudson's Bay Company to the lands and property possessed by them, as equally recognized. There is no distinction whatever between the nature and extent of the rights of the two Companies, to the lands acquired by them respectively in the North West Territory. At the respective times when the Hudson's Bay Company took possession of the lands they now claim, and erected Forts and Stations on that Territory they had no means of knowing what might prove to belong to the United States or to His Britannic Majesty's Government, indeed at that period the whole was claimed on the part of His Britannic Majesty; and they submit therefore, that the same rule which the Government of Her Britannic Majesty has by treaty laid down for securing the rights of the Hudson's Bay Company in the part of the Territory, ceded to the United States, must govern the rights of that Company in regard to the land now in question. 86 F. W. Laing. April As already stated with respect to the land that was acquired, and the outlay that was made, subsequent to the treaty of Oregon, they are satisfied to be compensated in respect of them on the footing laid down in the Letter of Mr. Under-Secretary Merivale of the 14th September 1859.12 Over a period of approximately a year the whole question now lay more or less in abeyance. Occasional letters passed between the Company and the Colonial Office, but the proposal to refer the dispute to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, for some reason, was not carried into effect. In the end it was the pressure of events in British Columbia itself which brought the matter to a head. As early as May, 1860, the Company complained to the Duke of Newcastle that measures adopted by Governor Douglas were operating in a manner felt to be most unjust to its trading interests. The first point in dispute concerned the imposition of customs duties; but by the end of the year other causes of friction had arisen, and on January 4,1861, Berens addressed a long letter of protest to the Duke of Newcastle. The most important charge advanced by the Company was that Douglas, in spite of the fact that no settlement had been reached on the lands question had actually put up for sale not only the lands which he had himself staked out in 1858 as belonging to the Company but actually some of the Buildings upon them; and the Company have been called upon to remove those Buildings, with a threat that if they did not do so the Buildings would be pulled This line of conduct is so extraordinary, [Berens wrote] and, as I conceive, so unwarranted, and so completely at variance with the understanding which had been come to with Her Majesty's Government that all the lands claimed by the Company should remain untouched until their rights to them had been settled one way or the other that I do trust your Grace will lose no time in directing the Governor to suspend proceedings of this description and not to interfere in any way with the lands claimed by the Company and which he had himself described as being in the possession of the Company until it is settled whether they are entitled to hold them or not.13 Subsequent letters from the Company and from Governor Douglas indicate that the chief cause of complaint arose from the surveying and sale of lots on the townsite of Yale. A. G. Dallas, agent for the Hudson's Bay Company at Victoria (and, incidentally, a son-in-law of Governor Douglas), declared that Doug- e H.B.C. Correspondence, Vol. 1939 Hudson's Bay Lands on the Mainland. 87 las had not only arbitrarily deprived the Company of its land reserve at Yale, with the exception of one lot in the new townsite, but had actually run a wide street through a warehouse which had been erected under Douglas' own directions as recently as the fall of 1858.1* In reply Douglas, through the Colonial Secretary of the Colony, W. A. G. Young, contended that Yale had been abandoned by the Company as a trading-post for a number of years, and had been reoccupied only after the commencement of the gold rush, in the spring of 1858. He advanced much the same argument with regard to the way in which lands claimed by the Company at Derby (Old Fort Langley) had been dealt with, respecting which complaints had also been lodged against him by Dallas.15 Trouble also arose in connection with the new townsite at Hope, but it is unnecessary to discuss this or the other problems in detail. The important points with reference to the controversy are two. First, Douglas was backed up at every point by the Duke of Newcastle, who must have been amused to find Douglas cast in the unfamiliar role of an oppressor of the Company which he had served for so many years. In the second place, whether or not what Douglas had done was just or unjust, it was apparent that force of events and circumstances had compelled him to take action of some sort. In other words, it was clearly evident that the time had come when a settlement of some kind with reference to lands in British Columbia was imperative, alike from the point of view of the Company and of the British Government. Douglas himself stated as much, and proposed a definite basis of settlement, in an important dispatch to the Duke of Newcastle, dated at Victoria May 6, 1861 :— Victoria, Vancouver Island, 6th May, 1861. My Lord Duke, I trust your Grace will not deem me importunate in again bringing before your notice the subject of the claims of the Hudson's Bay Company to lands in British Columbia. The inconvenience of those claims being still unsettled or even any basis of settlement determined upon, is daily more felt, (13) H.B.C. Correspondence, Vol. 729, p. 53. (14) Dallas to Douglas, November 8, 1860. (H.B.C. Correspondence, Vol. 729, p. 63.) (16) Young to Dallas, December 5, 1860. (H.B.C. Correspondence, Vol. 729, pp. 67-69.) F. W. Laing. April and in proportion with the delay so will the difficulty of a final adjustment be increased, the more especially as the Agents of the Hudson's Bay Company, presuming upon the provisional concessions made by this Government in reserving quantities of land to meet their claims if confirmed by Her Majesty's Government, will affect, and in truth, already do affect, to regard as a right what was simply intended as an act of consideration and courtesy, for I am not aware that, otherwise, it was incumbent upon this Government to step in between the Hudson's Bay Company and the public to reserve to the former more than what they had actually enclosed and actually occupied. I do not forget that the subject is one involving many considerations, and one with which Her Majesty's Government may have some difficulty in dealing, from the very general character in which the claims are preferred, and it therefore may not be out of place for me to submit a few remarks which, perhaps, might assist Her Majesty's Government in disposing of the question in a manner at once equitable to the Hudson's Bay Company and to the Colony, or at all events which might establish a basis of settlement that would be of material assistance to us here, in dealing with many of the complicated cases which are frequently arising in connection with the Company's claims, more especially at Yale and Hope. The grant made by Her Majesty's Government of the exclusive right of trade on the Western coast of North America was a valuable privilege which the Hudson's Bay Company enjoyed for many years, but the Charter contains no provision granting the fee of the soil to the Hudson's Bay Company, or- agreement for compensation upon the expiration of the grant. Such being the case the Hudson's Bay Company can have no legal claim founded on the Charter to free grants of land in British Columbia. Her Majesty's Government may, however, be of opinion that the Hudson's Bay Company have claims to consideration in consequence of the abrupt termination of the Charter of 1858, soon after and by reason of the discovery of Gold in British Columbia. The Charter it is true legally expired within a few months of its revocation, but it might have been renewed, had it not been for that circumstance. Should Her Majesty's Government be disposed to take this liberal view of the position of the Hudson's Bay Company, and the Despatches which I have had the honor to receive upon the subject lead me to such a conclusion, I would take the liberty of recommending, on that ground solely, the transfer in fee to the Company of all places occupied by existing Forts or Posts and necessary for carrying on the business of the Company, together with any fields or gardens actually enclosed by fences and under cultivation, provided however that no such grant should exceed 100 acres of country land at any one place,—except at New Langley and Kamloops, where the Company have a large number of Cattle and Horses, and where the grant might be increased to 500 Acres;—but in towns the grant should be restricted to building lots actually occupied by the Company's business Houses; at Yale, for instance, to the Town lots at present occupied by their dwelling and store Houses, and at Hope to the site of their Buildings and to the adjacent corral. 1939 Hudson's Bay Lands on the Mainland. 89 Having received invariably so much consideration and favor from Her Majesty's Government the Hudson's Bay Company have no real claim to privileges other than would be conceded to their fellow subjects, and it cannot be required in equity or in sound policy that they should have a gift made to them of town or country land for the mere purposes of sale. They cannot want more than I have here suggested for business purposes. They could only utilize larger tracts of land by speculating on its resale at a high price, as they have done and are now daily doing at Victoria, and however anxious Her Majesty's Government, as well as myself, may be that the most liberal consideration should be accorded the position of the Company, still the interests of the Colony are undoubtedly pre-eminent and must be so regarded. If Her Majesty's Government approve of what I herein submit, either as a settlement, or as a basis of settlement, I will, under their instructions, carry the same into effect by marking out the several Establishments and the Lands appertaining to each, both in towns and in country places. This will have the effect of removing many difficulties and embarrassments now existing in respect to lands claimed by other individuals, and it will bring the question to a decision; and should the Hudson's Bay Company consider they have further legal or equitable rights of claim, they will be at liberty, like other of Her Majesty's subjects to appeal to the civil courts of the Colony. I have, &c, His Grace (Signed) James Douglas." The Duke of Newcastle &c, &c., &c. This dispatch had the effect of bringing the question to the fore, and on August 9 the Colonial Office transmitted to the Company the general terms of Douglas' proposals and invited comment and suggestion thereon.17 In a conciliatory reply to the Duke of Newcastle, dated August 27, Governor Berens accepted the proposed basis of settlement, with certain reservations and subject to agreement on matters of detail. He enclosed for the information of the Colonial Secretary a detailed Memorandum in regard to the Company's claims in British Columbia, which had been prepared by A. G. Dallas, who had just arrived in London from Victoria. This Memorandum, the text of which is printed as an appendix to this article, indicated what Dallas regarded as the minimum land requirements of the Company at (16) Quoted from a photostat copy of the original letter-book copy in the Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa. (17) C. S. Fortescue, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, to Berens, August 9, 1861. (H.B.C. Correspondence, Vol. 729, p. 116.) 90 F. W. Laing. April its various posts and stations, and considered these requirements in relation to the Douglas plan of settlement. It became in effect the basis for negotiations between the Emigration Commissioners, who continued to act in the matter for the Government, and the Hudson's Bay Company, and the final Memorandum of Agreement which resulted from these negotiations followed its terms very closely. This agreement, which was reached on October 11, 1861, was accepted by the Duke of Newcastle on November 218 and by Governor Berens on November 7,19 with the result that the longstanding dispute over lands in British Columbia, which had dragged on for no less than three years, was at last brought to a close. The text of the final memorandum follows:— Memorandum on the British Columbia Land Claims. Emigration Commission 11th October 1861 Memorandum At an interview this day between Mr. Walcott (on the part of the Emigration Commissioners) and Mr. Dallas (on the part of the Hudson's Bay Company) accompanied by Mr. Maynard, the Company's Solicitor, the basis proposed by Governor Douglas in his Despatch to the Duke of Newcastle of 6th May 1861, and Mr. Dallas' Memorandum thereon dated 15th August 1861, for settling the Land claims of the Company in British Columbia, were discussed in detail; and the following arrangements, should the Secretary of State approve them, were assented to by Messrs. Dallas and Maynard in final Settlement of those claims. The Governor to be instructed to convey as promptly as possible, to the Company in fee simple, and in full discharge of all their Land claims in British Columbia, the sites of the several Forts or Posts and quantities of Land specified below. Should any differences arise as to the sites, shape of blocks, boundaries, quantities or value of Land, or as to what are to be deemed improvements, enclosures or occupation of the Lands by the Company or otherwise connected with this present arrangement the same are to be determined by Arbitrators appointed beforehand, one by the Government (18) T. F. Elliot to Berens, November 2,1861. (H.B.C. Correspondence, Vol. 729, p. 138.) (19) Berens to Newcastle, November 7, 1861. (Ibid, p. 147.) 1939 Hudson's Bay Lands on the Mainland. and the other by the Company with by the Arbitrators. The decisions final and binding. 1. New Fort Langley. The actual Site of the Fort (stated by Mr. Dallas to be about 2 acres) with all surrounding Buildings and Enclosures, or actually cultivated or ploughed lands, but not exceeding in the whole 200 acres, and at Langley Farm (about 1 mile distant from the Fort's site) a quantity of Land not exceeding 500 acres. But the Company is to have the option of purchasing at 4s. 2d. per acre at Langley Farm (in addition to the 600 acres) any quantity of the surrounding Land which may have been enclosed, cultivated, or ploughed, or sown with grass, not exceeding 1500 acres. This option to cease if not exercised within six calendar Months of notice from the Governor to the Company's Agent to select the Lands. The actual site of the Fort, the enclosed Paddock in rear of the Fort, the space in front between the Fort and the road, and a space of 50 feet wide running along the lower side of the Fort and Paddock, from the road in front to the rear of the Paddock, the whole quantity of Land at Fort Hope, not to exceed 5 acres. In addition thereto a quantity of suburban land not exceeding 5 acres, the site to be determined in the Colony. Lots 1 to 5 both inclusive (60 feet by 100 feet each) as marked on the Colonial Official Plan, including and adjoining the Company's Warehouse, which stands on Lot 4. These Lots abut on the Main Street and face the River Fraser. Should the Company be required by the Governor to remove their Warehouse now encroaching on the Street, the expense (to be determined by Arbitration as herein provided for) to be allowed them in Land. | Old Langley or Derby. Site of Salmon exceed 2 all. d Wharf; and Land adjoi; 5. Kamloops. Actual site of the Fort and a quantity of Land there not exceeding in all 600 acres, to be taken in not more than three separate blocks. 6. Alexandria, and other Posts in the North,.viz: Fort George Fraser's Lake Stuart's Lake McLeod's Lake Conolly's Lake Babines Chilcoten And a quantity not exceeding 100 acres each around such other Posts in the North (the total number not to exceed five) as may be in the actual occupation of the Company. 7. Fort Dallas. A quantity of Land not exceeding 50 Acres. 8. Fort Berens. A quantity of Land not exceeding 50 Acres. 9. Fort Shepherd. The actual site of the Fort and a quantity of Land around it not exceeding 100 acres. 10. Fort Simpson. The actual site of the Fort with a belt 100 feet wide surrounding it, together with all actual enclosures or isolated buildings and cultivated ground; but the whole not to exceed in quantity 100 acres. Clause 8. Should any of the Lands intended by this Memorandum be conveyed to the Company be found to have been irrevocably alienated (not merely leased with power of determining the Lease) the value to be determined by Arbitrators as herein provided for and an equivalent credit to be given to the Company in the purchase at the usual Government rates of the day of other Town Lots or Suburban or Country Land. (Sd.) S. W[alcott] A. G. D [alias] At this point it is interesting to note that, apart from the urban lots, provision was made in this agreement for grants aggregating 2,802 acres, whilst the claim of the Company's officials at Victoria, forwarded by Governor Douglas on May 31, 1859, applied for no less than 98,225 acres. When the grants were ultimately made by conveyance, the aggregate acreage actually received was still further reduced to 2,247. 1939 Hudson's Bay Lands on the Mainland. Another period of eighteen months elapsed before the first free grant was made pursuant to the terms of this agreement. That conveyance was only five town lots on the townsite of Yale, including the site of the Company's warehouse there. The date was May 18, 1863. Other townsite lots at Hope, Seymour, and Savona's Ferry were conveyed in 1864 and 1867. The first grants to include agricultural lands were completed for fort and farm lands at Langley, on April 12, 1864. These included the old fort site of 2 acres, the new fort site of 200 acres, and two parcels of agricultural lands, 500 and 1,500 acres respectively. These were conveyed, the Crown grant shows, " under authority of His Excellency the Governor."20. Just why that notation should have been made is not clear, unless it be that the memorandum of October 11, 1861, provided that the grant for Langley Farm was not to exceed 500 acres, with the option of purchasing at 4s. 2d. per acre " any quantity of the surrounding land which may have been enclosed, cultivated, or ploughed, or sown with grass, not exceeding 1500 acres." The memorandum provided further, it will be recalled, that this option would cease if not exercised within six calendar months of notice from the Governor to the Company's agent to select the lands. For lands at Kamloops the first conveyance to the Company was dated November 14,1868, and was in completion of purchase of 1,954 acres, known as the hay meadows, situated on both the north and south sides of the lake.21 No specific provision had been made in the memorandum for the acquisition by purchase of such an additional area. The free grants in conformity with the terms of the memorandum were issued on December 18,1869, and covered 270 acres for the second fort site on the north side of the Thompson River, 130 acres for the third fort site on the south side of the river, and an additional 200 acres, known as the Dairy Farm, situated about six miles north of the fort, on the west side of the " North River."22 These were strictly in accordance with the memorandum, which provided for the " actual site of the fort and a (20) Crown Grant Registe (21) Crown Grant Registe (22) Ibid. , New Westminster Land District, Group 2. , Lytton Land District, Group 2. li F. W. Laing. April quantity of land there not exceeding in all 600 acres, to be taken in not more than three separate blocks." It is interesting to note that while negotiations were still in progress between the Company and the Colonial Office, a claim was advanced on behalf of the Company in a rather unusual way, in 1860, by Donald McLean, Chief Trader at Kamloops, evidently by way of application to pre-empt land in the name of the Company. McLean's letter was addressed to H. M. Ball, the Assistant Gold Commissioner at Lytton, and read in part as follows:— I have been authorized by A. G. Dallas, Esquire, to claim and take possession of Ten Miles square of land for and on behalf of the Hudson's Bay Company, the same having been granted to the said Company by the Government for the pre-emptive right of Trade in this District. I think it is my duty to address you relating to the foregoing matter, understanding some arrangements are about to be entered into relative to Indian Reserves. St. Paul, alias J. Baptiste Lolo, has been allowed to establish, pro tempore, and cultivate a portion of land on the east side of the North River. The said land was purchased originally from the Chief of the Aborigines by the Hudson's Bay Company's agent in this District. The land was not given to St. Paul by deed of gift. He was merely permitted to cultivate the same by favour until such times as the Company, by their agents, should again demand it, and as the aforesaid St Paul, alias J. B. Lolo, has been nearly the whole time a paid servant of the Hudson's Bay Company receiving a salary and rations for himself and his family. I trust therefore that he will not be considered as having any preemption right, should he lay claim to such either in person or by an agent2' In forwarding this communication to Colonel Moody, Chief Commissioner of Lands, at New Westminster, Mr. Ball commented :— I have the honour to forward the enclosed letter received from Mr. McLean at Kamloops and to request that instructions may be sent me respecting the claim therein mentioned, as I am not authorized by His Excellency's Proclamation on Pre-emption to record such an extent of land. With respect to the land mentioned in the letter of Mr. McLean, which has been occupied by the Indian Chief St Paul, it was many years ago the site of the old Hudson Bay Fort but was abandoned when the Fort was transferred to the opposite side of the River. Since which time the old Fort has been occupied by St. Paul and the neighboring land cultivated by him and therefore I should consider that it ought to be regarded in the light of an Indian Reserve.24 (23) Donald McLean to H. M. Ball, March 12,1860. (Archives of B.C.) (24) H. M. Ball to Colonel Moody, March 24, 1860. (Archives of B.C.) 1939 Hudson's Bay Lands on the Mainland. 95 The suggestion of the Gold Commissioner was later brought into effect by the establishment of an Indian Reserve, on October 26, 1862, by William G. Cox, covering an area extending for 6 miles north along the North River and 12 miles eastward along the Thompson River, but this area was later revised and greatly reduced upon two occasions. This tract of 10 miles square was included also in the memorandum of the Company's officials at Victoria, forwarded by Governor Douglas on May 31, 1859. The claim is interesting inasmuch as it apparently embodies an effort by the Company to reinforce its claim by way of an application to pre-empt an area greatly in excess of that permitted under the regulations governing the same. The exact location of the land is difficult to determine, apart from the small holding occupied by Lolo St. Paul, on the site of the original fort, on the east side of the North River. After the completion of the conveyances already noted the consummation of other negotiations was delayed somewhat, and over a period of thirty years, between 1869 and 1899, only five grants were made to the Company. These were the Similkameen River post, east of the present town of Keremeos, 500 acres by purchase in 1879; Fort Simpson (now Port Simpson), 100 acres in 1883; Fort McLoughlin and the post at the mouth of the Bella Coola River, 100 acres each in 1890; and Fort Shepherd (south of the present city of Trail), 100 acres in 1891.2B The procedure followed at Fort McLoughlin and Bella Coola varied from the general policy of making grants to the Company as the primary grantee. At each of these posts, the Company having sold its trading business to John Clayton, its representative there, its land interests were also transferred to him on April 21, 1890. Clayton, in making application for issuance of Crown grants in his own name, arranged to acquire an additional area at each post. At Fort McLoughlin the area was increased by application to purchase an additional 50 acres, while at the mouth of the Bella Coola the area was increased to 167 acres. Clayton had evidently expected developments at Bella Coola to turn out as they did, for on September 11, 1888, he made (25) Records of these grants may be found in the Crown-grant Registers for the respective land districts: Osoyoos; Range 5, Coast; Range 3, Coast; and Kootenay. 96 F. W. Laing. April application to purchase 171 acres adjoining the Hudson's Bay Company's lands to the west, and also to purchase another 61 acres a short distance westward, on North Bentick Arm. The Crown grants to these latter parcels were issued to Clayton on August 20, 1890—just a week after the grants to the Company were honoured by the issuance of title deeds in Clayton's name. Of the properties for which free grants were made in 1899 and 1900, there remain to-day in the possession of the Company the sites of the posts at the forks of the Chilcotin, 100 acres; Fraser Lake, 100 acres; McLeod Lake, 99 acres; Babine Lake, 99 acres; Stuart Lake, 100 acres; Hudson's Hope, 7 acres; Fort St. John, 29 acres (in two parcels); and Fort Nelson, 11 acres. Fort St. James, on Stuart Lake, was at one time the administrative centre for New Caledonia, and therefore it was natural that the Company should make application to purchase land additional to the allowance for the fort site. Accordingly the Crown grants for the two parcels at this post conveyed in all 212 acres, inclusive of the fort site of 100 acres. Free grants were also made in 1900 for Fort Berens (Lillooet), 52 acres, and Fort George, 100 acres. These and the urban sites for which grants were received prior to 1899 were disposed of, thus leaving in the possession of the Company only eight sites for which grants had been received in 1899 and 1900. In the lists given there is the notable omission of Fort Alexandria, the northern terminus of the brigade trail, where supplies were transferred from pack-animals to river-boats and canoes. In that instance the Company executed a quit claim of its rights, and John S. Twan, after recording a pre-emption, on May 8, 1895, obtained a Crown grant of 109.5 acres covering the original site of the fort. Thus passed to private ownership one of the most historic posts of the Company. Across the Fraser River and slightly to the south an area of 400 acres, known as the Hudson's Bay meadows, also passed to private ownership by Crown grant in 1902. There were two other posts mentioned in the memorandum of October 11,1861, as Fort Dallas (2% miles south of Lytton) and the post on Connolly's Lake, but for neither of these does a Crown grant appear to have been issued to the Company. Victoria, B.C. F. W. Laing. 1939 Hudson's Bay Lands on the Mainland. 97 till $i r ^ r 1 s i^^i « HkS|| 1 gBgB _ _ [ J w i ■Sa 1 * 1 a i & ^ |l i ' 1 |::::::: I J 1 i s 1 3 »M«C-.-,rt« >< a s s 3 P la 1 •ii 1 1 II f i 5° § ss 1 "S si a 1 1 I J a^^lSa 8 * 1 1 1 i^oo I f l^^li ' ! 5 |jj".| « sj||%|s| r * 1 cl. i i* i i 5 > g !|pf jji i f? » 11111 !p! 3 1 p j fil Is III 5| I! |l: a ?11 III 8^61 Hie 1 S g~m US 0.00.00, | || |B*|°| %- 'g|~|>'«|i'fefctna0c-,»'a|gfcS « fe SHS^'5 F. W. Laing. appendix ii. Memorandum i: The basis of Settlement proposed by Governor Douglas, is I need hardly observe, very different from the views he expressed in 1859—but as the Company are desirous of coming to a settlement of the question I think the following propositions might to a certain extent meet their views, and I do not think they can be considered unreasonable on the part of Her Majesty's Government. The positions of most value to us, are those at Langley, Hope and Yale. The first named embraces our finest farm; and I would propose that we be confirmed in the actual Fort site, and all outside buildings and enclosures, or actually cultivated or ploughed lands—together with sufficient space, say at least 60 to 100 feet round the Fort pickets, and a less extent round isolated buildings, to guard against fire, and for other necessary purposes. Also at Langley Farm, distant over a mile in the interior—all our buildings and lands actually fenced, or which have been reclaimed and under the plough. This claim will exceed 500 acres. Should it be denied, I would then propose that we be allowed the right of purchase of all or any portion of our claim at the fixed price of country lands in the Colony. Any extra value attaching to the lands has been caused solely by the labour and Capital expended on them by the Company. At Fort Hope our claim is embraced solely in the Town site. I would propose that we be confirmed in the actual Fort site, with a space of at least 160 to 100 feet all round, and the small enclosures in front and rear—together with Five acres of suburban land. The above is no more than we require for the purposes of our trade, as all our interior brigades rendezvous at Fort Hope. At Fort Yale I would propose that we be confirmed in the land within the limits actually staked out by Governor Douglas himself, and partially fenced, in 1858, together with actual expense of removing our warehouse should we be required so to do. Failing the above, I would demand at least five town lots of 60 x 100 feet each including and immediately adjoining our warehouse, but, exclusive of the lot covered by Mr. Allard's house, and which he purchased at Government sale. At Old Langley or Derby, I should be satisfied with the site of our Salmon Store and Wharf, with a moderate portion of ground adjoining, there being no enclosure, and compensation in money or land for the site of Derby, which was cleared and reclaimed by the Company at heavy expense, and subsequently sold by Government and ultimately abandoned as a Town. At Kamloops I should be satisfied with the Fort site and 500 acres of our lands immediately round the Fort, and at the horse guard farm. By this I mean that we are not to be compelled to take our 500 acres in one block, but in two or more different localities where we at present occupy farms. To this I anticipate no objection on the part of the Colonial Government. 1939 Hudson's Bay Lands on the Mainland. 99 At Alexandria and other Posts in the North, a limit of one hundred acres at each, is not sufficient to maintain our establishments, horses, cattle &c, but as the land is of little value, and not likely to be purchased over our heads, I would not contend against Governor Douglas' proposition. At Fort Berens, Fort Dallas and other points where we have claims, and houses in isolated positions, or felled and squared timber ready for building, but no actual enclosures, I would propose that we be confirmed in a small quantity of land at each post, sufficient for ordinary purposes. This matter could easily be adjusted at New Westminster, where plans and maps of all the Country may be referred to. At Fort Simpson I would stipulate for the actual Fort site, with at least 100 feet surrounding it, to protect us against fire and Indians. As also all our enclosures or isolated buildings and cultivated ground. The whole will not amount to 100 acres. In every instance, as at Fort Langley, I would stipulate for the right of purchase, at the minimum price, of all or any portion of our claims. In this we ask nothing more than priority of choice over lands occupied and made accessible by us. Governor Douglas has frequently asserted that he has not encroached upon, or alienated, any of our claims, and no difficulty need arise on this head. Some modifications must necessarily be made as several valuable portions of our various claims, including actual buildings and fenced lands, have been alienated beyond recall. The adjustment of sUch differences might, however, be left to parties on the spot—say the Commissioner of Lands and works on the part of the Government, and one or more members of the Board of Management at Victoria on our part. I would strongly urge that this adjustment be at once made, as our lands are being more and more encroached upon, rendering a solution more difficult. At Yale, with the exception of the lot upon which our warehouse stands, all the available and valuable portion of our claim has been alienated. At some of our posts an equivalent value (not quantity) might in similar cases be substituted; but at Yale the amount of our business, danger of fire, and consequent necessity of isolation, absolutely require that we be confirmed in at least four contiguous Town lots, say two facing the water, irrespective of Mr. Allard's house. The occupiers of the lots alienated hold them on what are called leases, subject to restoration to Government when called for. The above remarks will I trust be found sufficiently clear to enable the Board to understand the points which are considered essential to the Company, in the Settlement of the question. (Signed) A. G. Dallas. Nairn 15th August 1861. THE NEGRO IMMIGRATION INTO VANCOUVER ISLAND IN 1858.* California was from the beginning a free State. Its constitution provided that there should be no slavery within its boundaries. Its population was a heterogeneous collection of adventurers from every State in the Union and every nation of the globe. Its people were more interested in placer than in politics. This does not imply that they were not concerned with public matters, but merely that the pursuit of the yellow root of evil occupied the centre of their activities. In 1850 and in 1851 the State Legislature had taken what appear to have been its first steps against the negro. By these Acts negroes were disqualified from giving evidence against white persons. It speaks well for the general standard of honesty that these statutes did not create or at any rate encourage a condition of lawlessness; for their effect was to deprive the negroes of the ability to protect their property from spoliation by the white man. From time to time attempts were made, but unsuccessfully, to effect a modification of this law. " It is maintained in force," said the Daily Evening Bulletin, San Francisco,1 "simply because a class of our people were brought up in states where negroes were not allowed to testify, not because they were negroes, but because they were slaves, and their vehement adherence to the prejudices of their birthplace has infected the popular mind." In 1852 the Legislature passed a Fugitive Slave Act,2 providing for the arrest of any slave found in the State who might have escaped from his master. It authorized any Judge, upon oral evidence or other satisfactory proof, to issue a certificate upon which the fugitive slave could be returned to servitude, but he must be removed from the State. It contained a provision that " In no trial or hearing under this Act shall the testimony of such alleged fugitive be admitted in evidence." * A paper read at the May, 1935, meeting of the Eoyal Society of Canada. Reprinted by permission from the Transactions of the Society, Section II., 1935, pp. 145-156. (1) December 21, 1857. (2) Chapter 33 of Acts, 1852. 101 102 F. W. HOWAY. April The negroes of the State in convention in Sacramento in 1856 denounced without avail these prohibitions against their giving evidence, which left them without the means of protecting their property, persons, or liberty, and placed them in the same position as criminals. The feeling of injustice is deepened when it is recalled that the negroes of the State, in 1857, owned taxable property of the estimated value of about $5,000,000.3 In voting upon the constitution of Oregon as a State, in 1857, its people had resolved that free negroes be excluded. This gave the Evening Bulletin4' the opportunity to remark: " It is much better to keep them away than to let them come, and deprive them of all civil rights and the power of defending themselves or their properly as is done in this State." In his valedictory address in January, 1858, John Neely Johnson, the " Know-Nothing " Governor, impressed with the unfairness of the situation, recommended that "the law excluding the testimony of negroes and Chinamen should be abolished."6 The question of negro slavery in California was discussed by the newly-elected Governor, John B. Weller, a Democrat, in his inaugural address, in January, 1858. The burden of his remarks was along standard Democratic lines: that California had decided that slavery should not exist within her boundaries; that the agitation for the abolition of slavery was unwise, inasmuch as it was an attempt by one State to dictate how another should handle its own internal affairs; and that such agitation tended to weaken the ties of affection between the States. Almost coincident with these pronouncements of the governors arose a cause cSlebre—the case of Archy Lee—which in the end set the heather on fire. The first the public knew of the matter was on January 11, 1858, when it was learned that this negro boy had been arrested as a fugitive slave and held for deportation to Mississippi, and that the coloured population were greatly excited. They at once became vitally interested in the proceedings for his release on habeas corpus. The facts, as first deposed to by the master, one C. A. Stovall, of Mississippi, were that Archy was his body-servant, and had been a slave on his (3) Daily Evening Bulletin, October 30, 1857. (4) Ibid., November 16,1857. (5) Journals of Assembly, January 8, 1868, p. 50. 1939 The Negro Immigration in 1858. 103 plantation for many years; that he set out for the West in January, 1857, taking the boy with him; and that, though since his arrival in California he had been resident in Sacramento, he was in reality travelling for his health, and with no intention of remaining permanently in the State. The slave boy, it was said, was worth $1,500 in Mississippi. It further appeared that Stovall had purchased a ranch in Carson Valley, on which he had placed some cattle that he had brought across the plains; that he had been in Sacramento since October, 1857; had hired a schoolroom and advertised for pupils; and that Archy had been working for various persons, but Stovall had collected his wages. The case was transferred from the State Court to that of United States Commissioner George Pen Johnston. He found, upon the facts as stated, that Archy had not escaped from his master and fled to California, but had been knowingly brought by Stovall, his owner, into a free State, and that therefore he had no jurisdiction, as the negro was not a fugitive slave within the meaning of the Act. He, accordingly, returned the case to the State Court. At this time the State Legislature was in session. Both Houses were overwhelmingly Democratic. Of the thirty-five members of the Senate twenty-seven were Democrats; and of the eighty members of the Assembly sixty-^six were also Democrats.6 To aid the slave-owner, Stovall, Mr. A. G. Stokes, senior member for San Joaquin County, introduced on January 18 a Bill providing that where any slave " shall be brought or may have been heretofore brought" by his owner into California, if only travelling through the State or in good faith sojourning therein without the intention of permanently residing, and such slave escapes, he shall not be free, but shall be delivered up to his owner. The opponents of the Bill claimed that it not only tolerated but actually legalized slavery in California. The Bulletin expressed the belief that five-eighths of the Democratic members of the lower House were from the Northern States, and on principle and by education opposed to slavery. On February 2, Mr. Stokes introduced another Bill " to prohibit the immigration of free negroes and other obnoxious persons into this state and to (6) Quarterly of the California Historical Society, IX. (1930), p. 268. ms»* 104 F. W. Howay. April protect and regulate the conduct of such persons now within the state." To add fuel to the fire the question of the attendance of coloured children in the public schools of San Francisco came before the Board of Education, which on February 17 ordered that they should not be permitted to attend any school except that established for them, and directed that those in attendance at any other public school be removed therefrom. While these matters were going on, Archy's case reached the Supreme Court of California and was heard by Chief Justice Terry and Judge Burnett. Terry was a " Know Nothing," but Burnett was a Democrat. They rendered a remarkable decision. They found that Stovall was not a visitor nor a traveller; whence it would seem to follow that he had the only other status: that of a resident. It resulted therefrom that a resident of a free State was striving to maintain slavery within its boundaries. But as this was the first case to arise and as Stovall was in poor health and in poor financial condition " we are not disposed to rigidly enforce the rule for the first time. But in reference to all future cases it is our purpose to enforce the rules strictly according to their true intent and spirit."7 The decision was received with the jeers and sneers which it deserved. It was painfully manifest that Judge Burnett had permitted his belief that slavery was a proper and laudable institution to override his sense of justice and right. Judge Baldwin, his successor, characterized the decision as " giving the law to the North and the nigger to the South "; and subsequently prepared a humorous abstract of Archy's case in which he said it decided that the constitution does not apply to young men of weak constitution travelling for their health; that it does not apply for the first time; and that the decisions of the Supreme Court are not to be taken as precedents.8 The Bulletin was fearlessly outspoken. It characterized the two judges as " Supreme Mugginses," and called for their impeachment. The Chief Justice it dubbed an " ignorant bully," and declared that it was time that steps should be taken to purge and purify the Supreme Court. parte Archy, 9 California Reports, p. 147. ) T. H. Hittell, History of California, San Francisco, 1897, IV., p. 245. 1939 The Negro Immigration in 1858. 105 Oddly enough a similar case9 came before Judge George H. Williams of Oregon—also a Democrat—in 1853. A coloured family of Polk County applied for release on habeas corpus from their Missouri owner who had brought them into that free State and held them as slaves. Judge Williams decided that the Oregon law of 1844 was valid and constitutional and that its declaration that there should be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the State operated to the release of slaves brought there by their masters. Despite the noise and clamour with which the decision in Archy's case was received, Stovall had his slave in his possession in California—the constitution notwithstanding. He kept the boy secretly in gaol in San Joaquin County; this fact was discovered and a writ of habeas corpus again applied for; but before it could be served Stovall whisked Archy out of that confinement. He kept Archy hidden away until March 4, 1858, when the steamer Orizaba was about to sail from San Francisco for Panama. In some way the negroes became aware of his purpose. They caused a warrant to be issued charging Stovall with kidnapping the boy. Police officers with the warrant went aboard the Orizaba. When the steamer was off Angel Island in the harbour, a small boat with Stovall and his slave came off to her. As the officers arrested him he resisted, saying that the Supreme Court had awarded him the boy and he would be d d if any Court in the State would take him away. However, Stovall and Archy were taken off the steamer to San Francisco. Great was the excitement in the city over the occurrence. The coloured people were out in strength, and Archy was the observed of all beholders. To increase the tensity of the situation a number of petitions had been presented to the Assembly, in accordance with ex-Governor Johnson's suggestion, requesting the repeal of the law which prevented the negroes from giving evidence in matters in which a white man was concerned; and on the very day that Archy and his master were taken from the Orizaba the Judicial Committee of the Senate had reported adversely. Events now began to move rapidly. The next day after the Orizaba incident the following notice was posted up on the (9) Holmes vs. Ford; see Oregon Historical Quarterly, XXIII. (1922), 106 F. W. Howay April Athenaeum on Washington Street and in other places frequented by coloured people. NOTICE ! ! ! There will be a public meeting of the coloured citizens of San Francisco this (Friday) evening, March 5th at Zion M.E. Church, Pacific, above Stockton St., to commence at 8 o'clock. Signed by a Committee The meeting was largely attended. The church was filled with coloured people and a sprinkling of whites. An appeal was made for funds to carry on the fight for Archy's freedom. The sum of $150 was subscribed, and a committee appointed to solicit further contributions. On March 8, the application for Archy's release on habeas corpus came up. The Court-room was densely crowded and great interest was manifested in the case. When Judge Frelon denied Stovall's application to dismiss the writ, his counsel consented to Archy's discharge. He was immediately rearrested as a fugitive slave and the matter came again to the Court of United States Commissioner George Pen Johnston. There was great excitement among the negroes. The United States marshal, fearing a tumult, called to his assistance a considerable number of police officers. Much confusion ensued. As poor Archy was being taken away by the marshal and his men there was a rush and a press and a large crowd followed through the streets while the boy was forced along towards the marshal's office. Several excited coloured individuals were arrested for assault and battery and creating a disturbance; but nothing like a rescue was attempted. Everybody was excited. Day by day the case dragged its slow length along; there were delays and adjournments. But the coloured people were always in attendance to catch the least word or movement. A month went by before the matter was decided. In that interval the interest shifts to the Legislature. The two Bills introduced by Mr. Stokes were dropped in favour of one brought in on March 19 by Mr. J. S. Warfield, the senior member for Nevada County. It is described in the journals10 as an Act to restrict and prevent (10) Journals of Assembly, March 11, 1858, p. 408 (Notice of Bill). 1939 The Negro Immigration in 1858. 107 the immigration to and residence in the State of negroes and mulattoes. No mulatto or negro was thereafter to be allowed to immigrate to California; if any did and were found therein they were to be deported. It provided that the sheriff could hire them to any person " for such reasonable time as shall be necessary to pay the costs of the conviction and transportation from this state before sending such negro or mulatto therefrom." All coloured people then in the State were to register; failure so to do was to be a misdemeanour. Any one bringing a coloured person into the State with intent to free him from slavery was to be guilty of a misdemeanour. Those already in California might depart without molestation if they went at once. Every registered negro must be licensed, and any person employing an unlicensed negro would be liable to a heavy fine. There were many supporters of such legislation, both within and without the House. When one of the members asked where the coloured people then in the State were to be sent, a voice replied, " Send them to the Devil."11 This Bill, like its predecessors, was nevertheless strongly criticized. It was claimed that the migration of a negro from one State to another could not be, or be made, a crime; that the negroes were already there and that the provision that newcomers could be arrested and their services sold at auction to the lowest bidder in order to raise the money for their deportation was the thin edge of the wedge of slavery. It was contended that it was oppressive to pass such a retroactive law, which would drive them out of employment, for no one would dare to employ one of them lest it be discovered that such negro had no licence and the employer be thereby rendered liable to a heavy fine. One of the negroes in a letter to the Bulletin,12 signed W. M. G. (probably W. M. Gibbs, a man of marked ability), took up the cudgels for his people and put forward their case in a manly, outspoken fashion. He concludes in this wise:— Let the bill now before the Legislature take what turn it may, the colored people in this state have no regrets to offer for their deportment. Their course has been manly, industrious, law-abiding. To this Legislature and the press that sustains them be all the honour, glory, and consequences of prosecuting and abusing an industrious, unoffending, and defenceless people. (11) Quarterly of the California Historical Society, IX. (1930), p. 281 f. 108 F. W. Howay. April But to return to Archy and his case. Stovall, strange to relate, now made an affidavit altogether different from that which he had made when he launched the original proceedings in the preceding January. Then he had said that he had brought Archy with him from Mississippi. He now changed his front and to to give the poor boy the appearance of a fugitive slave, he declared that Archy had assaulted a person in Mississippi with a knife and that he had, in consequence, fled from that State in January, 1857. Stovall further declared that after Archy had disappeared he set out for California, over the plains, and that at the crossing of the North Platte River he accidentally encountered Archy, and together they journeyed to Sacramento. By virtue of the law of 1851 Archy was, of course, prevented from contraverting any of these statements. However, George Pen Johnston, the United States Commissioner—a Democrat too, by the way—had not forgotten the first account that Stovall had given; the manifest contradictions could not be explained. To the great surprise of many with anti-negro feelings Johnston held, after mentioning the variations in the two stories told by Stovall, that in any event he could not decide that Archy was, in any sense, a fugitive slave who had escaped to California; and on April 14,1858, he granted Archy his freedom. Great was the jubilation of the coloured population. But at the same time they were at white heat; for though they had been victorious in the Court the Legislature had to be reckoned with, and the proposed drastic legislation against them was slowly making its way towards becoming a law in some form or other. Their very existence and their freedom were in jeopardy. The only safe course appeared to be to remove from the State. On the very day of Archy's release a large meeting was held in Zion Methodist Episcopal Church. The question was not whether they should emigrate, but whither they should emigrate : and it was discussed at length. The choice lay between Vancouver Island—then a separate British colony—and Sonora in Mexico. They declared that " they would not be degraded by the enactment of such an unjust and unnecessary law against them by their own (American) countrymen." The further consideration was deferred until the next day, when they again assembled in the same church. The first business then taken up The Negro Immigration i was the raising of money to pay the deficit in the expenses of Archy's case. While the collection was being taken up they sang a hymn of rejoicing. It was an adaptation of Charles Wesley's well-known words. A Song of Rejoicing for Archy's Deliverance Blow ye the trumpet! Blow! The gladly solemn sound, Let all the nations know To earth's remotest bound The year of Archy Lee is come, Return, ye ransomed Stovall, home. Exalt the Lamb of God; The sin-atoning Lamb; Redemption by His blood Through all the land proclaim. The year of Archy Lee is come, Return, ye ransomed Stovall, home. Ye slaves of sin and hell, Your liberty receive; And safe in Jesus dwell, And blest in Jesus live. The year of Archy Lee is come, Return, ye ransomed Stovall, home. The gospel trumpet hear— The news of pardoning grace; Ye happy souls draw near; Behold your saviour's face. The year of Archy Lee is come, Return, ye ransomed Stovall, home. The appropriateness of the adjective " ransomed " as applied to Stovall (the slave-owner) is scarcely apparent, but the spirit behind the hymn must plead excuse. The money came down thick and fast as the hymn was sung. Then followed another— an atrocious bit of composition; but what it lacked in obedience to the rules of rhyme and rhythm it made up for in its genuine feeling of thankfulness for the victory in the court. It was based upon Thomas Moore's well-known Miriam's Song. F. W. Howay. For the Benefit of Those Named Therein Sound the glad tidings o'er land and o'er sea— Our people have triumphed and Archy is free! Sing, for the pride of the tyrant is broken; The decision of Burnett and Terry reversed. How vain was their boasting! Their plans so soon broken; Archy's free and Stovall is brought to the dust. Praise to the Judges and praise to the lawyers! Freedom was their object and that they obtained. Stovall was shown it was time to be moving; He left on the steamer to lay deeper plans. But there was a Baker, a Crosby, and Tompkins, Before Pen Johnston and did plead for the man. In the discussion it was stated that in the past year scarcely twenty-four coloured people had arrived in California from the free States.. Upon this fact the argument was built that an ulterior motive lay behind the heinous law then before the Legislature. Though at the outset the majority seemed to favour emigration to Mexico the feeling gradually swung round to the nearest British possession, Vancouver Island. On April 19 the third meeting was held. By this time they had formulated their plans, and it was now resolved to send an advance party of sixty-five persons to Vancouver Island to ascertain whether that British possession would receive them as residents; and, if so, these forerunners were to purchase as much land as possible with a view to permanent settlement under British protection. Mr. M. W. Gibbs, one of the negroes, then delivered a farewell address to the vanguard who were to sail on the steamer Commodore on the following day. The Bulletin,1* dealing with their departure, said editorially:— All this puts one in mind of the Pilgrims and the address of Pastor Robinson, when those adventurers embarked for their new homes across the seas. When the colored people get their " poet" he will no doubt sing of these scenes which are passing around us almost unheeded, and the day when colored people fled persecution in California may yet be celebrated in story. This is an important epoch for this class of our inhabitants. The sixty-five yesterday went off in the Commodore, and are now pushing toward the north, bearing their lares and penates to found new homes. It is said that if the attempt to make a settlement on Vancouver's Island should prove abortive, a number who favor P. Anderson's proposition for a settlement in (13) April 21, 1858. 1939 The Negro Immigration in 1858. Ill Sonora, Mexico, will make an attempt in that direction. Whatever may be their destiny, we hope the colored people may do well. While this advance guard of negroes were journeying to the land of freedom, the Assembly was just closing its session. The dreaded Warfield Bill (which, as has been shown, had been substituted for those introduced by Stokes) failed to become law, but that was merely because the Senate had tacked on some small amendments and before these could be considered and approved by the Assembly, the time of prorogation had arrived and the Bill was lost in the hurry that always accompanies the closing days of any session. The House, as has been said, was overwhelmingly Democratic; a large majority favoured this legislation; any thought, therefore, that its failure to become law was in any way caused by the negro emigration is entirely gratuitous. It was even said that the pro-slavery supporters were so in earnest in the matter of Archy that some of them sensing that U.S. Commissioner Johnston would order his release, strove to provoke a duel with him, in order effectually to prevent a favourable judgment for the negro boy, by disposing of the Commissioner on the " field of honour." On May 6, 1858, another meeting of the negroes was held in the usual place, Zion Methodist Episcopal Church, to hear the report of the delegates to Vancouver Island. About 300 persons were present, of whom some fifty were whites. The report was very satisfactory. It was stated that the forerunners had been received " most cordially and kindly by His Excellency the Governor, and heartily welcomed to this land of freedom and humanity "; that land could be obtained at twenty shillings an acre; one-quarter in cash, and the remainder in four annual payments with interest at five per cent., but with no tax on the land until full payment; that land-holders after a residence of nine months had the right of electoral franchise, of sitting as jurors, and all the protection of the law as citizens of the Colony, but that to enjoy the complete rights of British subjects they must reside seven years and take the oath of allegiance; and that town lots 66 feet by 132 could be bought for fifty dollars each. Another report stated that within an hour after they had secured a house in Victoria they had held a solemn religious service in thankfulness for their improved prospects; that they had had 112 F. W. HOWAY. April a visit from the Rev. Edward Cridge, the resident Episcopal minister, who welcomed them to their new home and expressed his pleasure at having so many Christian friends around him, that he had invited them to the services of the Church of England and to his home, and, after offering to do anything in his power to aid them, had concluded his visit with a prayer for their well- being. It added that they had seen the land of the island, and that it was in every way suitable for their requirements. Another letter spoke of the beautiful situation and site of Victoria. It also stated that the Governor had authorized the writer to say that if they came to the colony they would have all the rights, privileges, and protection of the laws of the country; that there were two churches and two schools, one of which was taught by an educated Indian; that, in short, " It is a God-sent land for the coloured people."14 Throughout the whole story one cannot fail to be impressed with the deep religious feeling of these people and their reliance upon God under every trial. This must plead in excuse of the flamboyancy of their language at times and of their metrical compositions, which sometimes " had in them more feet than the verses would bear." The meeting discussed and approved of these reports and of the " course of the Brethren in Vancouver's Island." Speeches were made, and great enthusiasm prevailed when it was agreed that they organize an Emigrant Society to enable their removal to the British colony. The plan was to raise $2,500 by contributions of $25 each; to charter a vessel therewith and remove as a body to their new-found home. Following the precedent of the Declaration of Independence, they now prepared " A Declaration of the Sense of the Colored People " :1B Whereas We are fully convinced that the continued aim of the spirit and policy of our Mother Country is to oppress, degrade, and entrap us. We have therefore determined to seek an asylum in the land of strangers, from the oppression, prejudice, and relentless persecution that have pursued us for more than two centuries in this, our mother country. Therefore, a delegation having been sent to Vancouver's Island, a place which has unfolded to us in our darkest hour, the prospect of a bright future; to this place of British possession the delegation having ascertained and reported the condition, character, and its social and political privileges, and its living re- 1939 The Negro Immigration in 1858. 113 sources. This mission in the highest degree creditable they have fulfilled and rendered most flattering accounts to their constituents in their reports, in view of which be it resolved as follows: Then follow twelve resolutions expressing thanks to the delegation, to Governor Douglas of Vancouver Island, and to the Rev. Edward Cridge, affirming their conviction that that island will prove a haven of rest, pledging loyalty to its laws and institutions, and indicating the conduct to be pursued by the coloured people during their residence. The eighth and twelfth resolutions seem worthy of being reproduced in full. 8. Resolution. That in bidding adieu to the friendships, early associations, and the thousand ties which bind mankind to the places of their nativity; we are actuated by no transitory excitement, but are fully impressed with the importance of our present movement, and with our hearts filled with gratitude to the Great Ruler of the Universe, who has provided this refuge for us, we pledge ourselves to this cause and will make every effort to redeem our race from the yoke of American oppression. 12. Resolution. That we now unitedly cast our lots (after the toil and hardships that have wrung our sweat and tears for centuries), in that land where bleeding humanity finds a balm, where philanthropy is crowned with royalty, slavery has laid aside its weapons, and the colored American is unshackled; there in the lair of the Lion, we will repose from the horrors of the past under the genial laws of the Queen of the Christian Isles. And with these words the negroes shook the dust of California off their feet. Among those who went in the first contingent was the celebrated Archy, whose persecution had fit the fire. Doubtless he and his coloured brethren breathed freely as the coast of California sank from view. The number who emigrated has not been definitely ascertained. Very shortly after the promulgation of the " Declaration of the Colored People" began the Fraser River gold rush of 1858, and the negroes were simply absorbed in the great crowd of eager adventurers hurrying to the latest El Dorado. Edgar Fawcett,16 writing in 1912, estimated the number at 800, but this appears too large; the Rev. Matthew Macfie, a Congregational minister who came to Vancouver Island in 1859,17 places it at 400; and this appears to be a closer approximation. ™ F. W. Howay. New Westminster, B.C. (16) Edgar Fawcett, Some Reminiscences of Old Victoria, Toronto, 1912, p. 215. (17) Matthew Macfie, Vancouver Island and British Columbia, London, 1865, p. 388. CAPTAIN ST. PAUL OF KAMLOOPS. Any one who has delved into the history of the Kamloops district, however superficially, must have encountered the name of Jean Baptiste Lolo, better known in later years as St. Paul. He is one of the very few Indians who, like Maquinna of Nootka Sound and old Kwah of the Northern Interior, have gained a place for themselves in the history of British Columbia on their individual merits, in contrast to the many who are known simply because they happened to be chief of a certain tribe at a certain time. Yet, in spite of this, Lolo remains to a great extent a man of legend and mystery; and any written account of his life must resemble a mosaic, composed of scores of carefully chosen but fragmentary references. Lolo—or Leolo, as the name is spelled in the earliest references to him in the Hudson's Bay Archives—was born in 1798.1 The place of his birth is not known. He is usually referred to as being a chief of the Shuswap Indians, and the Fort St. James District Report for 1822-23 describes him as " a native of Kamloops,"2 but unfortunately neither reference is conclusive. Tradition amongst the Indians at Kamloops insists that he was not a local chief, and this view is supported strongly by an old Indian, still living, who can remember Lolo personally. The context of the reference in the District Report is ambiguous, and it may only mean that he was stationed at Kamloops at the time the report was compiled. Father Morice describes Lolo as being " one of the leading Indians of Fraser Lake,"8 and this casual reference quite possibly indicates his true origin; but at the moment nothing can be proven, one way or the other. There is general agreement that he was christened Jean Baptiste Lolo by a Roman Catholic priest, and Morice states that (1) His age is given as 31 in 1829 and 36 in 1834. (H.B.C. Arch. B.239/g/8;12.) This and all subsequent references to and quotations from documents in the Archives of the Hudson's Bay Company are published by kind permission of the Governor and Committee, and the authors wish further to acknowledge the courtesy and consideration with which inquiries were received by the Company. (2) H.B.C. Arch. B.188/e/l. (3) A. G. Morice, History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, third edition, Toronto, 1905, p. 204. 115 116 George D. Brown, Jr., and W. Kaye Lamb. April he was " dubbed St. Paul by the engages of the fort" at Fraser Lake.4 This must have happened relatively late in Lolo's life, for, although he was almost invariably called St. Paul in later years, the earliest use of the name is found in the journal of Fort Kamloops for 1850, at which time Lolo would be 52 years old.6 Both names have given rise to various suppositions as to his origin. The French Christian names, coupled with the fact that Lolo spoke some French and once referred to himself as " un Canadien,"6 suggest that he either had French-Canadian blood or came from Eastern Canada, but there is no conclusive evidence on the point. Others have suggested that he came from St. Paul, in Oregon, or even St. Paul, in Minnesota, but the early date of his birth—1798—and the late date at which the name St. Paul came into use rule these possibilities out of court. To complicate matters further, a narrative based on conversations with John Tod, who knew Lolo well, advances the surprising theory that he received the name because he was " a ' mission' Indian who preached about St. Paul! "7 Ambiguity in reference seems to plague the searcher after truth about Lolo. Thus the entry in the Fort Kamloops Journal which records his death describes him as " an old Company's servant,"8 and opinion is divided as to whether this means that he had originally been a servant of the North West Company— the " Old Company," which amalgamated with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821—or simply that he had been in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company for a lengthy period. We reach firm ground only when we find the name " Baptiste Leolo " in the Abstracts of Servants' Accounts of the Hudson's Bay Company for outfit 1822-23.» As there was neither a credit nor a debit balance standing to his account on June 1, 1822, it is presumed that he joined the Company's service during the season (4) Ibid. (5) Kamloops Journal, September 22, 1850. (6) Cheadle's Journal of Trip across Canada 1862-68, with introduction and notes by A. G. Doughty and Gustave Lanctot, Ottawa, 1931, pp. 219-220. (7) Gilbert Malcolm Sproat, Career of a Scotch Boy Who Became Hon. John Tod [a series of newspaper articles published over the period September 30 to December 23, 1905], Victoria Times, December 9, 1905. (8) Kamloops Journal, May 15, 1868. (9) H.B.C. Arch. B.239/g/2. 1939 Captain St. Paul of Kamloops. 117 1822-23. Other brief entries enable us to trace his career during the next ten years. The Fort St. James District Report for 1822-23 states that " one of the Indians Leolo, a native of Kamloops, acting as interpreter is dismissed . . ."10 Nevertheless, his name appears in the list of Company servants for 1823-24, and during outfit 1824-25 he was employed as an interpreter in Western Caledonia.11 The Company considers it " probable that he was also employed in the transport brigades [between the western posts and Hudson Bay] as we find from a York Factory ledger that he was supplied with goods at that place in 1825."12 He left the service on July 27,1827, but re-engaged on November 20 of the same year,18 and the name of Jean Baptiste Leolo appears in the list of servants in the Thompson River District from 1828-29 until 1831-32. He was " allowed to go free," in the phrase of the time, on June 1,1832. It is evident that Lolo served the Company in the triple capacity of interpreter, guide, and trader; and even in 1832 he had attained a position far above that of the ordinary Indian servant in its employ. That position, coupled with his forceful personality, gave him great influence amongst the natives, and it was undoubtedly for this reason that he began to be referred to loosely as an Indian chief. Though he had no legitimate right to it, the title was much to Lolo's liking, and in later years he claimed it quite frankly, at least when dealing with the whites. Two or three letters have survived which give us a glimpse of Lolo in 1832. They were written by Samuel Black, then in charge of the post at Kamloops, to Alexander Fisher, the officer in charge at Alexandria. After leaving the service on June 1, Lolo evidently spent some time in wandering about the country, and in a letter dated September 16, Black notes that " altho Lolo told me he was coming back here [to Kamloops] perhaps to live," it appeared that " he had taken his whole family with him to Frasers River " on a recent expedition, which might well indicate a change in his plans. This was not agreeable news to Black, for, in spite of the fact that he distrusted Lolo's independence (10) H.B.C. Arch. B.188/e/l. (11) H.B.C. Arch. B.239/g/4. (12) H.B.C. Arch. B.239/x/4a, p. 321. (13) H.B.C. Arch. B.239/1/2. 118 George D. Brown, Jr., and W. Kaye Lamb. April and ambition, and deplored the " fuss " made about him—" this man whose inward policy is to be superior to his Master "—he admits, even to Alexander Fisher, that the post at Kamloops " may be lame without him."14 This is significant, since Black and Fisher were far from being on good terms at the time, and Black was accusing Fisher of employing unfair means and foul to persuade Indians whose furs would normally reach Kamloops to send them to Alexandria instead. Under these circumstances, Lolo's assistance would be a tremendous asset; and it would be interesting to know the details of the story which lies behind the fact that Black was able to re-enlist him in the service at Kamloops on October 1, 1832.16 Lolo promptly furnished Black with full details of Fisher's methods and operations, as is shown by Black's letter to Fisher dated October 29 :— Lolo tells me of the many tricks wherewith you deceive the Indians . ." . However, as some of these poor devils may have resisted such an imposition on their understanding [as the tricks just described] which you practise in order to get their furs, Lolo makes his usual tour among the natives belonging to this district, being instructed by no means or pretence to interfere in any way or trade a single skin from any Indian that has been accustomed to frequent your post. At the same time he is to get information as to the truth of the reports concerning your proceedings, and when he returns and gives me the necessary proofs of so infamous tricks as aforesaid, I shall, for the remainder of the season, act accordingly for the general interest of the Honorable Hudson's Bay Company, not to get the Indians' furs for one year, but for always, and in order to establish the respectability of the Company. . . .16 This letter was carried to Alexandria by Lolo himself, and Fisher took advantage of his presence there to reply in the following terms:— I have to acknowledge receipt of your epistle of the 29<* October on 6* November, per Lolo, your interpreter. . . . In my letter of the 5th October I took the liberty to request you to keep your men, women and children at your own establishment or within its limits. A month thereafter, day for day, your interpreter (Lolo) is again at the post or fort of Alexandria, which amply bears me out in my statements that your threats of opposition have been put into practice long ago and are still continued.17 (14) Black to Fisher, September 16, 1832 (Archives of B.C.). (15) H.B.C. Arch. B.239/1/3. (16) Morice, op. cit. pp. 155-156. (17) Ibid, p. 156. 1939 Captain St. Paul of Kamloops. 119 The unreasonable attitude here displayed was typical of Fisher, at whose door the blame for the unhappy struggle between Kamloops and Alexandria must be laid. One would think that fishing in such troubled waters would have intrigued Lolo, but apparently this was not the case, as he deserted the service at the end of August, 1833.18 Nothing is known of his activities during the next seven and a half years. When we pick up his trail again we find him at Fraser Lake, where the Hudson's Bay post was in charge of William Thew, whose ruthless ways and violent temper were notorious in the district. Father Morice, who had access to journals and correspondence which have since disappeared, relates that early in 1841, upon some trivial pretext, Thew fell upon Lolo, one of the leading Indians of Fraser Lake, dubbed St. Paul by the engages of the fort, and gave him such a beating that, arming themselves with axes, the naturally peaceful villagers went in a body to the fort, a mile distant, broke open the gates, and rushed on the establishment, when the now fairly frightened autocrat came to a window, and, begging for his life, threw down gifts to the mob, promising at the same time to make Saint Paul a chief and compensate him for the ill-treatment he had received, words which succeeded in calming the irritation of the natives and preventing further hostilities.19 It is scarcely necessary to add that Alexander Fisher and William Thew were not typical Hudson's Bay traders, and it seems unfair that disaster was reserved for their much more worthy and attractive brother officer Samuel Black, who was murdered by an Indian at Kamloops early in this same year, 1841. Lolo must have returned to Kamloops soon after the tragedy, judging from an entry in the journal kept by John Tod, who arrived early in August to take temporary charge of the post and hunt down the murderer. Tod records that he found the Fort, at least the store and dwelling house, locked up, but guarded by the Indian Lolo alone who had passed the summer here with his wife and family, [and who] reports that he had suffered much from hunger, and [that] the natives around in consequence of the want of ammunition had suffered much privation that way also.20 This passage is interesting, since it indicates that Lolo felt a certain responsibility for the safety of the fort, which had been (18) H.B.C. Arch. 239/1/5. (19) Morice, op. cit, p. 204. (20) Kamloops Journal, August 3,1841. 120 George D. Brown, Jr., and W. Kaye Lamb. April abandoned after Black's murder. Doubtless he expected his fidelity to be rewarded, but his action is significant in spite of that. And it is interesting further to note how dependent the Indians had become upon the ammunition which they could only obtain from the white men. Lolo took an active part in the successful search for Black's murderer, and in September Tod noted that he had once more become " engaged to the Coy. for three years . . ."21 The fort journal shows that he was again employed as a trader and interpreter, as well as being charged with a considerable variety of minor duties. In May, 1842, Tod left Kamloops, and remained absent until he returned to take formal command of the post in August. His account of his arrival seems to imply that Lolo had been in charge of the Company's affairs in the interval:— On the 5 August [1842] found an immense concourse of Indians at the Fort. Lolo, however, had collected few furs not alone a pack in all, but in other respects the Indians had been remarkably quiet and had exerted themselves during the summer in giving every assistance to raft down the wood for the new Fort. The mention of the new fort—the second built by the Company at Kamloops—should be noted. More than a year passed before it was completed, but in October, 1843, the journal carries the following entry:— Lolo alone remains at the old Fort until a temporary place, at which Seana is now at work, is got up for him and the Indians.22 In actual fact it is doubtful if Lolo ever did move to the new quarters. It is more likely that he moved instead into the best of the abandoned buildings on the old fort site, which was on the east bank of the North Thompson River, just north of the point where the Thompson and North Thompson meet. The old fort certainly became Lolo's residence at an early date, and he continued to occupy it for the rest of his life—a circumstance which had much to do with the creation of the Indian reserve thereabouts in 1862.28 (21) Ibid., September 6, 1841. See also H.B.C. Arch. B. 239/g/22-25. (22) Ibid., October 12,1843. (23) See the letters quoted by F. W. Laing on p. 94 of his article on Hudson's Bay Lands on the Mainland of British Columbia, published elsewhere in this number of the Quarterly. Captain St. Paul of Kamloops. 121 Lolo once more " went free " in 1845,24 but he continued to serve the Company in so many ways that any one reading the old fort journals would take it for granted that he was still an employee. He still led fur-trading expeditions up the North River and into the Canoe Country, took pack-trains to the Fraser River to secure salmon from the Indians there, carried dispatches, and guided and assisted the New Caledonia brigades. Upon at least one occasion, in 1847, he saved Fort Kamloops from possible destruction by contriving to warn John Tod that an attack upon the post was planned, and Bancroft tells at length the amusing story of how Tod was able to ward off the danger by means of a smallpox scare.26 Tod was succeeded as Chief Trader in charge at Kamloops by Paul Fraser; and it is in Fraser's Journal, in an entry dated September 22, 1850, that we find the earliest reference to Lolo under the name of St. Paul. As the fort journals for the period 1844-49 are missing, it is not possible to say just when or why the adoption of the new name took place, but the change was complete, and later references to Lolo are few and far between. About the same period Lolo began to acquire horses and cattle and to cultivate a few fields around the old fort, which he had been permitted to occupy and was coming to consider a more or less personal estate; and it would be interesting to know whether his new name was connected in any way with the airs and pretensions he evidently began to develop about the same time. We have no record of St. Paul between May of 1855 and January, 1859, owing to another gap in the file of fort journals. By the latter date, when the narrative resumes, he was in very poor health. " Old St. Paul," we read in March, in the none too grammatical journal of William Manson, "still very unwell, indeed very little hopes of his recovering his former health."26 But the (24) H.B.C. Arch. B.239/1/13-16. (25) H. H. Bancroft, History of British Columbia, San Francisco, 1887, pp. 141-152. Bancroft dates the incident 1846 (p. 141), but Tod told G. M. Sproat that the morning Lolo arrived to warn him he had received " news . . . from Oregon of the prevalence of smallpox among some of the Walla Walla Indians, and of the murder of Dr. Whitman and his wife." (Sproat, op. cit, in Victoria Times, December 23, 1905.) The Whitman massacre occurred in November, 1847. (26) Kamloops Journal, March 11, 1869. 122 George D. Brown, Jr., and W. Kaye Lamb. April most important event of 1859 was the visit to Kamloops in May of Lieutenant R. C. Mayne, of the survey ship H.M.S. Plumper, who wrote a detailed account of his stay at the fort. The day after his arrival he crossed the North Thompson to the Indian village to pay his respects to St. Paul, who, Mayne states, " was described to us as being somewhat of a notability."27 His narrative continues:— The building into which we were introduced was more like a regular wooden house than an Indian hut.2^ In the centre room, lying at length on a mattrass stretched upon the floor, was the chief of the Shuswap Indians. His face was a very fine one, although sickness and pain had worn it away terribly. His eyes were black, piercing, and restless; his cheekbones high, and the lips, naturally thin and close, had that white, compressed look which tells so surely of constant suffering. Such was St. Paul, as the Hudson Bay Company called him, or Jean Baptiste Lolo, as he had been named by the Roman Catholic priests who were in this district many years before. Behind him stood his wife, and presently he summoned two handsome-looking Indian girls, whom he introduced to us as his daughters. St. Paul received us lying upon his mattrass, and apologized in French for not having risen at our entrance. He asked Mr. M'Lean [Chief Trader at Kamloops] to explain that he was a cripple. Many years back it appeared St. Paul became convinced there was something wrong with his knee. Having no faith in the medicine-men of his tribe, and there being no white doctor near, the poor savage actually commenced cutting a way to the bone, under the impression that it needed cleansing. In time, at the cost of course of great personal suffering, he succeeded in boring a hole through the bone, which he keeps open by constantly syringing water through it. Mr. M'Lean described him as a man of very determined character, who had been upon many occasions most useful to him and his predecessors at the fort. Although obliged to lie in his bed sometimes for days together, his sway over his tribe is perfect, and, weak as he is, he rules them more by fear than love. Upon my remarking casually that I wondered he was not sometimes afraid of some or other of his people taking advantage of his comparatively helpless condition, he heard me with a grim smile, and for answer turned back his pillow, where a loaded gun and a naked sword lay ready to his hand. Upon our rising to leave Mr. M'Lean whispered that our host would take it ill if he were not asked to accompany us; and this being done, to my surprise St. Paul at once assented. Being assisted to rise, he hobbled to the door on crutches, and, having been with considerable difficulty got into the saddle, rode about all the day with us.29 (27) R. C. Mayne, Island, London, 1862, p. 118. (28) Possibly he was living in one of the old fort buildings. (29) Mayne, op. cit, pp. 119-120. Columbia and Vancouver 1939 Captain St. Paul of Kamloops. 123 St. Paul undoubtedly possessed great influence amongst the Indians, but, as already noted, it is very improbable that he was ever actually chief of the Shuswaps, as Mayne believed. The wife and daughters mentioned are pictured, along with St. Paul, in the accompanying photograph. Mayne was evidently greatly impressed with St. Paul, and it was he who named the near-by peak Mount St. Paul in his honour, after he had climbed the mountain in company with Donald McLean.30 St. Paul, in his turn, seems to have taken a fancy to Lieutenant Mayne, and when Mayne arranged to secure horses from him to carry his party to Lillooet, St. Paul determined to accompany him personally as far as Pavilion. The streams by the way were much swollen, and, but for St. Paul, one of these might have barred the advance of the party. Mayne writes:— . . . After a long search we came upon the trunk of a tree by which Indians were evidently accustomed to cross. To our annoyance, however, the river had risen so high that this rough bridge was at least two feet under the water, which tore over it with a rapidity of a mill-stream; so that, unless a rope could be carried over and fastened at the other side to form a balustrade, it seemed quite impossible to get ourselves and the luggage across safely. However, St. Paul seemed determined that this should be done, and several of his men stripping to the work endeavoured gallantly to cross the river. As often, however, as they managed to get to the middle of the primitive bridge, the elasticity of the tree, together with the velocity of the current, sent them spinning off, and they were swept down the stream, having to swim vigorously for their lives.81 St. Paul's anger had been mounting with each failure, and now, to the dismay of Mayne, who feared he would be swept to his death owing to his crippled condition, the old man took a hand personally:— . . . Breaking from us he was soon standing mid-stream, the rope in his hand, yelling to his men, and swearing in a French jargon peculiar to himself, with a zeal and originality that would have inspired the members of Captain Shandy's troop in the Low Countries with admiring envy. Very much to our relief, as may be supposed, St. Paul succeeded in scrambling over the fragile bridge with the agility of a monkey, and, the rope being made fast to the other side, we crossed with comparative ease.82 (30) Ibid., p. 121. (31) Ibid., p. 126. (32) Ibid., p. 127. 124 George D. Brown, Jr., and W. Kaye Lamb. April Though Mayne proceeded on his way rejoicing, the effort St. Paul had made was in fact almost fatal, and more than a month later the fort journal records that he was still " said to be very low."88 The journals for the years 1860, 1861, and 1862 are unusually detailed and complete; and as they contain scores of references to St. Paul, it is possible to reconstruct a fairly complete picture of his activities at this time. Incidentally, the references show that a further change took place in his name. In October, 1860, St. Paul gives way to " Mr. St. Paul"; and this is replaced very shortly by " Mr. Capt. St. Paul." There is nothing to indicate the reason for this, though it may have been a humorous attempt to keep up with his pretensions, which had now reached their height. Upon occasion St. Paul still served the Hudson's Bay Company. An entry dated October 9, 1860, reads:— Mr. St. Paul started this morning by the opposite side of the Lake to overtake Mr. [Chief Factor J. W.] McKay and assist that Gentleman with his Influence &c. to get the Indians to stir their stumps a little this winter in trapping Martens &c. His influence with the Indians was frequently exerted in similar ways for the Company's benefit, and he still advised its officers upon routes of travel and trading prospects, and occasionally guided and assisted the brigades, as in the old days. It is pleasant to read that upon at least one occasion William Manson " was directed by Mr. McKay to Cancell his debt of $26.67 in consideration of his services in getting the Indians to hunt &c. &c."84 De Groot tells us that in 1858-59 St. Paul owned " a large amount of stock, the sale of which to the whites of late has rendered him quite wealthy."86 It is true that he owned horses and cattle, but that wealth came his way, even temporarily, is much less certain. Mayne describes him as being " the possessor of a score or more horses,"86 which probably gives a much more accurate idea of his circumstances. Travellers, miners, and even the Company itself hired horses or purchased cattle from him from time to time, and stray references indicate that St. Paul (33) Kamloops Journal, June 24, 1859. (34) Kamloops Journal, November 28, 1860. (35) Henry de Groot, British Columbia its condition and prospects, San Francisco, 1859, p. 12. (36) Mayne, op cit, p. 122. 1939 Captain St. Paul of Kamloops. 125 cultivated a few fields, and some seasons could offer potatoes, hay, and even grain for sale. He also set up as a merchant and trader, and sold at the fort many small batches of furs which he had bought from Indians. From the Company he purchased bacon, flour, and nails, to which in later years were added occasionally brandy and sherry. The officers of the fort seem to have regarded his trading activities with amused and friendly tolerance. In August, 1861, they even granted him a cash loan of some $345.87 Of this sum $105 was repaid within a few days; but it must have been somewhat of a shock when St. Paul used the balance to purchase goods for his store from one Thomas, a trader who came from Hope.88 Thereafter references to St. Paul and his debt are frequent. One or two entries are worth quoting. On November 5,1861, we read:— Mr. Capt. St. Paul notwithstanding our having on several occasions assisted him and also being still in our debt has given us trouble in getting a yearling Heifer from him as part payment, when the damned old scoundrel should have come forward at once thankfully. Equally amusing is the entry dated November 13:— It is reported that St. Paul is very unwell. I must get this old fellow persuaded to make us his Bankers in case of his clearing off some fine day and leaving his debt unsettled. The debt question was again raised on January 12, 1862:— . . . Had a visit from Mr. Capt. St. Paul and an important conversation on matters generally—on the whole the old rascally Saint left us in tol- lerable humour—notwithstanding his being again reminded of his debt and the propriety of his doing something soon towards its liquidation. Critical and scornful the officers at the fort might be; but they were friendly as well. Thus on March 29,1862, we find this revealing entry in William Manson's journal:— Pierre Bouche has agreed to remain again with Paul—and as I do not wish to be awkward with the old man or drag away his man have cancelled the agreement he made with the Company. It was well that St. Paul had friends, for the very next day Manson added:— Thomas the man who supplied Paul with Goods has come for payment. This will very nearly clear out the old man. Early in April a Chinaman arrived from Lytton with a summons for St. Paul for debt; and it is evident that Thomas and the a between them brought about St. Paul's ruin, so far as :, 1861. 126 George D. Brown, Jr., and W. Kaye Lamb. April his store-keeping was concerned. Within a month or two he had again reverted to his old occupation and was leading trading parties to the Canoe Country for the Hudson's Bay Company.39 His temporary independence and comparative prosperity appear to have been due to a brief placer-mining excitement which centred upon the Tranquille River, in 1861. The miners who flocked to the spot furnished a market for his goods, and the following quotation from a newspaper of the day indicates that he also tried his luck at mining as well:— Tranquille gold excitement St. Paul, a noted Kamloops Indian Chief, is there, has staked off claims and set a large number of his tribe at work with rockers. None of the miners know what he is taking out per day, but judging from the prospects they have obtained, and the quantity of dust he is known to have in his possession, his men must be making excellent wages.4' Though the fort journal shows that St. Paul did trade gold direct to the Hudson's Bay Company from time to time, the quantities were never large, and the Tranquille mining boom was of short duration. We catch a last glimpse of St. Paul in the journal kept by Dr. W. B. Cheadle during his celebrated trans-Canada journey in 1862-63. Readers will recall the desperate plight into which his party fell during the trip from Edmonton to Kamloops. St. Paul was the first person Cheadle encountered as he and his weary companions stumbled along in the dark towards the latter post, on August 28,1863. He thus describes the dramatic moment:— Darker still, but at last in the twilight we discern a long rambling shanty, & riding round to the front found several people seated round a tarpaulin stretched on the ground eating—pots & kettles on the fire near. An old man jumped up & in a curious mixture of French, English & Indian invited us to eat, saying " Une piastre chaque, Monsieur," " Une piastre chaque, mon- (39) It must have been on oi occurred which caused the followi for February 27, 1863:— At Canoe Creek a number of horses, pack animals, had died. An Indian called " Saint Paul" came to Canoe Creek from Kamloops, and relieved the Indians at the former place of some of their best horses, on pretense of curing them. The medicine administered by the " Saint" was a villainous compound, and Mr. Ritchie asserts that every animal it was given to died. The Indians intend prosecuting the quack. (40) Victoria Colonist, May 28, 1861. 1939 Captain St. Paul of Kamloops. 127 sieur, " " Campez, campez ici," I said, All right we must eat if it costs £50 a piece, & straight let loose our horses & sat down to the remains of the repast which consisted of a greasy soup of bacon, cabbage & pease in a tin dish, beautiful white galette, & tea & sugar. Milton & I did wonders! . . . The old man informed us he was Captain St. Paul " un Canadien " of whom we must have heard; showed us into a kind of out-house with 2 broken-down bedsteads in it & fowls roosting on the beams.41 Cheadle added further details in his diary the day following, August 29 :— Old St. Paul impressed upon us his importance. How the magistrate always stayed with him on making his rounds; always "Monsieur St. Paul" from him & Governor; great extent of land which he owned on that side of river; no one allowed to graze a horse, or cut wood without his permission. Called our attention to two notices fixed up to trees, " Indian Reserve Lands," " Not to be trespassed upon," Cox Chief Magistrate.*2 Four years previously Mayne had noted " that when travelling with the officers of the Hudson Bay Company, St. Paul was always admitted to' their mess . . ."48 The notices mentioned by Cheadle would be those posted by W. G. Cox when he first established an Indian reserve at Kamloops, in 1862. During the last years of his life St. Paul seems to have dropped into the background, as the journals of the fort contain no reference to him except the simple entry, in the handwriting of Chief Trader Moffat, which records his death:— Lolo or St. Paul died this morning he was an old Company's servant. The date was May 15, 1868, and Lolo would be 70 years old. Since then another seventy years have passed, and it might be expected that Lolo's name would have been forgotten; but his picturesque character and long association with the Kamloops district make him prominent in its history. Moreover, he is commemorated by at least seven place-names, which serve to keep his memory green: Lolo Creek, Lolo Lake, Lolo Mountain, St. Paul Street in Kamloops, Paul Creek, Paul Lake, and the mountain that Lieutenant Mayne christened Mount St. Paul, but which is now known locally as Mount Paul and officially as Paul Peak- George D. Brown, Jr. Kamloops, B.C. W. Kaye Lamb, Victoria, B.C. (41) Cheadle's Journal, pp. 219-220. (42) Ibid., p. 221. (43) Mayne, op. cit, p. 127. NOTES AND COMMENTS. Contributors to this Issue. F. W. Laing was for many years Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture of British Columbia and since his retirement, in 1938, has been at work upon an exhaustive study of early land policy and settlement on the Mainland. Two or three paragraphs of Mr. Laing's article are quoted from a paper entitled Hudson's Bay Company Lands and Colonial Farm Settlement on the Mainland of British Columbia, 1858-1871, which he contributed to the December, 1938, issue of the Pacific Historical Review, and are here reproduced by kind permission of the Editor. George D. Brown, Jr., is Secretary of the Kamloops Museum Association and has long been an enthusiastic collector of documents and photographs relating to the Kamloops district. Dr. Hunter Miller, the distinguished authority on diplomatic history, is editor of the monumental series entitled Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America, published by the Department of State, Washington. The Oregon Treaty is dealt with in Volume V. of the series, and Dr. Miller there presents a definitive history and analysis of the negotiations which preceded the agreement. British Columbia Historical Association. A meeting of the Provincial Council was held in Victoria on February 8, and the Council was delighted to learn that a New Westminster and Fraser Valley Section of the Association had been organized at a meeting held in New Westminster on February 1. This meeting was attended by Mr. J. R. V. Dunlop, President of the Vancouver Section, and by Dr. Robie L. Reid, who outlined the aims and objects of the society and expressed the hope that those present would organize a local section in the Royal City. Upon the motion of Mr. W. N. Draper, seconded by Mr. D. E. McKenzie, this suggestion was adopted, and it was decided to call the branch the New Westminster and Fraser Valley Section, as it was thought that many residents of the Fraser Valley would wish to join the Association. An election of officers was then held, and resulted as follows:— Honorary President His Honour Judge Howay. President W. N. Draper. Vice-President Mrs. E. G. Pearson. Treasurer E. H. Sands Secretary _. E. M. Cotton. Members of the Council:— D. E. McKenzie. Otway Wilkie. A. W. Petapiece. S. L. Speck. Miss Camerson. C. Moir. Mrs. C. D. Peele. 130 Notes and Comments. April Twelve members were enrolled immediately, and it is expected that many more will be added to the roll in the near future. Mr. B. A. McKelvie drew the attention of the Council to the fact that the Hudson's Bay Company had reopened a retail store in Nanaimo three- quarters of a century after the closing of its original establishment there, and at his suggestion it was agreed that a letter of congratulation should be sent to the Company. Upon the motion of Mr. McKelvie, seconded by Mr. E. W. McMullen, an Honorary Membership was conferred upon Dr. Kaye Lamb, in appreciation of the great interest he has taken in the Association and the great amount of work which he has done as Editor of the Quarterly. On April 1, 1939, the paid-up membership of the Association, according to latest reports in the hands of the Secretary, was as follows: Victoria Section, 119; Vancouver Section, 170; New Westminster and Fraser Valley Section, 26; members at large, 81; total, 396. In addition sixteen subscriptions to the Quarterly had been received from newsagents, bringing the total paid-up subscription list of the magazine to 412. This is exactly the same total as was reported on April 1, 1938. Victoria Section. The first meeting in 1939 was held in the Provincial Library on January 17, Mr. John Goldie, the President, presiding. The speaker was Mr. J. W. Eastham, Plant Pathologist for the Department of Agriculture at Vancouver, his subject being The Early Botanical Exploration of the Pacific Northwest. Members who remembered Mr. Eastham's very interesting contribution to the programme of the meeting last year devoted to David Douglas had looked forward to his address, and they were not disappointed. Upon this occasion he dealt mostly with the botanists who accompanied the early Russian expeditions to this continent, including such men as Jean-Georges Gmelin and Georg Wilhelm Steller, the naturalists who accompanied Bering, and the authors of a celebrated Flora Sibirica and a famous journal of the expedition of 1741 respectively; and George Heinrich Langsdorff, who was with Krusenstern in 1803-07. Mr. Eastham had much of interest to say about the surprisingly wide geographical range of certain Pacific Coast plants, and also commented upon affinities between the flora of Siberia and that of British Columbia. He brought to the meeting mounted specimens of many of the plants and flowers mentioned. A second general meeting of the Section was held on February 21, when the speaker was Mr. F. S. Cunliffe, of Nanaimo, who spoke on The Early History of Nanaimo. Though he could not lay claim to the title of old- timer, Mr. Cunliffe explained that he had lived in the city for thirty years and had long been interested in its history, partly because he had known many of its earliest pioneers, who were still living when he took up residence there. The last of these was Mr. John Meakin, now aged 85, whom he had hoped might have been able to be present at the meeting, and who arrived in the Princess Royal in 1854. Mr. Cunliffe gave a graphic and carefully documented account of the founding of the Island City in 1852, 1939 Notes and Comments. 131 and of its development during the next two or three years into the embryo coal-exporting centre from which the city of to-day has grown. His story was based largely upon contemporary letters and journals, the originals or copies of which happily have been preserved. Miss Agnes McKay, daughter of Chief Factor J. W. McKay, who established the post at Nanaimo under the direction of James Douglas, was present at the meeting and contributed interesting reminiscences of her father and conditions in early days. The arrival of Richard Blanshard, first Governor of the Crown Colony of Vancouver Island, and the commencement of formal British rule in this past of the world was commemorated as usual by the Section. This year the celebration took the form of a reception at the Beach Hotel on the evening of March 11, and some ninety members attended. The reception committee for the occasion consisted of Mr. John Goldie, Mrs. W. F. Bullen, Mrs. Curtis Sampson, Mrs. T. A. Rickard, and Mrs. Arthur Cree. Mr. Goldie, President of the Section, gave the address of the evening on Richard Blanshard, following which Dr. T. A. Rickard spoke briefly upon the interest and value of history. Mrs. Fitzherbert Bullen extended a welcome to all new members, and explained that since the Section had grown so rapidly of late it was deemed expedient to hold the reception in order that the members might have an opportunity to meet the newcomers. During the- evening Mr. Dudley Wickett delighted the audience by singing a group of songs. He was accompanied by Miss Maquinna Daniels. [Muriel R. Cree, Secretary.] Kamloops: The Meeting of the Waters was the subject of the address given by Mr. Henry Johnson at the meeting of the Section held at Hotel Vancouver on February 7. Mr. Johnson, who was the sponsor of a high school group in Kamloops which compiled a history of the city, illustrated his address with slides made from old documents and from his own research into the history of the district. Tracing the story of the fur post from the time the site of Kamloops was first seen by white traders of the Pacific Fur Company, through the regime of the North West Company and of the Hudson's Bay Company, Mr. Johnson told of the various locations of the fort and the reasons for the move from one site to another. Following a general outline of the city's history, he singled out one or two characters in the story for special mention. He told how Sir George Simpson had wished to eliminate the post because it was unprofitable, but was later compelled to recognize that it was an essential link in the transportation and communication system of the fur-traders. He told one or two of the extraordinary stories which surround the name of John Tod, whom the Indians came to believe it was impossible to kill; and, finally, he had much of interest to say about St. Paul, the famous old Indian who seemed to be everywhere at once when he was needed, and who proved a good friend to the traders. White settlers arrived at Kamloops in 1862 with the Overlanders, who had come across the plains from Red River, and their arrival marked the end of the fur-trading era. The first settler's home was built in 1862; the first steamer appeared on the river in 1866, and the first private store was 132 Notes and Comments. April opened in 1867. With the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885, Kamloops became a divisional point and a town of some size, and took its place in a Province which had been truly linked up with the rest of Canada. Rev. Father O'Boyle was the speaker at the meeting of the Section held in Hotel Vancouver on March 20, his subject being Father Coccola, the missionary, who worked for many years amongst the Indians of the Interior of British Columbia. Father Coccola was born in Corsica, and after completing his studies in Paris made his way to New Caledonia, a district in which the Oblate Order—to which both he and the speaker belonged—was particularly interested. He arrived at Kamloops in railway-construction days, and did much to preserve peace between the Indians and the workmen. Later, he performed a similar service along the railway between Calgary and Golden. Father Coccola's name is probably most often associated with Kootenay. There Chief Isadore, who had been making things difficult for the North West Mounted Police, became a follower of Father Coccola, and his message to his people, the Kootenai, was: " Listen to him and all will be well." Working in co-operation with Colonel Steele, Father Coccola was instrumental in moving the Indians to an irrigated district around St. Eugene, to take the place of land fenced off by a land-grabbing settler, who was also trying to find an area not populated by mosquitoes. The Indians were started upon an era of scientific farming, and many of the first fruit- trees in the district around Creston were planted at this time. After twenty years of labour in the Interior, Father Coccola was called to the Yukon and Northern British Columbia. There he championed the fishing rights of the Babines, and went with the Indians to Ottawa to bring their case before the Dominion Government. From his personal acquaintance with Father Coccola, and from a study of his life as set forth by the late Denys Nelson, Father O'Boyle drew a lesson in the continuity of history, and gave as his definition of history: " The reservoir of the precedent of noble deeds." Father Coccola he described as being " a dynamic influence in the propagation of spiritual ideas among the Indians" with whom he came in contact. A vote of thanks to the speaker was proposed by His Honour Judge Forin, who had been welcomed by Father Coccola when he went to preside at his first court at Fort Steele, many years ago. Similkameen Historical Association. The annual supper gathering was held in the Orange Hall, Princeton, on September 15, 1938, when over 175 people were present. Every part of the valley was represented, and visiting delegates from Penticton and Hope brought greetings from kindred societies. Two addresses were given, in addition to reports and musical numbers. Rev. E. W. S. Gilbert spoke on the history of the Anglican Church in Princeton, and Rev. J. Wesley Miller, of Keremeos, reviewed the history of the lower end of the Similkameen Valley. Other speakers were Mrs. R. B. White, of Penticton; Mr. T. L. 1939 Notes and Comments. 133 Thacker, of Hope; Mr. W. H. Holmes, of Coalmont; and Mr. C. H. Tupper, M.L.A. Mr. S. R. Gibson, President of the Association, presided. At the quarterly meeting held on November 18, Mr. A. E. Howse, Honorary President, was reported sick. He died on the 13th of the following month. Albert Elgin Howse was born in Lincoln County, Ontario, on July 12, 1855. He came of United Empire Loyalist stock. One of his earliest memories was of seeing the Prince of Wales, Who afterwards became Edward VII., and who visited Eastern Canada during the summer of 1860. Little Albert was hoisted on Uncle Beamer's back, and never forgot what he saw. In the fall of that year, 1860, Royal Engineers from the Old Land laid out the first townsite of Princeton, which was named in honour of the visiting Prince. While still in his teens Mr. Howse went to the Southern States, and later crossed to San Francisco. From there he came to the Nicola Valley in 1877. As pioneer merchant, and as Indian Agent, he played a great part in the development of the Nicola, Tulameen, and Similkameen valleys. Mr. Perley Russell was elected Honorary President at the quarterly meeting held in January. The discovery was reported recently of a group of Indian rock-paintings, 3.7 miles east of Hedley and about an eighth of a mile north from the highway. The interesting thing about these pictographs is the number of them to be found within a small area. At the base of the cliff, within a distance of 66 feet, are nine sets of pictures, depicting various animals and men on horseback. There are also the usual conventional signs, all done in red ochre. The pictures are crude but clear. Mr. W. H. Holmes, of Coalmont, has prepared an interesting autobiographical sketch which is a welcome addition to the Association's file of notes on Similkameen pioneers. [John C. GOODFELLOW, Secretary.] THE NORTHWEST BOOKSHELF. The Commercial Empire of the St. Lawrence. By D. G. Creighton. Pp. x., 441. $3.50. A History of Transportation in Canada. By G. P. deT. Glazebrook. Pp. xxviii., 475. $3.75. The Railway Interrelations of the United States and Canada. By William J. Wilgus. Pp. xviii., 304. $3. The North American Assault on the Canadian Forest. By A. R. M. Lower, with studies of Forest Industries of British Columbia, by W. A. Carrothers, and of the Forest Industries in the Maritime Provinces, by S. A. Saunders. Pp. xxviii., 377. $3.50. Toronto: Ryerson Press; New Haven: Yale University Press; London: Oxford University Press! 1937 and 1938. These four interrelated volumes form part of the economic history section of the Relations of Canada and the United States, an important new series of studies prepared for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Division of Economics and History, under the able directorship of Professor James T. Shotwell, of Columbia University. The object of the series is thus set forth by the publishers:— " For a number of years scholars and experts have been at work in Canada and the United States not only in economics but also in history, politics, international law, sociology, and education, in the fulfillment of a cooperative program designed to cover all of the most important elements in the past and present of the two countries. The project has had the difficult task of maintaining scientific objectivity in the presentation of facts or conclusions while serving at the same time the purpose of a better international understanding. The series will consist of about thirty volumes, thus furnishing a body of material which will make possible for the first time consistent and developed courses on Canadian-American relations in our colleges and universities as well as supplying the interested reader with a new outlook on American history." It is easy to conjecture that this series will take its definite place among the few essential " long sets " dealing with North American affairs. British Columbians will find much to interest them in nearly all the volumes already published. In his short monograph on The Settlement of Canadian-American Disputes, Professor P. E. Corbett, of McGill University, touches on the settlement of the Oregon boundary in 1846, the San Juan dispute, 1859-72, and the Alaskan boundary award, 1903. He also deals with the fur-seal arbitration of 1893, the Hudson's Bay Company's claims of 1869, and the Trail smelter fumes case which was settled by the International Joint Commission in 1931. Professor H. F. Angus, of the University of British Columbia, has ably edited a series of sociological studies entitled Canada 135 136 The Northwest Bookshelf. April and her Great Neighbor, in which British Columbia obtains a fair share of the space. Many of the chapters are the work of Professor Angus, and Professor F. H. Soward has contributed valuable studies on what periodicals Canadian school children read, what radio programmes they hear, what motion pictures they see, and what they think about various phases of Canadian-American relations. Mr. R. E. English has investigated dairy conditions in British Columbia and contributed a section to the joint volume, edited by Professor H. A. Innis, of Toronto, entitled The Dairy Industry in Canada. Of the four volumes listed at the beginning of this article, Professor Creighton's The Commercial Empire of the St Lawrence stands out on ■ account of the originality of its conception and its treatment. It has often been stated that " Canada is a nation in spite of the hard facts of geography." Mr. Creighton does not believe this to be true and has written his book to substantiate his belief. In his introductory chapter, " The Economy of the North," he sketches the fundamental differences between the two great societies which grew up ' in North America north of New Spain—the English colonies on the Atlantic seaboard, and " the society of the St. Lawrence," at first French and later French and English. " The Atlantic seaboard," he tells us, " conformed more nearly to the geographic conditions of western Europe," but " the river up which Cartier ventured gave entrance to the totally different, dominion of the north." " The Canadian Shield and the river system which seamed and which encircled it, were overwhelmingly the most important physical features of the area. They were the bone and the blood-tide of the northern economy." (pp. 3-5.) Unsuited for agriculture, the Canadian Shield was successively the home of the fur trade and of the eastern lumber trade, and is now the scene of some of the greatest mining activity in North America. The St. Lawrence leads to the Great Lakes and to the heart of the continent. Along this unparalleled waterway the French explorers, missionaries, and fur-traders penetrated to the Mississippi, the Missouri, Lake Winnipeg, and the Saskatchewan. British merchants accompanied Wolfe's army to Quebec, and by the time that Canada was transferred officially to Great Britain by the Treaty of Paris, 1763, traders from the American colonies were planning to organize expeditions into the interior. These merchants " took over the direction of the northern commercial system " and pushed the fur trade farther and farther into the wilds. They opened up the Athabaska country and finally crossed the Rocky Mountains into what is to-day British Columbia. The American Revolution cut the commercial empire of the St. Lawrence in two, but the Montreal merchants continued to trade south as well as north of the boundary-line fixed by the Treaty of Versailles in 1783. The Western Posts, including Niagara, Detroit, and Michilimackinac, remained in British hands till 1796, and it was not until 1816 that the United States Congress "passed legislation providing that licences for the Indian trade within the territorial limits of the United States could be granted only to American citizens, except upon the personal direction of the president." 1939 The Northwest Bookshelf. 137 (p. 183.) The War of 1812 had been, on the whole, beneficial to the British fur-traders. The North West Company, a combine of Montreal merchants and traders, had succeeded in wresting the overland trade of the Pacific slope from the Astorians, and Michilimackinac and Prairie du Chien remain in British hands until after the Treaty of Ghent. But the North West Company was falling upon evil days. The competition of the Hudson's Bay Company was too strong to be eliminated, and the Selkirk Colony at Red River lay across the lines of communication of the Canadian company. In 1821 the North West Company merged with its British rival and the first or fur-trading stage of the commercial empire of the St. Lawrence had passed with history. The division of the Old Province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada in 1791 was the second partition of the empire of the St. Lawrence. Montreal became the leading commercial city of Lower Canada, but it was to a large extent cut off from its natural hinterland, Upper Canada. The United Empire Loyalists had commenced the settlement of Upper Canada almost a decade before the Constitutional Act was passed in 1791, and the settlement was, as usual, inimical to the fur trade. But the canoe route to the west went up the Ottawa and by way of Lake Nipissing and French River to Georgian Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, leaving the settlements on the St. Lawrence and the lower Great Lakes severely alone. None the less, the Canadian merchants still attempted to hold the trade of the Great Lakes region and sought to import American goods for transhipment to Great Britain. Their policy was free trade on the Great Lakes and protection for Canadian exports, including goods of American origin, in the markets of Great Britain. For a time they were successful. The Napoleonic wars brought into existence the Canadian lumber trade. Unable to import timber from the Baltic, British merchants turned to Upper and Lower Canada and the Maritime Provinces. This meant a new harvest for the Montreal merchants. At the same time agricultural products were receiving protection in British markets and this protection continued until the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. The Canadian merchants were actively engaged in building up an import trade of British manufactured goods and an export trade of Canadian and American products. The commercial empire of the St. Lawrence seemed to be re-establishing itself on the basis of the new staples. But evil days were ahead, both economic and political. The construction of the Erie Canal between 1817 and 1825 led to the diversion of much of the lake trade to New York by way of Buffalo, and the building of the Canadian canals was an ineffectual counter move. Then, too, the merchants were closely allied politically to the Family Compact in Upper Canada and the Chateau Clique in Lower Canada. Strife broke out between the commercial and the agrarian interests, culminating in the rebellions of 1837-38. The French-speaking habitants who followed Papineau were utterly opposed to the merchants and their commercial system, and the Upper Canadian farmers who followed William Lyon MacKenzie were equally hostile to the " shop-keeping aristocracy" which formed the backbone of the Family 11 4 138 The Northwest Bookshelf. April Compact. Professor Creighton has done a real service in pointing out and explaining these economic causes of the rebellions. After Lord Durham's Report and the reunion of the Provinces in 1841, the merchants entered upon their last period of prosperity. It was none the less illusory. The repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846 and of the Navigation Acts in 1849 was the death-blow to the commercial empire of the St. Lawrence. Lord Elgin in 1854 put through the reciprocity treaty with the United States and a new era began. The railway age had also arrived in Canada and with the railways came dreams of transcontinental lines which would link in one system the Maritime Provinces, Canada, and the far-off colonies on the Pacific Coast. Since Professor Creighton's book is so stimulating it has been accorded the lion's share of the space. It provides a central theme around which the economic development of " Old Canada" (Ontario and Quebec) may be written during the ninety years from 1760 to 1850. In its stress on the " northern economy " and its treatment of the fur trade as the first stage of the commercial empire of the St. Lawrence, it enables students of Canadian history to obtain a new perspective. Too often we have tended in British Columbia to link the fur trade too closely with the Hudson's Bay Company. The North West Company is not forgotten, but its close connection with the political and economic life of Upper and Lower Canada has not been sufficiently stressed. Professor Creighton has done yeoman service to the cause of Canadian history from sea to sea by writing this important book. Professor George Glazebrook, also of the Department of History of the University of Toronto, has written a workmanlike volume in a field where such a study was badly needed. His book lacks the broad, comprehensive scope of The Commercial Empire of the St Lawrence. It is rather a conventional economic history which brings together in one volume the story of water transport in the French regime, the transportation methods of the fur-traders from 1763 to 1821, the progress of sail and steam, the building of roads in the old Provinces, and, needless to say, the construction of railways both before and after Confederation. The final chapters deal with modern waterways and transportation by electricity and gasoline. It is, on the whole, a factual study based on wide reading and research, the latter chiefly undertaken in the Public Archives in Ottawa and the Archives of the Hudson's Bay Company in London. To British Columbians the most interesting portions of the volume are those dealing with the fur trade and with the transcontinental railways. The Canadian fur-traders, as is well known, followed the water routes from Montreal west and finally reached both the Arctic and the Pacific. The French reached the Saskatchewan, but did not cross the Rockies. The Nor' Westers, the successors of the French, carved out a fur-trading empire which stretched from Old Canada, through the Hudson's Bay territories to the unexploited fields of the north and the Pacific slope. The Hudson's Bay Company was in the end too strong for its Canadian rival, but both companies were so weakened by their strife that had the union of 1821 not 1939 The Northwest Bookshelf. 139 taken place, it is probable that neither company could long have withstood the financial strain. As Mr. Glazebrook wisely remarks:— " In the end it was the cost of transportation which settled the dispute. Montreal perforce capitulated and the trade flowed only north. But it was not a final defeat for Montreal as the base for expansion westward, but only for expansion based on furs and canoes. Unwillingly, Montreal was obliged to reader pour mieux sauter. The weakness of French expansion (which overlapped the conquest by sixty years) was that it was built on an inadequate system of transport. By accident the collapse of the Montreal fur trade did for Canada what the Alleghanies had done for the American colonies: forced the building of foundations in a limited area. When, a generation later, the people of the St. Lawrence valley once more sought to make the north-west Canadian, they had much greater population and wealth, and had in the railway a mode of transport which offered new hopes of success. Thus, though the Montreal fur traders discovered the west, the Montreal railway builders captured it." (p. 27.) In his account of the fur trade and its methods, Professor Glazebrook has, on the whole, followed the well-beaten path of other Canadian historians, but he adds some pertinent reflections of his own. " Too much stress, perhaps," he claims, " has been laid on the romantic side and too little on the darker side: the reckless slaughter of the fur-bearing animals, the exploitation and debauchery of the Indians, the brutalizing influence on the white man. One reads much of the gaily-dressed voyageur, with his ready song and love of his work; less of the hardship, privation and death that too often attended his trips." (p. 60.) None the less, he'concludes that " the influence of the fur trade on the development of communications and economic growth was enormous," and stresses the importance of the open- ing-up of the country by both the Nor'Westers and the Hudson's Bay Company. One wishes, however, that he had found space for a mention of the maritime fur trade and its influence on the development of the Pacific Coast. Almost half the volume is devoted to the development of Canadian railways, including the early history of the eastern Canadian railways. The connection between railways and Confederation is most properly stressed and the story of the Intercolonial is clearly told. Three long chapters are devoted to the subject of the first railway to the Pacific coast. The first of these chapters deals with early proposals for a transcontinental railway. The second chapter gives a clear account of the building of the Canadian Pacific, and the third discusses the consequences of the construction of the The story of the later transcontinentals, the Grand Trunk Pacific, the National Transcontinental, and the Canadian Northern, is told at some length. Professor Glazebrook shows clearly that the plan of 1903, which brought the National Transcontinental and the Grand Trunk Pacific into existence at a time when the Canadian Northern was rapidly extending its lines on the Prairies, was responsible for most of the subsequent railway woes of Canada. " In the light of later events it is easy to conclude that it was this failure to see the railway question as a whole that was the weak- 140 The Northwest Bookshelf. April ness of the plan of 1903—a failure that was to bring much trouble to the next generation. It is hard now to recapture the optimism of that period, when parliament, the press, and business-men all were thinkingMn terms of progressive prosperity and rapid expansion." (p. 329.) Even before the outbreak of the Great War the western boom had broken and the new railways, not yet completed, were already " white elephants." Canada's railway problem since 1913 receives lengthy treatment. The Canadian Northern was the first to become bankrupt and to pass into the hands of the government. The Grand Trunk Eacific followed and, later, the Grand Trunk Railway. The Canadian Northern obtained $10,800,000 as a result of arbitration, but the Grand Trunk shareholders were paid nothing for their common stock. The Canadian National Railways came into existence in 1920, and since then Canada has had only two competing transcontinentals, one in private hands and the other owned by the Dominion Government. British Columbia in 1918 took over the Pacific Great Eastern Railway. During the last fifteen years the Hudson Bay Railway has been completed and the Ontario government line, the Temiskaming & Northern Ontario Railway, has reached Moosonee, on James Bay. Neither of these lines has fulfilled the rosy expectations of the promoters. On the whole Canadians seem to be averse to an amalgamation of the two transcontinental systems under either private or public control. Statistics may be quoted to show that the present methods of organization and competition are ruinous to Canada, but the bulk of Canadian opinion seems to favour its continuance because it fears monopoly. There is a cry that " Railways should be taken out of politics," but, as Professor Glazebrook drily remarks: " Railways and politics have, in fact, never been completely dissociated in Canada, and it is a question whether they ever will be." No solution has yet appeared for the Canadian railway problem. The railways to-day are facing competition from motor cars and trucks and, to a much less extent, from aeroplanes. The aeroplane is opening up vast new areas and is complementary to the railway. But Trans-Canada Airways is now planning passenger flights and the railways have a new rival. The historian of 1990 will probably have to include a much larger section on air communications in his account of Canadian transportation. From a discussion of transportation it is an easy transition to the subject of the railway interrelations of the United States and Canada. Colonel Wilgus is an American railway engineer of vast experience. He is responsible for the Grand Central Terminal in New York, the Windsor- Detroit tunnel, and the bridging of the St. John River between Maine and New Brunswick. He was also " the founder of the transportation service in France for the American Expeditionary Force in the World War." He has gathered a great mass of facts and statistics and he writes with authority. After a study of the physiography of North America and a short historical summary, Colonel Wilgus discusses in detail the north-eastern, Great Lakes, and north-western " gateways" between Canada and the United States. He then deals with interrelated mileages and border follows this by a chapter on the international bridges and tunnels The Northwest Bookshelf. 141 n-Canadian railroads. Next he analyses the comparative investment and income of the railways and also their rate structure. The concluding chapter is a resume, and there are several valuable appendices. The following paragraph is an excellent summary of Colonel Wilgus's findings regarding the interrelations of Canadian and Americal railroads:— " In now looking backward at a long array of facts and figures, the intimacy of border contact between the United States and Canada stands out in bold relief. It truthfully may be said that it is without a parallel in the history of man. Within a comparatively short distance from their common border, 4,000 miles in length from sea to sea, are their greatest cities, their more thickly settled communities, their richest mines and their most fruitful fields. Serving these neighboring scenes of intense activity are navigable waterways of the first magnitude descending east to the Atlantic Ocean, south to the Gulf of Mexico and north to Hudson Bay. Binding them together with bands of steel are some 300,000 miles of railroad, sufficient to encircle the globe a dozen times, which are closely interwoven at the border through fifty gateways. Through these border eyelets more than 7,300 miles of Canadian controlled railways in the United States are linked with their parent systems on the north; and over 1,500 miles under American control in Canada are similarly joined with their systems on the south. The vast network of railways reaching by land in all directions to the remote corners of both countries is thus made an indivisible whole." . (p. 226.) The railway interrelations of the United States and Canada are of vast importance, not only in the history of the two nations but even more so in their ordinary day by day life. Colonel Wilgus has done a service in writing this volume. It must be confessed that it is rather factual, perhaps too factual, but it is a pioneer study in a new field. The author tells us that " I soon found that, while there was a wealth of information at my command about railways on either side of the border, there was really very tives and public officials. Professor J the series, thus points out the real merit of the volume:— " This book, therefore, serves a larger purpose than the casual reader may at first divine. It shows the ' unarmed frontier' not as a negative product of history, but as a positive fact, an expression of the interplay of two nations, each at work fashioning its own destiny and planning for its own prosperity. The interplay is a part of both destiny and prosperity, however, because the two countries share one continent." (p. vi.) The sharing of one continent by the two nations is also clearly brought out in Professor A. R. M. Lower's The North American Assault on the Canadian Forest. The forest areas of Canada have been exploited by Canadians and Americans and the greatest market for Canadian lumber has for many years been in the United States. The trade in squared timber and deals (pine) which had been the bulwark of Canadian lumber export to Great Britain fell off after the British fiscal revolution of the late 1840's. I 142 The Northwest Bookshelf. April The Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 promised to be a great aid to the export of Canadian lumber to the United States, but, as Professor Lower shows, the effects of this treaty were complicated by railway-building in Canada, the Crimean War of 1854-1856, the financial crisis of 1857-58, and finally by the American Civil War. On the whole the Reciprocity Treaty accentuated "the trade expansion which the opening of the large American market brought about." The railways grew at the expense of the canals. Stands of timber on Georgian Bay and the north shore of Lake Huron were exploited, and Chicago became a market for Canadian lumber. The Reciprocity Treaty assisted in speeding up the exploitation of the Canadian forest, but the exploitation would have taken place in any case. From 1870 to 1900 Canadian and American firms engaged in a battle royal for eastern Canadian lumber. The issue was complicated by tariffs and the invasion of the Canadian forests by Americans who held timber limits and erected sawmills. The American Dingley Tariff of 1897 " restored the two-dollar rate on lumber and thus broke what Canadian lumbermen had taken to be a sort of gentleman's agreement." But during this period the eastern Canadian lumber industry reached its peak. The greatest of Canadian lumbermen, John R. Booth, of Ottawa, built up the largest lumber business in the world. The Ottawa valley reigned supreme in the Canadian lumber industry. But lumbering operations spread ever westward and northward into the Canadian Shield. " The generation which saw the termination of the Reciprocity Treaty saw also the National Policy, the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, the settlement of the prairies and the expansion of the Canadian lumber industry from its narrow limits in the Maritime Provinces and the basin of the St. Lawrence below Lake Huron to the entire basin of the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes, and along the main line of the Canadian Pacific, wherever lumber was to be procured, right to the Rocky Mountains." (p. 183.) Since 1900 the Canadian lumber trade has known its ups and downs. It reached its all-time high with a total production of 4,900,000 M. board-feet in 1911 and its lowest point of 1,800,000 M. in 1932. British Columbia's highest point was in .1929, with just under 2,500,000 M., and its lowest, just under 1,000,000 M., in 1932. Ontario and Quebec are to-day both under their 1910 levels. On the whole it may be said that the eastern Canadian lumber trade is distinctly declining. Dr. W. A. Carrothers has added a valuable study on the Forest Indus- fries of British Columbia. After a discussion of forest types and forest tenure, he deals with logging and sawmill methods. He then discusses the lumber trade to 1914, shingle production and trade, and finally markets and tariffs. The study is heavily statistical, and includes valuable appendices on the pulp and paper industry and the capital investment in forest industries. Mr. S. A. Saunders has written a very useful section on the lumber industry in the Maritime Provinces. The three authors have co-operated in . the production of a volume which cannot safely be neglected by any student of Canadian economic history. 1939 The Northwest Bookshelf. 143 The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is doing a great work in bringing out this series on the Relations of Canada and the United States. When it is completed it will provide a mass of information on the peaceful interrelations of the two great North American nations which should be unique. Professor Shotwell is to be congratulated, not only upon the vast- ness of his designs, but also upon the competent manner in which these designs are being carried out. A word of commendation should also be added for Professor Harold A. Innis, who has maintained a general oversight over the production of several of these important volumes. Walter N. Sage. Journal of Occurrences in the Athabasca Department by George Simpson, . 1820 and 1821, and Report. Edited by E. E. Rich, with a foreword by Lord Tweedsmuir and an introduction by Chester Martin. Toronto: The Champlain Society, and London: The Hudson's Bay Record Society. 1938. Pp. lix., 498. The one great, and almost untapped, source of the history of western Canada and, indeed, of western America is the Archives of the Hudson's Bay Company. Fully alive to its responsibility as custodian of documents of inestimable historical value, the Great Company some ten years ago began the herculean task of arranging and cataloguing them, with a view to their publication. This purpose took definite shape in 1936 when The Champlain Society made an agreement with the company to publish a Hudson's Bay series of volumes. Since that time the public has eagerly awaited the appearance of the initial volume, being that now under review. No better choice could have made than Simpson's Athabasca Journal, 1820-21. Simpson's entry into the company was at the crucial point in its history and in its struggle ith the North West Company. Then began his career, rising steadily in iportance and influence for forty years. He surely could say of the Hudson's Bay Company, as Augustus Caesar said of Rome, that he found it brick and left it marble. This journal shows Simpson in his salad days in the fur trade, a mangi du lardi, as he calls himself. It begins at Rock Depot on Hayes River in July, 1820, only three months after he had left England. The journal covers less than two years, and as one reads it the anomalous position Simpson occupied appears, for though nominally in charge of the Athabaska district he is sometimes seen acting as if he were (as he actually was) the Governor of Rupert's Land. It certainly shows the man himself, for like Pepys he had a way of confiding to his journal his secret thoughts, opinions, and intentions, but without the protection of cypher. From September, 1820, when he arrives at the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Wedderburn, until he leaves in May, 1821, it is almost a Book of Lamentations. It was a time of tension: assaults, threats of violence, robberies, duels, and murders had flourished in the region, and were daily expected. Warrants flew here and 144 The Northwest Bookshelf. April there, evaded if, and when, possible. The company's business had been permitted to run along without watchful eye or guiding plan. Habits of insubordination had developed; extravagance flourished on every hand; each postmaster followed his own sweet will, and the subordinates emulated their officers; there was a total absence of unified purpose or co-ordination. All this was as bitter as the waters of Marah to Simpson's methodical mind. It must be ended at once. Coupled with these internal troubles and dissen- tions was the energetic opposition of the Nor'Westers who not only made every effort, legitimate and otherwise, to circumvent the Hudson's Bay men in the trade, and industriously circulated false rumours regarding them, but also resorted to force under the specious pretext of some imaginary wrong. Facing passive foes within and active foes without, Simpson, with infinite patience and diplomacy and the example of untiring energy, set himself to the task of creating an esprit de corps in every trading-post, and of inculcating the ideal of a unified body working to one end, the success of the company. How he accomplished these ends the journal tells in detail. Sometimes he found opportunity to deliver a public reprimand, or used severe means; at others he employed cajolery: "a little flattery and good humour," to a husband or his wife, he confided to his journal, will often secure attachment. " Flattery," he wrote to William Brown, " is a very cheap commodity and greatly estimated by such people." He even played upon the Indians' belief in his star and in his supernatural powers. He formed his own opinion of every man in the company's service, but in his relations with them he concealed it except where policy demanded sterner methods. Everywhere he goes he has an eye upon possible improvements in the carrying-out of the trade. When he crosses the 13 miles of the Methy Portage he plans to build a road and use horses; for winter conveyance he thinks of training caribou or reindeer as auxiliary to the dogs, which are insufficient numerically for the work. The food-supply, too, was a constant source of anxiety. He ordered early and sufficient supplies of twine; instructed that nets be made without delay; and every exertion used to ensure a plentiful store of fish against the long winter. His password was Economy: Economy in the use of food; economy in supplies; economy in Indian credits; economy in wages and in every expenditure. He was determined to close up all the small leaks and to see that nothing was wasted. " My orders," he wrote in November, 1820, "are not to be disputed." He saw opportunities for improvement: in the management of every post, in its personnel, and in every branch of the trade. Little wonder is it that Wentzel wrote in March, 1824: "The North-West is now beginning to be ruled with an iron rod." The North West Company looked on the Hudson's Bay people as interlopers in Athabaska. The Methy Portage marked the northern limit of the charter and, though the Nor'Westers treated that document with contempt, they were determined that their opponents should get no foot-hold on northern-flowing water, as being outside its limits. One man of the Nor'Westers was Simpson's special aversion: Samuel Black. No word in 1939 The Northwest Bookshelf. 145 English was too strong to be applied to him. In the journal he is always "this outlaw," "the miscreant Black," "the desperate character," "the black-hearted," "the villain Black"; yet, after the companies were united, Black was presented with a ring, inscribed " To the most worthy of the Northwesters," and after his murder, twenty years later, Simpson referred to him as " Our late and much-valued friend, Mr. Samuel Black." Truly, other things besides misery acquaint a man with strange bed-fellows. In the struggle the Nor'Westers had built a watch-tower near Fort Wedder- burn in order to oversee the movements of their opponents. Simpson built a wall to shut off their view. Out of this action came threats and mutual armings, resulting in the arrest of Simon McGillivray, Jr., on 23rd October, 1820; the prisoner was kept in confinement in Fort Wedderburn until the 3rd December following, when, probably through bribery of the guard, he escaped. Though there seem to have been, at least, communications between the brigades en route, Simpson forbade any intercourse between the forts of the opposing companies. Yet it continued to a very limited extent. He was suspicious of the semi-friendly relations that existed between two of such forts in the far-away Peace River region. Doubtless he feared that his men might be induced to desert or that the apparent friendship was a mere cover for spying. Each side took care to circulate, especially amongst the Indians, stories of its kindly intentions, its fine equipment, its superiority in men, goods, and force, and its intention to expel the other. Simpson brought efficiency into the forts; all were now fully armed, on the alert, and ready for any attack; and in addition he had imbued a new spirit into the trade. As early as November, 1820, he heard rumours of a coalition between the companies, but the undeclared war continued. At Lake Winnipeg on June 18, 1821, he learned that the union had been effected. To his journal he expressed himself thus: " I must confess my own disappointment that instead of a junction our Opponents have not been beaten out of the Field, which with one or two years of good management I am certain might have been effected." Simpson had a decided view that rum was necessary, not only to secure the furs from the Indians, but also to enable the voyageurs to spend their wages with the company and thus to leave nothing due them at the end of their engagement. At the same time it must not be indulged in to the point of intoxication—that interfered with efficiency, a word which stood close to economy in his mind. For example, on November 13, 1820, he wrote that some officers had indulged over freely and added: " It is, however, the first transgression of the kind, and I think it will be the last while I am in Fort Wedderburn." There are many references to the plan of extending the trade into New Caledonia, then a monopoly of the North West Company, but from one cause or another it was not undertaken. Simpson appears to be unaware of Fraser's voyage of 1808; for, on page 134, he plainly refers to the Fraser under the name of the Columbia. His Report, which follows the journal, covers fifty-seven pages and is an abridgment of it. He therein speaks his mind almost as freely regarding the officers and servants of the company and the methods employed in the trade. 146 The Northwest Bookshelf. April The introduction by Chester Martin is a fine piece of work, carefully planned and performed, but that is what we have learned to expect from him. It converges the light upon the last days of the struggle between the two companies, so as to furnish a real background for the journal. This is followed by a compendious outline of the journal in which he paints the picture of Simpson as he shows himself in this most self-revealing document. The notes by Mr. Rich, speaking generally, are well done, though here and there some occur which do not appear necessary, as for example, note 3 on p. 8, 2 on p. 14,1 on p. 21, 2 on p. 23, 1 on p. 45, part of note 4 on p. 75, and note 1 on p. 223. On the other hand there are some notable omissions: free Iroquois, p. 132; train, p. 182; train timber, p. 224; parchment sled wrappers, p. 271; and winter shoes, p. 278, might well have had a word of explanation. The learned editor is in error in his statement on p. 41 that the marriages between the traders and Indian women were not recognized by Canadian law; see the well-known case of Connolly vs. Woolrich in La Revue Legale, Vol. I. (1869), pp. 253-400, sustaining on appeal the decision of Judge Monk in favour of their validity. There is some confusion in note 3 on page 38; and note 2 on page 133 and note 1 on page 134 have been interchanged. The page headings added by the editor will prove of service to every reader. The appendices A and B contain short sketches of the trading-posts mentioned in the journal and biographies of the principal actors in its pages. These bear marks of careful and painstaking examination and research and meticulous collation. The fact that some of the biographies have already appeared in the appendix to W. S. Wallace's Documents relating to the North West Company, The Champlain Society, 1934, does not detract from the wisdom of their inclusion in this volume for convenience of reference. Three maps showing the location of the Hudson's Bay Company's forts, Simpson's route to Athabaska, and the country beyond enable a reader unfamiliar with the geography of northern Canada to follow the journal in its details. The frontispiece is a reproduction of the well-known picture of Sir George Simpson. F. W. Howay. New Westminster, B.C. Winning Oregon. A Study of an Expansionist Movement. By Melvin Clay Jacobs. Caldwell, Idaho: The Caxton Printers, Ltd. 1938. Pp. 261. The thesis of this work is " the winning of Oregon territory through a frontier movement" (p. 16). The territory thought to have been thus won by the United States and lost by Great Britain (not " England ") is that between the Columbia River and the 49th parallel of north latitude, excepting, of course, the southern portion of Vancouver Island; but the author is mistaken (pp. 226-7) in thinking that the offer made in 1826 by Great Britain to yield the Olympic Peninsula was not renewed; it was repeated in the note of August 26, 1844, from the British Minister at Washington (Pakenham) to the American Secretary of State (Calhoun). 1939 The Northwest Bookshelf. 147 Dr. Jacobs brings forward interesting evidence in support of his proposition; but he has not studied important papers in the Archives of the Department of State and the Library of Congress relevant to the later diplomatic history of the subject; in considerable part, this material has been printed (see Miller, Treaties and other International Acts of the United States of America, V, pp. 3-101). Not only did Lord Aberdeen tell Pakenham on March 4, 1844, " to draw from " Secretary of State Calhoun a proposal of the line of 49° to the Gulf of Georgia, with free ports and common navigation of the Columbia River, but he-wrote to Sir Robert Peel on the following September 25 that he was " convinced that this was the utmost which can be hoped for from negotiation," and that he thought " this would be in reality a most advantageous settlement" (Dr. Robert C. Clark has printed the letter in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, xxxiv. (1933), pp. 236-40; and, while Peel was not then persuaded, Aberdeen wrote in a private letter to Pakenham in the early days of the Polk administration (April 18, 1845) that if such an offer was made by Secretary of State Buchanan, it might be sent on to London The letter to Polk of August 4, 1845, from the American Minister at London (McLane) is cited (p. 109) to show influence of the Hudson's Bay Company against surrender of territory north of the Columbia; but the succeeding paragraph of that letter accurately forecast the attitude of the British Government as acceptance of the 49th parallel, except for Vancouver Island, with continuance for a longer period of privileges of the Hudson's Bay Company, the duration of that period being " the most difficult point of the compromise." The proposal of Polk, made in a note of Buchanan to Pakenham of July 12,1845, was for the Une of 49° to the Pacific, with free ports on Vancouver Island south of that parallel, and without mention of navigation of the Columbia River. McLane was about to leave for London; he had with him a copy of Polk's proposal and, in an instruction of the same date, the possible concession of the " small cap " of Vancouver Island was mentioned as one which would be of " no importance to the United States." Delivery of the note to Pakenham at Washington was, however, delayed four days, so that he was unable to send a copy to Aberdeen by the packet on which McLane sailed on July 16. Pakenham now made the diplomatic blunder of hastily rejecting (July 29) Polk's proposal instead of referring it to his Government; but before Polk, on August 30, withdrew that proposal, he had before him the letter of McLane (received on August 19) which made known the position of the Government of Great Britain; and by October 21 Polk received McLane's despatch of October 3 in which the information was communicated that Aberdeen would have taken up Polk's proposal as the basis of his action if Pakenham had forwarded it for consideration, as he should have done. In the early autumn of 1845 Polk could have obtained as good a treaty (and indeed in some respects a better one) as the Oregon Treaty of June 15, 1846. Aberdeen endeavoured in October to reopen the negotiation at 148 The Northwest Bookshelf. April Washington; a note was written by Pakenham for that purpose; but because of Polk's proposed frigid answer it was withdrawn; and how far Polk's judgment was wrong at this time is shown by his letter of October 29, 1845, to McLane in which he doubts whether the Senate would accept the line of 49°, and wrote that it was " certain that we could not accept one less favourable" than the proposal of July 12; the subsequent treaty was distinctly less advantageous to the United States, both in respect of Vancouver Island and of the navigation of the Columbia River. The view of Richard Rush, which the author seems to accept (p. 197) that it was Polk's message to Congress of December 2, 1845, which produced the settlement of the Oregon Question, is baseless; the statements in that message to the effect that all attempts at compromise had failed were disingenuous; neither in the message nor in the accompanying papers was there any hint of the fact that the British Government had made known, both to McLane at London and to Buchanan at Washington, its desire to renew negotiation on the basis of the line of 49°. Polk had said in Cabinet on October 21 that he might submit to the Senate any new proposition made by the British Government before he acted on it, but he then refused permission to Buchanan to so inform Pakenham; by the end of December the policy was agreed on in Cabinet to refer to the Senate an offer of 49° or an equivalent proposition; in January, 1846, the possibility that Lord Aberdeen would be succeeded by Lord Palmerston gave to think; Polk now yielded somewhat to the views of Buchanan, who favoured settlement; the instruction to McLane of January 29 intimated a desire for a fresh proposal from the British Government and authorized McLane to tell Aberdeen that the President might submit a proposal to the Senate for advice; and there were somewhat detailed discussions of terms between Aberdeen and McLane at London and in instructions to McLane, but without formal diplomatic correspondence between the two Governments; indeed, Polk, as late as April 13, was able to inform the Senate, with technical accuracy, that there had been no- correspondence since the British offer of arbitration had been twice made and decline in correspondence of the previous December to February; but if the Senate was officially uninformed, Senators doubtless knew from Buchanan and Pakenham what was going on; Webster sagely remarked that there might have " been correspondence between the Department of State and the American Minister in London." Aberdeen would have made his proposition if the withdrawn note of Pakenham had been otherwise received in October, or if the offer of arbitration had been declined in a different tone; as it was, he waited for the action of the Senate on the resolution for termination of the so-called " joint occupation " treaty; and Polk, taking the chances of a change of administration at London and with the Mexican War coming on, was standing on what Benton called a " point of etiquette," and leaving responsibility to the Senate. So when the British proposal came to Washington in June, 1846, it was referred to the Senate by Polk for advice, and was accepted literatim et 1939 The Northwest Bookshelf. 149 verbatim -as written in London. Pakenham wrote of the " positive impatience shown by Mr. Buchanan to sign and conclude," which he attributed to the fact that the Mexican War had commenced. Aberdeen, on the other hand, thought that the conduct of his " predecessor and expected successor [Lord Palmerston], with regard to the Ashburton Treaty had filled Mr. McLane with the greatest alarm, which, I presume, was shared by the Government of the United States." Webster may be quoted again: " Now, Gentlemen, the remarkable characteristic of the settlement of this Oregon question by treaty is this. In the general operation of government, treaties are negotiated by the President and ratified by the Senate; but here is the reverse,—here is a treaty negotiated by the Senate, and only agreed to by the President." We have McLane's authority for saying that if there had been any discussion of the wording of the text some modifications would have been conceded in London; and one of these, specific mention of Haro Strait, would have avoided dispute regarding the water boundary, which lasted until its arbitration twenty-five years later. A case can be made for the influence of the frontier movement, actual and prospective, on the settlement of the Oregon Question; but the argument for that thesis is weakened, rather than advanced, by supposing that Polk's policy and diplomacy after the summer of 1845 were the forces which moved the British Government to the final proposal. Hunter Miller. Victoria, B.C. BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Organized October 31st, 1922. PATRON. His Honour Eric W. Hamber, Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. OFFICERS, 1938-39. Hon. G. M. Weir - Honorary President J. S. Plaskett President. T. A. Rickard 1st Vice-President. Kenneth A. Waites - 2nd Vice-President E. W. McMullen - - - - Honorary Treasurer. Muriel R. Cree Honorary Secretary. Robie L. Reid ----- Archivist. MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. F. W. Howay J. M. Coady H. T. Nation J. C. Goodfellow B. A. McKelvds John Goldie (Victoria Section). J. R. V. Dunlop (Vancouver Section). OBJECTS. To encourage historical research and stimulate public interest in history; to promote the preservation and marking of historic sites, buildings, relics, natural features, and other objects and places of historical interest, and to publish historical sketches, studies, and documents. MEMBERSHIP. Ordinary members pay a fee of $2 annually in advance. The fiscal year commences on the first day of October. All members in good standing receive the British Columbia Historical Quarterly without further charge. All correspondence and fees should be addressed in care of the Secretary, Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. THE BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY JULY, 1939 RITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Published by the Archives of British Columbia j. Goodfellow, Princeton. Robie L. Reid, Vancouver. W. N. Sage, Vancouver. ADVISORY BOARD. F. W. Howay, New Westminster. T. A. Rickard, Victoria. o the Editor, Provincial Editorial communications should be addressed t Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. Subscriptions should be sent to the Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. Price, 50c. the copy, or $2 the year. Members of the British Columbia Historical Association in good standing receive the Quarterly without further charge. Neither the Provincial Archives nor the British Columbia Historical Association assumes any responsibility for statements made by contributors to the magazine. We BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Vol. III. Victoria, B.C., July, 1939. No. 3 CONTENTS. Articles : Drake's Course in the North Pacific. Page. Early Smelters in British Columbia. Notes on the " Norman Morison." Documents: The Discovery of Hill's Bar in 1858. Notes and Comments : The Centenary of the Pacific Station: 1887-1987. A Further Note on Captain St. Paul. Contributors to this Issue 224 Fraser Canyon Historical Association ... 225 R.P. Bishop. DRAKE'S COURSE IN THE NORTH PACIFIC. For many a year Sir Francis Drake's great voyage of circumnavigation in 1577-80 was looked upon as having been primarily a buccaneering expedition. It was taken for granted that he had set out with no greater purpose than to despoil the Spaniards in the grand manner. Of recent years, however, H. R. Wagner and other scholars have done a service of inestimable value both to Drake's reputation and to history by showing that the voyage was, in actual fact, a serious enterprise undertaken in the interests of trade and exploration, and possibly with a view to colonization as well. A moment's digression into the field of heraldry may not come amiss. The first ship to sail around the world was Magel- • lan's Victoria; the second, Drake's Golden Hinde. Magellan, who sought to reach the Spice Islands by sailing south and west, met his death in the Philippines. The expedition reached the Moluccas, and del Cano, who brought the Victoria back to Spain, was granted as crest a terrestrial globe and the motto Primus circumdedisti me. Drake was granted a globe and the words Auxilio Divino. Even more significant were the augmentations to the respective coats of arms. To del Cano twelve cloves, three nutmegs, and two bars of cinnamon; supporters, the kings of Tidore and Gilolo. These, according to Kirkpatrick, indicated that the Emperor and the Council of the Indies believed the objects of the voyage to have been accomplished. . . .* Drake also reached the Moluccas, and his trading arrangement with the Sultan of Ternate has been considered by some as the most important result of the voyage. But Drake's arms do not display a single potentate or peppercorn:— (1) F. A. Kirkpatrick, The Spanish Conquistadores, London, 1934, p. 131. An illustration appears in Early Spanish Voyages to the Strait of Magellan, Hakluyt Society, London, 1911, p. 12. Sable, a fess ftl The Golden Hinde was the first English ship to enter the Pacific Ocean. The waves, then, explain the fesse. The star below—the Cape Horn passage, and, perhaps, the farthest south attained by man. The star above—Noua Albion vpon the backside of Canada, further then euer any Christian hitherto hath pierced. The quotation is from the title page of Hakluyt's Principall Navigations, Voiages and Discoveries, 1589, apparently the first appearance of the name in type, though Nova Albion had appeared on a map in 1587, in Hakluyt's Paris edition of Peter Martyr. The whole question of the genesis of Drake's voyage is too complex to be considered here, but it is now recognized that he was seeking to carry out earlier proposals for trade and colonization. In his recent biography of Sir Richard Grenville, A. L. Rowse refers to the intense interest taken in geographical matters in the years immediately preceding Drake's departure from England, and the cardinal point about which it is centred:— The real significance of this interest in geography was the passionate excitement aroused in the question of a North-East or a North-West Passage to Cathay. It was a matter of the greatest importance for the future of English expansion. The riches of the trade with the Far East had been revealed by the Portuguese voyages via the Cape of Good Hope; but southward expansion up to the time of Hawkins' voyages was blocked by the Portuguese and Spanish monopoly, and it was now being made abundantly evident that any attempts to penetrate their privileged sphere would mean fighting. . . . And so the question of a northern Passage to the Far East was a vital one; if there were one at all, and most geographical opinion agreed that there was, it would fall naturally into the sphere of English control, and being nearer than the Cape of Good Hope, give this country the larger control of the trade in Far Eastern commodities at cheaper rates.' In a word, a clash with Spain might be avoided if a practicable northern passage existed; for discoveries by the North- (2) Sir Julian Corbett, Drake and the Tudor Navy, London, 1899, p. 411. (3) A. L. Rowse, Sir Richard Grenville, London, 1937, p. 84. 1939 Drake's Course in the North Pacific 153 east, North, or North-west, it appears, were not regarded as running counter to the famous Bulls of Alexander VI., which reserved to Spain the lands lying west of a certain meridian and, apparently, south of the Azores.4 Indeed, the rights of the English Merchant Adventurers to explore in those quarters had been renewed in the reign of Philip and Mary, when Philip of Spain was practically King of England. The Governor of this association was Sebastian, the son and partner of John Cabot, to whom Henry VII. had granted rights to explore by the East, West, and North. Sebastian Cabot was interested in the North-west Passage, but the Merchants confined their energies to the North-east, where they entered the White Sea and opened up a profitable trade with Russia. As a consequence the association was commonly known as the Muscovy Company. Interest in the North-west Passage was brought to a head by a map published in 1564 by the rising young geographer, Abraham Ortelius. This showed Labrador as an island, and the whole of the northern shore of America well to the south of the sixtieth parallel. Northern China was represented as being only a few hundred miles to the west of the Sierra Nevada, and between them was the strait or narrow sea of Anian.6 The Moluccas, according to the map, were not far away. The year after the map was printed Sir Humphrey Gilbert applied for permission to make the Passage, but his proposals were blocked by the Muscovy Company. Later their monopoly was challenged successfully by Lok and Frobisher, and, at a time not yet precisely determined, Gilbert's cousin, Richard Grenville, proposed to discover the Passage from the west by searching the Strait of Anian. Gilbert himself suggested "inhabiting for our staple some convenient place of America, about Sierra Nevada," and his discourse on the passage to Cathay, the Moluccas, and other parts of the East was published the year before Drake left (4) James A. Williamson, The Age of Drake, London, 1938, p. 27. (5) The eastern part of North America appears in the Geographical Journal, LXXII. (1928), No. 3, opp. p. 304. See also p. 237. The western part appears in Sir Francis Drake's Voyage around the World, H. R. Wagner, 1926, p. 39. 154 R. P. BlSHO July England.6 It will be seen that Drake combined these-projects, searched for the Strait, took possession, and traded in the Moluccas. Grenville had developed an interest in lands " beyond the equinoctial,"7 fatally reserved for the honour of Her Majesty and, incidentally, free from interference by the Muscovy Company. His interest in Cathay appears in a draft Charter.8 He proposed to plant a colony near the River Plate, and to pass through the Strait of Magellan.9 In other words he proposed a South-west Passage to Cathay, with staples near Buenos Aires and on the Pacific coast. He made extensive preparations, and apparently secured sanction for the voyage, but this was cancelled for fear of trouble with Spain. He finally proposed to spend a few weeks near the Strait of Magellan, and then proceed with all speed to the Strait of Anian; here he would spend several months in making a reconnaissance, trade with Cathay, and return by the North-west Passage. His Discourse10 on the subject resembles, in certain respects, the draft plan of Drake's voyage recently discovered by Professor E. G. R. Taylor. In the proposals of Gilbert and Grenville, and in Drake's reconnaissance and act of possession, we have the Elizabethan prelude to the history of the North Pacific coast, and to a good deal more besides. It has, however, been suggested that Drake was not searching for the Strait, and that he did not reach the neighbourhood of 48 degrees. These are the points which require investigation in the first instance. But before going into details it is better to refer briefly to the general problem. trie for a New Passage to Cataia, 1576. Navigations, 1589. 142-6, British Museum; given in The n Frobisher, by Richard Col] (6) A Discourse of Reprinted in Hakluyt's (7) Lansdowne MS Three Voyaqes of Mart London, 1867, p. 4. See also Rowse, p. 90. (8) Extracts are given by Rowse, pp. 95-97. (9) See the evidence of Oxenham and his con Drake, by Mrs. Zelia Nuttall, Hakluyt Society, 1£ (10) A discourse concerninge a straighte to be discovered towarde the northweste, passinge to Cathaia and the orientall Indians, with a confuta- cion of their errour that thinke the discoverye thereof to be moste conveni- entlye attempted to the northe of Baccalaos. Endorsed by Burghley " Mr. Grenville's voyage." Lansdowne MS., 100, No. 4, B.M. given in The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher, Hakluyt Society, 1867, p. 8. i, Hakluyt Society, n New Light o 1939 Drake's Course in the North Pacific 155 The Plot of the Voyage. It is now apparent that Drake's voyage combined several different projects; the difficulty is to distinguish them. In 1926 H. R. Wagner published practically all available information in his monumental study entitled Sir Francis Drake's Voyage around the World, and concluded that the voyage was intended for the Moluccas.11 J. A. Williamson arrived independently at a similar conclusion:— It is undoubted that when Drake returned a very great importance was attached to his treaty with the Sultan of Ternate in the Spice Islands. It was made the basis of subsequent voyages, and formed the title-deed of the empire the East India Company hoped to establish in the archipelago. Only when the Dutch had ousted us, and we had fallen back on continental India, did Drake's achievement begin to fade from the public mind. What has never faded is his ballast of Spanish silver, with its top-dressing of gold and precious stones. It is time to recollect now, in the name of sober history, that above even these lay samples of all the spices in the Moluccas. 12 In 1930 Professor Taylor discovered and published the report of Captain Winter, who became separated from Drake near the Strait of Magellan and returned to England. The reprint makes it clear that the Moluccas were included in the programme, thus confirming the conclusions of Wagner and Williamson.13 At the same time Miss Taylor published a draft plan of Drake's voyage, which indicates that a shorter programme was intended in the first instance." The list of promoters shows that the project was controlled by members of the Navy Board and the inner circle of the Queen's personal advisers. Drake was to contribute £1,000. A licence had been obtained from the Grand Turk " so as to give colour to the pretence that the voyage was for Alexandria."16 Her Majesty was to be made privy to the truth of the voyage, and to supply a ship, the Swallow. The draft plan provided for a five-months' reconnaissance in the Pacific, entering and returning by the Strait of Magellan. (11) Wagner, Sir Francis Drake's Voyage, p. 26. (12) J. A. Williamson, Sir John Hawkins, Oxford, 1927, p. 395. (13) E. G. R. Taylor, "More Light on Drake," the Mariner's Mirror, XVI. (1930), pp. 134-150. (14) Cotton MSS.; British Museum. Photographs of two pages are given in "the Geographical Journal, LXXV. (1930), facing pp. 46-47. The edges of the paper have been burnt, and Miss Taylor gives a » of the essential part in the Mariner's Mirror. (15) Quoted from Miss Taylor's article. 156 R. P. Bishop. July Drake was to sail northwards along the coast " as of the other " to 30 degrees, with a view to opening up trade in countries not under the obedience of any Christian prince. The Spanish occupation actually extended to the neighbourhood of 40 degrees on the coast of Chile but, as Williamson points out, the extent of this occupation was not made clear in the published works of Ortelius and Mercator.16 In the Ortelius atlas of 1570 the prominence of the name Coquimbo may have conveyed the impression that the continent was not under the obedience of any Christian prince south of 30 degrees. The phrase "as of the other" suggests the Atlantic coast, where Buenos Aires had been abandoned in 1541 and the remnant of the settlers taken to Asuncion. Here, for thirty-six years, the only stable settlement in the region of the River Plate stood in the centre of the continent, nearly 1,000 miles from the sea.17 " Grenville's project was to come and found a settlement on the River Plate and then pass the Strait and establish settlements wherever a good country for such could be found." This fact is mentioned in the evidence of John Oxenham. It will be remembered that Drake and Oxenham had seen, from a tree on the Isthmus of Panama, the Atlantic on one side and the Pacific on the other. Oxenham had built a pinnace and navigated the Pacific, had been captured by the Spaniards and taken to Lima. Here he and his companions gave evidence before the Inquisition while Drake, unknown to them, was raiding the coast. Oxenham thought that if the Queen were to give a licence to Captain Francis Drake he would certainly come and pass through the Strait, because he is a very good mariner and pilot, and there is no better one than he in England who could accomplish this. . . . The said Captain Francis had often spoken to witness saying that if the Queen would grant him the licence he would pass through the Strait of Magellan and found settlements over here in some good country. Questioned with how many ships it would be possible for Francis Drake to come to the Strait he answered that with the aid of his relatives and (16) Williamson, The Age of Drake, p. 170. Miss Taylor subsequently published extracts from a manuscript Navigating manual which, she considers, may have belonged to Drake. It was evidently prepared in 1577, and gives sailing directions for the Strait of Magellan and the coast of Chile to the neighbourhood of 30 degrees. Pacific Historical Review, I. (1932), pp. (17) Kirkpatrick, p. 335. Drake's Course in the North Pacific 157 night be able to bring two or three vessels but that, after discovering a good country, they would be able to come with more ships. Witness said that Captain Francis discussed this subject with him. Questioned whether they had discussed how, and by what route, they were to return to England after having passed through the Strait, he said that it seemed to him that some said it was to be by the same Strait, but others said that there was a route through another Strait that passed into the North Sea, but nobody knows this for a certainty or has passed through it.18 The last paragraph clearly describes the stage mentioned in the draft plan, of returning by the Strait of Magellan. Much more important, in the present connection, is the fact that it also mentions the idea of returning by an unknown strait in the north, where Drake subsequently made a reconnaissance, as suggested in Grenville's Discourse. We now come to the traditional part of the story. Drake was taken by Walsingham to the Queen, and these or the like words she said:— " Drake! So it is that I would gladly be revenged on the King of Spain for divers injuries that I have received." And said further that I was the only man that might do this exploit and withal craved my advice therein; who told Her Majesty of the small good that was to be done in Spain, but the only way was to annoy him by the Indies. 19 The nature of Drake's arrangement with the Queen is not known. It may have been to raid Spanish treasure ships, or to seize the Isthmus of Panama in conjunction with Oxenham, as suggested by Williamson.20 Drake, before entering the Pacific, referred to setting " by the ears " the three mighty monarchs of England, Spain, and Portugal,21 and Winter's report shows that the final arrangement included a visit to the neighbourhood of the Moluccas, where the indefinite nature of the Spanish-Portuguese boundary afforded an excellent opportunity for the English to gain a footing. Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Discourse had just been published,22 with a sketch of the Ortelius map of 1564, showing the Moluccas (18) Nuttall, pp. 9-10. (19) Cooke's narrative, as given by Corbett, p. 208. (20) The Age of Drake, p. 187. (21) Williamson, Sir John Hawkins, p. 392. (22) In 1576. He states that it was written in 1566, but it was evidently brought up to date. See W. G. Gosling, Life of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, London, 1911. 158 R. P. Bishop. July almost due south of the narrow sea of Anian. Frobisher was making his voyages in search of the North-west Passage, and Grenville had submitted his Discourse on the search from the western end. As Drake actually made this search, it seems evident that it was included in the final plans for the voyage. These may have included an act of possession " about Sierra Nevada " as suggested by Gilbert, or possibly north of the Spanish explorations and well within territory covered by the " East, West and North " of the English charters. A New England in this neighbourhood would not conflict with New France and, even if the Strait were not found, the name on the map would dispose of any Spanish pretensions to a closed Pacific east of the Portuguese boundary. It may be too early to state that the upper star on Drake's coat of arms represents one of the objects of the voyage, as well as one of the accomplishments. British Columbia can, however, contribute to the solution of the problem by showing that Drake reached a high northern latitude in searching for the Strait of Anian in the summer of 1579. The Search for the Strait. Most accounts of the voyage bring Drake to the neighbourhood of 48 degrees, and some of them refer to his search for the Strait, or the route by the North-west Passage. The map printed by Hakluyt in 1587, and his reference to " Noua Albion vpon the backside of Canada" in 1589, suggest that he had shared the general belief in the higher latitude. But certain copies of The Principall Navigations contain six extra leaves giving an account of The Famous Voyage of Sir Francis Drake, probably printed after 1589, as the pages are not numbered. The name of the author is not known. The highest latitude here mentioned is 42 degrees (and in a subsequent edition 43) ,23 suggesting that Drake merely reach the coast of Oregon. And the account suggests that Drake was not looking for the passage, but taking the most suitable route to the Moluccas. The rare first edition, however, has a marginal note—" A purpose in Sir Francis to returne by the Northwest passage." (23) London, 1600, III., p. 440. 1939 Drake's Course in the North Pacific 159 As the narrative gives the opposite impression, it seems that Hakluyt, as editor, wrote the marginal note himself. It would accordingly appear that Hakluyt believed, at first, in the higher latitude and in the search for the passage. The two beliefs are complementary. Drake sailed from Guatulco, in the south of Mexico, and spent eight weeks at sea. If he came north to 48 degrees he was not merely shaking off the Spanish pursuit, and looking for a suitable place in which to repair his ship. He was searching for the Strait, the approach to the North-west Passage. The Authorities for 48 Degrees. The latitude of 48 degrees was generally accepted until the middle of the nineteenth century, when it became involved in the Oregon boundary question. The latitude was debated at some length by Robert Greenhow, Librarian of the Library of Congress, who favoured 43 degrees, and Sir Travers Twiss, who believed in 48. Long after the boundary question was finally settled the debate was revived by Professor George Davidson, of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, and Sir Julian Corbett.24 Davidson, who believed in 43 degrees, was the highest authority of the time on the winds and currents of the Eastern North Pacific, and he was able to point out that the course suggested by Corbett was not feasible. Davidson was, however, misled by an imperfect reproduction of the Hondius map of the Drake and Cavendish voyages, and he was not able to use the bearings given by John Drake, which had been quoted incorrectly. Recent research, furthermore, has thrown an entirely new light on the direction of the currents at different times of the year. Wagner accepts Davidson's viewpoint, and rightly attributes great importance to the need of following Drake's course from Guatulco by a study of the prevailing winds. He does not, however, plot the course afresh, and he mainly depends on Hakluyt's Famous Voyage, assuming that the additional information in The World Encompassed is due to interpolation. Evidence is now available to show that The Famous Voyage is badly abbreviated, so the accompanying plot of the course is based on the fuller account, supplemented by John Drake's bearings. (24) Corbett gives a brief review of the discussion, p. 289. 160 R. P. Bishop. July Wagner's standard work of 1926 is indispensable for a study of the subject, and a great deal of useful information appears in his other writings. The Spanish accounts of Drake's proceedings as far as Guatulco, and the log of Nuno da Silva, the Portuguese pilot, are given by Mrs. Nuttall. Da Silva mentioned that Drake and his young kinsman [John] were fond of painting. Don Francisco de Zarate referred to pictures of the coast, painted in its exact colours " so naturally depicted that no one who guides himself according to these paintings can possibly go astray."26 Unfortunately they have been lost, and no log of the whole voyage is known to exist. Beyond Guatulco we have to depend on abbreviated accounts and other evidence, and on compilations which are sometimes contradictory. Valuable evidence was given by John Drake at Santa Fe in the Province of the River Plate, and before the Inquisition at Lima. He accompanied the Fenton expedition in 1582, with other members of the crew of the Golden Hinde, and was wrecked in the estuary of the Plate and subsequently taken prisoner. He mentioned 48 degrees four times, and the change of course in 44 degrees, and referred to Nova Albion. He also gave bearings which enable us to plot the course from Guatulco.26 The diary of Madox, chaplain on the Fenton expedition, refers to 48 degrees on the " back syde of Labradore and as Mr Haul supposeth, nye thereunto." Hall had been with Frobisher. The extract was published by Professor Taylor in the Pacific Historical Review in 1932.27 John Davis, the Arctic navigator, gives " forty-eight degrees being on the backe syde of Newfound land " in The Worldes Hydrographical DiscriptionP He was a partner of Sir Humphrey Gilbert's brother Adrian, and searched for the passage three times by way of Davis Strait, and passed through the Strait of Magellan, but was unable to reach Nova Albion. After this he accompanied the Dutch to the East Indies, and then piloted the first fleet of the East India Company to the Spice Islands. (25) Nuttall, pp. 208, 303. (26) Nuttall, pp. 31, 32, 50; Wagner, p. 333, note 16. (27) I., pp. 360-9. (28) London, 1595. Reprinted by the Hakluyt Society in The Voyage and Works of John Davis, 1880, p. 205. 1939 Drake's Course in the North Pacific. 161 He was a high authority on navigation, and definitely interested in the question of Drake's latitude. An account of the circumnavigation appeared in the 1592 edition of Stow's Chronicles of England. This may have been the first account to appear in print. It states that Drake " came backeward to the lineward the tenth of June 1579." The latitude given is 47 degrees.29 The unsigned notes commonly known as the Anonymous Narrative, in the handwriting of the time, mention the search for the Strait and the latitude of 48 degrees.30 Various maps31 show Nova Albion in 48 degrees, and some of these indicate the track of the ship, but obviously without any attempt at accuracy. The maps are reproduced by Mr. Wagner. On the Hondius map of the Drake and Cavendish voyages the track has been erased north of 42 degrees, evidently to conform with The Famous Voyage. The fullest account appears in The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake . . . carefully collected out of the notes of Master Francis Fletcher preacher in this imployment, and divers others his followers in the same. London 1682. Fletcher's manuscript is available as far as the south of Chile. His rambling style and pious interjections can generally be recognized, and the missing portion of the notes was evidently used by the compiler of The World Encompassed for the voyage north of Guatulco and the proceedings in California. The sources of this account and of The Famous Voyage are fully discussed by Wagner.82 The Famous Voyage confuses the sequence of events at Cano and Guatulco. Both accounts mention 42 degrees, and beyond this the language is similar, but The Famous Voyage is shorter and does not mention any higher latitude in the first edition. The comparative value of these accounts, at this point, is decided by higher authority:— (29) The extract from the edition of 1635 is reprinted by Wagner, pp. 303-07. (30) Harleian MSS., British Museum, No. 280, Folio 23. Extracts are given by Wagner, p. 243, et seq. (31) Such as the map in Hakluyt's Paris edition of Peter Martyr; the " silver map " of Drake's voyage; the French and Dutch Drake maps. (32) pp. 238, 286. R. P. Bishop. July BEE IT KNOWNE VNTO ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS IVNE 17 1579 BY THE GRACE OF GOD AND IN THE NAME OF HERR MAIESTY QVEEN ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND AND HERR SVCCESSORS FOREVER I TAKE POSSESSION OF THIS KINGDOME WHOSE KING AND PEOPLE FREELY RESIGNE THEIR RIGHT AND TITLE IN THE WHOLE LAND VNTO HERR MAIESTIES KEEPEING NOW NAMED BY ME AN TO BEE KNOWNE VNTO ALL MEN AS NOVA ALBION. FRANCIS DRAKE A plate of brass bearing the above inscription was picked up by Mr. Beryle Shinn in 1936 and handed to Dr. H. E. Bolton.33 It was subsequently ascertained that the plate had been found a few years before near Drake's Bay and thrown away near San Francisco Bay, not far from the spot when Shinn found it. The plate and the lettering have been carefully examined by Professor j Fink, of Columbia University, and other experts, and the question of its authenticity now appears to be finally settled.84 This important find is described by Professor Bolton in his paper Francis Drake's Plate of Brass read before the California Historical Society in 1937. He points out that The World Encompassed and the other accounts vary on vital matters in describing the plate, the inscription, and the sixpence. These discrepancies had long puzzled him. Only one recourse remained —to find the plate. This shows that "the phraseology of the inscription in nearly every particular is that of The World Encompassed, our fullest version of Fletcher's account."36 His paper is supported by excerpts from the various early accounts, which enable the reader to do his own textual criticism. The accounts of the Indian houses are especially interesting. The Famous Voyage states that they are " digged round about with earth"; The World Encompassed that they are "digged round within the earth."86 The latter is evidently an account, by an eye-witness, of the typical semi-subterranean house which (33) Professor of American History at the University of California. (34) For the complete analysis and report, see Colin G. Fink and E. P. Polushkin, Drake's Plate of Brass Authenticated, San Francisco, 1938. (35) Drake's Plate of Brass, San Francisco, 1937, p. 11. (36) See Appendix II. UI Part of the Typus Orbis Ter 11 the Ortelius Atlas, firs 1939 Drake's Course in the North Pacific 163 extended from the coast of California to the interior of British Columbia, where the pits are known as keekwillie holes. A sketch of the zone in which these are found appears in Native Houses of Western North America, by T. T. Waterman.87 Here we have an instance, independent of the Plate of Brass, confirming Professor Bolton's conclusion that Fletcher is our chief source of information for details regarding events at the " conuenient and fit harborough." " His statements were published in varying degrees of abridgment, the fullest version being that in The World Encompassed. Since the abridgments leave out important details, this version may be regarded as our most . faithful available record of what Fletcher wrote. In the abridgments at this point there are few contradictions of the fuller narrative, but by leaving out essentials they convey imperfect impressions."38 One of the essentials omitted in The Famous Voyage, as the evidence submitted in summary form in this paper is intended to show, is the latitude of 48 degrees. Fleurieu's Whirlpool. Before going into details of Drake's course from Guatulco, it is advisable to consider the winds and currents of the North Pacific and the routes taken by sailing ships. During the summer months strong north and north-west winds blow down the Pacific coast of the United States and Mexico, and ships sailing to the north stand well out to sea. Off the coast of California is a region where the barometer is high— and meteorologists tell us that the winds blow in a clockwise direction round these regions in the northern hemisphere. To the south is the north-east trade-wind, to the north are the prevailing westerlies, and the currents, generally speaking, follow the winds. The arrangement was noticed by Fleurieu, and called by an Englishman Fleurieu's Whirlpool, according to Ker- hallet, Capitaine de fregate.89 The expression is convenient, for we may say that Drake followed Fleurieu's Whirlpool. (37) Published by Museum of the American Indian, New York, 1921. . (38) Drake's Plate of Brass, pp. 9-10. (39) Charles Philippe de Kerhallet, Considerations Generates sur I'Ocean Pacifique, Paris, 1851, p. 61 and map opp. p. 43. Fleurieu was the author of Voyage Autour du Monde . . . par itienne Marchand, Paris, 1939 Drake's Course in the North Pacific 165 Ships sailing out of San Francisco during the summer stand right out to sea, and approach the Strait of Juan de Fuca from the south-west—and the route on the present pilot charts was laid down for vessels which could sail closer to the wind than the Golden Hinde. Guatulco, in the south of Mexico, is conveniently placed for getting into the April trade-wind. After leaving this port Drake took a " Spanish course " and sailed in longitude for 500 leagues, according to one account; by another account 600 leagues, and by another 800. After this he continued, clockwise, round the whirlpool. The problem of the Pacific winds was first solved in the southern hemisphere. Off the coast of South America the whirl is in the opposite direction. In 1547 it took an expedition eight months to travel from Callao in Peru to Chile, against the south wind and the Humboldt current. In 1563 the problem was solved by the pilot Juan Fernandez, who stood well out to sea instead of following the coast. Fernandez ran out from Callao before the south-east trade-wind, working to the south until he encountered the westerlies, and then running before them into Valparaiso. He performed the journey in twenty days, discovering on the way the island made famous in after-years as the abode of Alexander Selkirk. " The feat of seamanship on the part of Juan Fernandez won for him very full official recognition. It was indeed a most important discovery. He received a grant of land in the lovely valley of Quillota in Chile . . . and his descendants were still living in Quillota when I was there." The quotation is from Sir Clements Markham's anniversary address on Balboa in 1913.40 In 1599 Francisco de Quinones used the new way " and performed the voyage from Callao to Concepcion in the then unpre- cedently short time of 16 days." The difference in latitude is 24 degrees, and in spite of the roundabout route southing was made at a degree and a half per day. This rate, about four knots, may be compared with the performance of the Golden Hinde. The idea of sailing west before the trade-wind and east in high latitudes was not new; it had been applied to the whole Pacific, but early attempts to return to America were not suc- (40) Geographical Journal, XLI. (1913), pp. 517-527. 166 R. P. Bishop. July cessful. Magellan's flagship, the Trinidad, went north to 42 degrees, but had to return to the Moluccas. Del Cano (of the coat of arms) was sent again from Spain, under Garcia de Loaysa, and with them went Urdaneta, who eventually solved the problem. Cortes sent Saavedra to assist them in the Moluccas, and so initiated the famous run from Mexico to Guam. Spain then relinquished the Moluccas, but continued to claim the Philippines. A later expedition from Mexico made various discoveries, but still nobody sailed east to America. Urdaneta retired to a monastery, but eventually received a royal request to accompany Legaspi, who conquered the Philippines. Urdaneta sailed back to Mexico in 1565,41 and after this the Manila galleon made the round trip across the Pacific for centuries. The Spanish Course. Anson captured the Manila galleon in 1743 and found that she had standing orders to sail west between the 13th and 14th parallels.42 His chart shows her track, tacking out of Acapulco to the latitude of Guam and then " running down the latitude " to that island, where fires were lit to prevent her from passing it. Her eastbound track takes a zigzag course to the north, sometimes reaching 35 degrees, and on approaching California takes a more direct course to Acapulco. The track clearly indicates the prevailing winds, and suggests that the northern coast could best be reached from Central America by sailing west along a known course, before turning to the north. Drake prepared his ship for the northern voyage near the island of Cano, about 8° 40' N., and had the good fortune to capture a Spanish frigate taking two China pilots to Panama, where they were to meet a high official and conduct him to the Philippines.48 The pilots had been sent by the Viceroy of New Spain, and their charts and sailing directions gave full information about the route across the Pacific. (41) Full details are given in Wagner's Spanish Voyages to the Northwest Coast of America in the Sixteenth Century, San Francisco, 1929. (42) George Lord Anson, A Voyage Round the World, 9th edition, London, 1756, pp. 247, 385. (43) See the many reports and depositions printed in New Light on Drake. 1939 Drake's Course in the North Pacific 167 o consider and t Our General at this place, and time . . consult of the best way for his Countrey. The quotation is from The Famous Voyage, which goes on to say that Drake decided to return by way of the Moluccas and the Cape of Good Hope. Upon this resolution he began to thinke of his best way to the Moluccaes, and finding himselfe where he nowe was becalmed, he sawe, that of necessitie he must be forced to take a Spanish course, namely to saile somewhat Northerly to get a winde. We therefore set saile, and sailed in longitude 600. leagues at the least for a good winde, and thus much we sailed from the 16. of Aprill till the 3. of June. . The information is valuable, but has to be disentangled. The Famous Voyage, like the Anonymous Narrative, gives Cano and Guatulco in the wrong order and so confuses the sequence of events. They sailed " somewhat northerly" from Cano, and sailed " in longitude " after leaving Guatulco. The latter point is made clear by The World Encompassed. From Guatulco we departed the day following, viz., Aprill 16. setting our course directly into the sea: whereupon we sayled 500. leagues in longitude, to get a winde: and betweene that and June 3. 1400. leagues in all, till we came into 42. deg. of North latitude. Sailing " in longitude " suggests sailing due west. Coupled with the idea of a Spanish course it suggests the route shown on Anson's chart, where ships had orders to keep between the 13th and 14th parallels. Such a course would lie " somewhat northerly " from Cano, and " directly into the sea " from Guatulco. Legaspi and Urdaneta had been instructed to take a more southerly course, apparently to examine certain islands reported to lie about the latitude of 10 degrees,44 but as no use was made of these islands it seems almost certain that subsequent voyages would be made along a course in the latitude of Guam, as indicated by Anson. Such a course would be well within the trade- wind, north of the equatorial counter-current, and free from all obstructions. Drake would be well advised to take it before turning to the north. The Northerly Anchorage. The Famous Voyage continues:— The 5. day of June, being in 42. degrees towards the pole Arctike, we found the aire so colde, that our men being greeuously pinched with the (44) Wagner, Spanish Voyages, pp. 107, 349, note 62. 168 R. P- Bishop. July same, complained of the extremitie thereof, and the further we went, the more colde increased vpon vs. Whereupon we thought it best for that time to seeke the land, and did so, finding it not mountanous, but lowe plaine land, & clad, and couered ouer with snowe, so that we drewe backe againe without landing, till we came within 38. degrees towards the line. The quotation given above from The World Encompassed makes it fairly clear that they reached 42 degrees on June 3. The account goes on to say that the cold began " in the night following " and that they made an additional two degrees under these conditions. They would then be in 44 degrees. On June 5 they were forced by contrary winds to make for land, where they anchored in a " bad bay " in 48 degrees. These latitudes are confirmed by the early and independent evidence of John Drake, which makes it clear that the wind changed in 44 degrees, and that they altered course, discovering land in 48 degrees.45 To continue from The World Encompassed:— From the height of 48. deg. in which now we were, to 38. we found the land by coasting alongst it to bee but low and reasonable plaine: euery hill (whereof we saw many, but none verie high) though it were in June, and the Sunne in his neerest approch vnto them being couered with snow. The mountains might appear like hills to men who had passed through the Strait of Magellan and followed the coast of South America, but The Famous Voyage does away with them altogether and brings the snow from their summits to the level of the low plain land. The Famous Voyage does not state that 42 degrees was the highest latitude reached, but the text gives that impression, and this is heightened by Hakluyt's marginal note. The text is evidently taken from an original which resembles The World Encompassed, but it is badly abbreviated and gives the wrong impression, as it does in the case of the Plate of Brass and in the description of the native houses of California. The fact that The Famous Voyage does not mention the higher latitude clearly does not prove that 48 degrees is an interpolation in The World Encompassed, or a fiction invented before John Drake i left England in 1582, nor does it indicate that other authorities which mention 48 degrees are incorrect. It seems hardly necessary to labour the point, but it is interesting to see how the idea of a lower latitude was perpetuated. (45) Nuttall, p. 50. See Appendix II. for the text of John Drake's statement. 1939 Drake's in the North Pacific 169 Apparently Hakluyt was feeling worried by certain contradictions in the narrative. In the second edition of The Principal Navigations (III., 440) he omitted "in longitude," changed 142 " to " 43 " degrees, and abbreviated the description of the shore. He also printed a separate account of Drake's course from Guatulco and the proceedings in California. This account mentions Cano in the proper order, but the sequence of the context is not correct. The result is astonishing. " Our General . . . began to consider and to consult" at Guatulco, where he saw that he must be forced to take a Spanish course, namely to saile somewhat Northerly to get a winde. Wee therefore set saile, and sayled 800 leagues at the least for a good winde, and thus much we sayled from the 16 of Aprill after our olde stile till the third of June. The latitude mentioned is 43 degrees. Apparently the " 800 leagues " was manufactured to suit the distance along the coast, as the idea of sailing in longitude had been eliminated. The account gives the impression that Drake sailed northerly from Guatulco to get a suitable wind for the Moluccas. He would not have done this with the Spanish charts in his possession. The first edition of The Principal! Navigations is exceedingly rare, so the accounts in the second edition, supported by Hakluyt's marginal notes, have given rise to the belief that Drake turned south in 43 degrees. English writers have continued to refer to 48 degrees, but apparently a practicable route to the northerly anchorage has not been suggested. Fresh information has now come to light, and this enables us to plot the course afresh. Sir Julian Corbett plotted the 500 leagues due west, but was not able to use the bearings given by John Drake, N.W. and N.N.E., as the latter had been printed N.N.W. Mr. Wagner points out that the Spanish text printed by Lady Elliott-Drake gives N.N.E. As they could not sail N.W. from Guatulco we must apply the bearings to the end of the 500 leagues " in longitude." The leagues, according to John Davis, would correspond to three of our nautical miles, and the measurement would probably begin after they had got on the westerly course somewhere south-west of Guatulco. The change from N.W. to N.N.E. would 170 R. P. Bishop. July be at the northerly limit of the trade-wind.46 By plotting these courses, and making allowance for current, we bring the Golden Hinde to 44 degrees somewhere in the neighbourhood of the 140th meridian. This would enable the Golden Hinde to reach land in 48 degrees without sailing against the prevailing wind. The Date of Arrival. The date of changing course in 44 degrees is given by The World Encompassed, as already mentioned:— The 5. day of Iune, wee were forced by contrary windes, to run in with the shoare, which we then first descried; and to cast anchor in a bad bay, the best roade we could for the present meete with . . . It was obviously impossible for them to jump at once from 44 to 48 degrees, and it appears that a date has been omitted. The part of The World Encompassed which describes Drake's voyage in the North Pacific seems to be a fairly complete copy of Fletcher's notes; but certain events are omitted, such as the capture of the Spanish charts at Cano, Drake's detention of the pilot Colchero, and the seizure of the frigate which they brought to California. The date of June 10 was given by John Stow, in The Chronicles of England, in the edition of 1592—which, as noted above, was possibly the first account of the voyage to appear in print. The date fits well with the rest of the evidence, giving five days from the end of the traverse we have plotted to 44 degrees, and allows seven days for the run south to the haven in California, where Drake arrived on June 17. Washington or Vancouver Island? The track plotted is eminently practicable. The N.W. course is close to the New Route described by Imray in 1868, in his Sailing Directions for the West Coast of North America. The N.N.E. course and the run towards land are close to the northern course of the sailing track from San Francisco to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. (46) The limit of the trade-wind appears on the U.S. Pilot Charts of the North Pacific, which are issued monthly. A quarterly analysis of the currents is occasionally given on the back of the charts. 1939 Drake's Course in the North Pacific 171 With regard to the latitude of 48 degrees we have to consider:— 1. Instrumental error. 2. Error of observation. 3. Error in dead reckoning. 4. Allowance for current. 1. Professor Davidson has tabulated, with great care, the errors in various latitudes given by Cabrillo and Ferrelo.47. The smallest is 40 minutes, and the errors increase towards the end of the series taken by Ferrelo. If his observations are divided into three groups the errors are found to be consistent, giving averages of 47, 58, and 82 minutes, all in the same direction. The instrument was evidently getting out of adjustment as time went on. Perhaps we should allow Drake half a degree. 2. Error in observation. The sextant had not been invented, or the backstaff of John Davis. The instruments of the time were the cross-staff, which used the horizon; the quadrant, and the astrolabe. The error, at sea, might be anything up to one degree. 3. Dead-reckoning. Time was measured by the half-hour glass, and speed by estimation or the log. There seems to be no mention, at this period, of a glass indicating a few minutes for use with the log-line. A book of the period states that the log was timed by repeating words or sentences, but no example is given. Salutes have been timed by:— Fourteen years a gunner's mate And never been called a Number One FIRE. John Drake states that on their voyage they met with great storms.48 " All the sky was dark and full of mist." The World Encompassed mentions the fogs at the northerly anchorage, and from this account it seems that the last observation on the way north may have been in 42 degrees. In this event the easterly run towards the land might give a large error, and the first rough estimate would be amended by a final latitude estimated from the southerly run towards California. The first estimate might account for the 47 degrees given by Stow. (47) Report of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey for 1886, Appendix No. 7, Washington, 1887. (48) Nuttall, p. 31. 172 R. P. Bishop. July 4. Allowance for current. The combined effect of the Kuro Siwo and the West Wind Drift, described for convenience as the Japanese Current, has brought disabled junks and other craft across the Pacific at the average rate of 10 miles a day.49 In 1865 Professor Davidson discovered that the current divided off the American coast, one branch running north and west round the Gulf of Alaska and the other south to California. He placed the division in 148° W., between latitudes 46 and 50, and from the drift of redwood logs, etc., he concluded that a strong inshore current ran to the north off the coast of Oregon and Washington. Recent research has suggested that the Japanese Current divides nearer the coast, near 140° W., about 40° N. in winter and 50° N. in summer. The current, then, flows north in winter and south in summer off the coast in question. Theoretical determinations have now been, confirmed by the drift of bottles released by the International Fisheries Commission. Diagrams of the drift and particulars of the distance travelled by individual bottles have been printed by the Commission, with analysis of the prevailing winds, and a full discussion.60 Some of the bottles released in August drifted south at the rate of 5 miles a day, and a few reached Hawaii. Perhaps we may allow a current correction of half a degree in the case of the Golden Hinde, bringing the latitude to 48^4 degrees. If we allow anything from V2 to 1% degrees for the combined effect of 1, 2, and 3, we place the anchorage between 47 and 48 degrees (49) C. W. Brooks, Japanese Wrecks . . . in the North Pacific, San Francisco, 1876. The vessels were generally driven offshore by the December monsoon, and it has been observed that glass fishing floats, which are often marked with Japanese characters, begin to arrive on the west coast of Vancouver Island in January. For this information I am indebted to R. Whittington, of Wickaninnish Bay, Long Beach, north of Ucluelet. Eleven of these floats were seen north of Honolulu, between 26° and 40° north, by Mr. and Mrs. R. S. Strout in the yacht Igdrasil in June and July, 1938, as narrated in Yachting Monthly, London, February, 1939. For this reference I am indebted to J. Genge, of Victoria. See also T. A. Rickard, " The Use of Iron and Copper by the Indians of British Columbia," British Columbia Historical Quarterly, III. (1939), p. 47. (50) Report of the International Fisheries Commission, No. 9. " Life History of the Pacific Halibut." William F. Thompson and Richard Van Cleve, Seattle, 1936, pp. 50-61. 1939 Drake's Course in the North Pacific 173 on the coast of Washington, or between 49 and 50 degrees on the coast of Vancouver Island. The World Encompassed states that "... though we searched the coast diligently, euen vnto the 48. deg. yet found we not the land, to trend so much as one point in any place towards the East,61 but rather running on continually Northwest, as if it went directly to meet with Asia . . ." The northwest bearing corresponds to the coast of Vancouver Island. It would appear then that the " bad bay " where Drake anchored in the recorded latitude of 48 degrees was on the west coast of Vancouver Island. There is additional evidence to this effect, but it cannot be adduced in a short article. Drake travelled south for a week and repaired his ship in California, where he took possession, or accepted possession, in the name of Queen Elizabeth. He named the country Albion, " and that for two causes; the one in respect of the white bancks and cliffes, which he toward the sea: the other that it might haue some affinity, euen in name also, with our owne country, which was sometime so called."52 Albion and England. At the town of Totnes, on the River Dart, in Devon, they show one the Brutus Stone. Here, they say, landed Bryttys, of the Trojan royal line, who changed the name of Albion to Britain.68 The story, told by Geoffrey of Monmouth, appears to based on ancient British tradition. The Romans saw and conquered, but the name of Britain remained. With the Angles and Saxons came the name of England. The British, gradually driven to the west, became to (51) Apparently they were now depending on the Ortelius map of 1564, as they had been misled by the peculiar bulge on the coast of Chile which appeared on the later maps of Mercator and Ortelius. See, for instance, the reproduction of the Typus Orbis Terrarum. (52) The World Encompassed. (53) ". . . in totonesio littore applicuit. Erat tunc nomen insulae albion." " And then Bryttys desired to call the island by his own name, and that the race inhabiting it should be called bryttaniaid . . . And from that time on, the language of that people was called bryttanec." See the Latin texts and early translations in The Historia Regnum Britanniae of Geoffrey of Monmouth, by Acton Griscom, New York, 1929, p. 249. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote about a.d. 1136. 174 R. P. Bishop. July the invaders Welsh and Cornish. But Athelstan, having defeated the Danes, styled himself King of all Britain.64 When the Tudors came to the throne it was jokingly said that the Welsh had conquered England. Eminent men of Welsh descent66 used the expression British Empire in the reign of Elizabeth. Another great Queen called by its name—British Columbia. An earlier name was Nova Albion " (that is to say) new Englande." When Drake entered the Pacific New Spain had been in existence since the conquest of Mexico; New France had been on the map for the greater part of the century; now there was to be a New England. " Noua Albion (that is to say) new Englande " appeared in Blundevile's Exercises, printed during Drake's lifetime.66 John Smith applied the name New England to North Virginia, and it was adopted in the Charter of 1620, which defined the territory as extending from sea to sea. The minutes of the Council for New England record the fact that Nova Albion was considered as an alternative name. The northern boundary of New England extended from sea to sea in 48 degrees, where Nova Albion had appeared on the maps in the recorded latitude of Drake's northerly anchorage.67 A map in the British Columbia Archives shows the northern boundary of New England near the Pacific coast and, a degree to the north, the early stage of the present international boundary. ■ This was suggested by the English as the northern boundary of (54) Rex Totius Britanniae appeared on his coins. (55) Such as Hakluyt and Dr. Dee. The latter used the expression in The Art of Navigation, or the British Monarchy, London, 1577. The book was dedicated to Sir Christopher Hatton, whose crest gave rise to the name of the Golden Hinde. She sailed from England as the Pelican. (56) M. Blundevile. His Exercises . . . London, 1594. Extracts are given by Wagner, p. 312, etc. (57) The connection seems evident when we remember that South Virginia had been extended from sea to sea, while North Virginia remained a strip on the Atlantic coast, bounded on the north by the 45th parallel. This line, extended to the west, would conflict at once with New France, and any attempt to define a common boundary would lead to complications. The " descriptions " in the second and third Virginia charters had been based on clearly defined and indisputable starting-points, and apparently this fundamental principle was accepted in the charter for New England. The northern boundary was placed in 48 degrees, where Nova Albion had appeared on early maps in the recorded latitude of Drake's northerly anchorage. 1939 Drake's Course in the North Pacific 175 New France, which began with a line running south-westerly from the coast of Labrador, extended to 49 degrees and then to the west, leaving the French a theoretical strip of one degree. Through some strange alchemy the proposed northern boundary of New" France became a southern bound of Canada, and the characteristic line of the great unfortified frontier. This line has been regarded as a symbol of the friendly relations between the two great branches of the English speaking peoples, and it is linked in a curious way with their history. Alexander Brown, in The Genesis of the United States, traces the history of that country to the English struggle with Spain for a footing on the continent. It is now clear that the beginning of this struggle, and the genesis of " New England in America," can be traced to the summer of 1579. Others have suggested that the British Empire overseas began with Sir Humphrey Gilbert's act of possession in Newfoundland in 1583, but Drake had taken possession on the Pacific coast several years before, and the name of Nova Albion appeared on early maps in the recorded latitude of his northerly anchorage. It now begins to appear that this anchorage is still within the Empire. The joint origin of the two great democracies is thus linked with the origin of their common boundary. Time and the ocean and some guiding star, In high cabal have made us what we are. —Sir William Watson.5* Certain sketches of Drake's coat of arms show a star above the globe, but the stars above and below the fesse evidently refer to terrestrial accomplishments, the upper star indicating Nova Albion. The events of a famous voyage around the world may well be commemorated in the three hundred and sixtieth year, as the circuit of the earth is 360 degrees. The Golden Hinde reached Nova Albion in June, 1579.69 The Geographic Board of Canada (58) Quoted by Winston Churchill in Responsibilities of Empire, London, 1937. (59) June 10, according to the old style, is by our present reckoning June 20, eve of the longest day. 176 R. P. Bishop. July has accordingly, at the instance of the Province, named the highest mountain on Vancouver Island after Drake's ship, the Golden Hinde.60 R. P. Bishop. Victoria, B.C. (60) The height of the mountain, 7,219 feet, was reported by Norman Stewart, B.C.L.S., in 1937. The names Queen Bess, Grenville, Gilbert, Raleigh, and Sir Francis Drake appeared on the map of British Columbia in 1933. The names are applied to certain of the Coast Mountains which are over 10,000 feet in height, with the exception of Sir Francis Drake which is distinguished in another way. It is suggested that an adjoining group, the highest within the Province, be named the Albion Mountains. Albion, the white land, is the ancient name of Britain; linked through the Celtic alb with Alp, it forms a suitable mountain name. (See Eilert Eekwall, " Early Names of Britain," Antiquity, IV., No. 14, June 1930, p. 150.) 1939 Drake's Course in the North Pacific 177 appendix i. the grenville project and the draft plan. The draft plan of Drake's voyage shows that he was to pass through the Strait of Magellan and explore northwards along the coast " as of the other " to 30 degrees, and that the places to be visited were supposed to be not under the obedience of any Christian prince. The fact that the coast of Chile was under the obedience of Spain as far as 40 degrees south led Miss Taylor to infer that the draft plan referred to the coast of the Terra Australis, which was supposed to extend from Tierra del Fuego to the neighbourhood of New Guinea.i and beyond this to Locach, or Beach, which had attracted the attention of the learned Dr. Dee. She also inferred that Grenville was mainly interested in the Terra Australis, and that when the scope of the draft plan was extended to the Moluccas, Drake was to follow the imaginary shore in that direction. Williamson has shown that the draft plan may have referred to the coast of Chile, as already mentioned, and Miss Taylor seems to admit the possibility in the Pacific Historical Review, quoted in note 7. Grenville's interest in South America is clearly indicated in the depositions given by Mrs. Nuttall in New Light on Drake, from which the following extracts are When Drake raided the port of Callao, Oxenham was in the hands of the Inquisition at Lima, with the master of his ship and the pilot, John Butler. t They were asked if Queen Elizabeth or any other person had proposed to establish settlements on the coast of the North Sea, or in the region of the Strait of Magellan, or on the coast of the South Sea. They knew of the Grenville project, and the master thought it referred to the South Sea. Oxenham's reference to the River Plate, the Strait, and the South Sea has already been quoted. Butler had heard that Grenville's settlement was to be ". . . on the coast of the North Sea, towards the River Plate, in a country of which they had reports, from some Portuguese, that it was very rich. The Queen had demanded that they were to give a security of thirty to forty thousand pounds that they would not touch lands belonging ' to King Philip, and on this account the expedition was frustrated, as afore- It is evident that Grenville proposed to take advantage of the fact that the lower reaches of the River Plate had been abandoned. The opportunity, however, was soon lost, for Buenos Aires was reoccupied in 1580. Communications were laid across the continent so that warning-could be sent overland to Peru the moment an English ship appeared on the coast.3 For various reasons the significance of Grenville's project has been overlooked. The Discourse quoted in note 10 was printed in 1867, but Burghley's endorsement giving Grenville's name was not mentioned. The draft Charter was bound with the State Papers of 1590, but it referred to Richard Grenville . . . Esquire, and he had been knighted in 1577. Recent research 178 R. P. Bishop. July has connected the Charter with the petition of 1574, mentioned in note 7, which refers to lands " beyond the equinoctial." The petition stressed the point that the expedition would merely " pass by " those countries already in occupation of Christian princes, and Miss Taylor has accordingly concluded that the Terra Australis was " the obvious objective of the proposed voyage: the still unoccupied parts of South America—Patagonia and Southern Chile—offered no attractions."4 The evidence of Butler and Oxenham makes it clear that the unoccupied parts of South America did present attractions. A colony near the River Plate would provide an approach to the Strait of Magellan, and if, as the maps seemed to indicate, a large part of Chile were available, the whole of the southern portion of the continent might be occupied. Such occupation would appear to control access to the Pacific, for the Cape Horn route had not been discovered. If the North-West Passage were not found, the southern colonies would be necessary in trading with Cathay, for as Williamson has pointed out, the English ships could not carry provisions for long voyages and leave room for cargoes. The idea of searching for the Passage s practical from th e of the westerly v e of the Terra Australis in a westerly direction was not eems unlikely that the members of the Navy Board would > take such a course. There appears to be no direct t Grenville was really interested in the imaginary con- e profitable to consider his project in connection with nan's point of v: for the same reason the idea of following the shor practical, and it s< instruct Drake tinent, and it is m early ideas on colonizs Rowse, in his admirable biography, has shown that Grenville was of a practical turn of mind, and Raleigh's right-hand man in the settlement of Virginia; he had early and responsible experience of a similar nature in Ireland, in partnership with Sir Warham St. Leger, the cousin of Lady Grenville's father. " The St. Legers [of Annery, in Devon] were a branch of the great Kentish family who had a long-standing connection with Ireland dating from the great Lord-Deputy, Sir Anthony St. Leger, who was the chief architect of Henry VIII's rule there."5 It is then to Grenville's experience in Ireland that we trace the ideas which are now revealed by the records of the Inquisition. Oxenham stated that Grenville had " applied to the Queen for a licence to come to the Strait of Magellan and to pass to the South Sea, in order to search for land or some islands where to found settlements, because, in England, there are many inhabitants and but little land." The shipmaster understood " that if the Queen should die, many will come and pass through the Strait and found settlements . . . England is so full of people that there are many who wish to go to other parts." And, in conclusion, Drake had often said to Oxenham " that if the Queen would grant him the licence he would pass through the Strait of Magellan and found settlements over here in some good country."« II 1939 Drake's Course in the North Pacific 179 appendix ii. excerpts from early accounts of drake's voyage. (a.) The Native Houses op California. From The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake, London, 1628. In recompence of those things which they had receiued of vs, as shirts linnen cloth, &c. they bestowed vpon our generall, and diuerse of our company, diuerse things, as feathers, cawles of networke, the quiuers of their arrowes, made of fawne-skins, and the very skins of beasts that their women wore vpon their bodies. Hauing thus had their fill of this times visiting and beholding of vs, they departed with ioy to their houses, which houses are digged round within the earth, and haue from the vppermost brimmes of the circle, clefts of wood set vp, and ioyned close together at the top, like our spires on the steeple of a Church: which being couered with earth, suffer no water to enter, and are very warme, the doore in the most part of them, performes the office of a chimney, to let out the smoake: its made in bignesse and fashion, like to an ordinary scuttle in a ship, and standing slopewise: their beds are the hard ground, onely with rushes strewed vpon it, and lying round about the house, haue their fire in the middest, which by reason that the house is but low vaulted, round and close, giueth a marueldus reflexion to their bodies to heate the same. From The Famous Voyage of Sir Francis Drake, in Richard Hakluyt's The Principall Navigations, Voiages and Discoveries of the English Nation, London, 1589. . . . The presents which they sent to our Ge and cals of networke. Their houses are digged round about with earth vttermost brimmes of the circle, clifts of wood set vpi together at the toppe like a spire steeple, which by r Their beds is the ground with rushes strowed o: the house, haue the fire in the middest. . . . (6.) Drake's Course. From The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake, pp. 48-50. From Guatulco we departed the day following, viz., Aprill 16, setting our course directly into the sea, whereon we sayled 500 leagues in longitude, to get a winde: and betweene that and June 3, 1400 leagues in all, till we came into 42 deg. of North latitude, where in the night following we found such alteration of heate, into extreame and nipping cold, that our men in generall did grieuously complaine thereof, some of them feeling their healths much impaired thereby; neither was it that this chanced in the night alone, but the day following carried with it not onely the markes, but the stings and force of the night going before, to the great admiration of vs all; for besides that the pinching and biting aire was nothing altered, the very roapes of. our ship were stiffe, and the raine which fell was an vnnatural congealed and frozen substance, so that we seemed rather to be fall, were feathers, ind haue from the them, ioyning close son of that closenes it, and lying about 180 R. P. Bishop. July in the frozen Zone then any way so neere vnto the sun, or these hotter climates. Neither did this happen for the time onely, or by some sudden accident, but rather seemes indeed to proceed from some ordinary cause, against the which the heate of the sun preuailes not; for it came to that extremity in sayling but 2 deg. farther to the Northward in our course, that though sea-men lack not good stomaches, yet it seemed a question to many amongst vs, whether their hands should feed their mouthes, or rather keepe them- selues within their couerts from the pinching cold that did benumme them. Neither could we impute it to the tendernesse of our bodies, though we came lately from the extremite of heate, by reason whereof we might be more sensible of the present cold: insomuch as the dead and sencelesse creatures were as well affected with it as ourselues: our meate, as soone as it was remooued from the fire, would presently in a manner be frozen vp, and our ropes and tackling in few dayes were growne to that stiffnesse, that what 3 men afore were able with them to performe, now 6 men, with their best strength and vttermost endeauour, were hardly able to accomplish: whereby a sudden and great discouragement seased vpon the mindes of our men, and they were possessed with a great mislike and doubting of any good to be done that way; yet would not our General be discouraged, but as wel by comfortable speeches, of the diuine prouidence, and of God's louing care ouer his children, out of the Scriptures, as also by other good and profitable "perswasions, adding thereto his own cheerfull example, he so stirred them vp to put on a good courage, and to quite themselues like men, to indure some short extremity to haue the speedier comfort, and a little trouble to obtaine the greater glory, that euery man was throughly armed with willingnesse and resolued to see the uttermost, if it were possible, of what good was to be done that way. The land in that part of America, bearing farther out into the West then we before imagined, we were neerer on it then wee were aware; and yet the neerer still wee came vnto it, the more extremitie of cold did sease vpon vs. The 5 day of Iune, wee were forced by contrary windes to runne in with the shoare, which we then first descried, and to cast anchor in a bad bay, the best roade we could for the present meete with, where wee were not without some danger by reason of the many extreme gusts and flawes that beate vpon vs,- which if they ceased and were still at any time, immediately upon their intermission there followed most uile, thicke, and stinking fogges, against which the sea preuailed nothing, till the gusts of wind againe remoued them, which brought with them such extremity and violence when they came, that there was no dealing or resisting against In this place was no abiding for vs; and to go further North, the extremity of the cold (which had now vtterly discouraged our men) would not permit vs; and the winds directly bent against vs, hauing once gotten vs vnder sayle againe, commanded vs to the Southward whether we would From the height of 48 deg., in which now we were, to 38, we found the land, by coasting alongst it, to bee but low and reasonable plaine; euery hill (whereof we saw many, but non verie high), though it were in June, and 1939 Drake's Course in the North Pacific 181 the sunne in his neerest approch vnto them, being couered with snow. In 38 deg. 30 min. we fell with a conuenient and fit harborough, and June 17 came to anchor therein, where we continued till the 23 day of July following. During all which time, notwithstanding it was in the height of summer, and so neere the sunne, yet were wee continually visited with like nipping colds as we had felt before; insomuch that if violent exercises of our bodies, and busie employment about our necessarie labours, had not sometimes compeld us to the contrary, we could very well haue been contented to haue kept about us still our winter clothes; yea (had our necessities suffered vs) to haue kept our beds; neither could we at any time, in whole fourteene dayes together, find the aire so cleare as to be able to take the height of sunne or starre. From The Famous Voyage of Sir Francis Drake. When our Generall had done what hee would with this CACAFUEGO, he cast her off, and wee went on our course still towards the West, and not long after met with a ship laden with linnen cloth and fine CHINA dishes of white earth, and great store of CHINA silks, of all which things chin wee tooke as we listed. 8ilk8 The owner himselfe of this shippe was in her, who was a Spanish Gentleman, from whome our Generall tooke a Fawlcon of golde, with a great emraude in the breast thereof, and the Pilot of the shippe he tooke also with him, and so cast the shippe off. This pilot brought vs to the hauen of GUATULCA, the towne whereof Gual as he told vs, had but 17. Spaniards in it. Assoone as we were entred this hauen wee landed, and went presently to the towne, and to the Towne house, where we found a Judge sitting in iudgement, he being associate with three other officers, vpon three Negroes that had conspired the burning of the Towne: both which Judges, and prisoners we tooke, and brought them a shipboord, and caused the chiefe Judge to write his letter to the Towne, to command all the Townesmen to auoid, that we might safely water there. Which being done, and they departed, we ransaked the Towne, and in one house we found a pot of the quantitie of a bushell, full of royals of plate, which we brought to our shippe. And here one THOMAS MOONE one of our companie, tooke a Spanish Gentleman as he was flying out of the towne, and searching him, he found a chaine of golde about him, and other iewels, which he tooke, and so let him goe. At this place our Generall among other Spaniards, set a shoare his The Portingall Pilot, which he tooke at the Islands of Cape VERDE, out of a £j£j shippe of S. MARIE porte of Portingal, and hauing set them a shoare, we land departed hence, and sailed to the Island of " CANON, where our General cod landed, and brought to shoare his owne ship, and discharged her, mended, and graued her, and furnished our shippe with water and wood sufficiently. And whiles we were here, we espied a shippe, and set saile after her, and Ash tooke her, and founde in her two Pilots, and a Spanish Gouernour, going j0|° for the Islands of the PHILIPPINAS: we searched the shippe, and tooke ^ some of her marchandizes, and so let her goe. Our GeneraU at this place, and time, thinking himselfe both in respect of his priuate iniuries receiued 182 R. P. Bishop. from the Spaniards, as also of their contempts and indignities offered to our countrey and Prince in generall, sufficiently satisfied, and reuenged: and supposing that her Maiestie at his returne would rest contented with this seruice, purposed to continue no longer vpon the Spanish coasts, but began it to consider and to consult of the best way for his Countrey. He thought it not good to returne by the Streights, for two speciall causes: the one, least the Spaniards should there waite, and attend for him in great number and strength, whose hands he being left but one shippe, could not possibly escape. The other cause was the dangerous situation of the mouth of the Streights in the south side, where continuall stormes raining and blustering, as he found by experience, besides the shoales, and sands vpon the coast, he thought it not a good course to aduenture that way: he resolued therefore to auoide these hazards, to goe forward to the Islands of the MOLUCCAES, and therehence to saile the course of the Portingals by the Cape of BONA SPERANZA. Upon this resolution, he began to thinke of his best way to the MOLUCCAES, and finding himselfe where he nowe was becalmed, he sawe, that of necessitie he must be forced to take a Spanish course, namely to saile somewhat Northerly to get a winde. We therefore set saile, and sailed in longitude 600. leagues at the least for a good winde, and thus much we sailed from the 16. of Aprill, till the 3. of June. The 5. day of June, being in 42 degrees towards the pole Arctike, we found the aire so colde, that our men being greeuously pinched with the same, complained of the extremitie thereof, and the further we went, the more colde increased vpon vs. Whereupon we thought it best for that time to seeke the land, and did so, finding it not mountanous, but lowe plaine land, & clad and couered ouer with snowe, so that we drewe backe againe without landing, till we came within 38. degrees towards the line. In which heigth it pleased God to send vs into a faire and good Baye, with a good winde to enter the same. From the First Declaration of John Drake, as printed in New Light on Drake, by Zelia Nuttall, London, 1914, p. 31. They sailed out at sea always to the north-west and north-north-west the whole of April and May until the middle of June, from Guatulco, which lies in 15 degrees north, until they reached 48 degrees north. On their voyage they met with great storms. All the sky was dark and full of mist. On the voyage they saw five or six islands in 46 and 48 degrees. Captain Francis gave the land that is situated in 48 degrees the name of New England. They were there a month and a half, taking in water and wood and repairing their ship. From the Second Declaration of John Drake, as printed in New Light on Drake, p. 50. Then they left and sailed, always on a wind, in a north-west and north- north-westerly direction, for a thousand leagues until they reached forty- four degrees when the wind changed and he went to the Californias where he discovered land in forty-eight deg. There he landed and built huts and remained for a month and a half, caulking his vessel. The victuals they found were mussels and sea-lions. EARLY SMELTERS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. We shall begin this story with the very blunt statement that as many as nineteen smelters have been built, from time to time, to treat the ores of British Columbia's mines. The bluntness is intentional and the number correct. Those of our readers whose interest in the subject is more than casual, and those who have some knowledge of the needs and functions of smelters, may become cynical or be shocked by the further statement that the nineteen are now reduced to one —the healthy, active, and respected giant at Trail, upon whose continued well-being so many of our people confidently depend. Collectively our smelters, together with perhaps a dozen foreign ones, have been the means of making available for use all of the base metals—copper, lead, and zinc—nearly all the silver, and probably at least half the gold which our lode mines have yielded during the last fifty years. For the sake of those who prefer their facts in the form of figures, it may be well to translate this statement into dollar values:— Production in British Columbia, 1887-1937.1 Smelter, base metals.. Smelter, silver Smelter, gold Mills, gold 100 In other words, our " base " metals have been worth twice as much in the markets where they were sold as all our " precious " gold and silver. In the present connection, however, the important point is not merely their great value, but the fact that they are the basis of any properly conceived smelter scheme. Ten of our nineteen smelters were completed before the close of 1900, and at so late a time as the present may properly be 184 S. S. Fowler. July regarded as early. The six of these latest in date, including the plants at Pilot Bay, Nelson, Trail, Grand Forks, Greenwood, and Vananda (Texada Island), have been sufficiently accounted for by other writers. We are left, therefore, with the task of trying to give a more or less connected historical account of those at Vancouver, Revelstoke, and Golden, and, finally, of the almost mythical plant at Woodbury, on Kootenay Lake. These four— the real pioneers amongst the smelters of the Province—are now almost forgotten by those who ever heard of them, and are quite unknown, even among mining men, to the present generation.2 It is common knowledge that the construction of railways in the north-western United States, during the early eighteen- eighties, gave a great impetus to the activities of prospectors. The result was the discovery of valuable mineral deposits, sufficient to justify the building of smelters in western Montana as early as 1887. During the same period the Canadian Pacific Railway was under construction, and along its route, and within the twenty-mile band of country on each side of it in British (2) Passing reference should also be made to a fifth smelter, insignificant in size, but apparently the earliest plant of its kind erected in British Columbia. All the information at present available concerning it is contained in a newspaper item, which reads as follows:— " East Kootenay was the first section of the interior of British Columbia to attract the attention of the prospector. The exposures of silver-lead ores on Jubilee and Spillimachene mountains, 42 miles south of Golden, on the Columbia River, were the first mineral locations to attract attention. . . . An old time prospector named John McRae conceived the idea of mining and smelting this ore on the ground and he built a smelter of stone and iron on the south side of the Spillimachene river, near its junction with the Columbia. A gang of men employed by the government to rebuild the bridge over the Spillimachene dismantled this old smelter last week to supply si v bridge and b :s of the n manship shown i) " This smelter was built in 1883 and is smelter in British Columbia. The builder a about ten years ago, leaving this smelter a on Spillimachene and Jubilee a pioneer prospector of Kootenay."—Golden Star, February 10, 1906. An item which may refer to this smelter is found in the Kamloops Inland Sentinel, March 27, 1884. There is no reference to it in the annual reports of the Department of Mines. John McRae died in Kamloops on May 19, 1895. ' to the excellence of the work- said to have been the pioneer d promoter, John McRae, died ind the development work he did 1939 Early Smelters in British Columbia. 185 Columbia known as the " Railway Belt," prospectors were quite as busy as their confreres to the south. Although our northern men found little if any ore which could be called " very rich," many of them met with much encouragement for several years, as may be gathered from the reports of the local representatives of the Provincial Department of Mines, printed in the annual reports of the Minister of Mines, some excerpts from which follow:— 1884. In the Kicking Horse region 135 mineral claims have been located in different directions. . . . Upon the Spallumcheen River, where locations extend for over four miles, considerable work has been done upon several of the claims. The ore, a free milling, low grade, galena, is abundant. ... (p. 424.) 1885. The Pioneer Mining Co. . . . has the plant for a ten-stamp quartz mill upon the ground to be placed in position next spring, when it is also intended to have a smelter constructed. . . . The ore is argentiferous galena; there is a large body of it, assaying from 10 to 180 ounces of silver to the ton. (p. 498.) Sixty mineral claims have been recorded in this section [Illecillewaet] and settlement work done on many of them. . . . The ores seem to be rather silver than gold-bearing and, for the most part, smelting ores. ... To utilize these mines a local smelter is The shipments of ore . . . have been made solely by the above-named Company [the Selkirk Mining and Smelting Company, which had no smelter but did have a sampling plant at Illecillewaet Station], and consist of about 250 tons of selected ores, between the 25th July and 7th of November, which represent a gross value of about $21,000. ... (p. 265.) A further and vital consideration is the provision of a smelter. In connection with this question it has to be borne in mind that nearly % of the ore found thus far will not average over 30 or 35 ounces of silver to the ton, and consequently will not bear expensive transportation, (p. 267.) We conclude from these quotations—and many more could be given, were it necessary—that the prospectors had done their part, and that the agents of the Government were doing their best to bring about the establishment of a smelting industry, through their reports to the Minister, and probably in other ways as well. As will be seen later, their expressed opinions as to the necessity of local smelters cannot have been based on either I S. S. Fowler. July experience or sound judgment. Nevertheless, those opinions seem not only to have been accepted and published, but to have become almost an incitement to riot among those who would invest in smelters; for three such plants were promoted in two years—1888 and 1889—for construction in a part of British Columbia which, up to the present at least, has not proved itself capable of supporting even one of them. In 1886 the Legislature made its contribution by passing An Act to encourage the erection of Smelting Works (49 Vict., c. 18), which received the Royal Assent on April 6. This provided for the payment of a bonus of not more than $7,000 to any approved person after he had erected smelting-works " capable of crushing, reducing and treating at least thirty tons of ore per day of twenty-four hours," and after " not less than one thousand tons of ore shall have been first crushed, reduced and treated." Here was further incitement to smelter-builders in the guise of a pleasing morsel, which the Legislature resolved to make somewhat more sustaining at its next session. What technical talent, if any, was engaged by the Minister of Mines in these early days is not evident; but apparently he was convinced that whilst the reported mineral discoveries in the Railway Belt were of silver-lead ores, there might be found ores of other metals requiring treatment otherwise than by smelting. For example, the prospectors might discover workable deposits of siliceous or pyritic gold ore, to which a process known as Newberry-Vautin chlorination could be usefully applied, in British Columbia as elsewhere. The Legislature evidently agreed that this view was sound, and on April 7,1887, the Royal Assent was given to An Act to aid the Development of Quartz Mines (50 Vict., c. 24), which empowered the Government to guarantee advances to quartz-mining companies to a total not exceeding $60,000. Clause 11 of this Act provided that a grant of money, by way of bonus, not exceeding $12,000, could be made to any company which erected a " quartz mill or smelting works, or both combined, capable of properly treating and reducing not less than twenty tons of ore per day," after 2,400 tons of ore had been so reduced. 1939 Early Smelters in British Columbia. 187 The next action favouring actual construction of smelting- works was taken in the City of Vancouver, where the ratepayers approved By-law 42, prepared for that purpose, on October 10, 1887. Under its terms the city undertook to grant a bonus of not more than $25,000, and exemption from municipal taxation for a period of ten years, to such individual or company as might take advantage of the Provincial statutes referred to and expend $75,000 upon the construction of the necessary works within the city's limits. Vancouver. With this substantial assistance in prospect, Claude Vautin, of London, an important figure in the mining world of the eighteen-eighties, commenced negotiations which led to the erection of a smelter and chlorinating works at Vancouver. Through his attorney, W. J. Steele, he first entered into an agreement with the city, dated February 28,1888, designed to secure the promised bonus of $25,000. Vautin undertook to erect works costing $75,000, and to deposit $5,000 as a guarantee that the agreement would be carried out. In return he was to receive the promised bonus, but only after the works were in complete running order and 1,000 tons of ore had been reduced and chlorinated. On April 18, 1888, Vautin concluded a further agreement with the Government of British Columbia, intended to bring him the Provincial bonus of $12,000. In return he undertook to commence work within four months and complete within one year " smelting and chlorinating works capable of properly treating and reducing not less, collectively, than forty tons of ore per day," and promised that these works would " remain and be operated for one year in the place where they were first erected." Other clauses provided that Vautin was to deposit £500 to the credit of the Province as a guarantee of good faith, and that the cost of the smelter was to be not less than $48,000.8 Three weeks after the signing of the agreement with the Government, the British Columbia Smelting Company, Limited, was incorporated in England (May 9, 1888), for the purpose of building a smelter at Vancouver. According to the prospectus S. S. Fowler. July I the capital was to consist of £25,000 in preferred shares and £40,000 in common shares, all of which latter were to be issued to Claude Vautin. The prospectus informs us further that the company had acquired a three-quarters interest in the Monarch mine, near Field, B.C., and in it was printed a report by E. J. Dowlen, dated May 1,1888, to the effect that " at first" the mine could produce 40 tons of 55% lead ore per day, which, with 10 tons of gold and silver ores—to be purchased and to yield $15 per ton profit—indicated a supply of ore sufficient for a plant with a nominal daily capacity of 50 tons. But Mr. Dowlen's report, as given in the prospectus, reveals neither the source from which the gold and silver ores were to be purchased, nor the zinky and sulphurous nature of the product of the Monarch mine—both omissions of vital importance as will be seen later. We need not concern ourselves with such technical matters, however. The flotation of the company in London seems to have been satisfactory, and the management proceeded to secure a site and go ahead with clearing and construction. Late in June, 1888, E. J. Dowlen arrived from England and announced that he had stopped at Chicago en route, and there arranged for the early shipment of the furnace and other equipment required for the plant.4 " The work of clearing the site for the smelter is being pushed vigorously," the News-Advertiser noted on July 21, I and all day yesterday a dense column of smoke arose from the clearing fires." The site selected consisted of parts of Lots 182 and 183, containing more than 31 acres in all.5 Late in July the company took offices in " the new Vancouver Block," better known as the old Springer and Van Bramer building, which is still standing at the corner of Cordova and Cambie Streets.6 Apparently the smelter was completed about the end of +he year. " The only thing now stopping the Smelter from starting work is the want of water," the Vancouver World stated on January 10, 1889. "Tons of galena ore lie side-tracked ready for use. An effort is being made to get water from the small rivulet which passes along in close proximity to the buildings." To carry this scheme through required almost a month, but water (4) Vancouver Evening Herald, June 30, 1888. (5) Vancouver Daily World, December 17, 1889. (6) Vancouver News-Advertiser, July 26, 1888. 1939 Early Smelters in British Columbia. 189 became available on February 6, and on the 14th, at noon the smelter was blown in. The following description of the plant and its equipment is worth placing en record:— The works are constructed in the most substantial manner. The foundations are of solid granite and brick masonry. The main building at present is 66 x 56 feet and is divided into boiler and engine rooms, sampling, charging and furnace departments. Besides, a space is arranged for a Newberry-Vautin chlorinating plant, which is now on its way from England. In the principal: room is a wrought-iron water-jacket furnace, with 7 tuyeres of the most modern and improved description, carrying a brick shaft 9% feet high. At the tuyeres the furnace measures 60x36 inches. Above it is fitted with a telescopic detachable self-raising hood, enabling the man feeding to work his charge all round the stack and greatly adding to the convenience of the furnace in other ways. There is also an ingenious way of carrying off the smoke by means of connecting the flue into a large brick dust- chamber, and finally through a stack 60 feet high. This furnace is destined to treat from 50 to 60 tons of ore per day. Leaving the furnace-room the visitor proceeds to the engine-room, where is found a 35 h.p. side-valve engine, 12-inch cylinder and 16-inch stroke, which runs a blower and an eccentric patent crusher in the adjoining sampling-room. Another engine of 15 h.p., of the same type runs a pair of rolls, 17 x 10 inches, and elevates the hoist, carrying the charges from the ground floor to the feed floor. In the boiler-room adjoining there is one tubular steam boiler, 54-inch diameter, 16 feet in length, of 60 h.p., containing 44 flues, 3% inches in diameter. This boiler has been tested to 124 pounds steam pressure, and is in every respect of the best possible manufacture. In this room is also a tubular heater, one No. 2 feed pump, and a McAvity steam ejector. The ore bins are so arranged that the ore' can be dumped direct from the The wharf, general office and assay office erected by the company are conveniently situated, and are substantial and commodious in every respect. . . . The works would have been in operation sooner had the company not been delayed for water. The number of men employed at present is about 40, under the foreman, W. McLaren, and the general directions and management of Messrs. Geo. DeWolff and E. Dowlen. At noon the furnace was well charged and the blast in full operation. As the ore got heated up the stone passed away into " slag," whilst the molten lead was poured off into moulds. There was no special ceremony, but a large number of men were on the scene watching the various stages of the process. The result of the test is not yet made knownJ (7) Vancouver Daily World, February 14, 1889. 190 S. S. Fowler. July A less roseate picture of what happened when operation was started is found in a document given to the author, which he regards as a trustworthy statement of the facts, but the source of which, for obvious reasons, need not be revealed:— On February 14th we started the furnace and, after running for some few hours, the place caught fire from the iron flue running from furnace to dust chamber getting red hot, and the furnace was run down. Mr. X had the flue lowered and started again; but the flue again got red hot and the furnace was again shut down. Mr. X then had the iron flue taken out and the aperture bricked up solid and started again. She made slag for about two hours, when she froze up and Mr. X refused to try her again, saying " the ore must be roasted before being smelted." The Local Board offered to get thirty tons of slag from Frisco to start on. . . . At first X consented to this but afterward refused and he went off at a moment's notice to London. The Local Board . . . sent off a man who was next to X with samples to Frisco to consult with Prof. Thos. Price who made a working test of the ore and certified that it could be smelted without roasting but that it wanted We had as fluxes limestone and scrap iron. Our ore is galena in limestone gangue. We have not been able to purchase outside ore for a mixture and as [the] London Board would not give us authority to get the funds from the Bank here to pay for them, we had only our own ore to put in the furnace. A newspaper of the day relates that the smelter was in operation and attracted many visitors on Sunday, February 24, but it was shut down the next day, " the ore being found to contain too large a percentage of sulphur. The company have not yet definitely decided what course they will take, but it will probably be found necessary to ' roast' the ore in future before reducing it to bullion."8 As the description of the plant already quoted indicates, it possessed no equipment for roasting ore, and of necessity it closed down for an indefinite period. Thus it was that the initial failure to take into account the sulphurous nature of the only ore available—that from the Monarch mine—wrecked the whole project of a smelter at Vancouver. The affairs of the company went rapidly from bad to worse. In March, 1889, all its employees in British Columbia except a local secretary and caretakers at the mine and smelter were dis- (8) Ibid., February 26, 1889. 1939, Early Smelters in British Columbia. 191 missed.9 In April the secretary hopefully informed the City Council that the works were completed, presumably in the expectation that the bonus of $25,000 would be paid; but with the smelter idle the Council took no notice.10 This attempt to raise funds having failed, the smelter property was mortgaged in May.11 The London Board now decided that it was advisable to secure an outside opinion by an expert upon the whole situation, and a survey of the company's position and prospects was made by C. A. Judkins, of Leadville, Colorado. His very lengthy report was submitted to a meeting of the shareholders held in London on September 2, 1889. Its concluding paragraph read as follows :— To summarize, I will briefly state that I find you have a smelter nearly complete at Vancouver, a good locality; that the machinery is ample, and suitable to run on an oxydized ore, and that with the addition of roasters it will run on a good sulphide ore; that you have a very accessible lead mine at Field, which can produce, with development, large quantities, say 35 to 45 per cent, of lead ore, very low in silver though; that this ore can be treated in your smelter, when mixed with other desirable smelting ore, and roasted; that concentration will eventually have to be considered, but not now; that you can probably obtain suitable ores and fluxes; that you must buy all good smelting ore which is offered for sale in your market, if possible; that $200,000 capital, at least, is necessary to complete your works, open the mine, and run the business; that your 50 ton furnace will probably treat from 30 to 40 tons a day, depending upon the mixture of the ore smelted, and there is no hope of getting any change so that you could run 50 tons daily; that the business is good, legitimate, and will pay a good profit when established on a scale larger than that at present contemplated; that the affair has been simply horribly mismanaged; that the ruling rates of wages in this country are high, common miners receiving from $3 to $3.50 per day; foremen, engineers, and furnacemen about $4. No good American labor can be had for less, and I do not think it advisable to undertake to employ Chinese labor even if it can be done; that you can obtain good management, if desired, and you are willing to pay for it, in this country." Nothing is to be gained by describing the acrimonious discussions which characterized the London meeting, but one or two of the facts brought to light are of interest. The chairman stated that shares to a total of £23,580 had been fully paid up; that an (9) Ibid., September 20, 1889. (10) Ibid., April 2, 1889; and see the further reference, August 14,1889. (11) Ibid., December 17, 1889. (12) Ibid., September 20, 1889. 192 S. S. Fowler. July additional £7,400 had been borrowed from the Bank of British Columbia, and that practically all the total of £30,980 thus made available had been expended. Claude Vautin, in a letter written from the Transvaal, urged that a great effort be made to retain the property. Vautin owned 5,000 preference shares, but seems to have had little to do with the management of the company, which appears to have been fully as bad as Judkins' report stated. Far too little discretion and authority had been given to the local representatives by the London Board, which knew little about conditions in British Columbia, with the result that unsuitable machinery had been purchased and large sums wasted in other ways. In the end it was decided to try and persuade the bank to delay foreclosure, and the meeting adjourned.18 The resumed session held on October 31 proved even more stormy and futile. The London Board again attacked the Vancouver management and the shareholders rebelled and passed a resolution asking the local directors—the Hon. Forbes G. Vernon and Major Wilson— to withdraw their resignations and continue to watch over the company's affairs, but nothing of practical importance was accomplished.14 In December, 1889, the plant in Vancouver was sold at auction by order of the Bank of British Columbia. The purchaser was Thomas Dunn, and the price $39,500.1B The end of the story is recalled by W. C. Ditmars, a member of the old contracting firm of Armstrong & Morrison, as follows:— In 1899, W. H. Armstrong and M. J. Haney, a contractor of Toronto, bought the B.C. Smelting property on Powell Street as a speculation. They tore down the buildings, and I recall that there was a big steel jacketed tank, lined with lead. They took that down too, and we took it to our plant, and sold the lead to a junk man. Armstrong and Haney kept the property for a couple of years or so, and then sold H to P. Burns & Co. There were no buildings on it at the time they sold it.16 The fact that there had been a smelter in Vancouver in 1889 was apparently soon forgotten. Even so long ago as 1904, an (13) Ibid. (14) Ibid., November 19, 20 and 25, 1889. (15) Ibid., December 23, 1889. (16) W. C. Ditmars to J. S. Matthews, City Archivist, Vancouver. 1939 Early Smelters in British Columbia. 193 article in a technical journal which professed to review the history of smelters and smelting in British Columbia contained no reference to the fact that it had ever existed.17 It is only necessary to add that there is no evidence that either the Provincial Treasury or the city ever suffered financially in this lost cause of a smelter at Vancouver. Revelstoke. To what extent, if any, the erection of a smelter at Vancouver may have affected the promotion of like enterprises elsewhere we cannot say. It is apparent, however, that because of the continued activity of prospectors and public interest in their discoveries, the Dominion Government could hot long remain indifferent to the action taken by British Columbia in fostering the mining and smelting industry. It showed its sympathy, not by offering money bonuses, but by means of grants of land to those who might apply for it, under certain conditions. The first to take advantage of the offer was a company headed by Lionel R. C. Boyle, of London and Revelstoke, and known as the Kootenay (British Columbia) Smelting and Trading Syndicate, Limited. It was incorporated in London on February 21, 1889, its declared purpose being the erection of " Smelting Works at Revelstoke or Golden City or other places in the Kootenay District or elsewhere on or near the Canadian Pacific Railway. . . ." The authorized capital was £40,000. In due course the company made application to the Minister of the Interior at Ottawa for a grant of land at Revelstoke, and the Minister referred the matter to the Privy Council for approval in the following terms:— The Minister is of opinion that it is desirable to encourage the erection of such works to aid the development of the Mineral resources of that portion of the Country, which are known to be very valuable, and he therefore recommends that authority be given for the making of a free grant of three hundred and twenty acres of land described hereunder, subject to the rights of any settlers who may be found thereon, to the " Kootenay (B.C.) Smelting and Trading Syndicate " upon the completion thereon of smelting and reduction works of a character suitable for the economical reduction of the low grade ores carrying gold or silver, or both, found within the Railway Belt in British Columbia and the operation of the said works thereafter. 194 S. S. Fowler July This grant was approved by the Governor-General in Council on October 15,1889.18 The site selected for the plant was on the south side of a sharp bend in the left bank of the Columbia River, about three-quarters of a mile west of the Canadian Pacific Railway's station at Revelstoke. Although in later years the site proved an unwise selection because of damage due to encroachment by the river, it was chosen because it favoured the handling of any ore which might be received from the mining areas to the south, with which, at the time, there was no means of communication other than by river steamers. Construction of the smelter proceeded rapidly, and it was nearing completion by the end of 1889. No description of the finished plant is available, but we know that the main smelter building was intended to be " 180 feet by 36 feet, besides assay building and offices, and engine and boiler room 24 x 24 feet."19 The cost of the works was stated to be over $75,000.20 The company was now in a position to claim title to the smelter site from the Dominion Government, and on March 8, 1890, the Governor-General in Council approved a recommendation, based upon a memorandum submitted by the Minister of the Interior, which read in part as follows:— The Minister further states that the Superintendent of the Company has advised that the Company have complied with the terms of the Order in Council of the 15th October last, with the exception of building a few feet of the iron stack, to be placed on the smelting and roasting furnaces, and he states that the Company now desire that the patent for the land described in the Order in Council of the 29th October last be issued in their favor. The Minister recommends that the land in question be conveyed to the Company upon receipt by him of a report from the Superintendent of Mines of the Department of the Interior confirming the report made by the Superintendent of the Company.21 In due course confirmation was secured and letters patent were issued on July 15, 1890. So here was another smelter and one, as the author remembers it in operation, sufficiently well planned and equipped, and under the experienced technical con- US) P.C. No. 2425. An error in description was corrected in a subsequent order, P.C. No. 2501, dated October 29, 1889. (19) Vancouver Daily World, May 28, 1889. (20) Ibid., December 10, 1889. (21) P.C. No. 612. 1939 Early Smelters in British Columbia. 195 trol of Dr. J. Campbell as manager, and Mr. F. Roeser, both from Colorado. Limestone was available locally, iron ore (magnetite) could be had from a short distance west of Kamloops when required; and as for fuel, coke was secured from the United States (though at a price!) and charcoal was made on the premises. Everything essential was in sight except an adequate supply of ore. Some ore reached the plant even before the smelter was completed, the first shipment arriving on Wednesday, November 20, 1889. The following details have a certain historical interest:— The first car of ore . . . was switched to the sampling works on Wednesday. It was unloaded on Thursday and on Friday was put through the crushing process. The time consumed was two,hours and twenty .minutes for fifteen tons of ore, at the rate of about 60 tons in ten hours. Dr. Campbell is well satisfied with the initial trial, but expects the machinery will work more expeditiously after it has been in operation a few days. . . . This ore is from the Fish Creek mine, known as the Dunvegan, of Bain, Boyd & Co., and about 135 tons more will follow this to complete the contract by January lst.22 But 150 tons of ore were far from being sufficient to justify operation of the smelter. Foreseeing this important need, the company had formed a subsidiary in London, the Revelstoke Mining Company, Limited, with the object of acquiring and developing prospects to the status of mines. It made scores of examinations, took a number of options to purchase, and carried out a considerable amount of development; but " it exercised none of the options and found nothing to justify the absurdly high prices asked for prospects in these new camps," where little was yet known of the nature of the ore deposits or their capacity to produce. But even if a supply of ore had become available in the Kootenay Lake or Slocan areas, there was at first no adequate means of transporting it to Revelstoke at reasonable cost. Nelson, on Kootenay Lake, was not connected by rail with Robson, on the Columbia River, until the early summer of 1891, and there was no railway from the Slocan to Nakusp until 1893. In spite of this discouraging outlook, however, several hundred tons of ore had been accumulated from Field, and other sources on the main line of the Canadian Pacific. Roasting of (22) Vancouver Daily World, November 26, 1889. 196 S. S. Fowler. July this was started on April 13, 1891, though there was still insufficient on hand to justify smelting it. The first ore treated was from the Monarch mine, at Field.28 In the meantime, the shareholders of the company were becoming impatient and anxious for favourable news, in consequence of which feeling the London directors ordered smelting to be started, "even if only for a short run."24 The run was accordingly begun on Monday, July 20, 1891, and presumably it continued, with the usual minor interruptions, until all the available ore had been treated. The following account of the blow- ing-in of the smelter taken from the Kootenay Star, may be of interest:— On Monday fires were started in the furnace, and for two days following the firing continued. Then the furnace was closed down, it being heated and tons of bar lead thrown into it, and soon after the ore charcoal, coke, limestone, sand, etc., were shovelled into the caldron of fire. Since that time this shovelling process has been continued day and night. The air from the bellows helped the fierce fire, and on Thursday the first bullion was drawn from the big crucible. The "slag" also flowed freely, and Dr. Campbell was covered with smiles, soot and perspiration, when he told a Star representative with evident satisfaction that there was the first slag drawn from a smelter in British Columbia, an evidence that all was going well. As was stated in the Star last week the ore being treated carries a high percentage of zinc, 15 per cent., more than can be safely counted on to run. Friday was looked upon as the critical time, when if the ores were not going to run freely, they would " freeze " and the fires would be blown out. The ore continued to run, however, and at the time of writing smoke ascended from the smelter stack and nearly a dozen men were kept busy feeding and attending to the furnace. The smelter was thronged with visitors and numerous pieces of bullion and slag were taken away as souvenirs of the first output of the Kootenay Smelter.2^ Just how long the campaign lasted we do not know, but Mr. Roeser, the trusted source of some of our information, tells us that " when all efforts to obtain an ore supply were given up, the whole enterprise was practically abandoned in 1892." The buildings stood derelict, but in reasonably good condition, for some years, but by 1896 erosion of the river-bank was threatening their foundations.26 In 1897 the Revelstoke agents of the (23) Kootenay Star, Revelstoke, April 18, 1891. (24) Private information. (25) Kootenay Star, July 25, 1891. (23) British Columbia Mining Record, May, 1896, p. 37. 1939 Early Smelters in British Columbia. 197 Kootenay (British Columbia) Smelting and Trading Syndicate advertised that, " Owing to the erosion ... the company find it necessary to dispose of their smelting buildings, furnaces, 90 h.p. engine and boiler, and 30 h.p. boiler. The whole will be sold in part or en bloc."27 Just what happened after that date is uncertain, but by 1899 buildings and machinery had both vanished.28 Golden. In the summer of 1889 the author was engaged by a firm of manufacturers in Chicago to take charge of the erection in British Columbia of smelting equipment, already purchased by a syndicate at Calgary, Alberta. Proceeding there, and thence to the site for a smelter which had been selected tentatively near Field, B.C., it was found not only that there was little merit in this choice, but that the only apparent source from which ore could be secured within many miles was the Monarch mine, which has already figured in the story of the smelters at Vancouver and Revelstoke. The syndicate had recently acquired some mineral claims adjoining the Monarch, but they were quite undeveloped. In view of this state of affairs, if the equipment were to be set up at all, little argument was needed to prove that a better place could be found for it. The Field site was abandoned, and formal application was made to the Dominion Government for a land grant at Golden. The applicants stated that they had " already purchased and paid for smelting plant and machinery, including an ore-breaker, crushing-rolls, iron and brick for a roasting furnace, and that the Smelter proposed to be built will have a capacity of forty tons."29 On October 15, 1889, the Governor-General in Council approved the recommendation of the Minister of the Interior that a free grant of 320 acres of land should be made to Messrs. J. L. Bowen, James Alexander Lougheed, Peter McCarthy and H. B. Alexander, styling themselves " The Galena Mining and Smelting Company," upon the erection by them thereon within one year, and the operation thereof within six months thereafter, of Smelting and reduction works of a character suitable for the economical reduction of the low grade (27) Kootenay Mail, Revelstoke, July 24, 1897, and later issues. (28) British Columbia Mining Record, August, 1899, p. 28. (29) P.C. No. 2422, October 15, 1889. 198 S. S. Fowler. July ores carrying gold or silver, or both, found -within the Railway Belt in British Columbia.80 It may be added that J. A. Lougheed (later Senator Lougheed) and Mr. McCarthy were barristers, of Calgary, and that the most active partner of the syndicate was H. B. Alexander. He and his cousin, George Alexander, were Irish capitalists who had interests in Calgary, and later at Kaslo, as well as at Golden. They were also interested in a coffee plantation in Kenya, and were highly respected in the business world. The proposed grant lay south of the Kicking Horse River a short distance east of the town of Golden. The original boundaries proved unsatisfactory, as is shown by the text of an amending Order in Council passed on March 18, 1890:— The Minister [of the Interior] states that ... it has been represented by the Company that the lands forming the proposed grant contain no location suitable for their works which must be situated on one or two benches so that the ore, when dumped from the cars, can be run through the crusher to a level below and then put through the smelter at another level. The Minister further states that on examination of the ground it appears that a suitable site for the works could be obtained on the North side of the Kicking Horse River, opposite lands already reserved for the Company which they are willing to accept in lieu of a similar area to be deducted off the Southern portion of the reserve." The new smelter-site, which consisted of 4.7 acres, was on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway about half a mile east of Golden, close to the mouth of the Kicking Horse Canyon. Construction proceeded as soon as the new site had been secured, and the plant was completed in the early summer of 1891. The terms of the grant having been fulfilled, title of the land was granted to the company by letters patent dated November 17, 1891. One lonesome car-load of ore was received from the Monarch mine and sampled, but no other ore ever reached the Golden smelter. In 1893 it was reported that favourable freight rates on ore had been granted by the Canadian Pacific, and it was expected that the smelter would commence to operate shortly, but nothing came of this.82 In 1896 an English syndicate toyed (30) Ibid. (31) P.C. No. 702. (32) Golden Era, July 8, 1893. 1939 Early Smelters in British Columbia. 199 with the idea of developing the Monarch mine on an extensive scale, but once again Golden's high expectations came to nothing.88 Negotiations for the sale of the smelter were opened in 1898 and again in 1900, but neither deal was completed.84 The plant remained silent and more or less intact until it was finally demolished many years later. In the end it was torn down mostly by hoboes, who tore off boards to make themselves a fire under the smelter roof. In 1920 the machinery was sold for scrap-iron by James Anderson, acting on behalf of the estate of George Alexander, and it is said that bricks from the tall chimney were used in building local chimneys and, fireplaces.86 Though the smelter thus proved to be a total loss, the Alexanders had acquired about half the land comprising the townsite of Golden and recouped a portion of the company's investment by the sale of lots. In later years, however, the demand for lots declined, and about half the land acquired has since reverted to the Government, owing to the non-payment of taxes.36 For the common credit of the early smelters at Revelstoke and Golden, and for the benefit of those who may be interested in the nature of their equipment, it may be added that each plant had one rectangular water-jacketed blast furnace. In size these ranged from 60 to 72 inches in length and were 36 inches in (33) Ibid., May 23, 1896. (34) Ibid., October 28, 1898; October 5, 1900. (35) Some of these details are taken from a letter from Thomas King, M.L.A., of Golden, to M. C. Holmes, dated April 28, 1939. Mr. King adds some particulars regarding the history of the second smelter built at Golden, which is sometimes confused with the earlier plant. This smelter was built in 1903 and was located a mile northwest of Golden, on a small tributary of the Columbia River known as Hospital Creek. The company that built it operated under the name of the " Labourers Cooperative Gold, Silver and Copper Mining Company." They acquired about 20 acres of land surrounding the small plant, subdivided it into town lots, and sold several of them to their shareholders, mostly residing in the United States. The building of this smelter, in the opinion of local mining me selling inducement in connection with a stock pro of 1905 the company operated their smelter for oi remove the molten slag when they let the fires o remained in the receptacles until the machinery w by a gentleman who had bought the property a tax sale. (36) Ibid. noting scheme. In the fall ie evening, but did not even ut, and it solidified and is sold for old iron in 1937, ial Government 200 S. S. Fowler. July width between tuyeres. These sizes were in common and successful use in those days, despite a well-marked tendency toward greater length to secure greater capacity. As to capacity, however, they were sufficient for their purpose; and as to type, nothing better has yet been devised. Concerning roasters, we have indicated that their omission from the Vancouver plant was a fatal error. At Revelstoke and Golden each plant had one old-style, hand-rabbled reverberatory furnace, then and even later good common practice, though slow and expensive, as may be supposed, when compared with modern mechanical equipment. In the Golden roaster a short slagging hearth had been introduced between the fire-box and the lower end of the roast-hearth. The purpose of this probably was agglomeration or sintering of " fines "; but as the furnace was never put to use we have no knowledge of the merit of the scheme. Both plants had made sufficient provision for sampling, and both had ample laboratory facilities in use before the smelters were completed. Both were driven by steam-power, and had service connections with the Canadian Pacific Railway. If these credit marks be granted, as the author believes they should be, it must be evident that these smelters failed through no fault of their own. As the children of ill-conceived enterprise they were foredoomed to death by starvation. Woodbury. The Woodbury smelter, the last and least on our list, has been alluded to as being semi-mythical. The last of its remains, however, may still be found near the mouth of Woodbury Creek, on the west shore of Kootenay Lake, some 3 miles north of Ainsworth. Thus far we have been unable to find its parents and have little information regarding the child itself. In 1909 the late A. D. Wheeler, a pioneer resident of Ainsworth, casually remarked, in a letter referring to the early citizens there, that " in 1889 what was intended as a starter for a smelter was erected at the mouth of Woodbury Creek. A small ten-ton plant using wood for fuel was built. It made a one-day run from ' Early Bird' and ' Reindeer' ore but cracked under the heat and died a quiet death." 1939 Early Smelters in British Columbia. 201 D. F. Strobeck, long a resident in California, arrived in Ainsworth in the winter of 1892-93. In a recent letter he states:— In the spring [of 1893] when I visited Woodbury Creek the remains of the old smelter were simply a wreck and from what I could see, it was constructed after [the manner of] those built by the Padres in Mexico and many still standing in southern Arizona that were built in the latter part of the seventeenth century. The cast-iron moulds at Woodbury that I saw were identical with those I have seen in Mexico and Arizona. We may infer from these descriptions that the body of the furnace was rather small and was built of pieces of a near-by refractory schistose rock, bound together by a weak mortar— weak, since the furnace cracked so soon. As for the moulds, in which the molten lead would be cast, Mr. Strobeck does not indicate that they differed from those used at northern plants; but it is interesting to know that the builders of this early and rather crude furnace expected to produce enough lead to fill them, and if they were unlike our ordinary northern ones curiosity as to where they came from is at once aroused. We suppress it because we must. S. S. Fowler. RlONDEL, B.C. NOTES ON THE "NORMAN MORISON." The January issue of this Quarterly contained an interesting account of the barque Princess Royal. Because of the special esteem in which her memory is held by the good people of Nanaimo, and because she remained in service for more than thirty years, she is the best known of the vessels which sailed back and forth between the Pacific Coast and Great Britain in early days in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. But she is not the only vessel with a story worth recalling, and her history is rivalled in interest by that of her predecessor, the Norman Morison, which sailed on her first voyage to Vancouver Island just ninety years ago. While visiting in London in 1934 I called at the office of Lloyd's Register of Shipping, where the Secretary, Mr. Malcolm K. Scott, very kindly secured for me all the particulars regarding the Norman Morison preserved in the Society's records. Application was next made to Major P. Ashley Cooper, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, who was pleased to arrange for me to have access to the vessel's log-books and other documents relating to her which are on file in the Archives of the Company. The narrative which follows is based upon information secured from these sources and from additional documents in the Provincial Archives in Victoria. The Norman Morison (not Morrison, as the name is often misspelled) was built at Moulmein, Burma, in 1846. Lloyd's Register states that the name of the actual builders is not known. She was rigged as a barque and constructed of teak. Her tonnage was 564 tons. She was 119.5 feet in length, 26.8 feet in breadth, and 20.4 feet in depth. It may assist the reader to realize her modest size if it is pointed out that she was not quite as long as two Pullman cars and no larger than some of the tugs which now tow the railway barges between Vancouver Island and the Mainland. The Morison was purchased by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1848, and the next year was fitted out to carry emigrants to Vancouver Island, which had been formally granted to the Com- 204 A. N. Mouat. July pany for colonization purposes in January, 1849. Both the terms of the grant and its administration by the Company have been the subject of much controversy, and it is to be hoped that the cataloguing of the Company's Archives will make it possible for some scholar to produce an objective and definitive study of the whole episode in the near future. The part of this study that deals with immigration will be of special interest. Very few independent settlers found their way to Vancouver Island, but this was due in part to circumstances beyond the control of the Hudson's Bay Company, and it should not be forgotten that the Company itself brought out several hundred labourers to carry on colonial enterprises of its own in the first years of the Colony's existence.1 Eight men sent out by Captain W. C. Grant, celebrated as Vancouver Island's first independent settler, and ten miners and labourers under contract to the Company travelled out in the Harpooner, which arrived at Victoria in June, 1849; but the first considerable party of immigrants was carried by the Norman Morison on her maiden voyage to the Pacific Coast. The ship's log records that she left Gravesend on October 20, 1849, in command of Captain David D. Wishart, who remained in her as long as she was in the Company's service. She crossed the equator (1) An official return, dated 1852, states that the total number of persons sent out by the Hudson's Bay Company and the Puget Sound Agricultural Company at their own expense, in 1848-1852, was 435, divided as follows:— 271 435 (See A. Colviie to Sir John Pakington, .November 24, 1852, quoted in Papers Relating to Vancouver's Island, London, 1852, p. 2.) The date indicates the time of departure from England. The Harpooner sailed in November, 1848, before the grant of Vancouver Island had been formally completed, and one or two other immigrants, notably the Rev. R. J. Staines and Mrs. Staines, also left that year. 1939 Notes on the "Norman Morison." 205 on November 29, was off Cape Horn on January 11, 1850, and reached Fort Victoria on March 24.2 An old passenger-list in the Provincial Archives, originally amongst the papers of Governor Blanshard, contains fifty-five names, but as no women are included it is obviously incomplete. The correct total, according to Captain Grant and others, appears to have been eighty. Fortunately for the historian, this number included a young physician and surgeon, Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken, one of British Columbia's best-known pioneers. Nearly half a century ago Dr. Helmcken jotted down his recollections of his experiences aboard the vessel which brought him to Vancouver Island, and the result was the following most interesting narrative, here quoted by kind permission of his daughter, Mrs. E. L. Higgins:—8 This ship was the Norman Morrison [sic], Capt. Wishart, Commander, Holland first officer, and I had to board her at Gravesend. Arriving there somewhere about October 1849, I found the emigration commissioners and so forth, inspecting everything, which they pronounced all right and certified accordingly. A good deal of fuss was made about this first voyage to a new Colony and some grandees were on board drinking wine and speaking good wishes &c. &c. They went and the pilot remained on board. I had brought lots of seeds and canaries—flower seeds particularly which I bought in Fen- church Street. Had I grasped the situation I should have taken a larger assortment of these and other articles. The ship sails—eighty emigrants on board—chiefly men, but two or three women and all in the prime of life—no children. Some of the men are living now (1892) such as George Richardson and [Mathais] Rowland. The weather in the Channel was dirty, the wind foul, so we came to anchor in the days [sic for Downs], among a great many other vessels. However after a day or two, the weather being fine we sailed again, beating our way down Channel, in company with a lot of others. Here we very nearly came to grief: An Indiaman with soldiers aboard, on the opposite tack tried to cross our bow instead of our stern! Wishart was a good sailor and so was the pilot—the same may be said of those in the other ship. They both altered their helm, so instead of our being struck amidship, we came together broadside on. There was a smashing of ginger bread, and small spars on both sides. I recollect buttoning up my coat to make a spring, for it would held ii (2) Actually Esquimalt Harbour, where she about a fortnight. (3) Permission to use this extract in the Quarterly Higgins, herself one of Victoria's best-loved native dau days before her death, which occurred on April 13. The direct from the original, in Dr. Helmcken's handwriting. riven by Mrs. i, only a few tive is quoted have been easy to jump into the other vessel, but fortunately both vessels sheered off—sails put to rights and off we went again, not much the worse —neither do I think the other vessel was much the worse either. It was a queer experience, and by no means a pleasant one, for a little more mismanagement, and we at all events would have gone to pot. The Morrison was built of teak and a very strong vessel and by no means a bad sailer— ten knots could be got out of her with a decent breeze. Off the Bay of Biscay we had the usual fate of a beastly gale and weather, for a couple of days and thereafter soon found fine weather and fine climate. Just here one of the immigrants had an eruption of smallpox. On reporting this to the Captain, the sufferer was brought on deck and slung in a hammock forward. Of course this created no little alarm. Some vaccine had been supplied the ship—the old fashion, matter between small plates of glass. This I used at once, but think it was only successful in one instance and this a man—most of them had been vaccinated or had had smallpox. Of course the holds were well ventilated and kept clean; but soon others went down until there were nearly twenty all told. Every one was slung in a hammock on deck—every attention paid them—and every one being in the same- box, helped each other. The Captain had been through the same thing before, so he managed the whole thing. Medicines were but little used—fresh air diet and cleanliness were the means employed. Out of the number only one died, and he had the confluent variety. The number in the ship was about one hundred and twenty, but not more than twenty took the smallpox. By the time the ship neared Cape Horn, the whole epidemic had been wiped out. No more could take it. There was no great scare on board—people did not lose their senses. Fortunately the • weather was splendid and warm, so there was not only no danger but the greatest benefit from slinging them all on deck or under the- topgallant forecastle. The dead man was buried at sea—the Captain reading the funeral At Cape Horn in the winter season! The weather was beastly—foul wind—fearful gales—hailstorms—a few hours only of daylight! Such seas —beastly chopping irregular ones—I had seen the huge rollers off the Cape of Good Hope, but these chopping seas were ten times worse and more dangerous. We ran as far South as we dared, but did not see any ice floating or bergs. Then we ran back again to about where we started from and so for many days, but then the wind changed and the ship was put about. The seas came in opposite direction to that of the wind, so that they seemed as tho they would sweep over us from stem to stern—but the good ship rose to them and then we were in a valley. This went on for some hours and was far less dangerous than if they had come astern—the wind not being strong. We had precious poor grub off Cape Horn—could cook but little. I tell you pea soup and pork were relished there and so was porridge—these being the chief articles of diet, with an occasional hard boiled dumpling. Everything was miserable indeed. Once round the Cape, 1939 Notes on the " Norman Morison." 207 which we did not sight, and into the Pacific, there was soon a very pleasant change and with a fair wind soon ran into warm weather. In the Pacific a schoolmaster who was going out to teach Gaelic to Capt. Grant's settlement at Sooke died of Cancer. He was a very quiet worthy old Highlander, always ailing of course. When dying he gave me his fishing rod, with which he had hoped to catch salmon in the Rivers of Sooke. I kept this rod for years—my boys destroyed it. Poor Dominie—peace be On the voyage the immigra[n]ts complained of their grub, and used to pitch the tinned Soup and Bouillon overboard. The very same that we found so good in the cabin! The Captain used to enquire into all their complaints and pacify the grumblers, but really they had nothing to complain of. Fights among themselves happened occasionally, but the Captain " let them fight it out." Rowland was the chief boxer and our butcher too. Altogether the people were orderly and well behaved, and gave very little trouble. They managed to spend their time somehow or other, but there was but little jollity among them or in the cabin either. I suppose the women did not set dancing and so forth going and I suppose had never been accustomed to anything of the kind or even music. I do not remember anything very remarkable happening between Cape Horn and Cape Flattery— pretty good—too good—weather all the way. Off Flattery and in the straits we had calms for days—washed out of the straits once or twice by calms, so we had a pretty good look at the coasts of the country destined to be my home. Truly they were forbidding altho grand—nothing but mountains on both sides wooded to the top—they appeared weird and gloomy and possibly are the same to this day. Scarcely a foot of level land could any where be seen and we used to ask each other, how can any of this be cultivated; where is it possible to make any farms at all. Doctor you have brought your pigs to a pretty market indeed! Nevertheless it was land and we were glad to see it after five months of water. During these weary months, I had amused myself by making bird cages of strips of bamboo, and other trifles—but it was a monotonous time. Wishart was not a social man —he had been soured somehow or other—but nevertheless he was kind and good to all and a thorough seaman. Books we got tired of, the daily routine had to be gone through, and this was better for all, than having nothing to do like the doctor. All the most of us had to do was to speculate how long it wanted to the bell—for breakfast lunch dinner and supper! Strict discipline was kept on board—Wishart never relaxed this—he was a commander. Holland was not much of a sailor or anything else,—he and the Captain being so different did not get on well together. Wishart took charge of the ship and no matter how bad the weather, he would remain on deck night and day and was always ready at a moment's notice. A paragraph in a further narrative by Dr. Helmcken concludes the story thus:— At length Race Rocks are rounded; two guns fired, the signal of the Hudson's Bay Company ships. After a time the pilot, Captain Sangster, came on board: he had been many a day looking out for the ship from 208 A. N. MOUAT. July Beacon Hill. Of course every one wanted news from the'pilot. " News! " said he. " Why you have the mails and newspapers aboard and the Hudson's Bay people are anxiously awaiting their letters and papers. No there is nothing for any of you—you are the mail boat." He however told us of the great discoveries of gold in California; how they had heard of people rushing there like madmen and how the men at the Factory [Fort Victoria] had become restless. Little did anyone think at the moment that within a very few months many of those on board would take the gold fever, run away, and that three at least, in their endeavour to reach California, would be murdered by Indians. The hazards attending travel by sea in 1850 are well illustrated by the medical report which Dr. Helmcken submitted to Chief Factor James Douglas soon after the Norman Morison reached Esquimalt. Smallpox had appeared on board on September 26, 1849, and late in December claimed the life of the schoolmaster, William Burgess. " At the commencement of October G. Hawkins laboured under Scarlet Fever, which however was not propagated." On January 21, 1850, a Mr. McFar- lane, who " very shortly after his arrival on board shewed symptoms of declining health," died of cancer. No wonder Dr. Helmcken considered " several cases of Mild Fever and two of Rheumatic Fever " to be " minor cases " which it was " unnecessary to dilate upon " !4 Before returning to England the Norman Morison made a coasting trip to Fort Simpson and Sitka. Her passage home appears to have been uneventful. She left Fort Victoria on September 23, 1850, was off Cape Horn on December 12, and reached Gravesend on February 20, 1851. Both her outward and homeward passages thus took almost exactly five months. The sending-out of eighty immigrants to Vancouver Island in the Norman Morison may appear to be a very small scale upon which to found a colony, but to Chief Factor Douglas, the man in charge on the spot, it appeared to be an alarming influx of population which taxed his resources sorely. This much we gather from a paragraph in a letter addressed by Archibald Barclay, Secretary to the Governor and Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company, to Douglas in August, 1850:— The Governor and Committee are anxious on all occasions to select for the Country the best men that they can obtain and they endeavour to adapt (4) J. S. Helmcken to James Douglas, March 28, 1850 (Archives of 1939 Notes on the " Norman Morison." 209 the numbers engaged to the exigencies of the service, bearing in mind that under present circumstances it is better to have too many than too few. You seem to think that the number to be sent out this year should be limited to ten; but in this opinion they do not concur. You will have seen by my letter of the 5th ult. that they have resolved to forward by the ship to sail in September eighty persons—of whom perhaps sixty may be men fit for any kind of labour—and as you will require additional hands for the improvement of the new Road from Fort Langley to the Interior, for the cultivation of the land at Fort Victoria, and probably to supply the place of deserters from the service, that number will it is conceived, not be more than will be wanted. Accommodation will have to be provided for these people—the men and women being lodged in separate apartments, until they are disposed of This question of accommodation had evidently been causing Douglas concern, and a further reference to it in a subsequent letter from Barclay, though amusing reading for us, must have been exasperating to the Chief Factor owing to its complete misunderstanding of the problems involved in the construction of wooden buildings:— With respect to the difficulty of preparing House accommodation for the emigrants on their arrival, I refer you to the following Extract of a letter, dated California, May 30, 1850.—" Wooden houses here are all the go. You would be astonished to see the immense quantities of wooden houses, and what splendid edifices are turned out in wood. You can have a large wooden house put up in a single day; they can build a city of them in a week, and comfortable strong houses too."6 The immigrant ship which sailed outward in 1850 was the Tory, but she departed in November, instead of in September as expected. Moreover, when she arrived at Victoria in June, 1851, she carried not eighty, but no less than 120 passengers, and Governor Blanshard's description of the great difficulty experienced in finding them accommodation is well known. Fortunately—from Douglas's point of view—only some thirty or thirty- five passengers were aboard the Norman Morison when she sailed from Gravesend on her second voyage, in May, 1851. Very little is known about this voyage except the following arrival and departure dates, which are taken from the vessel's log: Left Gravesend, May 28, 1851; crossed the equator, July 5; off Cape Horn, August 17; arrived at Fort Victoria, October 30. On the (5) Archibald Barclay to James Douglas, August 16, 1850 (Archives of B.C.). (6) Ibid., August 30, 1850 (Archives of B.C.). 210 A. N. MoUAT. July return passage she left Victoria on January 21, 1852, was off Cape Horn on March 23, and reached Gravesend on June 12. Much more is known about her third and last voyage to the Pacific Coast, which commenced in August of 1852. For many years prior to my visit to London in 1934 there had been expressed through the press and other channels a desire to secure an authentic list of the settlers carried by the Norman Morison on this third voyage. This list I was able to secure from her log-book, and it is here printed as an appendix to this article. As will be seen, it includes many well-known names, notably Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth McKenzie and Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Skinner. An interesting account of those on board is given in a letter from Archibald Barclay to James Douglas, written the day the vessel was due to sail:— The Cabin Passengers by the Norman Morison are Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth McKenzie and 6 children, Mr. & Mrs. Skinner and 5 children and Mr. Gavin Hamilton Apprentice Clerk. Mr. McKenzie and Mr. Skinner have been engaged as Bailiffs on behalf of the Puget Sound Company and are accompanied by tradesmen and labourers selected by themselves as per the list herewith of which the following is a summary. 5 Carpenters (married) 1 Bricklayer do 2 Blacksmiths do 23 Labourers do 18 Single do 5 Single Women These have among them thirty-six children and form an aggregate of 121 persons in the Steerage. Four of the Single Women are Servants, and the fifth Amy Thomas goes out to be married to a man of the name of Geal. The Intermediate passengers are Mr. & Mrs. Stewart & child. Mr. Robert Weir & 5 children. Mr. & Mrs. Barr. Mr. Stewart and Mr. Weir are Land Stewards engaged by Mr. McKenzie. Mr. Barr is a schoolmaster who it is intended shall be placed on the Colonial Establishment as you will see by his Contract.' A considerable number of Books as per list enclosed herewith has been put on board for the use of the Passengers on the voyage at the termination of which, they are to be added to those sent by the Tory for general use at ritish 1939 Notes on the "Norman Morison." 211 the Fort. A Bible and Prayer Book are forwarded in the Packet Box for the use of the Company's Chaplain for the time being.8 The " tradesmen and labourers " tabulated by Barclay included one Robert Melrose, whose interesting diary, which takes the form of a manuscript Royal Emigrants Almanack, is preserved in the Provincial Archives. The entries made during the voyage include the inevitable references to births and deaths during the long months at sea. In October, 1852, " Jonathan Simpson's child died," and was followed the same month by the infant daughter of James Whyte. A strange juxtaposition of entries occurs in December:— 25. Christmas kept. Grog for all hands. Riot with Mate & Seamen. 26. John Grout an Englishman died, aged 35. 27. do. do. Buried 12 o'clock noon. Funeral service performed. 28. do. do.'s Clothing &c. sold by public auction on board. 31. Grog for all hands. More cheerful is the entry which records that " Mrs. Anderson gave birth to a female child " on August 17, 1852—the day the vessel left Gravesend. On December 5 we read: " Mrs. Anderson's child baptized, after Captain Wishart, & ship Norman Morison." Actually the child was christened Eliza Norman Morison Wishart Anderson. Years later she married a Mr. Lyall, and died in Victoria in August, 1926, a few days before her 74th birthday. A second birth occurred in December, when Robert Melrose noted that " Mrs. Cheeseman gave birth to a female child." Melrose's record of the arrival of the Norman Morison in January, 1853, is interesting, because it gives a graphic impression of the hazards faced in early days by a sailing vessel seeking to enter the Straits:— January 1853. 10. Espied Cape Flattery, and Vancouvers Island. Nearly struck against the rocks evening. 11. Dodging about the mouth of the Sound, with Close reefed Top sails. Nearly struck morning. 12. Wet day. Driven out to sea. Sighted Vancouver Island evening. 13. Strong gale. Driven out to sea again with Close reefed Top- arclay to James Douglas, August 19, 1852 (Archiv< 212 A. N. Mouat. July 15. Fine day. Sailed up the Sound very slow. 16. Cast Anchor in the Royal Bay. Saw the Indians in their canoe's first time. 17. English People went ashore, with Mr. McKenzie, Weir, & Stew art, at Fort Victoria. 19. Scotch do. also do. 21. Norman Morrison came into Harbour. 22. Went up and saw our new abode. To complete the chronicle of the voyage it is only necessary to add that the Norman Morison sailed from Victoria on the return passage on March 8, 1853, but being delayed by grounding she did not pass Race Rocks until the 19th. She was off Cape Horn on May 18, arrived at Gravesend on July 31, and docked at London the next day. Her arrival marked the close of her career in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. Though stoutly built and a well- found ship, her draught was unusually deep—Dr. Helmcken states that it was as much as 18 feet—and this made it necessary for her to discharge part of her cargo at Esquimalt before she could enter Victoria Harbour. It was decided, therefore, to replace her with a new vessel of more convenient design, and her famous successor, the Princess Royal, was constructed at Blackwall in 1853-54. The Norman Morison was put up for sale, and according to the Company's Minute Book, November 14, 1853, and a letter to Chief Factor James Douglas, dated April 21, 1854, she was sold for £6,500 to a Mr. George Bagley. She was afterwards owned by the firm of Teighe & Company, of London, and sailed from London bound for India in 1860. Her story, in so far as it is known to us, ends with a cryptic entry in the records of Lloyd's Register of Shipping which states that she disappeared at sea in 1865-66, while on a voyage from Australia to India. A. N. Mouat. Victoria, B.C. 1939 Notes on the "Norman Morison." appendix. 1. List of passengers on the Norman Morison, 1849-50, a the papers of Governor Blanshard. (Original in the Archives Columbia.) Helmcken, John S. Surgeon. Labourers:— Hunt, Robert Jeal, Herbert Kimber, Edward Leach, Peter Lag, William Martin, Jonathan Millar, George Mills, George Parsons, William Payne, Charles Phillips, John Pearse, Edward Paddock, James Pike, William Pike, Jonas Pike, Caleb Richardson, James Richardson, George Balls, George Beachino, Edmund Burgess, William, DD Crittle, John Cheeseman, Richard Clarke, Robert Edwards, George Field, Thomas Fish, Charles Foot, William Gullion, Charles Gray, Joseph Gillespie, William Hawkins, George Hoare, Edward Hor e, George Hillier, Willia Reid, Robert Ross, William Rickets, Samuel Rowland, Mathais Sampson, Henry Sampson, William Sabiston, John Sinfield, William Smart, George Short, Eli Sims, Walter Wain, Henry Williams, Charles Willoughby, John Wickham, Benjamir Whiffen, Richard Yellop, John Young, William 2. List of passengers on the Norman Morison, 1852-53, a vessel's log, arranged alphabetically. Anderson, Robert, wife and two children Barr, John, and wife Bartleman, Peter, and wife Bell, John Bell, Miss S. Blaikie, John Castleton, Richard, and wife Cheeseman, Richard, and wife Cheeseman, William Crittle, John Cudder, Thomas S. Davey, John, wife, and two children Deans, George, and wife Deans, James Deeks, George, and wife Dervint, John, wife, infant and two children Flewin, Thomas, and wife Graham, John, wife, and infant Grout, John A. N. Mouat. Hamilton, Gavin, Hume, Andrew, wife, and infant Instant, John Liddle, James, wife, and infant Lidgate, Duncan, wife, and three childrei McKenzie, Kenneth, wife, and six childre Melrose, Robert, and wife Montgomery, Joseph, wife, and infant Mullington, William, and wife Page, William Page, William, Junior Parker, John, and wife Porter, James, wife, and two children Reed, Thomas, wife, and one child Russell, Miss Isabella Russell, John, and wife Russell, Thomas Savage, Robert, Junior Savage, Walter, wife, and infant Sewell, James, and wife Shooter, Edward, wife and infant Simpson, Henry, and wife Simpson, John, wife, and two children Skinner, T. J., wife, and five children Stewart, James, wife, and infant Stockand, William Stubbings, Robert Tait, James, and wife Thomas, Miss Amy Thomas, Daniel Trond, Miss Jane Veitch, William, wife, and three children Weir, John Weir, Robert, and five children Weir, William Weston, William White, Miss Heriot White, James, wife, and infant Williams, Edmund, wife, and two childrei Williams, John, Senior, wife, and two chil Williams, John, Junior, and wife Williams, Richard Williams, William Wilson, James, and wife THE DISCOVERY OF HILL'S BAR IN 1858. The rush to the Fraser River in 1858 appears to have been precipitated by the arrival in San Francisco of samples of gold, and letters reporting the discovery of rich placer-workings, from the little party of mining pioneers who found Hill's Bar in the early spring of the year. The last survivor of this historic party, James Moore, died in the Provincial Home, in Kamloops, in 1919. About four months before his death he received a clipping, describing early gold discoveries in British Columbia, from his friend H. L. Harding, of the Treasury Department, Victoria. In reply he wrote Mr. Harding a lengthy letter in which he recalled the circumstances surrounding the discovery of Hill's Bar. This letter was forwarded to the Department of Mines, by whom it was recently transferred to the Provincial Archives. The latter half of the letter, not here printed, consists largely of a tabulation of the gold production of famous claims in the Cariboo. In great part it is simply a paraphrase of certain passages in Bancroft's History of British Columbia. This fact gave rise to a suspicion that the narrative relating to Hill's Bar might also be derived from a printed source, but careful checking has shown that this is not so, and there is no reason to doubt that the portions of the story here presented are both original and accurate. A second letter from James Moore, dated June 6, 1914, and addressed to the late Sir Richard McBride, then Premier of British Columbia, gives a brief account of Moore's life. Amongst other details it gives the exact date of the discovery of Hill's Bar:— We located these claims the 23rd day of March 1858. I remember the date, it being my 26th birthday. Moore was thus born in 1832. A later passage in the letter outlines his career after the events described in the narrative which follows:— My next exploit was with Tom Spence when he got the contract to build the wagon road from Boston Bar to Lytton. I superintended the construction of this road from Lytton to Jackass Mountain. Late in the fall and early in the spring, during the low stage of water in the Fraser, we boated 216 James Moore. July goods from Yale to Lytton through the Canyon of the Fraser, thence by pack train to Cariboo and the Northern mines. This boating lasted until the wagon road from Yale to Lytton was completed. In 1863 I again returned to my hobby of exploration and prospecting with variable success, locating on Cedar Creek, Keithley Creek, the North Fork of Quesnel, Spanish and Black Bear Creeks. In 1874 I struck out for the Cassiar District and remained two years. I again revisited this district in 1907. ... I spent a number of years with the late J. B. Hobson locating hydraulic mining ground in Cariboo and exploring the tributaries of the Quesnel Lake for placer claims. I have spent a part of the last few years prospecting in the Lillooet District for lode mine. In 1914, at the age of 82, failing health compelled him to apply to the Government for aid. He was granted an allowance and for a time lived in Victoria, but in 1916 entered the Provincial Home at Kamloops. He died on December 13, 1919, aged 87. W. K. L. Provincial Home, Kamloops, B.C., Aug. 30, 1919. My Dear Mr. Harding:— In the first place let me thank you for the marked copy of the Victoria Daily Times containing a statement of gold shipped to England from Victoria as early as 1853.1 The lady who gave the Times this statement must be dreaming,2 as there is no account whatever of placer gold being found in (1) The reference is to the article entitled, " Gold shipped from here as early as 1853," in the Victoria Daily Times, August 21, 1919. (2) The lady's name is not given, but her story is quite true. In part it reads as follows:— The occasion she remembers, as she told The Times the other day, was in 1853, when as a small girl visiting on board the vessel [the Norman Morison], she was taken into the captain's cabin, and there shown a keg by [the captain's wife] Mrs. Wishart. It was consigned to the Hudson's Bay Company in London, and directions were given at the time as to secrecy. Apparently the precious cargo did not find a place on the manifest, as no record of it appeared in the ship's papers. The Norman Morison, as we now know from documents in the Archives of the Hudson's Bay Company, carried gold dust and specie valued at over $60,000 when she sailed from Victoria in March of 1853. It is highly improbable, however, that any placer gold from British territory was included in the shipment, as the entire consignment had been sent to Victoria from Fort Vancouver to be forwarded to England. Moreover, practically the whole amount was in currency, and the gold dust included totalled less than 94 ounces. The Discovery of Hill's Bar in 1858. 217 what is now known as British ColumbiaS prior to 1856 and 1857, when Indians on the Thompson River in the vicinity of the Nicomen found nuggets of gold in the crevice of rocks at low water, which they took to Kamloops and offered them for trade to Donald A. McLean for goods in the Hudson's Bay store. McLean, not knowing the value of the mineral offered in barter, sent it to Victoria to Governor Douglas to ascertain its value. The Governor sent word back to McLean to get all he could of this metal as it was gold and take it in trade from the Indians, at the same time sending McLean, the chief trader at Fort Kamloops, iron spoons for the Indians to use as crevicing spoons.* This statement I got from McLean in the early sixties after McLean left the Hudson's Bay Company employ and located on the Bonaparte River at the mouth of Hat Creek. I remember this statement distinctly by McLean, as I at the time was interested in a true statement of the first discovery of gold in what was then known as New Caledonia. ... I wish to make this story as short as possible, and [yet] give a true account from my own knowledge of events which happened in the early days of the Province. As I have already stated, Donald A. McLean's statement of the first gold found to his knowledge by Indians in the years 1856 and 1857 on the Thompson River, this was the gold that caused the great excitement to Fraser River in 1858. In February of this year the Hudson's Bay Company steamer Otter left Victoria for San Francisco. The Purser of the Otter having the gold found on the Thompson River took it to the Mint in San Francisco, and got it coined as a souvenir of the first gold found in the Province. In those early days in San Francisco the only excitement was to belong to the Volunteer Fire Department. One evening a party of us met at No. 3 engine house, and, after speaking of several things, the conversation drifted to gold excitements. The Superintendent of the Mint being present, remarked " Boys the next excitement will be to Fraser River." He then explained the quality of the gold taken to the Mint by the purser of the Otter and stated it was a fine sample of gold. On the strength of this statement we formed a small party to explore and report on the prospect of the Fraser River. So early in March, 1858, a party of about fifteen of us took passage on a steamer to Port Townsend, in the State of Washington, and thence to Victoria before crossing the Gulf to Fraser River in our boats.s When we entered the Fraser I shall never forget my first view of this magnificent river—the snow capped grandeur of the mountains which held it in place—the thickly timbered valley through which it swept (3) The Mainland of British Columbia is meant. (4) A variant of this story, attributed to Roderick Finlayson, is given in Bancroft's History of British Columbia, pp. 348-9, which, as noted above, Moore had evidently read. (5) This agrees with the facts as related by Judge Howay (British Columbia, Vancouver, 1914, II., p. 14). The shipment sent by the Otter consisted of 800 ounces of gold, probably worth about $15,000. Oddly enough, i record of the arrival of the Otter can be found in the San Francisco new papers on file in the Provincial Archives. 218 James Moore. July was awe inspiring. The population of the mainland at this time was made up of Indians and Hudson's Bay traders. Our first camp on the river was at Fort Langley, and two days later we camped at Fort Hope. The trader at this fort was Donald Walker, who a short time ago died at Kamloops. Needless to say he was greatly excited at our arrival at Hope, and could not answer our simple questions regarding the country ahead of us. He told us later when we were better acquainted he thought we came to take the Fort as he had a lot of furs ready to ship to Victoria, while our object was to explore and prospect for gold and other mineral in this extensive country. I remember Walker saying we were the first party of white men he had seen in the country with the exception of the Hudson's Bay people for. years. It was only a short time however before he saw thousands of white men pass his Fort, as it was estimated that at least 20,000 men were camped at Yale at one time during high water in 1858. After leaving Fort Hope and the excited Hudson's Bay man, we camped for lunch on a bar about ten miles from Hope to cook lunch, and while doing so one of our party noticed particles of gold in the moss that was growing on the rocks. He got a pan and washed a pan of this moss and got a good prospect, and after our gastric wants were satisfied we all prospected the bar and found it a rich bar in gold. With our crude mode of working with rockers we made on an average fifty dollars per day to the man. We named this bar in honor to the man that washed the first pan of moss, Hill's Bar. Some years ago I met the last owner of Hill's Bar, a Mr. Ladd, who estimated that approximately $2,000,000 had been recovered from the time the first pan of moss had been washed until the bar was worked out. This was practically the commencement of mining on this the pioneer bar of this the greatest Province of the Dominion of Canada. As our outfit consisted [of] only a prospecting outfit we sent a few of our party down the river to Fort Langley to try and get supplies from the Hudson's Bay Company store at Langley. At this time the Hudson's Bay Company stores were not well supplied with groceries and our party returned with a very limited supply. However while at Langley they related our discovery on Hill's Bar. This news soon spread to the other side of the line where saw-mills were in operation on Puget Sound. In the meantime the whole tribe of Yale Indians moved down from Yale and camped on the bar, about three hundred men, women and children, and they also commenced to wash for gold. In a few weeks later we noticed a boat coming up the river loaded. We thought sure we would then have supplies. We found when the boat landed its whole cargo consisted of nothing but liquor, not a pound of provisions for sale. The owner, Taylor, soon found the Indians all had gold dust. He then opened his cargo and commenced to sell to the Indians his liquor at five dollars per bottle, taking his pay in gold dust. The Indians not knowing its value allowed Taylor to help himself, which he did. So long as the Indians got the liquor they did not object to Taylor helping himself to their gold dust. We held a meeting that evening and decided to purchase all the liquor Taylor had, but Taylor refused to sell wholesale. That night the Indians all got drunk and howled all night on the bar. At this time we had no The Discovery of Hill's I j in 1858. 219 houses to live in, nothing but tents, so next morning we held another meeting and appointed Harry Garrison as our leader, [as we were] determined to put an end to this drunken brawl. We marched down to Taylor's camp and confiscated the whole contents of his cargo of liquor, got axes and smashed in the heads of each keg of liquor and dumped the contents on the bar, and gave Taylor twenty minutes to strike his camp and leave, which he did in less than the time alloted. This was the first prohibition act put into force without delay in British Columbia and without a Findley.6 Up to this time we had no trouble with the Indians. We got along peaceably. One of the Indians, known as White Cap, got to be rather cross when he found Taylor's liquor all dumped on the bar. When working we allowed the Indians to use our picks and shovels when we were not using them ourselves. One day Mr. White Cap, using a pick belonging to one of our party, would not give it up when requested. The owner of the pick tried to make the Indian believe that turn about was fair play, but Mr. White Cap could not see it, so the owner of the pick got angry and picked up a shovel and broke the handle on the Indian's head. This of course precipitated a row in camp, the Indians congregating by themselves and the little party of Whites in their camp all ready for the worst that might happen. The Chief of the tribe got on a stump to make a speech to his braves. While doing so a barge of the sloop-of-war Satellite hove in sight with Governor Douglas, the Captain of the Satellite, and a dozen blue jackets on board.'' When they landed on the bar we fired a salute in their honor. We then stated our trouble to the Governor and when hearing the other side of the story took the Indians back to Yale and pacified them by giving them a blowout of hard tack and molasses. This ended our trouble with the Indians. Our (6) Walter C. Findlay, appointed Prohibition Commissioner for British Columbia in 1917. (7) " From Fort Langley we pursued our upward journey, in canoes manned chiefly by native Indians, and accompanied by Captain Prevost in his gig, manned with six of the Satellite's seamen." (Douglas to Lord Stanley, June 10, 1858.) Douglas's diary shows that he arrived at Hill's Bar on May 31. (Private Papers, First Series, p. 62.) A week before, when at Fort Langley, he had noted: " Letters from Walker, Fort Hope report that Indians are getting plenty of gold and trade with the Americans. . . . Miners working 2 miles below Fort Yale who are making on an average one and a half ounces a day each man. The place is named Hill's bar and employs 80 Indians and 30 whitemen." (Ibid., p. 58.) In a second dispatch to Lord Stanley, dated June 15, he wrote: " On the arrival of our party at ' Hill's Bar,' the white miners were in a state of great alarm on account of a serious affray which had just occurred with the native Indians, who mustered under arms in a tumultuous manner, and threatened to make a clean sweep of the whole body of miners assembled there. The quarrel arose out of a series of provocations on both sides, and from the jealousy of the savages, who naturally feel annoyed at the large quantities of gold taken from their country by the white miners." 220 James Moore. next visitor was Billy Ballou, an old California expressman, who started the pioneer express of British Columbia, charging one dollar each way for letters and one dollar for papers. Of course we all sent letters and [a] sample of gold to our friends in the outside world. When these letters and gold dust reached California, [they] helped to cause the great Fraser River Stampede of 1858. Merchants and others sold valuable property on Montgomery and Kerney Streets in San Francisco for a song so anxious were they to get to Fraser River, where some of those merchants located in Victoria and helped with their capital and energy to make British Columbia what it is today, the greatest Province in the Dominion of .Canada. On Governor Douglas' second trip to Hill's Bar he appointed George Perrier the first Justice of the Peace on Hill's Bar, and law and order became an established fact. So we the Pioneers of the rush into the Fraser River and Thompson Valleys—a rush that swept on until it reached the treasure vaults of Williams Creek and Lightning Creeks in Cariboo. It is not necessary for me to relate here all the incidents that occurred shortly after our discovery on Hill's Bar, as I do not wish to draw out this article to a tedious length, although some interesting stories could be told of Judge Ned McGowan and others which occurred at the time. As I was of a roving disposition in my younger days I could not remain long in pasture new. I sold my interest on Hill's Bar and joined a party of four others. We bought a boat and six months provisions. We left Yale on the 17th December, 1858, to ascend the Fraser River on an exploring and prospecting trip. This gave us a good insight into the winters of British Columbia. After making several ice portages we finally reached Lytton the 26th January, 1859, in the best of health and spirits and none the worse for our trip. We remained in the vicinity of Lytton until the spring advanced. The weather getting finer we broke camp, some of our party going up the river with the boat prospecting the bars, while myself joined a party going inland. We got horses to pack our food. We crossed the Thompson River and struck inland to Fort Alexander, thence to Beaver Lake, up the Beaver Lake Valley to Horsefly, where we remained the balance of 1859. James Moore, NOTES AND COMMENTS. The Centenary op the Pacific Station : 1837-1937. It is to be regretted that so notable an anniversary as the centenary of the Pacific Station was permitted to pass without adequate notice, and even at this belated date it seems worth while to recall, in brief outline, the circumstances which led to its establishment. We must first go back to the period when white-winged line-of-battle ships, frigates, corvettes, and sloops-of-war first made Valparaiso their base, in the course of their duty of protecting British traders on the Pacific coast of South and Central America. So long as the Spanish Crown, represented by its Viceroys and naval squadrons, continued officially to keep the door shut to all foreign trade the non-Spanish traders could not establish themselves ashore in Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, or New Spain. The casting-off of the Spanish yoke was only achieved through years of rebellion, which began in 1818, when Admiral Lord Cochrane led the infant Chilian Navy in revolt against the Spanish squadron. There followed a succession of periods of revolt, first against the Spanish power and later in the form of local wars and civil wars. On March 28, 1822, H.M. frigate Conway, Captain Basil Hall, anchored at San Bias. In his autobiography Captain Hall tells of the state of transition in New Spain from the rule of Spain to that of the Mexican Federal Republic, which was proclaimed on October 4, 1823. At once a horde of trading vessels from many countries appeared on the coast, carrying the long desired trade goods, for the coming into being of the Mexican Republic caused the coast blockade to be lifted from the south to as far north as the Presidio, on the Bay of San Francisco. Spain did not, however, recognize the independence of Mexico until 1836. Further changes followed in rapid succession. The official name of Yerba Buena, on the Bay of San Francisco, was changed on January 30, 1847, to San Francisco; the flag of Royal Spain had been succeeded by that of the Republic of Mexico in 1835, and this, in turn, was replaced by the Stars and Stripes on July 9, 1846. The news of the discovery of gold in the mountains of California reached the town in January, 1848, and the huge influx of adventurers began in June of the same year. Meanwhile events of great importance were taking place farther north. The first permanent trade depot and ocean port on the Northwest Coast came into being in 1825, when Dr. McLoughlin, of the Hudson's Bay Company, established Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia River. Other posts were built by the Company in the next few years at strategic points, all the way from the Columbia to Alaska. Quite as important, the first American settlers crossed the mountains and entered the Oregon country in 1842, and mostly located on the south bank of the Columbia River. 222 Notes and Comments. July British interests in the Pacific grew rapidly as a result of these developments, and this fact was soon reflected in a corresponding expansion of the activity of the Royal Navy in the Pacific area. The old South American Station disappears from the Navy List and its place is taken by a " Pacific Station," upon the appointment to this new command of Rear-Admiral Charles Bayne Hodgson Ross on September 4, 1837. Ross, who flew his flag in the sailing frigate President, had had a long and interesting career, in the course of which he had conveyed Napoleon to St. Helena in H.M.S. Northumberland. The first military reconnaissance of the Oregon Territory and the mouth of the Columbia was made in the summer of 1845 by Lieutenants M. Vavasour, of the Royal Engineers, and H. J. Warre, of Infantry. They had been sent out from Montreal by Lieutenant-General Sir R. D. Jackson. While the Army was approaching overland the Navy, represented by Commander Baillie in H.M. corvette Modeste, was sent north to the Columbia River by Rear-Admiral R. Thomas. At that time the Commander-in-Chief flew his flag in the frigate Dublin, in South American waters. Commander Baillie reached Fort Vancouver in July, 1844, and proceeded to the Straits of Juan de Fuca early in August to make contact with the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company. In the autumn of 1844, Rear-Admiral G. F. Seymour relieved Rear-Admiral Thomas, and the new flagship was the 80-gun ship Collingwood, under Captain R. Smart. In 1845, Captain the Hon. J. Gordon took H.M. frigate America from Mexico to Puget Sound and sent two officers overland, via Nisqually, to Fort Vancouver to report further on the Oregon problem. In 1846, Captain J. A. Duntze, in the frigate Fisgard, was sent by Rear-Admiral Seymour, then at Callao, to carry on the work of the America in affording protection to the British settlers. The Fisgard used Port Discovery, as Esquimalt and Victoria harbours had not been then surveyed, but her boats took her officers to visit the Hudson's Bay officers at Fort Victoria. In this year a hydrographic survey vessel, H.M. brig Pandora, Lieutenant James Wood, came north and started charting Esquimalt and Victoria harbours during the summer. It should be remembered that when Captain Vancouver in 1792 entered the Straits he only made a running survey of the mainland, and ignored the south and east coast of Vancouver Island. The charts of Lieutenant Wood were dated 1848 and were published in London in the same year, but the first sheets were probably not received by ships on the Station until 1849. The third annual frigate to go north to Vancouver Island was H.M.S. Constance, under Captain G. W. C. Courtenay, sent by Rear-Admiral Phipps Hornby to investigate any cases of aggression reported by the Hudson's Bay Company's officers. Captain Courtenay was the first Captain to take his ship into Esquimalt harbour and drop anchor in the thick forest-clad basin, with nothing to mark the entrance from seaward. Owing to the strong tides inside Cape Flattery and up Puget Sound, H.M. steam vessel Cormorant, Commander George Thomas Gordon, was in these waters as a special service vessel, towing and tender duty, during the summers of 1846, 1847, and 1848. 1939 Notes and Comments. 223 Shortly after the establishment of Fort Vancouver, the Hudson's Bay Company commenced sending a ship out from London annually to bring out supplies and trade goods, while on the return trip furs, etc., were taken. When officials of the Government, officers, artists, clergy, scientists, etc., came overland they had to be lodged and fed by the Company, and this held good when they returned to Europe by sea. A fixed set of charges was laid down for all the requirements of such strangers. The annual fur ship was soon changed from Fort Vancouver to Fort Victoria, which for many years could only be entered with difficulty owing to a reef at the entrance which required a high tide to get over, there being ample water inside by the Fort. The year 1850 was important for Vancouver Island, as Richard Blanshard read himself in as the first Governor at Fort Victoria on March 11, and later Rear-Admiral Fairfax Moresby came up to Esquimalt to consult with the Governor. Both Governor Blanshard and Admiral Moresby were the first of their rank to enter what are now British Columbian waters, and they came to develop and protect British interests. F. V, Longstapf. A Further Note on Captain St. Paul. Readers who recall the biographical sketch of Jean Baptiste Lolo, also known as St. Paul, which appeared in the April issue of the Quarterly, will remember that the place of his birth was stated to be unknown. Since the article was printed, its author, Mr. George D. Brown, Jr., of Kamloops, has had an opportunity to question an old Indian who knew St. Paul, and has communicated the result in a most interesting letter which reads in part as follows:— " On Sunday, April 16th, 1939, Mr. R. W. Amess and the writer walked over to the Kamloops Indian Reservation village, on the east side of the North Thompson, about half-a-mile west of Mount St. Paul and the North Thompson highway. We showed several Indians the photograph of St. Paul. Johnny Xavier, whom I have known for many years, official interpreter of the Kamloops Indian Band, acted as interpreter, and called over an old Indian named Felix Auxime, who claims to be 90 years of age. Felix remembers when the Hudson's Bay Fort was on the North Kamloops site opposite the Indian village, prior to 1863. He certainly is very old, but is active physically and mentally. " Speaking in the Indian language, it was interpreted to me that he, Felix Auxime, knew St. Paul and he also volunteered the information St. Paul died from a ' bad knee.' We know from Lieut. Mayne's Four Years in British Columbia, that St. Paul was suffering from his knee in May, 1859. " Felix's father worked for the Hudson's Bay Company, and Felix himself in his younger days was a noted trapper, also a cowboy, and worked for W. J. Roper at Cherry Creek. The Indians apparently congregate in the Kamloops village in winter, and now go farther afield to farm in the better weather. The story Felix told was interpreted by Johnny Xavier, and went as follows: Somewhere on the Prairie, the Hudson's Bay white men Notes and Comments. July (Frenchmen) were crossing the country by horseback and in the distance saw something they thought to be a dog or animal, in the grass. On approaching, they found a small boy, all alone, unable to speak French, and the travellers unable to speak his Indian language. They put him in a bag or basket, and covered him up, with just his head sticking out. He must have been very young, if he was unable to ride himself. Perhaps his people had been killed? The Hudson's Bay men brought him to Kamloops, where they raised him, and he learned the French language. Felix told us Lolo St. Paul did not speak the Kamloops Indian language like the natives, but with a different accent." As we know that St. Paul was born in 1798, and there were no " Hudson's Bay men " at Kamloops until after the amalgamation with the North West Company in 1821, presumably the boy was found by men belonging to the North West Company and not the Hudson's Bay Company; but apart from this detail the story may well be accurate. Contributors to this Issue. R. P. Bishop joined the Royal Navy in 1902, and travelled from Plymouth to Vancouver Island by way of the Strait of Magellan. In 1907 he resigned to become a British Columbia land surveyor. After identifying part of Sir Alexander Mackenzie's route to the Pacific Ocean he became interested in the early history of the North American continent. He is the author of Mackenzie's Rock, and has contributed articles and reviews to the Geographical Journal. Samuel S. Fowler, E.M., A.B., of Riondel, came to British Columbia in 1889 and has held various executive positions in Kootenay mining companies, including the well-known Bluebell property. A. N. Mouat, after serving many years in the Hudson's Bay Company, was appointed city comptroller in Edmonton. He came to Victoria in 1917, joined the Provincial Civil Service, and eventually became the first comptroller-general of British Columbia, which office he filled until his retirement in 1929. He is a veteran of the Riel Rebellion. British Columbia Historical Association. Victoria Section. A general meeting of the Section was held in the Provincial Library on Friday, May 19, when about seventy-five members and friends enjoyed a most interesting lecture by Dr. T. A. Rickard, well-known mining engineer and Past President of the Section. His address was entitled Drake's Plate of Brass, a topic which proved to be a fascinating one, related in the speaker's usual finished style. Dr. Rickard, who had recently personally examined the plate, told its history, outlining the facts surrounding the discovery in California in 1936 of this relic—" one of the world's long-lost historical treasures "—which Drake affixed to a post in 1679. This was done during his voyage round the world in the Golden Hinde, when he claimed the country, which he called New Albion, for Queen Elizabeth. The plate was found half buried beside the 1939 Notes and Comments. 225 road near San Rafael and corresponds to descriptions found in contemporary narratives of Drake's voyage. The speaker told how the plate had been discovered first of all in 1933 near Drake's Bay, and carried across the peninsula " above all people by a member of the Historical Society of California, who thought it was a piece of scrap-iron, and threw it away without even examining it." Dr. Rickard pointed out the moral to all those interested in historical records to inquire into anything that might prove of interest. As he remarked, " those who seek, usually find." The President, Mr. John Goldie, tendered the thanks of the Section to Dr. Rickard, and also stressed the necessity of preserving all relics of the past, and places of historical interest. [MURIEL R. Cree, Secretary.] New Westminster and Fraser Valley Section. The first meeting of this Section was held on April 4, in the City Hall Chambers, New Westminster. There was a large attendance of members, who much enjoyed Judge F. W. Howay's able address on Ramblings through British Columbia. A second meeting, which was also well attended, was held on May 16. Upon this occasion the guest speaker, Dr. Robie L. Reid, chose as his subject Early Days at Fort Langley. [E. M. Cotton, Secretary.] Fraser Canyon Historical Association. The first quarterly meeting of 1938 was held at Choate Lodge, kindly lent for the occasion by Mr. and Mrs. Hodson, on January 19. More than twenty members were present. The speaker of the evening was Mrs. W. Starrett, of Hope, who gave some interesting reminiscences of several pioneers of Hope, all of whom were known to herself in the early eighties. After reading her paper, which was entitled Some Memories, Mrs. Starrett exhibited and explained a number of unusual historical and Indian relics belonging to her own private collection. In the course of the evening interesting discussions took place regarding the meaning of a number of local geographical place-names. The second quarterly meeting was held in the Municipal Hall, Hope, on June 13, when sixteen members were present. Mr. Norman Hacking, of Vancouver, the guest speaker of the evening, chose for his topic Steamboat round the Bend. After Mr. Hacking's informative paper, members of the association were asked to relate reminiscences of steamboat travel on the Fraser River and many amusing incidents were narrated. At the annual meeting, which was held at Yale on July 4, the following officers were elected for the year 1938-39: President, T. L. Thacker; Vice-Presidents, C. E. Barry and Rev. A. F. Sheward; Secretary-Treasurer, G. J. MacKey; and Editor, Rev. H. H. K. Greene. The main feature of the meeting was the reading by Mr. Sheward of Rev. A. R. Lett's paper on St George's Residential Indian School at Lytton and his own story of the Development of St. Bartholomew's Hospital at Lytton. The last quarterly meeting of 1938 took place at Flood on October 26, upon which occasion twenty-six members attended. Among those who contributed to the programme were the Secretary, G. J. MacKey, who read extracts from Mr. Charles Clowes' manuscript 226 Notes and Comments. entitled Old Trails and Gold Trails of British Columbia. Interesting and informative discussions concerning local place-names brought the meeting to The Society's collection of photographs, papers, and clippings is gradually being indexed and appropriately cared for. Since the last report of this Society, more than a year ago, the original Hope sun-dial, presented by the Royal Engineers in 1860, has been placed in the charge of Dr. W. K. Lamb, at the Provincial Archives, Victoria, and a replica secured which will be erected at Hope. In March the Society suffered the loss by death of a valued member, Mr. G. J. MacKey, who had taken over the duties of Secretary-Treasurer in July, 1938. No successor to Mr. MacKey has as yet been appointed. [T. L. Thacker, President.] BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Organized October 31st, 1922. PATRON. His Honour Eric W. Hamber, Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. OFFICERS, 1938-39. Hon. G. M. Weir - Honorary President. J. S. Plaskett President. T. A. Rickard 1st Vice-President. Kenneth A. Waites - - - - 2nd Vice-President. E. W. MCMULLEN - Honorary Treasurer. Muriel R. Cree ----- Honorary Secretary. ROBIE L. REID ----- Archivist MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. F. W. Howay J. M. Coady H. T. Nation J. C. Goodfellow B. A. McKelvie John Goldie (Victoria Section). J. R. V. Dunlop (Vancouver Section). OBJECTS. To encourage historical research and stimulate public interest in history; to promote the preservation and marking of historic sites, buildings, relics, natural features, and other objects and places of historical interest, and to publish historical sketches, studies, and documents. MEMBERSHIP. Ordinary members pay a fee of $2 annually in advance. The fiscal year commences on the first day of October. All members in good standing receive the British Columbia Historical Quarterly without further charge. All correspondence and fees should be addressed in care of the Secretary, Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. THE BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY OCTOBER, 1939 BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Published by the Archives of British Columbia in co-operation with the British Columbia Historical Association. EDITOR. W. Kaye Lamb. ADVISORY BOARD. J. C. Goodfellow, Princeton. F. W. Howay, New Westminsi Robie L. Reid, Vancouver. T. A. Rickard, Victoria W. N. Sage, Vancouver. Editorial communications should be addressed to the Editor, Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. Subscriptions should be sent to the Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. Price, 50c. the copy, or $2 the year. Members of the British Columbia Historical Association in good standing receive the Quarterly without further charge. Neither the Provincial Archives nor the British Columbia Historical Association assumes any responsibility for statements made by contributors to the magazine. We BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Victoria, B.C., October, 1 oneer Flying By Frank H. Ellis. \ish Columbia, 1910-1914. The Evolution of the Boundaries of British Columbia. < By Willard E. Ireland Sir James Goes Abroad. By W. Kaye Lamb Notes and Comments : Contributors to this Issue. Historic Sites and Monuments British Columbia Historical Association Okanagan Historical Society Similkameen Historical Association Thompson Valley Museum and Historical Association The Northwest Bookshelf: Morton: A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71. By W. N. Sage PIONEER FLYING IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. 1910-1914. It is generally understood in flying circles that when reference is made to the " pioneer period " of aviation the phrase refers to the years prior to the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. To most people the events of those years still seem relatively recent; but it is becoming more and more difficult to secure first-hand accounts of the happenings of the time, and efforts are being made in several countries to compile a history of early flying before it is too late. In England a splendid exhibit has been assembled in the .Science Museum, at South Kensington. In the United States National Museum, better known as the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, a very comprehensive collection of the nation's pioneer flying relics is on display, and another collection of rare photographs and data relating to early aviation is in process of formation at the Edison Institute, at Dearborn, Michigan. Canada, too, has an exhibit pertaining to early Canadian aviation, which may be seen in the National Museum, Ottawa; but the data are woefully incomplete. The notes which follow have been compiled in an effort to add to such records and, incidentally, to write as complete an account as possible of early flying in British Columbia. For it is only fitting that the names and . exploits of the staunch band of men and women who flew the fragile, unstable " flying machines " of early days should receive due recognition before time completely obliterates the little information which yet remains of many of them and their endeavours. Although the first flight of a powered heavier-than-air machine was made in 1903, when the Wright brothers made their first successful flights at Kitty Hawk, in December, the conquest of the air progressed very slowly for several years. The first flight by an aeroplane within the Dominion of Canada did not take place until February 23, 1909. On that day the pioneer Canadian airman, John Douglas McCurdy, lifted his power- driven Silver Dart off the ice of Baddeck Bay, Nova Scotia, 227 Frank H. Ellis. October making a flight of about half a mile at a height of some 30 feet. It was only a year later that the first " flying machine " spread its wings and soared aloft in British Columbia. That historic event took place on Friday, March 25,1910, the flight being made from the old Minoru Race-track, now known as Brighouse, on Lulu Island, at the mouth of the Fraser River.1 The pilot was Charles K. Hamilton, then a well-known flier. His Curtiss pusher-type biplane was shipped to Vancouver from Seattle, where, only a week before, he had crashed into a small lake, damaging his machine, but not his nerve, although he had been rendered unconscious by the impact. Some 3,500 people were on hand to see that first flight in British Columbia. After taking off and being in the air about ten minutes, Hamilton landed safely, but had the misfortune to rip off a tire in the process. The report of the flight in the Vancouver Province stated that " There was no engine trouble, but a sudden landing was made."2 No doubt the landing was only sudden in the opinion of the reporter, as it is probable that he had not witnessed an aeroplane flight before. Hamilton made a second flight the same day. Upon this occasion he climbed steadily away from the grounds, and then, when a considerable distance separated him from the track, circled gracefully back towards the grandstand and flew directly over the judges' box. He then rose once more and again circled (1) It must be understood, of course, that this article deals only with flights by heavier-than-air machines. There had been many balloon ascents in British Columbia before 1910, and at least one lighter-than-air machine equipped with an engine had flown in the Province. The airship in question made three short flights in Victoria, during the annual exhibition, on September 22, 23, and 24, 1909. It was described as follows: "The big bag [of Japanese silk] is 56 feet long by 14 feet, and holds 6,000 cubic feet of gas. The weight of the airship is 85 pounds. The motor, set in the light frame, on which the aeronaut sits astride, has fifteen horse power, and swirls the propellor of fans of taut silk on frames about two feet in diameter, which pull the airship through the air at a speed of about twenty miles an hour." The pilot was an experienced balloonist, J. C. Mars, who, according to an account printed at the time, " controlled his flimsy craft with an ease and ability which indicated to doubting Thomases that aerial navigation has come to stay." (Victoria Colonist, September 21, 22, 1909.) Mr. Mars in still living and now resides in New York City. (2) Vancouver Province, March 26, 1910. ■ 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 229 the track. In an attempt at speed comparisons an automobile was started to race the aviator; but, as Hamilton was unaware of the fact, he followed a wide circle far beyond the track, and no comparison was possible. At the completion of the flight he made a fine landing; and, according to the newspapers, every one who witnessed his flights was completely satisfied. The Province published a very good photograph showing Hamilton flying past the grandstand at 55 miles per hour, and the caption—" Hamilton's Aerial Clipper "—shows that his plane antedated the present-day Clippers in name, if not in airworthiness, by almost thirty years! Hamilton's visit took place during Easter week-end, and further flights were made on the Saturday. His first flight this day (March 26, 1910) was announced as a test flight, and after taking off, he circled the track twice at a low altitude and then landed. He was in the air but five minutes. During his second flight, which was described as a speed race against a motor-car, Hamilton once again made much wider circles than the size of the track, and in consequence of this the biplane was beaten by the automobile. He then flew away to the west, rising to a height of 400 feet. Returning at a much greater height, he passed the grandstand at a " terrific " speed, and then came down and made a perfect landing. His third flight was the outstanding one, not only of the day, but of all the flights made during his visit. After taking off from the racecourse, he followed the North Arm of the Fraser River for about 20 miles, going as far as New Westminster, and making the first cross-country flight in British Columbia—a risky piece of flying for that early date. He was completely out of sight of the watchers on Lulu Island for over ten minutes, and upon his return to the racecourse spectators crowded about, asking questions. The report in the Province continues as follows:— Everyone crowded about him, asking where he had been. " New Westminster," came the reply. Mr. Hamilton was shaking with cold, and was immediately supplied with a stimulant. Between the chattering of his teeth he told a curious knot of spectators how he had followed the winding course of the north arm of the river, amounting to 2500 feet; and then finding the temperature too chilly, he descended to a lower altitude, which he maintained until reaching New Westminster where he sank to within nearly 100 230 Frank H. Ellis. October feet of the ground. His arrival there caused considerable interest, the street cars stopping, while the occupants watched his evolutions. Turning just west of the bridge he began his homeward flight . . . His speed averaged about forty miles per hour, but during the course of his flight, he must at times have attained a rate of 50 miles an hour.3 Easter Monday dawned with a strong westerly wind blowing, and it was very cold. In spite of these conditions Hamilton was not grounded, as many a less able airman would certainly have been, and he stayed aloft fifteen minutes during his first flight of the day, making several circuits of the track at different heights before landing. The highlight of his next flight was a mile contest against a racehorse, probably a unique event in the annals of aviation. The name of the horse was Prince Brutus, but unfortunately the name of the jockey appears to have passed into oblivion. The biplane conceded three-eighths of a mile to the horse, and the handicap proved too much for the aeroplane, for Prince Brutus and his rider made the five-eighths in the fine time of 1.7 against the 1.17 of the biplane for the mile. The latter was speedily overtaking the horse as he passed the post. Horse beats aircraft in mile race! Surely that is worthy of the attention of Mr. Ripley, of Believe It or Not fame. At the conclusion of one of his flights that day, the airman went up to a considerable height, and then from several hundred feet dove very steeply, with his engine throttled down, making a very fine landing in the centre of the grounds without again resorting to the use of power—ample evidence that he was a master airman.4 This was all the more remarkable when one realizes that he had taught himself to fly. This he did at Venice, California, in a Curtiss plane purchased directly from the makers. His Aero Club of America pilot's certificate carried the low number of 12, showing him to be a true pioneer airman. During his stay in Vancouver Hamilton expressed the opinion that Lulu Island and surroundings were ideal areas for flying, (3) Ibid., March 28, 1910. Hamilton made it clear that this was not in any way a record flight. Cross-country flying was a craze of the day, and in June, 1910, three months after his visit to British Columbia, Hamilton himself flew from New York to Philadelphia and return, a total distance of 172 miles, in one day. See A. F. Zahm, Aerial Navigation, New York, 1911, p. 313. (4) Ibid., March 30, 1910. 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 231 and stated that he hoped to return some day to fly again for Vancouver people. This wish was never fulfilled. After his visit to British Columbia he travelled to the Eastern United States, and before his early death gained great renown as one of America's leading airmen. Unlike many of the " Early Birds " he did not lose his life in an aeroplane crash. He was of slight build, and his physique gave way under the rigours of flying in all weathers in an open-type machine. He died of pneumonia some time during the winter of 1911-12. An item which appeared in a Vancouver newspaper about three months after Hamilton's visit is worthy of mention, for it shows that the important part that air communication might play in the development of British Columbia was recognized even as early as 1910. It reads as follows:— If airships can be employed to connect Fort George with points on the C.P.R. a very obvious difficulty in Cariboo's colonization will be solved. A group of capitalists particularly interested have therefore sent an agent to Berlin to patronize the new German agency of communication and also to investigate all incidental costs in connection with possible establishment of a similar airship service in Central British Columbia. If satisfactory arrangements can be made, the inauguration of aerial communications between Fort George and Ashcroft may be brought about before the advent of winter, or by next spring at latest.6 With such unbounded optimism it was unfortunate that the air-minded capitalists were so far ahead of the times. However, other air-minded residents of British Columbia were developing ideas upon more practical lines, and in September, 1910, several items relating to their activities appeared in the press. The first of these was a long article in the Victoria Colonist describing an ascent made by a Mr. William Wallace Gibson6 in (5) Ibid., June 30, 1910. The "German agency" referred to was the passenger service by Zeppelin airships which had commenced operations a few days before. The appearance of this item on June 30 is interesting in view of the fact that the Zeppelin Deutschland had been wrecked only two days before. See Zahm, op. cit, pp. 168-9; also Vancouver Province, June 29, 1910. (6) Gibson was born in Ayrshire, Scotland. He came to Canada as a child and lived nearly 25 years in Saskatchewan. " He made his first stake out of a machine shop, and then blossomed into a railway contractor. He built 40 miles of the Grand Trunk Pacific." He came to British Columbia in 1907 and interested himself in mining. (Victoria Colonist, July 7, 1909.) 232 Frank H. Ellis. October a "twinplane" of his own invention. The flight was said to have taken place on Thursday, September 8, at the Dean Farm, the present site of the Lansdowne Airport, in Victoria. According to this report, Gibson reached a height of about 20 feet and flew a distance of over 200 feet before coming to earth. Unfortunately, when he alighted " the severe concussion fractured the riding wheels " of the machine and further tests had to be postponed. Though never a success, Gibson's " twinplane " is of considerable interest because, so far as is known, it was the first aeroplane built in British Columbia which ever succeeded in leaving the ground. The experiments upon which its design was based had been carried on for several years. As early as July, 1909, Mr. Gibson publicly discussed his plans in an interview printed in the Colonist; and the intended features of his machine are worth noting. In the first place, it was to present the end, rather than the sides of its planes to the wind:— The machine is [intended to be] 65 feet long and 14 feet wide at its widest part. There it differs radically from all the machines hitherto made. They all present their widest part to the wind, proceeding, so to speak, sideways. I go straight ahead, like a steamboat or a fish.' In the second place, Gibson was convinced that his craft would be both safe and simple to operate. He claimed that it would possess " absolute stability," since his experiments with models proved that it would right itself automatically if upset, and that since " no special skill or dexterity " was required to control it the machine could be handled more easily than an automobile. In view of the accident which marred his first flight, it is ironical to note that the plans for the plane included " an ingenious device by which it can alight without perceptible jar." Finally, Gibson had great faith in a special 4-cylinder engine of his own design, which he claimed would develop 65 horsepower, although it weighed only 222 lb. complete. The plane was to have a gasoline capacity sufficient to fly 400 miles, and the inventor " offered to bet a sceptic $1,000 . . . that he would fly to Seattle or Vancouver inside of a year, but the bet was not X quotations and particulars are from the 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 233 taken." The wager is interesting, because it was offered just 18 days before Bleriot made the first flight across the English Channel, on July 25, 1909. When actual construction of his aeroplane commenced, Gibson evidently deemed it wise to resort to secrecy. The general public was skeptical about flying matters in those days, and to avoid criticism inventors frequently endeavoured to build and test their aircraft in private. With this end in view, Gibson and his helpers moved the completed " twinplane " to the aviation field late at night, but the reports in the Colonist indicate that the manoeuvre did not escape notice. . . . Several residents of the neighbourhood of Mount Tolmie witnessed Mr. Gibson in his initial trials. [These were evidently ground trials.] The final trial was the most successful, when the breaking of the wheels occurred. This flight was not witnessed by anyone as far as can be learned.8 This latter statement throws some doubt upon what actually took place, and from the historical point of view the lack of witnesses is regrettable. It is also most unfortunate that neither a photograph nor a drawing of Gibson's machine has come to light, as it was evidently a craft of extraordinary design. Its actual length was 54 feet, instead of the intended 65, but in most respects it seems to have followed the plans outlined in 1909. The long description printed in the Colonist reads in part as follows:— It is composed of two planes, one behind the other, both triangular. [Another account states that each of these planes was 20 feet long and 8 feet wide.9] These planes are fixed, the machine rising or falling according to the elevation or depression of a triangular plane of cedar which is worked by a lever and forms the nose of the craft. There are also a couple of other cedar planes beneath the triangular canvas ones which aid materially in lifting. Altogether he has 330 square feet of lifting service [surface] as against 160 of the Bleriot monoplane. The remarkable feature of the Gibson twin-plane is that owing to its design it is automatically stable and its stability is increased by the fact that the engine is suspended in the centre of the airship beneath the planes. The propellers are fixed, one in front and one behind the engine. . . . The operator sits in front and above the front propellor and thus is not incommoded by the wind made by the revolving blades. This removes much of the discomfort experienced by other airmen owing to the coldness developed by the wind from the propellors. (8) Victoria Colonist, September 10, 1910. L 234 Frank H. Ellis. October The craft is steered by a rudder somewhat of the same shape as the rudder of a racing shell and is made of varnished cedar.io Complete with engine the craft weighed 500 lb. The statement that the propellors were " fixed " means, perhaps, that they were connected directly to the engine by shaft or gear and were not chain-driven, as in the Wright machine of the same date; but unfortunately these and many other details are far from clear. The special motor Gibson intended to use proved unsatisfac- ■ tory in bench tests, and the engine actually used in the plane was ordered in the spring of 1910 from Hutchinson Brothers & Company, of Victoria. It was a 6-cylinder, air-cooled motor which developed 40 horse-power at a speed of 800 revolutions per minute. Complete with fittings it weighed 200 lb. A fortnight was needed to repair the damage suffered by Gibson's machine at the conclusion of its first flight, and it was not until September 22 that the Plimley Bicycle Company completed the required " set of wheels," or " supporting trucks," as the new landing gear was termed in the press.11 Two days later the Colonist printed an item which shows that there were two other aeroplanes under construction in British Columbia at this time, one in Victoria and the other in Vancouver. The former was being built by a Mr. F. Watts, in the shops of the Western Motor & Supply Company, on Broad Street. It was stated to be of the Bleriot monoplane type, and the account continued:— The wooden frame is practically complete and Mr. Watts is at work on the engine, a three-cylinder machine with a vertical and two side cylinders. The planes of calico on a wooden frame will be 28 feet across.12 Nothing further seems to be known about the Watts aeroplane, and it may never even have been completed, as reports of flights, or attempts to fly it, are lacking. The Western Motor & Supply Company had also been asked to supply an engine for the machine under construction in Vancouver, and a 3-cylinder English Humber engine was ordered from the firm by the builders of the plane, Messrs. McMullen and Templeton. Other details recorded are as follows:— The machine built by the Vancouver men is of the Glen Curtis [sic] type, with some additional features added by the builders. It is a biplane with planes 28 feet [long] and five feet wide, and each plane will be covered with (10) Ibid., September 25, 1910. (11) Ibid., September 23,1910. (12) Ibid., September 24,1910. 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 235 a special rubberized silk. The operator's seat will be below the level of the lower plane which is different from that of the Curtis machine. With the motor installed the aeroplane will weigh 400 pounds.is More will be heard of this machine later. Meanwhile we must return to W. W. Gibson and the second flight he made in his twinplane, on September 24, 1910. The best account of the event available reads in part as follows:— Mr. Gibson left the shed with his plane about 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon and starting his engine on a slight incline rose to the air about fifty . feet from the shed. Passing the shelter of a clump of trees a strong cross wind was encountered with the result that the aeroplane was drifted dangerously near some trees, Mr. Gibson not using his rudder. He shut off his engine to avoid collision and came down, but unfortunately his wheels were not equipped with brakes and the momentum drove the aeroplane into an oak tree at the rate of about 25 miles an hour. The slight damage which occurred as a result of the contact with the tree indicated strongly the substantial structure of the machine. The damage, apart from the splitting of a couple of wooden planes and the buckling of a wooden lateral truss, was confined to injury of two of the wheels. Repairs will be effected within the course of a few days and another flight will then be made. In discussing the flight, Mr. Gibson said he was under the disadvantage of having to learn the art of aviation by experience, there being no " flying schools " in British Columbia. His flights have demonstrated to his satisfaction that the machine is all that is required and all that is necessary to demonstrate it is practice in " airmanship."14 Apparently, damage to the twinplane was greater than was thought at the time, as further experiments appear to have been abandoned, and a considerable time passes before Gibson reappears on the aviation scene. Thus it was that flying came to British Columbia, in the year 1910. The first indication that the flying season for 1911 had opened in British Columbia was the appearance, in the Vancouver newspapers, of half-page advertisements announcing that there would be three days of flying during the Easter week-end. In large type Vancouver was informed that Jack De Pries and the Manning brothers would be on hand to perform the " spiral glide," the " zig-zag whirl," and other thrilling stunts known to airmen. The meet was to be at the Minoru Race-track, and the price of admission 50 cents. 236 Frank H. Ellis. October The aviators arrived with their machines on April 10 and the work of assembly began at the race-track the following day. The meet on Good Friday, April 14, was a great disappointment to all who went out to see it. The account in the Vancouver Province reads, in part, as follows:— An immense crowd that was howling enthusiastically at 3 o'clock was conspicuously apathetic when at 4.45 De Pries and his Curtiss type biplane appeared, one hour and forty-five minutes late. The announcer megaphoned: " This is Jack De Pries, who will make a cross country flight." . . . De Pries ran the biplane along the ground 300 yards when it raised off the ground a foot and, turning sharply, rammed its nose into the fence on the left side of the track. Spectators scattered and some fell off the fence. There was no damage done except to the biplane. The impact broke the front plane and the machine was incapacitated for the remainder of the afternoon. It was the 80-horsepower biplane. De Pries then had trundled out the 40-horsepower Curtiss type biplane, the machine that Jack Manning had been advertised to fly. De Pries had better luck with this one. After gliding [running] for 300 yards he arose to an altitude estimated at 250 feet, sailing in a westerly direction over the race track high-board fence. He alighted in a meadow back of the fence, after a flight of about 500 yards.16 This concluded the first day of the three-day meet. A representative of the Province asked De Pries why he had returned to earth so quickly. 11 found a 40-mile current up there," he answered. " Can't you fly in a 40-mile wind? " " Yes, if the wind is in the rear of the machine." De Pries was in the air not more than five minutes. Several yachting men in the judges' stand calculated the maximum velocity of the breeze that swept past the stand yesterday afternoon at ten miles an hour.is This was not a very encouraging beginning, and the meet went from bad to worse. The following day (Saturday, April 16) De Pries had another go at it. Beginning his run at the far end of the track, he took off before reaching the grandstand. Rising to a height of about 200 feet, and still following the course of the track, he made about three-quarters of the circuit before sailing away in the direction of Steveston, at the mouth of the Fraser River. When about 2 miles away from the racecourse the machine landed, apparently safely; but it was learned shortly afterwards that the machine had been badly smashed and De Pries injured. This (15) Vancouver Province, April 15,1911. 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 237 flight was the only attempt made that day. Early reports stated that De Pries had probably been fatally hurt, but fortunately this was not the case, though he suffered from concussion and required a number of stitches to close a scalp wound. He remained in a semi-conscious state during the night, but eventually recovered. He received no niche in the hall of flying fame, other than the modest corner reserved for the first flying casualty in British Columbia. The Monday flying efforts were equally disappointing. Without De Pries, the Manning brothers were " on the spot," for it is apparent that the advance advertising had greatly overrated their flying abilities. The account in the Province speaks for itself :— Cold feet was a common complaint with the aviators at Minoru Park yesterday. Aerial navigation, the dream of the prime romancer of our boyhood days, was nearly brought into vivid realization, when Brownie Manning, of Manning Bros., in an attempt to break the height record for aeroplanes, rose about four feet from the ground, and then afraid that he really was going up, he altered his planes and made a quick return to terra firma, ran into a fence and damaged one of his wings, ending by nearly making a record of another kind—a mad rush from his machine as though it were haunted. After about an hour's weary wait the machine was repaired, and a second attempt was made. The result was as before. Through chattering teeth and knocking knees, he put up a good many stalls, chief of which was that the wind accentuated by the improper balance of the machine caused a tilt that made steering impossible. Asked by a few " Want to Know Whys," some of whom had been disappointed three times and who were not in a very genial mood, if he or his brother would make another attempt, they made a slighting and positive refusal, adding that the spectators had seen enough for their money. Altogether it was the poorest of three very disappointing would-be, hair- raising, mid-air manoeuvres.17 The report certainly did not mince matters, and that is one reason why flying fatalities in those early days were more frequent than they should have been. The public demanded action, and many an airman took the air against his better judgment, and went to his death in consequence. Had the Mannings been built of sterner stuff they would probably have met that fate, for they were very amateur aviators. We now hear from W. W. Gibson again. This time he has moved his activities to the Paterson Ranch, near Ladner, taking (17) Ibid., April 18,1911. 238 Frank H. Ellis. October with him from Victoria a new aeroplane, which he believed to be an improvement upon the machine he had flown with such little success the previous September. J. B. Woods, of the Western Motor & Supply Company, Victoria, arrived with him as his "demonstrator."18 And there we shall leave them for the moment, as other events of importance took place before their experiments began. On April 28, 1911, the first successful aeroplane constructed on the Mainland went into action at Minoru Park. This machine was built by William McMullen and William Templeton, of Vancouver, and Winston Templeton, brother of William, was also associated with the machine. Construction had begun in the winter of 1909-10, and was carried on in the basement of the McMullen home, at 1263 Eighth Avenue West. As the basement was not sufficiently large to allow the wings to be attached, the machine was transported to Minoru and assembled there in April, 1911. On the 28th it was given its first tests, in the course of which it proved its ability to rise from the ground, and flew some distance along the race-track. It was hoped that it would become more efficient, but in time it became clear that the 35 horse-power engine fitted was not sufficient for prolonged flights. Tests were continued for some time, however, and many short hops were made by McMullen and both the Templeton brothers, the longest being about 260 feet. The plane was of the biplane type, with a 7-foot tractor airscrew, and was both well made and of sound design. It was fitted with " curtains," which hung down rigidly between the wings and were thought to increase stability. The idea was borrowed from the Voisin biplane, famous at the time. The wing-span of the craft .was 28 feet, and it was approximately the same length. As previously noted, its 3-cylinder Humber engine was procured through the Western Motor & Supply Company, of Victoria, and it is of interest to note that the engine alone cost $1,200, delivered in Vancouver. The machine eventually came to grief by crashing into the railing of the race-track. After a time it was dismantled and taken to a boat-works on Georgia Street, where it was intended to rebuild it and fit it with pontoons. Unfortunately, a fire later (18) Victoria Colonist, May 2,1911. 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 239 destroyed the plant and with it the machine. The engine and propellor were stored elsewhere and escaped, and the last heard of the motor was that it was reposing in the window of a junk- shop on Granville Street. The propellor was presented to the Air Service Association, from whose club rooms it was eventually stolen. According to William Templeton, who is now manager of the Vancouver Airport, the whole experiment cost in the neighbourhood of $5,000. Both William McMullen and Winston Templeton are still living, and still residing in British Columbia.19 May 30, 1911, was a red-letter day in the flying history of Vancouver Island, for on that date C. F. Walsh lifted his Curtiss- Farman type biplane into the air from the grounds of the Agricultural Association, at Victoria. Advance notices of the event had stated that the airman would be Fred J. Wiseman; but he and his manager, Charles F. Young, came to a parting of the ways just prior to the time he was to appear in Victoria, and Young was fortunate in obtaining the services of Walsh, who had just completed a series of very successful flights at Portland, Oregon. Shortly after the hour fixed for the first ascent, on the afternoon of the 30th, the roar of the 60 horse-power engine of Walsh's machine interrupted the music being played by the band of the Fifth Regiment, and a few moments later the plane sped down the track and " reared off the ground with delightful grace."20 Taking a course over the centre field, the airman headed towards the sea. Swinging around some trees on the Uplands, he circled back to the grounds and, carrying on, made a second circuit in the same direction. Returning, he passed low over the spectators, and acknowledged their applause with a wave of the hand. Once again he went over the same route, but this time left the grounds at the northern end, made a short excursion over the countryside, reaching a height of some 700 (19) See Vancouver World, May 3, 1911 (Vancouver Public Library file); Vancouver Province, May 6, 1911 (Province office file). (Specific files are mentioned as the items indicated do not appear in all editions of the papers.) William McMullen is now Captain McMullen, of B.C. Packers, while Winston Templeton is townsite agent for the Powell River Company at Stillwater, B.C. (20) Victoria CoZonist, May 31,1911. 240 Frank H. Ellis. October feet, and travelled a mile or more away before returning to the grounds. The alighting was one of the features of the display. Here Aviator Walsh gave a striking demonstration of his control of the machine. He came down where all could see and note every movement. When he began to descend the velocity of the fall appeared alarming. Little shrieks of consternation were heard from several of the ladies in attendance. But their consternation was uncalled for. When within a few feet of terra firma, the engine was stopped, the planes were tilted upward and the biplane came to a stop on its bicycle wheels with the lightness and ease of a bird. This brought forth more applause and the aviator was given a hearty reception on being introduced.21 Fifteen minutes later he took off again, flying over practically the same course as before; but on this occasion he did not go much higher than 200 feet. In view of later developments, a few lines from the published account of this flight are worth noting:— In dodging through the trees to the southwest of the Willow's track one of his planes struck the branch of a tree and cut if off with the cleanness of a razor. He brought the twig back with him and will keep it as a souvenir. In travelling past the grand stand he took an apple from his pocket and threw it at the judge's box, striking the corner, which illustrates that the aeroplane might be destructively useful when employed for military pur- It is interesting to learn that Walsh attempted to take up a passenger on his third effort of the day, but slight engine trouble developed, and as he was unable to get off the ground with the additional weight flying was concluded for the day. On the Wednesday (May 31) it was anticipated that another attempt to take up a passenger would be made, but this did not materialize. A race with a motor-cycle had also been announced, but this did not take place either, though the airman delighted the crowd with two fine flights, made under ideal weather conditions. The first of these, in the course of which three aerial circuits were made, lasted some ten minutes. The speculations of the Colonist reporter regarding the speed at which the craft travelled are amusing:— Although it isn't possible to make an exact and authoritative calculation it is conservatively figured that he was travelling at a rate of speed which, in the case of an automobile, would warrant any stalwart guardian of the 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 241 peace effecting an arrest for an infraction of the provincial regulations. But Mr. Walsh had no competition. It could not be said that he was driving to the common danger. The course was free of any of his own kind and nothing was said except that it was all very wonderful, and " wouldn't it be dreadful if the engine should stop " or " wouldn't such a machine be invaluable if attached to an army on active service for reconnoitering purposes."2? The second jaunt aloft kept Walsh in the air for almost fifteen minutes. This time he set his course for the dome of the Parliament Buildings, but after he had made considerable progress towards his objective, slight engine trouble developed, and he ' immediately turned back to the fair-grounds, where a good landing was made. Examination proved that the engine was short of lubricating-oil, but the reason for this does not appear. A large number of Victoria children were disappointed on June 1, which was advertised as children's day. Walsh intended giving a special display for their enjoyment, but the day broke with a strong wind blowing which increased to a gale by the afternoon, making flying impossible. He expressed his regret that the flights had had to be called off, remarking, " Life isn't worth much, but a fellow would hate to lose the machine."24 The name of C. F. Walsh was not on the Aero Club of America's list of pilots at the time he visited Victoria, but he obtained the Club's licence, No. 118, on April 25, 1912, only to die in a crash at Trenton, New Jersey, the following October. While Walsh was in Victoria, W. W. Gibson completed and prepared to test his new aeroplane at the Paterson Ranch, near Ladner. It will be recalled that his first machine had been called a " twinplane "; his new effort was designated the " Gibson multiplane." It is reported to have had no less than forty planes, made of wood; and although its width seems to have been greater in proportion to its length than had been the case in the earlier machine, Gibson still clung to his conviction that a long, relatively narrow craft could be so designed as to eliminate " the danger of aerial capsize." The plane had two pro- pellors, driven by a 60 horse-power engine of Gibson's own design. The inventor was confident that he would be making flights to New Westminster and Vancouver very shortly, and 242 Frank H. Ellis. October expected to fly across the Gulf of Georgia to Victoria before the end of the summer. The first and last trial flight of which we have any knowledge took place on the afternoon of May 31. No public announcement had been made, but Thomas Paterson, then Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, Frank J. McKenzie, M.L.A. for Delta, and several residents of the district, were present. The attempt was a failure, and the reason given to the press was the fact that there was " a lack of wind "—a fact which most airmen of the time would have appreciated. Gibson, who is now deceased, later took his invention to Calgary, evidently having concluded his experiments in British Columbia, as no further information is available concerning him or his machine.26 From June, 1911, until April, 1912, flyers apparently were busy elsewhere, for no airman seems to have visited or flown in British Columbia between those dates. It was known to many Vancouverites, however, that one of their number was receiving instructions in flying in California. The young man in question was William (" Billy ") M. Stark, son of the late James Stark, of the old firm of James Stark & Sons. " Billy" is reputed to have driven the first gasoline- propelled vehicle on the streets of Vancouver, in 1901, and had been busy with automobiles and engines ever since. He became interested in flying, which at the time was regarded primarily as a sport, and presently left for San Diego, where he joined the Curtiss Aviation School, at North Island. After expert tuition under the watchful eye of the famous Glenn H. Curtiss, he quickly became a banner performer, and passed the qualifying tests for an aviator's licence on March 22,1912.26 Owing to the fact that no meeting of the governors was held immediately, Stark did not receive his licence—No. 110—from the Aero Club of America until April 10. It may be noted in passing that (26) On the Gibson machine see Victoria Colonist, May 2,1911; Vancouver Province, June 1, 1911; Victoria Colonist, June 2, 1911; also a letter from A. D. Paterson, of Ladner, who witnessed the trial, to Frank H. Ellis, dated June 1, 1939, which states that the machine " never got off the ground while here . . ." (26) San Diego Sun, March 22,1912. 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 243 only one other Canadian airman possesses one of these early permits, the previously mentioned J. A. D. McCurdy, who is still very much alive, and resides in Montreal. His licence is No. 18. Meanwhile Stark had purchased one of the latest-type Curtiss biplanes; had shipped it to Vancouver, and was preparing to give exhibition flights in British Columbia. The machine was equipped with an 8-cylinder 75 horse-power motor, and cost $5,500. Minoru was once again the chosen flying-field, and after a brief trial cruise on Friday, April 12, Stark made his first exhibition flight on the Saturday, before a party of his friends and the press. Conditions were very favourable and he took the machine up to about 500 feet. He flew westward over the Richmond rifle-range to the mouth of the Fraser River, returned to the track, and made a perfect landing. The flight lasted about 20 minutes. Full accounts of it appeared in the newspapers on Monday, but they were overshadowed by the first reports of the Titanic disaster, which filled the front pages of the same issues.27 These accounts stated that Stark would give a flying exhibition at Minoru on Saturday, April 20, and large advertisements, featuring a photograph of the aviator at the controls of his machine, appeared during the week. A large crowd was expected, and the British Columbia Electric Railway put on nine special cars to augment the regular service to Lulu Island points. The exhibition was an unqualified success, but the crowd was small. Undoubtedly the De Pries-Manning fiasco of the previous year influenced many to stay at home. Stark preferred to use the track as a runway rather than the infield, which was very rough. His first flight lasted but five minutes and was in the nature of a test. His second flight was also of short duration, lasting six and a half minutes, but he flew in continuous circles above the field, at a height of some 400 feet, giving the people a good view of the machine in flight, and on one circuit, keeping within the track limits, he made the mile in one minute and twenty-eight seconds. The third and final flight of the day took thirteen minutes, and featured climbing, and gliding spirals. It was the first time (27) The best report is probably that in the Vancouver World, April 15, 1912. 244 Frank H. Ellis. October stunting of the kind had been accomplished in British Columbia. At the finish of this flight, Stark shut off his engine at a height of 800 feet and made a steep dive for 600 feet, causing considerable excitement among the spectators, who were not used to this sort of thing. Upon landing, the " birdman," as the newspapers repeatedly called him, was warmly congratulated for his fine exhibition.28 Wednesday, April 24, 1912, was a notable day in the history of aviation in British Columbia, for the first successful passenger flight in the Province—and, for that matter, in Western Canada —took place on that date. The pilot was W. M. Stark, and the passenger James T. Hewitt, then Sporting Editor of the Vancouver Province. The flight was one of the features of Stark's second flying exhibition at Minoru. He flew his machine to a nearby field, of larger proportions than the race-track, and a piece of board was lashed to the lower wing, just to the left of the only seat the plane possessed. Upon this " Jimmy " Hewitt perched, grasping whatever was available to hold on to. A fresh breeze was blowing at the time, and this undoubtedly assisted in lifting the single-seater machine into the air with its double load. The flight lasted eight minutes and an altitude of about 600 feet was attained. Hewitt published a full account of his experience in his paper, and one or two excerpts will be of interest:— Once in the air the strong rush of wind kept me so busy hanging on to the rigging to prevent being swept out of the machine backwards that I had . no occasion to worry about falling. My only fear was that I might be blown out into space. We dashed through the air at a pace which approximated, so the aviator informed me afterwards, about forty miles an hour. (28) Based chiefly upon the account in the Vancouver News-Advertiser, April 21, 1912. It is interesting to note that in the intervals between Stark's flights two 5-mile motor-cycle races were run, the first being won by Earl Godfrey in 6 minutes 30 seconds, while the second went to Allan Ross in 6 minutes flat. Young Godfrey later became air-minded himself, served overseas with the Royal Air Force, and was awarded the Military Cross and the Air Force Cross. Remaining with the force after the war, he has become an outstanding figure in flying circles. In September, 1926, with the late Dalzell McKee, he made the first flight across the Dominion of Canada. He now holds the rank of Group Captain, and at the moment of writing is in command of the Western Air Command of the Royal Canadian Air Force, with headquarters at Jericho Beach, Vancouver. 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 245 Another remark of Hewitt's is amusing, and shows that traffic was regarded as dangerous, even in 1912:— The turning of the machine gave me the feeling of sweeping round a sharp corner on an automobile but I felt satisfied because I knew there could be no collision around the turn. In fact I felt much safer than in a Van- As soon as Hewitt had been returned safely to earth, Stark carried another passenger aloft—Mrs. Stark, his wife, who had made a number of ascents as a passenger in the United States. This flight was shorter than the previous one, but was equally successful, and Mrs. Stark became the first woman to venture into the air in an aeroplane in British Columbia. Indeed, it is probable that she was the first woman passenger in the Dominion. Both Mrs. Stark and James T. Hewitt are now deceased. Mrs. Stark died in 1927, and Hewitt was killed overseas, during the last Great War. Further flights were advertised to take place at Minoru on April 27, but were abandoned owing to heavy rain; and the following Wednesday, when it was hoped that further flying could be done, another downpour took place. Owing to the distance of Minoru Park from the city, Stark decided that it would be wiser to give his exhibitions closer in, and Hastings Park was chosen as the scene of the flights advertised for the afternoons of May 3 and 4. Unfortunately the 3rd was once again a pouring wet day, but at last on the 4th the weather smiled, and crowds were on hand early at Hastings Park to see him fly. No one had flown from the Park before, and at that time it was far from suitable for the purpose. Few airmen would care to use it, even to-day. The infield was well sprinkled with stumps and the grounds were nearly surrounded by huge fir and cedar trees. It can hardly have been an attractive spot to a young aviator who had every desire to live. At eleven minutes to four, Stark took off and skilfully piloted his machine out of the grounds against a westerly breeze. The flight was short, but in the five minutes he was up he went almost to Moodyville before turning back. He landed without incident, and the crowd gave him hearty applause. (29) Vancouver Province, April 25,1912. J 246 Frank H. Ellis. October After a short rest, Stark again left the grounds, getting into the air without difficulty. He again flew to Moodyville and circled back along the north shore of the Inlet. He rose to an altitude of about 1,000 feet during this trip, and performed a number of figure eights before coming down to land. His return to the grounds almost ended in disaster. A herd of cattle was in the enclosure; apparently no one bothered about such animals wandering at large on the landing area; and one of them ran directly in the path of the aeroplane as it settled down to earth. Seeing it, Stark pulled the machine up and hopped over the animal, but by doing so he used up most of the available landing area. The plane was still travelling fast, but it was too late to take off again owing to the nearness of the high trees. There was no choice but to head for the fence. When about 20 feet from it Stark threw himself out of the machine, and an instant later it crashed with considerable force into the railings. Two assistants, J. Perry and T. Watson, endeavoured to slow the plane up by attempting to grasp it as it rushed for the fence, but Perry received a badly cut hand for his trouble, and Watson was knocked down, and had the somewhat unusual experience of being run over by an aeroplane.30 The machine was not greatly damaged, but the incident brought the flying meet at Hastings Park to a conclusion. In an interview last June, Mr. Stark mentioned the Hastings Park affair, and stated that he was forced to land down-wind on both occasions, owing to the huge trees at the easterly end and the smallness of the landing area. The risks he took that faraway day were greater than the public or the press realized, for landing down-wind is one of the most dangerous tasks in flying, even at the present time. Hastings Park again became the centre of flying interest when a news item appeared in the Vancouver Province on May 7, 1912, announcing that two very well-known aviators, Phil 0. Parmalee and Clifford Turpin, would give exhibitions there on the 24th and 25th of the month. On the 23rd a further item stated that the flyers had arrived and that they expected to set to work immediately to assemble their two Wright biplanes. A 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 247 parachute descent from one of the planes was also promised. Customs difficulties developed, however, and in the end only one machine reached Vancouver. This was the first Wright aeroplane to come to British Columbia. Aviation history was made again at the meet held on May 24. After a ten-minute flight by Parmalee and a flight of nine minutes by Turpin, in which he rose to the greatest height a plane had ever reached in British Columbia—well over 2,000 feet31—the flight from which the parachute descent was to be made was announced. As the jump which followed was only the fourth successful parachute drop ever made from an aeroplane it deserves special comment. Professor J. Morton had been advertised as the parachutist, but owing to sickness a substitute was procured in the person of Professor Charles Saunders, who had made many jumps from balloons but who had never been up in an aeroplane before. So far, no trace of where Saunders came from at such short notice has been unearthed, but as balloon ascensions and a parachute drop had taken place at the annual exhibition at Chilliwack just twelve days before, he may have come from there. A makeshift container for the folded parachute was made from a large empty can, which was firmly bound to one of the skids of the machine. Attired in red tights, with a large leather helmet upon his head, Professor Saunders then took his place in the machine, just behind Parmalee. In taking off, disaster was narrowly averted, as a much longer run was required to get away with the passenger's additional weight, and the tree-tops were barely cleared in consequence. The airman circled around over Burrard Inlet until a height of 1,000 feet had been gained. The entire crowd watched in hushed silence as Saunders was seen to be climbing down, and at last could be discerned hanging from the machine. No harness attached the parachute to the jumper's body in those days; the method then in vogue was to trust to a strong pair of hands and arms, by which the courageous jumper grasped the bar attached to the parachute. His own strong muscles were all he relied upon to forestall a sudden trip to eternity. (31) The World, May 25, says " fully 2500 feet"; the Sun, 3,000 feet. 248 Frank H. Ellis. October Then, in the reporter's words:— Straight as a plummet the streak of red below the long streak of white dropped for fully one hundred feet. Then with a couple of preliminary flutters, the rushing air entered the distending ring of the parachute and it opened like a huge umbrella. A great sigh of relief went up from the six thousand and some odd pairs of eyes who were watching the daring feat. Thousands of others outside the grounds witnessed the drop, either from the shore or from boats on the water. Saunders landed on the North Shore, about 100 yards from the water's edge, on the mud flats, which, being soft, made an excellent landing-place. Hundreds of picnickers, evidently there to watch the flights, soon surrounded him, and he was the centre of an admiring crowd who plied him with innumerable questions as he rolled up his parachute and awaited the coming of a powerboat which he had chartered to carry him back across the Inlet to Hastings Park, on the south shore. Half an hour later he appeared back on the grounds, followed by a big crowd of boys carrying his rolled-up parachute, and was accorded a great ovation by the crowd. The day's flying concluded with a second flight by Turpin, which lasted seven minutes.32 On Saturday, May 25, the programme was repeated. Following exhibition flights by Parmalee and Turpin, Professor Saunders made another parachute jump from the biplane. Parmalee was again the pilot, and upon this occasion Saunders made a graceful landing right in the infield, to the delight of the spectators. It was intended to conclude the meet with a crosscountry flight to Bellingham, and a letter from the Mayor of Vancouver had been handed to one of the aviators in the expectation that he would deliver it-by air; but threatening rain made it necessary to cancel the attempt.83 (32) Vancouver World, May 25,1912. (33) Vancouver Sun, May 27, 1912. It seems that the Great Northern Railway declined to accept Parmalee's aeroplane as baggage; and, as he was under contract to fly at Bellingham on Sunday the 26th, and could find no motor-truck large enough to carry the machine, he arranged with Harry Hooper, pioneer Vancouver taxicab-driver to transport it thither in his big Winton touring car. Mr. Hooper recently related the story to Major J. S. Matthews, Vancouver City Archivist, who has very kindly furnished the following quotation from Mr. Hooper's narrative:— 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 249 These meets at Hastings Park were hazardous affairs, as the following quotation indicates:— Both Turpin and Parmalee stated that owing to the small size of the ground and the heavy forest and rough nature of the surrounding country as well as the high power wires they considered their flights ... as the most dangerous they had ever made. I There is absolutely no chance for us if her engine should stop while in the air," said Turpin to the World, " for outside of the grounds, it would be impossible for an aviator to make a landing anywhere except possibly in the water. That was why we staid over the water for the largest portion of our flights."3* Brave young men, those two, fully aware of the odds against them, yet flying and taking the risk so that the crowd would not be disappointed. Both possessed very early Aero Club of America licences, Turpin's being No. 22 and Parmalee's No. 25. Both were issued in October, 1910. Only six day after flying in Vancouver, Turpin had the misfortune to crash into the grandstand at the Aviation Fair in Seattle. He was not badly injured himself, but a man and a small girl were killed and fifteen others badly injured. The following day, June 1, Phil Parmalee crashed in an apple orchard in Moxee Valley, North Yakima, Washington. His machine dropped 400 feet, out of control, and in the resultant smash he lost his life. The Vancouver World printed an interesting editorial following the flying at Hastings Park, one or two sentences from which are worth quoting:— The first parachute descent from an aeroplane which Vancouver has just witnessed, the fact that Mr. Stark, a Vancouver man, is making a great reputation as a " bird man " and that Messrs. Parmalee and Turpin gave us such a fine show of aviation last week, has set Vancouver thinking more " What I did was this. I went to my home on Hornby street. . . . I took all the pillows and blankets I could; loaded the engine into the ton- neau of [the] Winton car. Then I spread my blankets and pillows over the seats, laid the wings of the plane from the windshield towards the rear and let the ends hang over the back of the car; then I put more pillows and blankets on the wings, and laid the fusilage on top of the wings." Parmalee offered to pay $150 for the trip, but Mr. Hooper asked for $300 on a " no cure no pay " basis, and Parmalee accepted. The plane reached Bellingham on time, and flew there on the Sunday afternoon. (34) Vancouver World, May 25,1912. 250 Frank H. Ellis. October about aviation than all we have heard about Germany's plans for a sky army, or the advance made in aviation by Great Britain. . . . The flying machine has not come to stay but to go—and to arrive—at the place desired for its arrival. This Province will see its development, for where could there be a finer area for its operations? In this land of " magnificent distances," as it has been called, the flying machine will develop as the outcome of environment.3^ In the meantime " Billy " Stark had signed a contract to fly at Victoria on May 24, while Parmalee and Turpin were at Vancouver. He arrived in the Capital on the 22nd, having shipped his machine by boat to the Island for the event, and immediately began its assembly in readiness for Victoria Day. He made one flight from the Oak Bay grounds on the 24th, going up several hundred feet and remaining in the air for twenty minutes. In landing the drag (brake) on the front wheel refused to work and the machine ran into the fence with considerable force, damaging it sufficiently to prevent a further flight that day. The crowd took this in excellent part, however, and both the Victoria newspapers printed accounts of the flight which praised Stark highly.86 The damage was repaired by the afternoon of the 25th, and Stark once again delighted the crowd with a fine flight, which lasted fifteen minutes. On this occasion he circled the track twice and then set his course for Cordova Bay, quickly disappearing from view. After an absence of four minutes he came into sight again, and shortly afterwards came gliding down into the grounds and made a perfect landing.37 This concluded Stark's flights on Vancouver Island. He had hoped to fly at Nanaimo as well, but the plan fell through. Prior to this, Stark had "contracted to fly at Armstrong on July 1, Dominion Day. He arrived there on June 27 to complete advance arrangements, and was followed next day by his biplane, which was immediately assembled in the skating-rink and placed on exhibition. The machine was a big drawing card, as it was the first time an aeroplane had visited the interior of British (35) Ibid., May 27,1912. (36) See Victoria Times and Colonist, May 25, 1912. (37) Victoria Colonist, May 26, 1912. The Colonist printed a good photograph of the plane flying near Victoria. 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 251 Columbia, and about 4,000 persons gathered for the Dominion Day celebrations. Taking off from the fair grounds the airman climbed steadily, steering down Otter Lake Valley, and reaching a height of about 1,500 feet. When about 2 miles away he began to circle back towards the town. With a very strong wind to help him along he was quickly back over the sports field. Coming down low by way of salute, he continued towards Enderby, returning along the west side of the valley, against the wind. Owing to the blustery character of the wind and the small size of the grounds, Stark decided to land elsewhere, and chose a large field about 3 miles out of town, close to the old Lansdowne cemetery—but not, presumably, because he expected to need the latter. Dr. Crawford, of Armstrong, happened to be passing close by in his automobile, and he carried the airman back to the grounds, where some anxiety had been felt at his delay in returning. The following morning Stark went out to fly the machine back to the grounds, but a heavy rain during the night had affected the engine's temperament, and he was no sooner off the ground than the motor began to miss badly and he was forced to land in a hurry. In doing so a tire blew out and a strut was splintered. The machine was therefore taken apart where it was, brought to town on a dray, and later shipped to Vancouver. Stark was much disappointed at this mishap, as he had intended to fly the plane back to Armstrong and perform the spiral glide and other popular aerial manoeuvres of the day.88 Later in July Stark went to Portland, Oregon, to fulfil a contract, and during a flight there in a strange machine the engine went dead and he was forced to land in an open space, in the midst of a number of parked automobiles. The plane was badly damaged, and the meet was called off in consequence. As this has no direct bearing on flying in British Columbia we may pass over the details, except to state that the Portland press praised Stark very highly for the presence of mind he displayed in preventing serious injuries to the spectators. He himself received a severe shaking up, but no serious injuries except a badly cut eye.39 252 Frank H. Ellis. October On August 8,1912, a half-page advertisement appeared in the Vancouver Province, stating that "Jimmy Martin, the great English birdman, assisted by Millie Irving, America's most daring aviatress " would give an exhibition the following Saturday, in conjunction with the horse-races at Minoru Park. Their efforts were brought to a sudden ending when Captain Martin essayed a flight. A very strong wind was blowing, and the airman had only just left the ground when trouble of some kind developed. He was forced to land and the machine was damaged. There was no more flying that day, and although it was announced that flights would be made the following Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, by both Captain Martin and Miss Irving, " the bantamweight aviatrix," no other flights took place. A short description of their first and only attempt appeared in the Vancouver Province.40 W. M. Stark had contracted to fly at the tenth annual Nelson Fruit Fair, to be held on September 23 to 28, 1912, but his crash at Portland upset his plans, and he made arrangements with a Mr. F. A. Bennett, manager for an airman by the name of Walter Edwards, to cover the fair in his stead. These two men arrived in Nelson with their plane on the 22nd, and immediately commenced assembly of the machine at the fair grounds. It was the first aeroplane to visit the Kootenay area, and was a Curtiss biplane, with an 8-cylinder Curtiss engine, almost identical to the one owned by Stark. Edwards was worried by the treacherous air-currents which he expected to encounter near the mountains, and declared that he would not have permitted his manager to sign a contract requiring him to fly at Nelson if he had been familiar with the country. But he was both -a brave man and a good sport, and made his first flight as scheduled on September 24. It was a complete success, as will be seen by the following description, which appeared in the Nelson News:— Two minutes before 2 o'clock the big 60 horse power 8-cylinder motor in Walter Edwards' Curtiss biplane commenced to throb and at one minute before the scheduled time the machine shot across the grounds and rising gracefully over the fence and telephone wires at the east end, the nervy aviator began the flight which is likely to prove historic in the annals of Kootenay. (40) August 12,1912. 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 253 The airship shot at a 60-mile clip over Fairview, past the Hume school and shipyards to a point about three miles up the lake. Still rising, Edwards steered across the water and then, making a beautiful turn, commenced his journey back to the city, keeping close to the mountains on the north side of the lake. He passed the grounds, drove a short distance west and then shot back in front of the grandstand, dropping within a few score feet of the spectators on the grounds as he again shot eastwards. He made another trip up the lake and flying back close to Nelson mountain, made a pretty turn over the C.P.R. flats and swooped like a great hawk to the grounds. The landing was one of the prettiest in the history of aviation and was made rapidly but without the slightest error in the manipulation of the planes which direct the course of the machine. He was in the air nine minutes.41 The crowd gave the flyer a tremendous ovation. Interviewed shortly after the flight, Edwards complained that the air was " frightfully cold," though the air-currents were not as bad as he had expected. He did not relish the fact that he had further flights to make, and remarked pessimistically that if his " eight months' record of no accidents" were broken before he left Nelson he would " not be particularly surprised." However, on the 25th he showed his nerve by making another flight of twelve minutes, following almost the same course as the previous day, but narrowly averting a smash in alighting, owing to the very small area of the landing-ground.42 Manager Bennett was reported as being " eloquent with gloomy forebodings of probable disaster " in connection with the flights yet to be made.48 A strong wind, with resultant bad air-currents, prevailed on the 26th, but, nothing daunted, Edwards again braved the air, and the machine was tossed about in the most alarming manner. He rose to a height of 700 feet and travelled as far as Five-Mile before he was able to turn the plane around and head back for the grounds. He had great difficulty in getting into a position for landing, and was forced to make several circuits of the town (41) Nelson News, September 25, 1912. (42) The small size of the field made the take-off as well as landing difficult. W. G. C. Lanskail, Secretary of the Nelson Board of Trade, states that when taking off Edwards was " aided by eight husky men who held the plane fixed till the motor attained full speed, then at a signal all let go and the plane made a good getaway." (W. G. C. Lanskail to Frank H. Ellis, September 6, 1939.) (43) Nelson News, September 26, 1912. 254 Frank H. Ellis. October before at last he was enabled to do so. This time he had the misfortune to run heavily into the fence, and the machine was slightly damaged. Edwards jumped from the machine at the last moment, but hung on, acting as a drag, thus preventing a much more serious impact. No wonder the Nelson News congratulated him upon his courage.44 The damage had been repaired by 2 o'clock the following afternoon, and true to his promise the daring young man once again braved the elements. The weather was more considerate, with but a slight wind and bright sunshine, and the spectators were treated to a fine flight. During this trip Edwards made a landing on the flats some distance out of town, and as this was not scheduled, some anxiety was felt for his safety. After about five minutes, however, the sound of his engine was heard, and he was seen to be in the air again, returning to the grounds. Here he made a safe landing, no doubt with a sense of relief, as it brought his exhibition to a conclusion. Rumour had it that the airman had made a wager that he would alight on the flats and return to the grounds with a passenger, but that the person concerned backed out of the wager at the last moment.46 Had he made the flight, his name would have gone down in history as the first passenger-by-air in the Interior. The approach of winter again put a stop to flying in British Columbia, and no further data have been unearthed on the subject earlier than the accounts of the flights which began at Minoru Park on July 31, 1913. It was announced in the Vancouver papers that the well-known airman John M. (" Johnny") Bryant, and the clever aviatrix Miss Alys McKey, were to give the exhibitions, and expert flying was promised. Few people knew at the time that Bryant and Miss McKey were husband and wife, as they had been married for only ten weeks, and Miss McKey preferred to continue flying under her own name, which she had already made famous by her daring flights in California, Oregon, and Washington. (44) Ibid., September 27, 1912. (45)' Ibid., September 28, 1912. Edwards, who was said to be the son of a millionaire, continued to fly, and was eventually killed at or near Spokane, according to the only information available. 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 255 The meet held on July 31 was notable, as two flying records went by the board that afternoon. Bryant went up first in the Curtiss biplane and put on as fine a performance as the most critical observer could wish to see, making turns and glides with expert judgment. His landing was also perfectly timed. Next followed an event of great interest in the history of Canadian flying—the first flight made in the Dominion of Canada by a woman pilot. Miss McKey proved herself both daring and resourceful during a flight which lasted sixteen minutes, in the course of which, at a height of some 700 feet, many clever aerial evolutions were made. Her landing was faultless and a fitting climax to the occasion. On the third flight of the day, Bryant went up for an altitude record, and reached a height of 5,100 feet. This was the highest mark attained in the Northwest to that date, but it did not top the existing Canadian record, as Glen H. Martin had previously reached a height of some 7,000 feet at Montreal. A brilliant finish to this flight was made when the airman shut off his motor at a height of 2,500 feet, dove steeply until he . was within 100 feet of the ground, and then landed without again resorting to the use of his engine. It was clever flying for that early period.46 The next day, August 1, Bryant and Miss McKey, who were members of the Bennett Aero Company, and performed under the management of the same F. A. Bennett who had visited Nelson in 1912 with Walter Edwards, again gave the crowds at Minoru full value for their money. At that time, of course, no altitude record had been established by a woman flyer in Canada. Miss McKey was holder of the American record for women—3,100 feet—which she had set up a short time previously at Seattle, and on that August afternoon she established the first record for women ever made officially in the Dominion. The height attained was 2,200 feet.47 Additional flights made on August 2, under unfavourable weather conditions, concluded the flying at Vancouver. 256 Frank H. Ellis. October Plans had already been made for the Bennett Aero Company to fly at Victoria during the water carnival the following week, and the machine was taken apart and shipped to the Island over the week-end. Miss McKey was the first to fly the biplane at Victoria. She went up from the Willows on the morning of Tuesday, August 5, and flew off in the direction of Uplands. It was gusty up aloft, and she had difficulty keeping the machine on an even keel. After flying towards Victoria, she swung round and headed back to the track in the teeth of the wind, the craft pitching constantly in the gusts. With expert handling she brought the machine down and landed, after a rough trip made under conditions which she described in an interview as being the worst she had ever been up in.48 The next day (August 6), Bryant make flying history, for he not only flew the first seaplane ever flown on the waters of British Columbia, but also made the first flight over a large British Columbia city, winging his way for ten minutes 1,000 feet above the City of Victoria. On the morning of the 6th he flew his wheel-equipped Curtiss from the Willows to Cadboro Bay, landing there on the beach. The wheels were removed, and a seaplane float waiting there in readiness was fitted to the machine, thus converting it from a land-plane to a water craft. Shortly after 10.30 a.m. the work of conversion was completed and Bryant took off into a blustery wind. He made a landing at the mouth of the bay, near one of the small islands, evidently to test the machine's landing ability. Once again in the air, he climbed steadily, heading directly for the Capital City, where 20,000 pairs of eyes "had been anxiously scanning the sky for his arrival. Soon the throng burst into cheering that swelled greater and greater, and from street to street, and, as if the aviator heard it he waved his hand. For nearly ten minutes Bryant flew at a height of nearly 1,000 feet. The aeroplane rocked like a cradle, and great gasps of relief would go up from the throng every time the frail aerial vessel righted itself.^ After rocking and pitching in this fashion over Victoria, Bryant volplaned at a steep angle down to a landing just outside 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 257 the inner harbour, and, " taxi-ing " in, he swung the craft into the wharf behind the Grand Trunk Pacific (now the Canadian National) slips, bringing it to a stop with the wing-tips almost touching the dock. Every point of vantage around the wharf was crowded with sightseers, and Bryant was given a great welcome.60 An unfortunate and sad story in our flying history now remains to be told, for on the afternoon of August 6 " Johnny | Bryant was killed. He was the only pre-war flying victim in Canada. He took off from the water near the Department of Marine and Fisheries wharf about 5.50 p.m., and circled out over the harbour, coming back over the business section of Victoria. His machine had only been in the air five minutes and was some 800 feet above the city, in the vicinity of the City Hall, when the watchers below saw the plane dive steeply. This dive continued, becoming faster and steeper, until the craft was but 200 feet from the ground. The right wing was then seen to collapse. Momentum carried the biplane over the Fire Department headquarters and the market buildings, and it crashed upon the roof of the Lee Dye building, at the corner of Cormorant Street and Theatre Alley. There was a wild rush of spectators from all sides towards Chinatown, and Cormorant Street and Fisgard Street were quickly packed with a mass of people. Detective Heather, Motor Constable Foster, and Constable McLellan had started on the run as soon as it was obvious that the machine was going to crash, and they arrived on the scene before the streets became impassable, and but a few seconds after a Mr. Ferrin, who had been standing in Cormorant Street, watching the flight. A ladder secured from the Fire Department headquarters was run up the side of the building, and Dr. George Hall, who had responded to the call for medical assistance, climbed to the roof. There was little he could do, however, as " Johnny " had died almost instantly. Mrs. Bryant (Miss Alys McKey) had been watching the flight from the Department of Marine building, and the accident (50) Ibid. 258 Frank H. Ellis. October 1 plunged her into grief which was shared by the whole of Victoria.61 " Johnny " Bryant was one of the cleverest airman of the time, and had done a great deal of flying prior to coming to British Columbia. His Aero Club of America licence was No. 208, and he had made his qualifying flights early in 1913. Mrs. Alys McKey Bryant did not continue flying after her husband's death. She now resides in Washington, D.C., and very kindly secured for the writer, from the Smithsonian Institution, copies of the records relating to flights in British Columbia which are preserved there. A dearth of flying now set in, and it is not until we read again of'W. M. Stark that aviation in British Columbia once more appears in the news. After his accident at Portland, Stark had been persuaded to take a rest from the " flying game," as it was then usually termed, but he still had his machine, and early in 1914 decided to convert it into a seaplane. Pontoons were accordingly built for it by Messrs. Van Dyke & Sons, Vancouver boat-builders, the intention being to make flights later on at the numerous regattas to be held on the Pacific Coast. On Saturday, June 14, 1914, the machine was taken out for a test run on the waters of Burrard Inlet. Starting from the boat-shed near Deadman's Island, Coal Harbour, shortly after noon, he taxied over the water for some time, to get the feel of things. Then in the vicinity of Brockton Point he gave the engine full power, and the craft lifted into the air without effort, passing low over the West Vancouver ferry Sonrisa and the power-yacht Kilcair. After a practice landing near Prospect Point, Stark continued his flight, going around Stanley Park and alighting on the waters of English Bay, His was the first aircraft to fly through the First Narrows, the entrance to Vancouver Harbour. After several more runs on the water and in the air, the return trip was made around the Park at a height of several hundred feet.62 The Komagata Maru, of unhappy memory, was (51) Ibid., August 7,1913. (52) See Vancouver News-Advertiser, June 15, 1914; also V: Province, June 16, 1914. 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 259 in port at the time, anchored in mid-stream, and Stark mentioned later that as he looked down at the steamer he could see the hundreds of brown faces of the Hindus aboard her, looking up as he flew overhead. Stark's ambition to fly was evidently sufficiently strong to overcome his family's opposition to the risks he was taking, for he again contracted to make an exhibition flight, this time at Chilliwack, on Dominion Day, in connection with the annual fair. The whole of the Fraser Valley turned out for the event, and not the least of the attractions was the promised aeroplane flight, which was the first to be made in that area. When Stark made his first flight an extremely boisterous wind was blowing, which made matters very unpleasant for him, although the crowd on the ground enjoyed it thoroughly. In an interview the airman stated that it was just about the roughest trip he had ever made; and the Vancouver News-Advertiser stated that The wind was tricky, and but for the fact that the proposed flight had aroused great interest in the Fraser Valley, particularly among the old timers, Stark would have declined to ascend. After the performance he described it as the riskiest trip he had ever made, although [as the reporter added naively] it appeared quite safe from the ground.63 A second flight was made in the evening, by which time the weather was somewhat calmer.64 Just one month after " Billy" Stark had flown from the waters of Burrard Inlet another seaplane arrived in British Columbia. This was a Curtiss-type machine owned and piloted by Weldon B. Cooke, of Oakland, California. Holder of Aero Club licence No. 95, he was one of the well-known airmen of the day. Cooke undertook to make a series of flights at Nelson during a carnival, and made two very successful ascents, in perfect weather, on July 14. The next day he was hampered by a high wind, and it was only at the third attempt that he was able to make a short flight. On the third and fourth days " atmospheric conditions " prevented him from rising from the water, though we are told that "he delighted the spectators with an exhibition of speeding along the surface with his machine."66 (53) July 2,1914. (54) See Chilliwack Progress, July 9,1914. (55) Nelson News, July 17,1914. 260 Frank H. Ellis. October Fortunately the weather improved on the last day of the carnival, Saturday, July 18, and Cooke was able to make two flights, one of which was described as being " the most graceful and successful " of the series.66 A month later Cooke and his machine appeared at the regatta held at Kelowna, on Okanagan Lake, and an ascent was made on the afternoon of August 13. The first hydroplane flight was given at 2.25, when the aviator, Mr. Weldon B. Cooke, started from shore at the west end of the grand stand. Quickly gathering speed as his biplane skimmed over the surface of the water, the bold bird-man gracefully rose into the air and wheeled his droning flight directly towards the west side of the lake for some distance, when he described a fine sweep and circled in front of the grand stand along shore until about Jones' boat-house, where he turned and made another circle, flying this time directly over the grand stand amid hearty applause from the spectators. The aviator had perfect control of his craft, and rose or came down as he wished in his flight, which averaged from 50 to 200 feet above the water. He made a good landing on completing his second circuit, exactly at the starting point.67 A second flight was scheduled for 4 p.m., but slight engine trouble prevented him from rising, and by the time the trouble was corrected a rising wind caused him to abandon the attempt.68 With the outbreak of the first Great War, private and exhibition flying in British Columbia came to a standstill, as it did in almost all parts of Canada. This story would not be complete, however, if mention were not made of the fact that the first Aero Club of British Columbia came into being during the fall of 1915. It was organized by a number of public-spirited business-men of Vancouver, specially to train a number of young men for air service overseas. W. M. Stark's machine, which had already played so interesting a part in British Columbia's flying history, was purchased by the Club for training purposes, and Stark himself was engaged as instructor. Training was given at Minoru Park, and the first pupils to become proficient airmen were Murton A. Seymour and Phil Scott. Both served overseas with distinction, as did a (56) For complete accounts see Nelson News, July 15-18,1914. (57) Kelowna Courier, August 13,1914. (58) Ibid. 1939 Flying in British Columbia, 1910-1914. 261 number of other pupils who qualified at a later date.69 Seymour rose to the rank of Major in the Royal Flying Corps, and at the time of writing is President of the Canadian Flying Clubs Association. He resides in St. Catharines, Ontario. Thus the pioneer period of flying came to an end, a period during which many flyers rose to fame and fortune, and a great many other brave men and women lost their lives, leaving only fading memories and scattered records to mark their passing.60 Frank H. Ellis. West Vancouve (59) Scattered references to the Aero Club and found in the Vancouver newspapers throughout the example see Vancouver News-Advertiser, September 1 November 2,1915. (60) Readers may be interested to know that si Canadian aeroplanes, constructed on a scale of one half inch to the foot, have just been presented to the Vancouver Airport Committee. They will be placed on display in the Administration Building of the Vancouver Civic Airport, Sea Island. Models of McCurdy's Silver Dart, and of the McMullen- Templeton and Stark machines are included in the group. s fall of 1915. For i, 1915, and the Sun, c models of j THE EVOLUTION OF THE BOUNDARIES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. In view of the possible extension of the territorial limits of the Province of British Columbia to include the Yukon Territory, a study of the evolution of the boundaries of the Province is, perhaps, timely. Though complicated by the intricacies of boundary definitions, such a study is interesting, in that it reflects a steady expansion towards the north-east; and this naturally gives rise to the query—are the forces which operated in the past about to occasion a further advance in that direction? British activity in the North Pacific begins with the voyage of Sir Francis Drake, in 1579; and it was Drake who first bestowed a name upon the north-western portion of this continent. Landing in what is now California, he took formal possession of the country and named it New Albion; but whether or not New Albion was intended to extend as far north as the area now comprising British Columbia is a matter of controversy. Drake's voyage was an isolated episode; and continuous British interest in the North Pacific dates from the arrival of Captain James Cook at Nootka Sound, in the spring of 1778. Cook was but the precursor of many British navigators and traders, and the outcome of their activities was the clash with Spain and the Nootka Convention of 1790, which, for all practical purposes, opened the Northwest Coast to occupation by any country. Cook named many of the geographical features of the Northwest Coast, but neither set limits to the extent of New Albion nor bestowed any name of his own choosing upon the area as a whole. It remained for Captain George Vancouver, who commenced his celebrated surveys in 1792, to rob New Albion of its almost mythical extent and to set its northern limit at the 45th parallel. North of this limit Vancouver marked out four new territories along the coast—New Georgia, New Hanover, New Cornwall, and New Norfolk. The most southerly of these, New Georgia, was named on June 4, 1792 and comprised " the continent binding the said gulf [i.e., the Gulf of Georgia] and extending south- Willard E. Ireland. New Hanover Point Staniforth. Desolation Sound. 1939 The Boundaries of British Columbia. 265 ward to the 45th degree of north latitude."1 The northern limit was more precisely set at Desolation Sound in September, 1793, when New Hanover and New Cornwall were named. The former extended along the coast " from point Staniforth at the entrance of Gardner's channel, to Desolation sound, the northern extent of New Georgia,"2 and the latter comprised " the adjacent continent, to the northward from Gardner's channel, to point Roth- say, the extent of our survey to the north this season."3 The name New Norfolk was assigned to "the adjacent continent, north-westward from New Cornwall to Cross sound " on August 12, 1794,4 and formal possession was taken of all the coast from New Georgia to Cape Spencer. The boundaries thus outlined, which are indicated on the accompanying map, are of passing interest only. No attempt was made to set an eastern limit to the territories, and they exerted no influence whatever on later boundary discussions. For some years after the Nootka Convention British interests on the Pacific Coast were promoted only by the maritime fur- traders at sea and by the North West Company on land. Shortly after the turn of the 19th century direct intervention by the British Government became necessary, however, with the emergence of no less than four contenders for sovereign rights over the Northwest Coast: Great Britain, the United States, Russia, and Spain. In 1819 this number was reduced to three, by virtue of the Florida Treaty, which eliminated Spain from the competition by vesting all Spanish claims in the United States. Shortly before this, by a convention between Great Britain and the United States, dated October 20,1818, the 49th parallel had been agreed upon as the boundary between British and American territory east of the Rocky Mountains; but no delineation was made on the west side, and the Pacific slope was left open to joint occupation for ten years.6 (1) Captain George Vancouver, A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the world, London, 1801, II., p. 170. (2) Ibid., IV., p. 272. (Approximately 50° 30' to 53° 30'.) (3) Ibid., IV., p. 273. (Approximately 63° 30' to 56° 30'.) (4) Ibid., VI., p. 39. (Approximately 56° 30' to 58°.) (5) British and Foreign State Papers, 1818-1819, VI., pp. 3-5. (This series is cited hereafter as B. & F.S.P.) 266 Willard E. Ireland. October The first actual definition of a boundary west of the Rockies developed out of the assertion, in an Imperial ukase of the Russian Czar, dated September 16, 1821, of exclusive rights of trade on the Pacific Coast as far south as the 51st parallel.6 Opposition to this pretension developed immediately both in Great Britain and the United States. The latter power proposed a tri-partite treaty, under the terms of which no settlements should be made by Russia south of 55°, by the United States north of 51°, or by Great Britain north of 55° or south of 51°. If necessary, the United States was prepared to accept the 49th parallel as a northern limit for its settlements.7 This proposition was rejected by the British Government, which preferred to negotiate separately with Russia and the United States. The discussions with Russia culminated in the convention of February 28/16, 1825. The line of demarcation laid down therein was as follows:— Commencing from the Southernmost Point of the Island called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes North latitude, and between the 131st and 133rd degree of West longitude (Meridian of Greenwich), the said line shall ascend to the North along the Channel called Portland Channel, as far as the Point of the Continent where it strikes the 56th degree of North latitude; from this last-mentioned Point, the line of demarcation shall follow the summits of the mountains situated parallel to the Coast, as far as the point of intersection of the 141st degree of West longitude (of the same Meridian); and, finally, from the said point of intersection, the said Meridian Line of the 141st degree in its prolongation as far as the Frozen Ocean, shall form the limit between the Russian and British Possessions on the Continent of America to the North-West. It was understood that the whole of Prince of Wales Island was to be within Russian territory, and that the boundary between the British possessions and the Russian strip of coast would be a line parallel to the windings of the coast, never more than 10 marine leagues distant therefrom.8 Although the exact interpretation of these terms became a matter of serious dispute after Russian America was purchased (6) Ibid., 1821-1822, IX., pp. 472-483. (7) J. Q. Adams to Richard Rush, July 22, 1823, Archives, Department of State, Washington, D.C., Instructions to United States Minister in London from the Secretary of State, vol. 10. (8) B. & F.S.P., 1824-1825, XII., pp. 40-41. By a treaty dated April 17/5, 1824, the United States had recognized the line of 64° 40' as the northern limit of their claims. Ibid., p. 598. 1939 The Boundaries of British Columbia. 267 by the United States, this convention, broadly speaking, established the boundary as it exists to-day between Canada and Alaska. In other words, it determined the northern limit of British territory on the Pacific coast. The determination of the southern limit was a much more complicated problem, and Great Britain and the United States were brought to the verge of war before a final settlement was reached. It is not necessary here to detail the history of the Oregon boundary dispute.9 Joint occupancy was recognized to be only a temporary expedient, but great difficulty was experienced in replacing it by a more satisfactory permanent arrangement. The Rush-Huskisson negotiation of 1824-25 ended in failure, and the Gallatin-Addington negotiation of 1826-27 only produced an indefinite extension of the period of joint occupation, subject to abrogation on twelve months' notice.10 A diplomatic lull of nearly fifteen years was broken by the abortive efforts of Ashburton and Webster in 1842, and the equally unsuccessful attempt by Pakenham and Calhoun in 1844. The situation in the Pacific Northwest alone did not produce the Oregon Treaty of June 15, 1846. Larger national issues, particularly tariff and commercial policy, were involved and contributed to the successful conclusion of the Pakenham-Buchanan negotiation. The first Article of the Treaty is pertinent to the boundary question. From the point on the 49th parallel of north latitude, where the boundary laid down in existing Treaties and Conventions between Great Britain and The United States terminates, the line of boundary between the territories of Her Britannic Majesty and those of The United States shall be continued westward along the said 49th parallel of north latitude, to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island; and thence southerly, through the middle of the said channel, and of Fuca's Straits, to the Pacific Ocean: . . .ll By these two conventions the international aspect of the WJp|i ary question was settled, although controversies did arise over the interpretation of the rather vague phraseology used, and (9) See J. M. Callahan, American Foreign Policy in Canadian Relations, New York, 1937, pp. 127-136, 215-236. (10) Convention dated August 6, 1827. B. & F.S.P., 1826-1827, XIV., pp. 975-6. (11) Ibid., 1845-1846, XXXIV., p. 14. For summary of negotiations, 1842 to 1846, ibid., pp. 49-145. 268 Willard E. Ireland. October eventually recourse was had to arbitration before a definite boundary-line was laid down. In turning now to the purely national aspect of the boundary question, the position of the Hudson's Bay Company requires passing notice. The Royal Charter of May 2, 1670, conveyed none of the territory west of the Rocky Mountains to the Hudson's Bay Company.12 Consequently Imperial legislative action on the Pacific slope has been characterized by greater flexibility than was possible within the chartered territory. By 1821 doubts had arisen whether the Act passed in 1803, which empowered the Governor of Lower Canada to appoint Justices of the Peace for all the Indian Territory without the limits of Upper and Lower Canada,18 extended to the Company's territory of Rupert's Land. To remedy this situation a new Act was passed, empowering the Crown to make grants for the exclusive right of trade with the Indians in territory not hitherto granted to the Hudson's Bay Company, nor part of the British American Provinces, nor of the United States. Such grants were to be limited to 21 years' duration, and were not to interfere with the citizens of the United States beyond the Rocky Mountains. The judicial provisions of the earlier Act were specifically made applicable to Rupert's Land, and the Courts of Upper Canada authorized to take cognizance of causes in the Indian Territory.14 Under the provisions of this Act, the first Royal Licence " for the exclusive privilege of trading with the Indians in all such parts of North America to the northward and to the westward of the lands and territories belonging to the United States of America as shall not form part of any of our provinces in North America, or of any lands or territories belonging to the said United States of America or to any European government, state or power," was issued to the Hudson's Bay'Company on December 5, 1821.15 At a later date certain officers of the Company were issued patents as Justices of the Peace in the Indian Territory. On May 30, 1838, a renewal of this Licence was obtained. An important proviso was added, however, to the effect that nothing (12) Printed in Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons, 547 of 1842, pp. 3-9. (This series is cited hereafter as P.P., H.C.) (13) 43 Geo. III., c. 138. Imperial Statute, August 11, 1803. (14) 1 & 2 Geo. IV., c. 66. Imperial Statute, July 2, 1821. (15) Printed in P.P., H.C, 547 of 1842, pp. 21-23. 1939 The Boundaries of British Columbia. 269 in the instrument should be construed to prevent the creation of colonies within the licensed territory, and the power was reserved to revoke the Licence as it might apply to any such newly-created colony.16 It is to be noted that neither of the Licences attempted to define boundaries in any way nor to establish civil administrations. The nomenclature of the administrative districts of the Hudson's Bay Company is of indirect importance, for the name " New Caledonia" appeared in the original Bill for organizing a government on the mainland in 1858. There is, however, no documentary evidence to support the legend which has grown up around H. H. Bancroft's reference to Fort St. James as " the capital of western Caledonia."17. New Caledonia was the name given by Simon Fraser to a fur-trade district comprising according to the best approximation, " that immense tract of land lying between the Coast Range and the Rocky Mountains, from 51° 30' to 57° of latitude north."18 It was not the general practice to set exact geographic limits for fur-trade districts, and New Caledonia was no exception. Even the fur-traders themselves varied greatly, not only in the limits they suggested for that district but also as to the number of districts on the Pacific slope. For example, an early map by Archibald McDonald included within the Thompson River district all the territory from the Columbia River to the Arctic Ocean, and from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and the Russian boundary.19 Archibald McKinlay, on the other hand, omitted all reference to the Thompson River district and called the whole region from the Thompson River to the Russian possessions, New Caledonia. John Stuart, a pioneer fur-trader in the district, wrote of Western Caledonia as comprising " the whole tract of that westward of the Rocky Mts to the Pacific, extending from the Columbia River until it inter- (16) Ibid., pp. 9-11. (17) H. H. Bancroft, History of British Columbia, San Francisco, 1887, p. 57. " Capital " was here used in the sense of " fur emporium " or " chief depot" (vide, ibid., p. 59). This reference can be traced back to Archibald McDonald's journal of the canoe trip to Fort Vancouver with Sir George Simpson in 1828. Archibald McDonald, Peace River, Ottawa, 1872, p. 25. (18) A. G. Morice, History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Toronto, 1904, p. 1. (19) McDonald, op. cit, p. 101. 270 Willard E. Ireland. October sects that ideal line that is supposed to divide the Pacific from the Frozen Ocean."20 A. C. Anderson considered this a ridiculous extension, and limited the district to " the Tract watered by the Fraser and its Tributaries from the Rocky Mountains and Coast Range down to the Point about 20 miles below Alexandria now known as Soda Creek.21 Because of such contradictions and their indefiniteness, the limits of the fur-trade districts of the North West and Hudson's Bay Companies exercised little direct influence on official boundary delineations. The boundary west of the Rocky Mountains had been fixed as far north as the 49th parallel, in 1846, in great part as a result of the inrush of American settlers into the valley of the Columbia, which had taken place during the previous few years. The British Government profited by this experience and determined to buttress its sovereign rights by the establishment of a Crown Colony in its territory on the Pacific Coast. After considerable negotiation a Crown Grant of the " island called Vancouver's Island " was made to the Hudson's Bay Company on January 13, 1849, upon condition that the Company establish a colony thereon.22 Though specifically limited to Vancouver Island, actually a slightly larger territorial jurisdiction was organized, for Richard Blanshard received a commission, on July 16, 1849, as " Governor, and Commander in Chief in and over our Island of Vancouver and the Islands adjacent between the 49th and 52nd degrees of North latitude."2* Under this definition certain of the Gulf Islands which lay in British waters, but south of the 49th parallel, were left in an anomalous position. This was remedied to a degree by the Act " to provide for the Administration of Justice in Vancouver's Island," which stated:— That all such islands adjacent to Vancouver's Island or to the Western Coast of North America, and forming part of the dominions of Her Majesty, (20) Autograph notes by John Stuart written in 1842, included in A. C. Anderson, History of the Northwest Coast, (MS.), p. 104. (21) Ibid., p. 35. However, according to Roderick Finlayson " The line of demarcation between Thompson District & New Caledonia was near to Lillooet on the Fraser." Roderick Finlayson, History of Vancouver Island and the Northwest Coast, (MS.), p. 57. (22) Printed in P.P., H.C, 103 of 1849, pp. 13-16. (23) Original preserved in B.C. Archives. The italics are mine. The ed to James Douglas, May 16, 1851, contained provisions to e effect. 1939 The Boundaries of British Columbia. 271 as are southward of the fifty-second degree of North latitude, shall be deemed part of Vancouver's Island for the purposes of this Act.2* Events soon transpired which forced the British Government to expand beyond these narrow limits. As early as August, 1850, Governor Blanshard had reported to the Colonial Office the existence of gold on Queen Charlotte Island. The reports of two Hudson's Bay Company investigations were not encouraging, but rumours of the existence of a rich new gold field spread to Oregon and California, and plans were soon afoot there for an advance on the new strike. Governor Douglas heard of this projected influx, and wrote in great haste to the Home Authorities in October, 1851, urging the exclusion of foreign vessels from the island. The British Government at that time was not prepared to dispatch a force sufficient to give effect to such a prohibition, but Douglas was not disposed to let the matter drop. He returned to the subject in a dispatch written in December, and in January, 1852, reported the departure of vessels chartered by American adventurers who planned, if successful in their gold operations, to colonize the island and " establish an independent government until by force or fraud they become annexed to the United States."26 Actually, the American expedition was frightened away by the Indians and the rush soon subsided; but it left permanent results, for on July 29, 1852, a commission was issued to James Douglas as Lieutenant-Governor of Queen Charlotte Island.26 The instructions which accompanied the commission leave no doubt as to the intentions of the Colonial Office. Her Majesty's Government have no intention to sanction by this Instrument the impression that they have any design of colonizing the Country, or placing any establishment in it. The Commission is issued solely to meet the circumstances of the time. It conveys to you no power to make Laws, or constitute a regular Government, but it gives the party bearing it a position (24) 12 & 13 Vict., c. 48. Imperial Statute, July 28, 1849, reprinted in Appendix to the Revised Statutes of British Columbia, 1871, pp. 100-101. (Cited hereafter as Appendix, B.C. Statutes, 1871.) (25) Douglas to Grey, January 29, 1852, P.P., H.C, 788 of 1853, p. 2. (26) Original preserved in B.C. Archives. The archipelago now referred to as the Queen Charlotte Islands throughout the period under s called Queen Charlotte Island. 272 Willard E. Ireland. October of authority as representing Her Majesty's Government in the district, which is both important and valuable.27 The commission, moreover, did not permit the appointment of Justices of the Peace by Douglas. Only the issuance of mining licences and regulations was sanctioned. When he issued his Proclamation of March 26, 1853, and the mining regulations which followed on April 7, Douglas was using his new powers to the full.28 Nevertheless the incident is important, since by this act Queen Charlotte Island was brought within the defined area of colonial jurisdiction. In 1857 a parliamentary inquiry into the state of the British possessions in North America under the administration of the Hudson's Bay Company took place in Great Britain. The Report of this Select Committee is one of the most important Imperial blue-books bearing upon the colonial history of the British Pacific possessions. Of particular interest is the recommendation that the connection of the Hudson's Bay Company with Vancouver Island should terminate, and that means should be provided for "the ultimate extension of the colony over any portion of the adjoining continent, west of the Rocky Mountains, on which permanent settlement may be found practicable."29 Official notice of the intention to repurchase Vancouver Island was given to the Company on January 20, 1858, to take effect on the expiry of the Exclusive Licence of Trade on May 30, 1859.80 At that time (1858) the British Government had no intention of proceeding with the " ultimate extension " of the island colony over the mainland,81 but once again the course of events on the Pacific Coast forced its hand. The story of the Fraser River gold-rush of 1858, and of Douglas's efforts to control it, needs no repetition here, save to (27) Pakington to Douglas, September 27, 1852, P.P., H.C, 788 of 1853, p. 13. (28) P.P., H.C, 788 and 788-1 of 1853, passim. (Queen Charlotte Island Gold Papers.) (29) P.P., H.C, 197 of 1857, p. iv. (Report on Hudson's Bay Company, 1857.) (30) Merivale to Shepherd, January 20, 1858, P.P., H.C, 99 of 1858, pp. 4-5. The actual surrender was not completed until April 3, 1867. See Indenture for the Reconveyance of Vancouver Island, April 3,1867, reprinted in Appendix, B.C. Statutes, 1871, pp. 222-227. (31) Labouchere to Douglas, February 1, 1858, CO. 410/1. 1939 The Boundaries of British Columbia. 273 mention that the Proclamation of December 28, 1857, and the regulations for mining which followed, were totally without the jurisdiction of Douglas's Commission as Governor of Vancouver Island and its dependencies.32 The Queen Charlotte Island episode had convinced Douglas that any new gold discovery was certain to result in an influx of American miners, but the multitudes who flocked to the Fraser River mines must have exceeded his wildest fears.88 Fortunately his numerous and voluminous dispatches to the Colonial Office found immediate attention at the hands of Sir Edward Bu'lwer Lytton. On July 1, 1858, a Bill "to provide for the Government of New Caledonia" was introduced in the House of Commons. The boundaries then laid down were: on the south, the frontier of the United States; on the west, the Pacific Ocean; on the north, the 55th parallel; and on the east, the watershed between the streams which flowed into the Pacific and those which flowed into the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.84 The region drained by the Peace River and its tributaries thus lay beyond the limits of the new colony, for the 55th parallel cuts the height of land at approximately the 124th meridian of west longitude. Mr. Samuel Christy, member for Newcastle-under-Lyme, moved an amendment making the eastern boundary " the main chain of the Rocky Mountains " and the northern boundary " Simpson's River and the Finlay branch of the Peace River."35 His reasons for making this sugges- (32) Howay and Scholefield, British Columbia, Vancouver, 1914, pp. 25-54; W. N. Sage, Sir James Douglas and British Columbia, Toronto, 1930, pp. 203-34; P.P., c2398, 1858 (Gold Discovery Papers), and P.P., c2476, 1859 (B.C. Papers, part I.). (33) Some idea of the extent of the rush is suggested by the following extract from an editorial in the San Francisco Alta California, June 6, 1858: " At the present time, the boats from the interior come down every night, loaded down with miners and others, all bound for Frazer's river. The hotels in this city are fairly crammed with people, waiting for an opportunity to leave; while reports reach us from various points of the interior that parties are setting out overland for the same locality. Throughout the entire length and breadth of the State the " Frazer river fever " seems to have seized hold of the people, and threatens to break up, or at least, seriously disarrange for the time being the entire mining business of the State." (34) Hansard, Parliamentary Debates, 1858, 3rd series, CLI., p. 1347. (35) Ibid. Mr. J. A. Roebuck, member for Sheffield, suggested an even more northerly boundary. 274 Willard E. Ireland. October tion, as expressed in the course of the debate on the Bill, are interesting:— He gathered from those men who had been in the territory that the gold which was found in the Frazer River was merely the debris of the gold that existed in the Rocky Mountains; and he therefore thought it desirable that the boundaries of the new colony should be extended further north—up to Finlays River, and to the main chain of the Rocky Mountains that ran To this Lytton made no objection, and the revised boundaries appeared in the final Act " to provide for the Government of British Columbia ":— British Columbia shall, for the purposes of this Act, be held to comprise all such territories within the dominions of Her Majesty as are bounded to the South by the frontier of the United States of America, to the East by the main chain of the Rocky Mountains, to the North by Simpson's River and the Finlay branch of the Peace River, and to the West by the Pacific Ocean, and shall include Queen Charlotte's Island and all other Islands adjacent to the said territories except as hereafter excepted. . . . No part of the Colony of Vancouver's Island, as at present established, shall be comprised within British Columbia for the purposes of this Act; . . .37 Under the provisions of this Act the Courts of Upper Canada ceased to have jurisdiction in the colony; provision was made for (36) Ibid., p. 1116. (37) 21 & 22 Vict., c. 99. Imperial Statute, August 2, 1858. Appendix, B.C. Statutes, 1871, pp. 101, 103. It is difficult to transfer the boundaries of this newly created colony as set down by J. Arrowsmith in 1859 into terms of modern geography, for at the time cartographers had but a very imperfect knowledge of the northern and eastern regions. According to Arrowsmith the boundary commenced at a point on the seaboard marked I Nasse " and then followed " Simpson or Babine river," " Bear river," and a tributary of the latter, then across to the southwestern tip of Lake Thutade. Two interpretations of this portion of the boundary can be suggested. The first, following more closely the line as it appears on the Arrowsmith map, commences with the Nass River (Simpson's River) but almost immediately crosses to the Skeena River at about the 55th parallel, following that river and the Sustut (Bear River) and a tributary of the latter which rises within a short distance of the southwestern tip of Lake Thutade. The alternative is a more literal application of the boundary clause of the Act of 1858 and follows the Nass River and its tributary Dumdochax Creek to Dumdochax Lake, thence across by Kilkonis River to the Skeena and thence to Lake Thutade by the route previously suggested. From Lake Thutade the Finlay and Peace rivers form the boundary to approximately 122° 30' west longitude, whence it follows a general southeasterly direction to connect with the main chain of the Rocky Mountains in the neighbourhood of Mount Hooker. 276 Willard E. Ireland. October the ultimate union of Vancouver Island and British Columbia; and the Exclusive Licence of Trade of the Hudson's Bay Company was revoked in so far as the territory comprising the new colony was concerned.38 After taking the oaths of office as Governor at Fort Langley on November 19, 1858, Douglas read his Commission and proclaimed the Act for the Government of British Columbia to be in force.39 Thus was the colonial relationship established on the mainland of the Pacific slope. The expiration of the Hudson's Bay Company's Licence on May 30, 1859, necessitated the setting up of new administrative machinery in the territory not included in Rupert's Land nor in the British Pacific colonies. This was accomplished by an Act | to make further Provision for the Regulation of the Trade with the Indians, and for the Administration of Justice in the Northwestern Territories of America," which empowered the Crown to appoint Justices of the Peace authorized to try offences summarily, and to punish by fine and imprisonment, in the British American Indian Territories. Causes involving the death sentence, or in which the punishment which could be imposed by a Justice was inadequate, were to be sent to trial in the Courts of either Upper Canada or British Columbia. The power to make regulations for the conduct of the trade with the Indians was also conferred on the Crown,40 but it was not the immediate intention of the Government to avail itself of any of the powers under this Act.41 The hectic days of 1858 were never again repeated in the annals of British Columbia mining. Depression followed hard on the heels of the first rush to the Fraser River mines. Thereafter British Columbia's development was characterized by a gradual extension of the mining frontier. In the fall of 1861 rumours reached Victoria of gold strikes on the Stikine River. These were confirmed early in 1862, and Governor Douglas (38) Proclamation, dated November 3, 1858, Appendix, B.C. Statutes, 1871, pp. 228-9. (39) The name New Caledonia was dropped lest confusion might arise with the French colony of the same name. British Columbia was substituted at the suggestion of Queen Victoria. (40) 22 & 23 Vict, c. 26. Imperial Statute, August 13, 1859. Appendix, B.C. Statutes, 1871, pp. 105-7. (41) Newcastle to Douglas, September 5, 1859, CO. 398/1. 1939 The Boundaries of British Columbia. 277 hastened to communicate the news to the Colonial Office, at the same time raising the question of the form of government to be established in this district, which lay to the north of British Columbia. A minor rush to the new gold fields ensued.42 To preserve law and-order Douglas suggested that he be empowered to extend the laws of British Columbia "to all parts of Her Majesty's Dominions, West of the Rocky Mountains not included in the limits of any other Colony."43 The Colonial Office was reluctant to form a new government in so remote a region, yet the Indian Territory Act of 1859 was inconvenient, for the Justices of the Peace would have to be appointed in England and no provision had been made for paying them. Consequently the decision was reached to declare the Governor of British Columbia administrator of the territory for the time being. An Order in Council to this effect was issued on July 19, 1862, which defined the limits of the territory as follows:— ... the said Stickeen territories shall comprise so much of the dominions of Her Majesty as are bounded to the west and south-west by the frontier of Russian America, to the south and south-east by the boundary of British Columbia, to the east by the 125th meridian of west longitude, and to the north by the 62nd parallel of north latitude." (42) An index of its extent is suggested by the following table, compiled from the monthly Statement of Vessels Cleared at the Port of Victoria as they appeared in the Victoria Colonist:— It is impossible to ascertain the number of persons involved; 750 would be a liberal estimate. (43) Douglas to Newcastle, July 9, 1862, Separate, CO. 60/13. (44) Appendix, B.C. Statutes, 1871, p. 190. No explanation can be found for the eastern and northern limits set down. The only suggestion is that they were to be extensive enough to include the whole of the Stikine River basin and any future gold discoveries to the north. The boundaries thus described appear on a map constructed by Hermann Berghaus and Fr. v Stulpnagel, in Gotha, 1863. See Alaska Boundary Tribunal, Atlas Accompanying the case of the United States, Washington, D.C, 1903, p. 21. The spelling of Stickeen varies greatly; other forms used were: Stekin, Stikin, and Stiken. 278 Willard E. Ireland. October The Territory of Stickeen was a creation of convenience and had only a short existence as a separate entity. The Order in Council first appeared in the Government Gazette, then published in the New Westminster British Columbian, on November 26, 1862.46 Wide powers were given Governor Douglas as Administrator in the organization of a judiciary and the regulation of mining operations and land sales, but there is no evidence that they were ever put to use, as the mining excitement was shortlived. Long winters and recurrent freshets made the Stikine a poor placer-mining river. Moreover, the law in force in the Territory was the law of England as it existed on the first day of January, 1862, and not that of British Columbia. The latter, in so far as mining regulations were concerned, had been created to meet the particular needs of the local placer-mining regions, and consequently would have been much more practicable in the northern territory than existing English law. Douglas did, however, write one official dispatch in his capacity as Administrator. It was dated November 17, 1862, and marked " Stickeen Territory, No. 1," and raised the question of the extension of the laws of British Columbia to the northern territory. A typical Douglas touch was the inquiry as to whether any additional salary was to be expected.46 Upon receipt of this dispatch the Colonial Office decided upon a new line of action. To understand the change it must be borne in mind that this was the era in British American colonial history when regional unions looking to ultimate confederation were being encouraged. An illustration of this is to be found in the Maritime Provinces, where the Colonial Office actively encouraged the efforts of Sir Arthur Gordon, Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, to form a union of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. The Charlottetown Conference of September, 1864, met to consider such a union, but was swept into the larger confederation by the attendance of the Canadian (45) The Victoria Colonist had earlier made reference to the Order; see item " The Colony of Stekin " in the issue of November 18, 1862. (46) This dispatch was found in the Public Record Office, London, in CO. 60/13. 1939 The Boundaries of British Columbia. delegation.47 Local conditions in British Columbia and Vancouver Island made impracticable the application of this principle to the Pacific Coast, as Newcastle ably pointed out in a Minute dated March 27, 1863; but the Stickeen Territory was quite a different matter.48 The Government of British Columbia Act of 1858 was a temporary provision, expiring on December 31, 1862, or at the end of the session of parliament then sitting. When the question came under review, in 1863, the decision was reached to amalgamate the mainland possessions, and the boundary clause of the Act " to define the Boundaries of the Colony of British Columbia, and to continue an Act to provide for the Government of the said Colony " read as follows:— British Columbia shall, for the purposes of the said Act, and for all other purposes, be held to comprise all such territories within the Dominions of Her Majesty as are bounded to the South by the territories of the United States of America, to the West by the Pacific Ocean and the frontier of the Russian Territories in North America, to the North by the sixtieth parallel of north latitude, and to the East from the boundary of the United States northwards, by the Rocky Mountains and the one hundred and twentieth meridian of west longitude, and shall include Queen Charlotte Island and all other Islands adjacent to the said Territories, except Vancouver Island and the Islands adjacent thereto.49 No explanation was offered for the withdrawal from the 62nd to the 60th parallel as the northern boundary. The fact that the latter parallel is the nearest to the commencement of the boundary along the 141st meridian, as laid down in the 1825 treaty with Russia, may have influenced this decision. The extension of the eastern boundary from the 125th to the 120th meridian is (47) W. M. Whitelaw, The Maritimes and Canada before Confederation, Toronto, 1934, pp. 173-206. Chester Martin, " British Policy in Canadian Confederation," Canadian Historical Review, XIII. (1932), pp. 3-19. (48) In this Minute, March 27, 1863, Newcastle wrote: "I think the present opportunity should be taken to annex Stikeen to the Colony of British Columbia. I see no other way of adequately providing for its government without making it a separate Govt, at the expense of the Mother Country—which must be avoided." CO. 60/17. This Minute formed the basis of Newcastle to Douglas, June 15,1863, Separate, announcing the separation of the administrations of British Columbia and Vancouver Island. P.P., c3667, 1866, pp. 1-3. (Union Papers.) (49) 26 & 27 Vict., c. 83. Imperial Statute, July 28, 1863. Appendix, B.C. Statutes, 1871, p. 116. 280 Willard E. Ireland. October explained by the mild rush to the diggings in the Peace River area which took place in October, 1862.60 The complete separation of British Columbia and Vancouver Island under separate governors, in 1864, on the surface appears to be a contradiction of the general policy of the Colonial Office to encourage the union of small adjoining colonies, whereas actually it was a concession to purely local conditions and contrary to the wishes of the Colonial Secretary. Consequently, once Vancouver Island expressed a willingness to unite with the mainland, the consummation of the union was not long delayed. An Act " for the Union of the Colony of Vancouver Island with the Colony of British Columbia" was rushed through the British parliament without debate at the end of the session of 1866. Until the Union was proclaimed the boundaries of British Columbia were to continue as cited in the Act of 1863. The Union Act then continues:— After the union British Columbia shall comprise all the territories and islands aforesaid and Vancouver Island and the islands adjacent thereto.61 With the proclamation of this Act by Governor Seymour on November 19, 1866, the boundaries of British Columbia as we now know them came into being. No alteration was made at the time of Confederation. The Order in Council of May 16, 1871, simply provided " that from and after the twentieth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, the said Colony of British Columbia shall be admitted into and become part of the Dominion of Canada."62 The history of " British Columbia irridenta " can be briefly sketched. After the passage of the Act of 1863, which set the (50) New Westminster British Columbian, October 1, 1862; Victoria Colonist, October 11, 1862; Douglas to Newcastle, October 27, 1862, Separate, CO. 60/13. Newcastle's speech introducing the 1863 Act reveals the influence of this news: " With regard to the present Bill, the Act of 1858 had prescribed certain limits to the colony of British Columbia which were amply sufficient at the time. But since then very large gold districts had been discovered north of that boundary, and it was necessary to have some laws there, and a magistrate to enforce them. It was now proposed, therefore, to add that district to the colony of British Columbia." Hansard, Parliamentary Debates, 1863, CLXXII., p. 54. Similar ideas were expressed by Chichester Fortescue in the House of Commons. Ibid., p. 1322. (51) 29 & 30 Vict., e. 67. Imperial Statute, August 6, 1866. Appendix, B.C. Statutes, 1871, p. 130. (52) Ibid., p. 194. 1939 The Boundaries of British Columbia. 281 northern limit at the 60th parallel, the district formerly within Stickeen Territory stretching to the 62nd parallel reverted to the jurisdiction of the Imperial Government, under the provisions of the Indian Territories Act of 1859.63 The Canadian Government had long been negotiating for the surrender of Rupert's Land by the Hudson's Bay Company, and the transfer of the Northwest Territories to its jurisdiction by the Home Government, and, in anticipation of these transfers, had passed an Act "for the temporary Government of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory when united with Canada."64 Under the provisions of this Act, William McDougall was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Northwest Territories, and his jurisdiction extended to the fragment of the Stikeen Territory not included in British Columbia. The Red River Rebellion intervened, and the transfer was not actually accomplished until June 23,1870, when by Order in Council Rupert's Land and the Northwest Territory were admitted to the Dominion of Canada.66 Temporary provision for its government was made in the Manitoba Act, 1870,66 and a permanent organization was set up by the Northwest Territories Act of 1875.67 The greater part of the Stickeen remnant passed into the Yukon Territory under the provisions of the Yukon Territory Act of 1898.58 Reference has already been made to the vague phraseology of the two international treaties affecting the boundaries of British Columbia. The interpretation of the wording of the Oregon Treaty fixing the boundary through the Gulf of Georgia and the Straits of Juan de Fuca was the subject of prolonged controversy. In the end an arbitration by the Emperor of Germany was agreed upon, and the award handed down on October 21, 1872, gave the United States the larger part of the disputed San Juan Archipelago by fixing upon Haro Channel as the (53) 22 & 23 Vict., c. 26. Imperial Statute, August 13, 1859. (54) 32 & 33 Vict., c. 3. Dominion Statute, June 22, 1869. See E. H. Oliver, The Canadian North West, Ottawa, 1915, II., pp. 972-3. (65) Ibid., pp. 939-944. (56) 33 Vict., c. 3. Dominion Statute, May 12, 1870. Ibid., pp. 964-972. (57) 38 Vict, c. 49. Dominion Statute, April 8, 1875. Ibid., pp. 1075- 1100. (58) 61 Vict., c. 6. Dominion Statute, June 13, 1898. 282 Willard E. Ireland. boundary.69 Even more serious was the controversy over the boundary of the Alaskan " pan-handle." By virtue of the purchase of Alaska in 1867 the United States succeeded to Russian claims in that region, and after the failure of numerous negotiations the question was submitted to a tribunal of " six impartial jurists of repute," three to be appointed by each disputant. By their award of October 20, 1903, Cape Muzon became the point of commencement of the boundary, and the islands lying off Portland Channel were divided between the two nations. By a majority decision a continuous fringe of coast, not exceeding ten marine leagues in width, was to separate the British possessions from the sea-coast between the 65th parallel and Cross Sound.60 The story of the evolution of the boundaries of British Columbia is inextricably interwoven with the mining development of the Province. Successive gold-rushes to the Queen Charlotte Islands, to the Fraser, the Stikine and the Peace rivers have left their imprint on the physical boundaries of the Province. The Klondike and the " trail of '98," which called into being the Yukon Territory, was the last of this series of advances. It remains to be seen whether the penetration of the mining frontier into the Mackenzie River valley will produce yet another extension of the boundaries of British Columbia. Willard E. Ireland. New Westminster, B.C. SIR JAMES GOES ABROAD. Just a month after his retirement as Governor of British Columbia, in the spring of 1864, Sir James Douglas left Victoria, bound for Europe on a tour which was to last for more than a year. Hitherto little has been known about this journey except the bare itinerary; but the diary kept by Sir James in the course of his travels has now found its way to the Provincial Archives and enables us to add details. Much of the diary is either purely personal or merely interesting, but it contains a few passages of considerable historical importance, and it may be well to deal with these first. Of particular moment are two lengthy entries which together constitute the clearest and most uncompromising statement of Douglas's political philosophy which has yet come to light. Written as they were, shortly after his retirement, it would seem legitimate •to assume that they express his mature convictions, after a personal experience in government over a period of more than twelve years. The first entry, under the date January 19, 1865, was prompted by conditions in Spain, and was written as Douglas travelled to Marseilles, after a ten-day visit to Burgos, Madrid, and Barcelona. It commences as follows:— Spain is a sadly misgoverned Country; the state of the public revenue, the Police, the public roads, the currency, the system of Taxation, all show unmistakable evidences of ignorance and neglect. Instead of spending valuable time in discussing the principles of Representative Government, the " Cortes " or States of the Realm, should at once address itself to the more practical duty of reforming the local institutions, and the regulation of the finances, [which are] suffering from years of gross bureaucratic corruption and oppression. No questions are likely to arise calculated to test the wisdom of those minute provisions which the constitution embraces, but there is no want of subjects on which the powers of the wisest statesmen, and of the most Patriotic Legislature, might very profitably be employed. Spain has never enjoyed a tolerable Government. The crying evils of Spain are corruption in all the branches of Government, brigandage, [and] the oppression •practised on the inhabitants of the rural District. . . . Having stated the problem as he saw it, Douglas next outlined the reforms which he considered were essential for its solution. 1st. Reduce the overgrown establishment, upon which the public revenue is lavished, absorbing not only the central, but the local funds in useless and 284 W. Kaye Lamb. October superfluous offices, and this in a country more than any other in the world requiring an enlightened and liberal expenditure on public works. 2nd. Protection. The first end and object of Government is to obtain for its subjects, protection for life and property. Where this has been thoroughly done, when these things cease to be matter of anxiety and speculation, when men feel a thorough confidence that they will be permitted to reap what they have sown and that they sleep secure from mid-night violence, then let them turn their attention to more abstruse political questions, and grant to the people a voice in the expenditure of their own revenue, and in the nomination of their own Ministers. That which is The second declaration of political principles in the diary forms an interesting complement to the passages just quoted. For it shows that in these passages Douglas was expressing a fundamental conviction, and that he was not merely generalizing in an idle way from conditions as he had found them in Spain. There is no escaping the conclusion that Sir James was not a democrat. Democracy appealed to him as little in Great Britain as it did in Spain; and the day before he left England to return to Vancouver Island (May 1, 1865) he confided as much to his journal:— Representative Government cannot be carried on without recourse directly or indirectly to bribery and corrupting influences. As long as a Government is poor, and offers no temptations to cupidity, it may retain its integrity. On the contrary, when such a Government with a low state of franchise has an extensive patronage, there immediately arises a class who live on the garbage of Government, or in other words on this patronage, and who use all their influence and eloquence among the people to secure their votes, and to get this Government patronage into their own hands and controul. People do not naturally take much interest in affairs of Government, as long as affairs go on well and prosperously, and are content to leave questions of state to the ruling classes. Instance Joint Stock Coy.—though private interests are concerned it is difficult to get a quorum of shareholders together. Men give their proxies to others to vote according to their own judgment. So it is with men in affairs of State, they take little interest in them. Demagogues rouse their passions, guide their opinions, and lead the mob. Thousands of people are, from neglect, from ignorance, from following avocations which allows [sic] them little time for thought, disqualified, and cannot judge rightly of profound questions of state. Parties give the tone to public opinion and receive these opinions from the leaders of those parties, who really govern states. The best form of government, if attainable, [is] that of a wise and good despotism. A word should be said about Douglas and the Colonial Office. He called soon after he arrived in London, but his journal gives no details. The next day, it is interesting to note, he left a card 1939 Sir James Goes Abroad. 285 at Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton's, but there is no indication that Douglas and Lytton ever met. It might well have been an interesting interview. Some weeks later (July 20,1864), Sir James dined with Lord Cardwell, who in April had succeeded the Duke of Newcastle as Secretary of State for the Colonies. The entry in Douglas's diary shows that although he had retired he was still actively interested in the two colonies he had governed:— Dined at Mr. Cardwell's. 18 covers. . . . Honble. Arthur Gordon, Governor of New Brunswick, and others present. Advised Mr. Cardwell to veto every attempt should any be made by the local Governments of British Columbia or Vancouver Island to change or modify the system of Government now established or to deviate from the Indian policy. The late murders [the Bute Inlet massacres] to be treated as crimes and not as partaking in any way of a national [i.e., racial] character. They have indeed nothing of a national character, nor of an insurrectionary spirit, and are the act merely of a small body of Indians, probably incited to these atrocious deeds by feeling of revenge for some real or fancied injury. I expressed my wish to be of service, in any way desirable, and that I should be in readiness at any moment to wait upon the Minister [Cardwell], who thanked me, and observed he was glad to hear that such were my Just before he left England Douglas called again at the Colonial Office and had an interview with Mr. Blackwood, head of the North American department. He noted in his diary that he was " To address a Minute to the Right H[on]. E. Cardwell," but the subject of the minute is not indicated, nor is it known whether or not the document was ever submitted. So much for the political aspect of the diary. The travel journal commences May 14, 1864—the day Sir James left Victoria—and terminates on May 16, 1865, with his arrival at St. Thomas, homeward bound. It is contained in a single foolscap-size diary, which accounts for the fact that it covers almost exactly a year. It may have been continued in a second book, but, if so, the whereabouts of the continuation is unknown. For most of the year Sir James kept the diary with meticulous care and with a characteristic attention to detail. As it is written in his own incredibly small, clear, and closely written hand, many of the notes are of considerable length. The nature 286 W. Kaye Lamb. October of the personal entries can be shown by quoting from the opening page, which describes Douglas's departure from Victoria:— Left home at 6 P.M. Drove to Esquimalt ... A crowd at the Steamer Sierra Nevada (1200 tons), [Captain] Connor, by which we travel. First view of saloon not comfortable. Berths [staterooms] opening into it on both sides. Plain cushioned forms with straight plank backs, running lengthwise, for seats; no other furniture whatever, neither chair nor table in the place. How lucky I brought my [deck?] chair. The saloon rather crowded. ... My berth, no. 26, full of luggage; had it cleared out, and Captain Connor made it comfortable by taking down and removing the upper sleeping berths. My cabin is 6% feet long, 5% feet wide, 6% feet high— and has three sleeping bunks, piled one above the other, and a wash stand. There is exactly 25 inches in height between the beds, scant breathing room this for three human beings under a tropical sun. A warm greeting and sad parting from many sincere friends who came to say farewell. Got under weigh at nine, a breeze but water smooth. Tea and toast and champagne banished grief and restored hilarity. Milk execrable. About 70 passengers. Cabin [fare] $45. Steerage $25. I have a cabin all to myself. Connor kindly offered me his cabin, which I declined. Retired at 10. Lamp dim, could not read. Bed clothes scanty in size and light. Awoke several times during the night, lost the coverings, and after long groping in the dark for the sheets, discovered them gathered napkin fashion about my neck. Bed soft and comfortable, and contrived to get through the night without my own pillow. The Sierra Nevada arrived in San Francisco on May 18, after a good passage, and Douglas at once set out to see the sights of the city. On the 20th, in the words of his diary, he " Made an excursion by the rail road to San Jose. Left Town at 8 A.M. Reached San Joseph at 10." The brevity of this account is amazing, as this must have been the first railway journey Sir James ever made. It is all the more surprising in view of the fact that later entries make it clear that Douglas was keenly interested in transportation, both on sea and land, and delighted to jot down elaborate details regarding the steamers and railroads—but especially the steamships—by which he travelled. For example, when he sailed from San Francisco for Panama in the Pacific Mail liner Golden City, on May 23, he wrote as follows:— The Golden City is a beautiful side wheel steamer, 4600 tons burthen— 350 feet long, 45 feet beam, 31 feet depth. She has one cylinder 105 inches in diameter, with 12 feet stroke of piston. Her motive power is of the most economical character. She or any vessel of her stamp will make the same distance on half the coal consumed by [other] vessels of their tonnage. 1939 Sir James Goes Abroad. 287 Where some of the big ships burn from ninety to one hundred tons per day these new steamers like the Golden City burn on[ly] 35 tons. Early hi June, when he crossed the Isthmus, Douglas penned an elaborate account of the Panama Railway, which gives exact details of such varied items as its construction contracts, maximum grades, culverts, bridges, and track-maintenance staff. On the Atlantic, the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company's steamer Thamor, which carried him from Aspinwall to St. Thomas, failed to arouse his interest, possibly because the passage was rough and thoroughly disagreeable; but it was otherwise with the Shannon, in which he sailed from St. Thomas on June 13, bound for Southampton. Nothing about her pleased him, and he wrote down his opinions in no uncertain tone, bolstering them well with details, and frequently contrasting her with the " magnificent" Golden City. One entry reads:— Speed averages about 9% knots. Consumption of coal 78% tons. The ship has no spring; she is driven like a log through the water by the sheer force of coal. I am certainly greatly disappointed in the Shannon. How different is the.Golden City, of nearly 6000 tons burden, running 11% and 12 knots with a consumption of 34 tons of coal. It will be noted that Sir James's displeasure was based in part upon economics. He abhorred waste, even in the coal bill of a steamer in which he had not the remotest financial interest; and day after day he expressed his disgust in his diary. Her engines were old fashioned; they occupied too much space; they had cost no less than £48,000—" 800 horsepower £63 ea[ch] " —and her paddle-wheels had cost £3,000 more. When her average speed at last rose to 10 knots it gave him no pleasure, for her boilers devoured first 84 and finally 92 tons of coal in 24 hours. At last on Monday, June 27, 1864, the despised Shannon docked in Southampton, and Sir James set foot in England after an absence of 45 years. It was a dramatic moment, and there is a certain poignancy about the entry in his diary:— Left by the 5 o'clock express train. London at 7 P.M. Put up at the Clarendon. The country charming, every inch cultivated like a garden. Bright green fields, sunny slopes, graceful undulations, shady groves, beautiful trees, towns and villages, farm houses, noble seats, embowered in trees laid out with an astonishing degree of good taste form an assemblage of objects that fill the mind with delight; to me it was enchanting and as we flew over the ground in a comfortable first-class car I could not take my eyes off it for a moment. I gazed in fact till both eye and head ached. J 288 W. Kaye Lamb. October Let who will boast of the tropics; to me there is no country half so beautiful as old England in summer. It may be interpolated here that Sir James was evidently treated with some deference on his travels. It will be recalled that Captain Connor offered him his own cabin aboard the Sierra Nevada. In San Francisco he received calls from several officers of the United States Navy, " and on his departure," the Victoria Colonist records, " he was escorted to the steamer by a large number both of Englishmen and Americans, and by a fine brass band, playing English national airs." In the Golden City he sat next the captain at table, and, finally, the London Times duly chronicled his arrival in the Shannon. Douglas spent ten days in London and, although he made a few official calls, most of his time was devoted to a methodical programme of sightseeing. He saw all the usual sights, including Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, and the National Gallery, where, of all the paintings, it is interesting to note that he considered a " Portrait of Rembrandt by himself the best." His reaction to more popular attractions was not always a happy one, as the following note in his diary suggests:— * Madame Tussaud's waxwork and the Zoological Gardens, Regents Park. Melancholy impression left by the former. Vain and fleeting is human greatness. Sir James next spent twelve days in the South of England, going first to Bournemouth and later to Devon and Cornwall. Then, after a few more days in London, he set out on a month's visit to the North and Scotland. From Edinburgh he travelled through the Trossachs to Glasgow, and thence proceeded to Inverness to spend a fortnight with his daughter Jane, wife of Alexander Grant Dallas. Returning to Glasgow, he next proceeded to Lanark. This visit is of much interest to the historian, because very little is known about Sir James's early life, and it was at Lanark that he went to school; but the account of the visit in his diary is more tantalizing than enlightening:— Took the 4 o'clock Train for Lanark, changed trains at Carstairs, arrived at the Clyesdale at 5.40. Hotel most comfortable; dinner and appetite both excellent; potatoes particularly good; sherry fair. Lanark has grown in size, but the Houses of half a century ago are still standing and not improved by age. The old people are all gone, and even their names are no more known in their once familiar haunts, and their very memory has perished—as it is with them so will it be with us. Lanark very cheerful. 1939 Sir James Goes Abroad. 289 Mr. Gillespie's comfortable little heather covered cottage and the Manse are scarce at all changed. I had forgot much about the place, its outlines like the features of a faded picture are gradually freshening and becoming more vivid and distinct. Though Douglas remained three days in Lanark and its vicinity, he makes no further comment of interest. Somehow one gains the impression that the visit was not a happy one. Months later, when travelling in the South of France, Sir James entered into conversation with a fellow traveller, who turned out to be Lord de Rous, Governor of the Tower of London. To Lord de Rous he told the story of his life; and he may well have had Lanark in mind when he wrote the following notes on the conversation in his diary (January 27, 1865):— My history is a rather curious one. I left England on leaving school and have never returned to it till now—after an absence of 40 years. Described the Colonies—all [i.e., Lord de Rous, his wife and daughter] much interested. Reflections on a return home after so long an absence— more painful than agreeable—the face of nature remains the same, but every thing else is changed. I was advised of these changes, deaths and departures were duly reported, but it was only upon my return that I felt the stern reality. Before then I saw only the image of home as I left it, peopled with those who were dear to me, indelibly photographed as it were upon the mind. The vision is now dispelled and the past with its delusive hopes has for ever vanished. From Lanark, Douglas went to Carlisle, paused a day in the Lake Country, and next paid a brief visit to Hereford—brief because a musical festival was in progress, and the hotels full:— . . . For if there is any one thing, that is to me more intensely disagreeable, than all other things, it is a crowded town, where one is charged extreme prices for everything, and every one is uncomfortable. Oxford was his next stopping-place, and Sir James " spent the day in running over and inspecting the different Colleges in this wonderful place." But even his pen quailed before the effort a description of the sights seen that day would involve, and the diary for once takes refuge in the entry: " To describe them would require a volume. See Guide Book." After three days in London, and a fortnight spent with relatives in the country, Douglas prepared to leave for the continent. He proceeded first to Walmer, in Kent, to visit W. A. G. Young, Colonial Secretary of British Columbia, and Mrs. Young, who had travelled with him to England, and then on September 26 1 the Channel and arrived in Paris. 290 W. Kaye Lamb. October Three days later he set out on a circular tour which took him to Geneva and other points in Switzerland, and then down the Rhine to Cologne and Dusseldorf. His mind never seems to have been very far from home, even in the midst of Europe's finest scenery. One morning he saw Mont Blanc magnificently at sunrise, yet later in the day he noted in his diary: " The views are very imposing but as seen from Chamonix the mountains do not appear so grand or massive as the Rocky Mountains." Ten days later he was travelling down the Rhine, but he was thinking of the Fraser:— The River occupies a wide channel from Mannheim to Mayence forming numberless low bushy Islands, flooded in the freshet, and unoccupied for any useful'purpose, and with all the wildness of the Fraser between Langley and Harrison River, the resemblance being very striking save that no high land is seen on either side of the Rhine as far as Oppenheim. . . . The scenery therefore is tame and uninteresting. After a brief stay in Holland, Douglas returned to Paris by way of Antwerp, where he noted that the women were " not so pretty as the Dutch girls of Rotterdam "; Bruges, where he divided his admiration between the Memling paintings and the dexterity of the lace-makers; and Reims, where he visited the wine caves, and entered in his diary a long description of how champagne is made. Though he had been travelling without a pause for almost two months, Douglas remained in Paris only a fortnight before setting out on a much more extended tour of the continent. He first visited Versailles, then passed on to LeMans and Tours, and spent Christmas in Bordeaux. A sentence from his description of the festivities is amusing:— Many games want a money stake, the stimulus of gaming, to make them endurable, but not so the fine old Game of Whist. It has combinations, it occupies the mind, it is interesting of itself. New Year's Day, 1865, was spent in Pau, and after a visit to Biarritz, Sir James entered Spain. He remained ten days and visited Burgos, Madrid, and Barcelona; but his impression of the country was not favourable, largely because of the mis- i government which was everywhere apparent. The fortnight spent in the South of France was a much happier experience. From Nice Sir James travelled to Naples by steamer, and the lengthy and vivid description in his diary makes it clear that he was fascinated by the ruins of nearby Pompeii. At this 1939 Sir James Goes Abroad. 291 point Douglas's usual good health deserted him, and he spent a miserable fortnight in Rome, where for a few days he was seriously ill. He was sufficiently well to enjoy his visits to Pisa, Florence, and Milan, but a gale was blowing and snow was falling when he arrived in Venice on March 20. The entry in his diary that day is characteristic:— Walked a little about the Town. My Hotel a former palace, magnificently furnished large lofty rooms, but cold and comfortless. Shivering all day. There is no satisfaction in cheerless Pomp, a comfortable log hut is preferable. From this point wintry weather marred the tour, and though he visited many cities, including Vienna, Munich, Baden Baden, and Strasbourg, Sir James was back in Paris on April 3. There he found awaiting him letters from home informing him of the death in February of his daughter Cecilia, wife of Dr. J. S. Helmcken. He did his utmost to take the blow bravely, and continued his methodical sightseeing as usual; but it is perhaps significant that he returned almost at once to London, and that his diary dwindles suddenly, for the most part, to a series of brief notes upon the weather. Except for the elaborate passage on Representative Government, already quoted, it contains little of interest. Sir James spent three busy weeks in London, shopping and preparing for the homeward journey. He sailed from Southampton in the Royal Mail steamer Atrato on May 2, 1865, and, as already noted, his diary ends with the arrival of the vessel at St. Thomas on May 16. He travelled on by way of Kingston, Panama, and San Francisco, and arrived at Victoria in the Brother Jonathan on June 26, 1865. James Douglas, jr., returned from England with his father. Some eight weeks after his return, on August 21, 1865, Sir James summed up his impressions of his tour in a letter to Mr. H. P. P. (later Sir Henry) Crease. As this letter has also found its way to the Provincial Archives, it is possible to quote the following paragraphs:— Save for the voyage out and home, I greatly enjoyed my late trip. I ran over almost every city of note, in south and central Europe. I saw Palaces, Museums, Pictures, Antiquities, Sculptures, works of Art, Parks and every attractive object from the famed ruins of Poestum and Pompeii, to the latest innovations of modern genius. This was severe work, necessitating 292 W. Kaye Lamb. constant activity, and leaving hardly a day's leisure, from the hour of landing in England until I left Southampton again on my return home. Such was my experimental tour. If spared a few years longer I hope to repeat it with renewed zest, confining my rambles however, on the next occasion, to a narrower field. Though this plan was not carried out quite in the way intended, it will be recalled that Douglas did pay a second visit to Europe in 1874, in order to accompany his daughter Martha (later Mrs. Dennis R. Harris) home from England. He was absent from Victoria only from June 25 to September 26, but spent about a month visiting friends and relatives in England and Scotland. In conclusion it may be added that Sir James's travel diary of 1864-65 contains certain references to places and relatives which, when the return of peace makes it possible to consult records on file in London and Scotland, promise to solve the mystery of Douglas's family and ancestry. W. Kaye Lamb. NOTES AND COMMENTS. CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE. Frank H. Ellis is one of seven living Canadian aviators who flew before the Great War, and is thus qualified by experience as well as by knowledge to write the history of pioneer flying in British Columbia. During the war he served for two years with the Royal Air Force, and a parachute descent which he made in 1919 was the first made by a British subject from an aeroplane in Canada. In October, 1920, he was a member of the crew of the first aeroplane to fly into Northern Canada. The flight was made from Winnipeg to The Pas, and an account of it will be found in the article entitled " Flying Machine arrived Sunday," which Mr. Ellis contributed to the September number of the Beaver. He is the author of Duration Flying Models, a manual for the model-aircraft builder, which was published in London in 1936. Willard E. Ireland is a graduate of the University of British Columbia, and received the degree of Master of Arts from the University of Toronto in 1935. His thesis was entitled British Columbia, the United States, and British American Union, and Mr. Ireland is at present preparing a much more comprehensive study in the same field. His research has taken him to the Public Archives in Ottawa, to the National Archives and the Archives of the Department of State in Washington, D.C, and to the Public Record Office and the Archives of the Hudson's Bay Company in London. HISTORIC SITES AND MONUMENTS. Gratifying progress has been made recently i; Purchase op the Helmcken Home, Victoria. Late in July it was announced that the Government had purchased the old home of the late Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken, and that the building would be turned over to the Provincial Archives for use as an historical museum. For many years the house has been the residence of Dr. Helmcken's daughter, Mrs. Edith L. Higgins, who died in April, and it was the generosity of the heirs to her estate which made the preservation of the building possible. The house is situated on Elliott Street, almost within the shadow of the Parliament Buildings, and stands on ground which originally formed part of the James Bay estate of Sir James Douglas. The site was given to Dr. Helmcken when he married Douglas's daughter Cecilia, in 1852, and the oldest portion of the residence was built the same year. Additions were twice made in later years but, fortunately, this first unit has survived practically unaltered. So far as is known, there is only one older house now standing in British Columbia—the home built in Oak Bay by the Hon. John Tod, in 1851—but this has been reconstructed, and the Helmcken house is the oldest residence which survives in anything approaching its original 294 Notes and Comments. October condition. Incidentally it is one of only five buildings earlier in date than 1858 which are still standing on Vancouver Island, the others being the Hudson's Bay Bastion at Nanaimo, the Craigflower farm-house, the old Craigflower school, and the Tod home already mentioned. It is gratifying to note that three of the five are now publicly owned. Dr. Helmcken was one of Vancouver Island's most distinguished pioneers, and the Province has acquired a property rich in associations with its early history. He arrived in Victoria in 1850, and was the first magistrate appointed in the old Crown Colony of Vancouver Island. When a House of Assembly was constituted in 1856 he became its Speaker, a position which he retained until British Columbia joined the Dominion in 1871. He was one of the three delegates sent to Ottawa at that time to negotiate the terms of Confederation, and refused a Senatorship soon after. Retiring from politics, he lived quietly in Victoria for almost half a century, and died as recently as 1920 at the ripe old age of 95. As the old home will be preserved as a museum, Mrs. Higgins's heirs have removed only a few family heirlooms and have left in the building all the contents of historical interest. They have also presented to the Archives a large number of Dr. Helmcken's personal papers, many of which relate to the early days of the old Crown Colony, and which together form an exceedingly valuable and interesting addition to the manuscript collection. The work of restoring the house and adapting it for museum purposes has already commenced, but it may not be possible to open it to the public as soon as anticipated, owing to the outbreak of war. Cariboo Road Memorial at Lillooet. About 200 persons gathered at Lillooet on Labour Day when Dr. W. Kaye Lamb, Provincial Archivist, unveiled and presented to the people of Cariboo a cairn which marks " Mile Zero " of the Cariboo Road. The handsome monument is constructed of stones obtained from old placer-streams, and was built by the Lillooet Historical Society. A bronze tablet embedded in the stone bears the following inscription:— Erected by the Historical Society of Lillooet September 4th, 1939 To commemorate the building of the Cariboo Road Construction commenced from Lillooet in 1859 MileO Though the first long section of the famous old Cariboo Road, extending from Lillooet to Cut-off Valley (now Clinton), was not completed until 1861, it is nevertheless true that the first stretch of road traversed by the traveller as he set out for Cariboo—that from the town of Lillooet to the Fraser River—was built in 1859; and the mile-posts which determined the names of such famous stopping-places as the 160-Mile House were measured from Lillooet. In addition to the brief dedicatory remarks by Dr. Lamb, addresses were delivered by Bishop Wells, of Cariboo; Mrs. Muriel R. Cree, Secretary of 1939 Notes and Comments. 295 the British Columbia Historical Association; Mr. R. D. Cummings, of Ash- croft; and Mr. E. G. Rowebottom, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry. But the feature of the programme which will be remembered longest was a reminiscent speech by James Buie Leighton, grand old man of the Cariboo, who had come specially from Savona for the occasion, and regaled the audience with both serious and humorous recollections of early days. The chairman was Mr. Joseph Russell, who read many letters of greeting from persons unable to attend, including Mr. Louis LeBourdais, M.L.A., and Mr. George Murray, M.L.A., who, with Mrs. Murray, deserves a large share of the credit due to those who built the monument. The cairn stands directly opposite St. Mary's Church, and is fitted with both an electric beacon and a drinking-fountain. Kootenae House. Labour Day witnessed a second unveiling ceremony at Lake Windermere, where His Honour Judge Howay dedicated a cairn marking the location of Kootenae House. The site for the monument was donated by the late Mrs. Basil Hamilton, of Windermere, whose sister, Dr. Mary E. Crawford, of Winnipeg, attended the ceremony. The money to build the cairn itself, and to engrave and install the tablet, was given by residents of the Windermere Valley. Its purpose can best be indicated by quoting the inscription:— Kootenae House David Thompson of the North West Company built here in August, 1807, Kootenae House, the first trading post of the White Man on the Columbia River or its tributaries. During the next four years he explored the Columbia River from source to mouth, and established trade with the Indians in Southern British Columbia and in much of the country now known as the States of Montana, Idaho and Washington. Judge Howay characterized Thompson as undoubtedly Canada's leading geographer, and added that although the Thompson River was named after him, it was in connection with the bigger Columbia River that he made one of his most noteworthy contributions to Canadian exploration. He was the first white man to trace the Columbia from its source to its mouth, and his camp at Kootenae House was the first habitation of the white man in that whole area. In the course of his indefatigable explorations David Thompson placed on the map the main routes of travel in no less than 1,200,000 square miles of Canada and 500,000 square miles of the United States; surveyed the headwaters of the Mississippi; discovered a new route to Lake Athabasca; and fixed the locations of outstanding geographical points over this vast area with the sureness of an expert astronomer, despite the fact that he had had little formal instruction, and had learned to figure the stars when a boy wintering at Cumberland House, on the Saskatchewan River. 296 Notes and Comments. October It is interesting to recall that Thompson crossed the Rockies for the first time in 1807, and was never west of the Lake of the Woods after 1812. His great work in the farthest west was thus accomplished in only six seasons. The Grave op Harry Jones. Some time this autumn friends of the late Harry Jones will gather in the old cemetery at Stanley, in the Cariboo, to unveil a brass plaque dedicated to his memory. It is planned to fix the plaque to a boulder secured from a placer-stream. The inscription reads as follows:— Harry Jones Born Carnarvonshire, Wales, September 29, 1840 With " Welsh Adventurers " arrived in B.C. June 1863 Last survivor of famous " Evans Party " and one of Cariboo's best-known and best-loved pioneers Represented Cariboo in B.C. Legislature 1903-9 Died Feb. 25, 1936, buried at Stanley, B.C. BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. The annual meeting of the Association was held in the Provincial Library on Friday, October 13. Dr. J. S. Plaskett, the retiring president, presided. The Secretary's report of the society's activities during the past year recorded steady progress, as evidenced by the formation of two new Sections. The first of these was organized in New Westminster in February, and at a meeting held just prior to the annual meeting the Council authorized the formation of a Section at Lillooet, which is intended to succeed the existing Lillooet Historical Society. The total paid-up membership of the Association was 462, which compares with a total of 414 in October, 1937, and 444 in October, 1938. In addition a number of subscriptions to the Quarterly were received through newsagents, and the total paid circulation of the magazine was 485. The Treasurer reported a balance of $129.17, after payment had been made to the Provincial Archives for copies of the Quarterly supplied to members. This compares with a balance of $116.44 a year ago. The Council reported that plans for a revision of the constitution had been made, and that a number of suggestions for closer co-operation between the Sections had been considered and would be passed on to the incoming Council for action. Dr. Plaskett chose as the subject of his presidential address the History of Astronomy in British Columbia. The first part of the paper was devoted to an account of the travels and observations of some of the great pioneer explorers by sea and land, and in particular of Captain Cook, Captain Vancouver, Alexander Mackenzie, Simon Fraser, and David Thompson. The work of the Boundary Commission of 1858-1862 was also outlined. The circumstances which made the obtaining of accurate observations difficult, the character of the instruments used, and the accuracy of early determinations compared with those made in later days were considered in a most informative and exceptionally interesting way by the speaker. Dr. Plaskett devoted 1939 Notes and Comments. 297 the second part of his paper to the story of how the great Dominion Astro- physical Observatory came to be built on Little Saanich Mountain, and had much of interest to say about the prolonged negotiations which led up to the determination, first, to build such an observatory, and, secondly, to erect it in British Columbia. He paid a glowing tribute to his friend and teacher the late Dr. W. F. King, former Dominion Astronomer, to whom he said most of the credit was due, and also stressed the importance of the information which had been obtained through the efforts of the staff of the Observatory since its completion over twenty years ago. Mr. Kenneth Waites brought greetings from the Vancouver Section, and moved a hearty vote of thanks to Dr. Plaskett, which was seconded by Mr. John Goldie, President of the Victoria Section. His Honour Judge Howay brought greetings from the New Westminster Section, and commented upon the | self obliteration " that Dr. Plaskett, whose scholarship in the field of astronomy was internationally recognized, had shown in his recital of the history of the Astrophysical Observatory. The result of the election of officers and council for the season 1939-40 was announced as follows:— President- Dr. T. A. Rickard. 1st Vice-President Mr. Kenneth A. Waites. 2nd Vice-President Mr. B. A. McKelvie. Honorary Secretary ^_Mrs. Muriel R. Cree. Honorary Treasurer Mr. G. H. Harman. Archivist Dr. Robie L. Reid. Members of the Council Miss Helen R. Boutilier. Mr. J. M. Coady. Rev. J. C. Goodfellow. Judge F. W. Howay. Major H. T. Nation. The meeting concluded with the singing of the National Anthem. Victoria Section. The annual Field Day was held on July 22, when the Section visited the beautiful grounds of the Dominion Experimental Station at Sidney. About ninety members attended the picnic. During tea Mr. John Goldie, the President, introduced a number of members and guests, who spoke entertainingly. These included Dr. T. A. Rickard, immediate past President of the Section; the Chief Justice of British Columbia, a charter member and past President of the Association; Dr. Kaye Lamb, who announced the purchase of the residence of the late Dr. J. S. Helmcken by the Government; and Dr. W. N. Sage, who spoke briefly on the work of the Association and brought greetings from the Vancouver Section. Mr. J. F. Bledsoe exhibited a beautiful collection of polished pebbles, most of which were found on the southern end of Vancouver Island. Though 85 years of age, Mr. Bledsoe is still hale and hearty, and gave a most interesting account both of his own colorful adventures in the West 298 Notes and Comments. October many years ago, and of his hobby of collecting, cutting, and polishing pebbles. Mrs. Cree was thanked for her work in organizing the outing, and the Chief Justice spoke with appreciation of the work being done by the Experimental Farm, " entrusted to such able hands, with such gratifying results." The annual meeting of the Section will be held on November 13. New Westminster and Fraser Valley Section. A meeting of the Section was held in the Y.M.CA. in New Westminster on Monday, September 18. About twenty-five members and friends attended. The Secretary reported that the membership of the Section was now thirty- The speaker of the evening was Dr. W. Kaye Lamb, who spoke on Some Pioneer B.C. Journals and Journalists. The address, which was delivered in lighter mood, traced the story of printing and the press in British Columbia from the first appearance of the Victoria Gazette, in June of 1858, until 1866. The latter year was chosen as a stopping-point because a combination of circumstances arising from hard times, the union of the colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island, and the arrival of the telegraph, altered conditions so completely that a whole era in the history of journalism in the Province may be said to have come to an end. The speaker paid particular attention to such famous newspapers as the Victoria Colonist, the old New Westminster Times (the first paper printed on the Mainland), the British Columbian, and the Cariboo Sentinel, and such well-known journalist-politicians as Amor De Cosmos, D. W. Higgins, and John Robson. OKANAGAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY. The Eighth Report of the Society is now being distributed, and readers will find that, like the other reports in the series, it contains much material of value and interest. It is an octavo-size pamphlet of 57 pages, printed by the Ryerson Press, Toronto. It is evident that the Society continues to hold the interest of the people of the Okanagan, for the membership list printed in this Report includes no less than 278 names. The officers are as follows: President, Captain J. B. Weeks, Penticton; 1st Vice-President, Rev. J. C Goodfellow, Princeton; 2nd Vice-President, Max H. Ruhman, Vernon; 3rd Vice-President, A. E. Sage, Armstrong; Secretary-Treasurer, Leonard Norris, Vernon. The Report includes twelve articles, long and short, two of which are devoted to the very useful and interesting topic of place-names. The longest contribution, entitled San Juan Island, is by Leonard Norris, and deals with the influence of the boundary dispute and arbitration award upon the construction of the railway westward to British Columbia. Mr. Norris contends that possession of San Juan Island made it so easy for the United States to blockade the approaches to Burrard Inlet that the original plan to place the terminus of the transcontinental railway there was abandoned, and that years were lost in a futile effort to find a practicable route by which the line could be routed to Esquimalt. A second article by Mr. Norris, Notes and Comments. 299 entitled Trutch's Speech, is also concerned indirectly with the railway question, as it deals with the address delivered by J. W. Trutch in Ottawa on April 10, 1871, in which he stated that British Columbia would not insist upon the completion of the line within the ten-year period specified in the Terms of Union, and that it was understood that a definite term of years had been mentioned only as evidence of good faith. Mr. Norris considers that this statement enabled the Dominion Government of the moment to slip out of a tight corner, and that it won for Trutch the office of Lieutenant- Governor, which it had been taken for granted would go to the Hon. S. L. Tilley. Burt R. Campbell, of Kamloops, contributes a long article on The City of Vernon: the first year of incorporation, which consists of a complete and detailed account of the entire life and growth of the community in 1892-93. It will prove invaluable for reference purposes, and it is to be hoped that Mr. Campbell will continue his chronicle in later reports. Enough has been said to make it evident that the Eighth Report is well worth the dollar it costs. Copies may be obtained from Mr. Leonard Norris, of Vernon, who, as usual, is chiefly responsible for the appearance of the Society's publication. SIMILKAMEEN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. At the quarterly meeting held in Princeton on July 28 fitting reference was made to the passing of Mrs. E. M. Daly, Vice-President of the Association. Mrs. Daly came to Similkameen in August, 1885, and an interesting account of her journey over the Hope Trail appeared in the Penticton Herald of December 10, 1936. Mrs. H. Tweedle, of Keremeos, was elected to succeed Mrs. Daly as 2nd Vice-President. Mrs. H. Cornish read an interesting paper on the history of coal-mining in the Similkameen Valley, making reference to many of the mines which had been operated in the past as well as to those now in operation. The eighth annual supper gathering of the Association was held in the Orange Hall, Princeton, on Thursday, September 28. Though the attendance was somewhat smaller than in former years, over 100 persons were present. Rev. J. C Goodfellow reported on the year's work, and spoke of Our Two Archies—Archibald McDonald, the fur-trader, who came to " The Forks " in 1827, and Archibald Aberdeen, who died in Princeton in 1930, in his 101st year. Addresses were given by J. Ovington and W. H. Holmes, of Coalmont. Mr. Ovington reviewed the history of coal-mining at Blake- burn, and Mr. Holmes spoke of " his eighty-nine years." The main address was given by E. Waterman, who told the story of The Man with the Red Mackinaw. The musical items were of a high order, and the meeting closed with the Lord's Prayer in Chinook, God Save the King, and Auld Lang Syne. [J. C. Goodfellow, Secretary.] THOMPSON VALLEY MUSEUM AND HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. Some months ago the pioneer home of Mrs. R. E. Smith was presented to the City of Kamloops by Mrs. J. S. Burris, to be held in trust for museum . 300 Notes and Comments. and library purposes. The Kamloops Public Library Association has taken possession of the ground floor, and the Historical Association's collections have now been transferred to the upper floor, where they are displayed to much better advantage than has been possible hitherto. Over 860 pioneer photographs have been gathered and catalogued, and a guide to the photographs, documents, and relics on display has been prepared and is available for the use of visitors. It is hoped that it may be possible to move the re-erected Hudson's Bay trading-post building, which now stands in Riverside Park, to a site beside the new museum premises, as this would simplify the problem of caring for the building and of arranging to have it open for the inspection of visitors. EARLY MAPS OF JUNEAU, ALASKA. Mr. Edward Bailey, whose address is Longview Road, Port Washington, N.Y., is most anxious to learn the whereabouts of any sketches or maps of Juneau, Alaska, during the period 1880 to 1910, which indicate the position of buildings and streets. Readers who may have any information on the subject are asked to communicate with Mr. Bailey direct. THE DISCOVERY OF HILL'S BAR IN 1858. Attention has been called to the fact that parts of the narrative by James Moore which was printed in the July number of this Quarterly either quote from or paraphrase closely certain passages in the article entitled " First Gold Excitement," which appeared in the Year Book of British Columbia, edited by R. E. Gosnell, in 1897. The author of this article, H. B. Hobson, states that James Moore, " being now in the employ of Mr. J. B. Hobson, manager of the Cariboo Hydraulic Mine [and presumably the writer's brother], has kindly furnished me with the facts " about the first days of the rush of 1858. When writing to Mr. Harding in 1919, Moore must have refreshed his memory by referring to the Year Book, a fact which escaped notice when the narrative was being checked. THE NORTHWEST BOOKSHELF. 'est to 1870-71. By Arthur S. Morton. London, u & Sons. N.d. [1939]. Pp.xiv., 987. $6. This stout volume of one thousand pages is the result of nearly twenty years' research. Professor Morton, who is head of the Department of History in the University of Saskatchewan, has gathered materials in the Hudson's Bay Company's Archives, the British Museum, the Public Record Office in London, the Public Archives in Ottawa, and the Archives of British Columbia. He has carefully pondered over his sources and has written an important book. The Canadian West as described by Professor Morton is that portion of Western Canada lying west of Hudson Bay, north and west of the Great Lakes, and east of the Rocky Mountains. The story of the Pacific Slope is also included, but it is secondary to the leading theme. According to the author the vast territory may be divided into four portions, " three North- Wests " and the Farthest West—" a tangle of inner seas and water-ways beside the broad Pacific." The " three North-Wests " are respectively the prairie, the northern forest, and the Barren Lands. The prairie North- West is " a triangle with the Rocky Mountains and the International Boundary westward from the Lake of the Woods for its two sides, and for its base the wooded belt running north-westward from near the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains." The forest belt runs north-west of the prairie and extends from Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods along the upper edge of the Assiniboine to Mackenzie River and the Rockies. The third North-West is the Barren Grounds, " a weary land of rocks and moss." The sub-Arctic summer is too short for the soil to thaw to any depth and trees cannot thrive, but flowers, grasses, and herbs manage to blossom. In the winter it is a desolate region of snow and ice. The prairie was the home of the buffalo, in the forest belt were found the fur-bearing animals and in the Barren Grounds roamed herds of caribou and musk-oxen. The plains Indians had secured horses before the white men came and lived off the buffalo. The Indians of the forest belt were hunters, but the nomadic tribes of the Barren Grounds eked out a precarious existence. The story of the Canadian West before 1871 is essentially that of the fur trade. The lure of the beaver-skin brought the French west from the Great Lakes to the prairies and the northern forest belt, and the English and French to Hudson Bay. It was only in the second decade of the 19th century that Lord Selkirk attempted to form a settlement in Red River. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 led to the formation of the colony of Vancouver Island, and the gold-rush of 1858 was responsible for the birth of the Crown Colony of British Columbia. Until 1871 the Canadian North-West was essentially a fur-trade preserve. Professor Morton tells in detail—at times in very great detail—the story of the approach of the white men to the three North-Wests. French and English struggled for Hudson Bay until 1713 and then for the great fur 302 The Northwest Bookshelf. October forest in the hinterland of the Bay until 1763. After the British conquest of Canada the mantle of the French fur-trader fell upon the English-speaking merchants of Montreal. The North West Company was formed and then came the titanic struggle between the Hudson's Bay Company and its Canadian rivals which ended in the amalgamation of the two companies in 1821. Two-thirds of the volume is devoted to the period before 1821. As might be expected, most of these six-hundred-odd pages deal with exploration and fur trade east of the Rocky Mountains. This is Professor Morton's own particular field. He has not only searched through archives and libraries, but he has personally visited and identified the sites of many obscure trading-posts and he has rescued from oblivion many equally obscure fur- traders. He has made clear much that was confused in the early history of the Hudson's Bay Company. He has also shed new light on the story of the " Pedlars," the name given to the early English-speaking traders from Montreal. The strife between the North West Company and the XY Company and the later struggle between the Canadian and English companies are told in detail. There is a valuable account of the Red River Settlement. On the vexed question of the validity of the Hudson's Bay Company's charter, Professor Morton has decisive opinions. He claims that by the terms of the charter granted on May 2, 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company was entitled to more than merely the lands draining into Hudson Bay. After quoting the well-known clauses of the charter the author argues as follows:— " This means that the Company could penetrate by land and water as far as it pleased, always provided that its trade was through Hudson Strait. Had they found a way by water to Alaska, or by land to the British Columbia of today, and thence to China, they would have enjoyed the monopoly of that trade, and by inference, if they had planted colonies on the Pacific coast for the prosecution of the trade, these would probably have been counted within the limits of Rupert's Land. As it proved, the Company's dream of an easy route by land or water to the Pacific was insubstantial. There was no passage to a mild climate where a prosperous colony could be estab- In the portion of the volume devoted to the history of the Pacific Slope, Professor Morton has, as usual, carefully worked over the available materials; but he has, in the main, followed the well-beaten track of the historians of the Northwest Coast. There are, however, a few noteworthy exceptions. In his account of the Nootka Sound Controversy he rather tends to make a hero of Colnett. " Americans and Britons alike owe much to Captain Colnett, whose perspicacity and obstinacy raised the issue as to whether the Pacific coast should be open to traders as in the past, and who thus contributed to a final settlement momentous to both the American Republic and the British Empire." Here, as elsewhere, the author tends to pick out a minor figure and to exalt him to a major position in the annals of Western Canada. Sir Alexander Mackenzie fares rather better in this volume than he did in the author's previous book Under Western Skies. Mackenzie's one per- 1939 The Northwest Bookshelf. 303 sistent motive, we are told, " was to free the trade of the Athabaska from the cost of the long journey from Montreal." His scheme for a post at Cook's Inlet and for " another at the Southerly limit of the British Claims, . . . would have changed the whole history of the Pacific coast." But the monopolies of the Hudson's Bay Company and the East India Company were too strong. None the less to Professor Morton, Sir Alexander Mackenzie was the " first great Westerner." The a Columbian enterprise " of the North West Company, 1800-1814, is placed in its continental setting and shown to be a deliberate Canadian attempt to secure the overland fur trade as far as the Pacific coast. Simon Fraser receives full credit for his explorations, but once again Duncan McGillivrary tends to outshine David Thompson. Professor Morton puts forward his pet theory, which has been vigorously disputed by Dr. J. B. Tyrrell and His Honour Judge F. W. Howay, that Duncan McGillivrary, in 1801, was the first white man to cross from the upper waters of the Saskatchewan to the upper waters of the Columbia. To the author the " Columbian enterprise " was not the result of Lewis and Clark's expedition, but " it arose out of Alexander Mackenzie's spectacular voyage to the Western Sea and his scheme to go in and take possession of the coastal fur trade." It became the " fixed policy of Duncan McGillivrary," who died in 1808, the year after David Thompson had found his way over Howse Pass. According to Professor Morton, David Thompson lost his great opportunity in the autumn of 1810 when he allowed himself to be turned north from the upper Saskatchewan to the upper waters of the Athabaska by the hostility of the Piegan Indians. " No Alexander Mackenzie or Simon Fraser this, but a scholarly surveyor, not without an element of timidity in him. In this the critical hour of his life David Thompson was weighed and found wanting." Apparently the professor still believes in the " race to the sea " theory, because he claims that Thompson's entry in his Journal for July 10, 1811, " Heard news of the American ship's arrival," should not be interpreted that " Thompson was not attempting to reach the coast before the Americans for it shows that he was aware of Astor's expedition." In his account of the Hudson's Bay Company in Old Oregon after 1821, the author stresses the fact that it was Governor Simpson rather than Dr. John McLoughlin who shaped the Company's policy. He calls attention to the importance of the Snake River expedition as a "'screen behind which the English Company's trade and Britain's de facto possession of the land could continue." The Oregon boundary settlement, he thinks, profoundly affected Canadian history. It led to the first proposals for a transcontinental railway through British territory, called Canadian attention to the desirability of taking over Rupert's Land, and helped to bring about Confederation. Professor Morton has produced a valuable work. It must be confessed that it would be more useful to research students if more foot-notes had been appended indicating the source of quotations. As it is, the volume is too long and detailed for the average reader and just misses being an excellent " tool" for the graduate student. The maps and index are both good and the appendix entitled " Brief bibliographical notes " is most valuable. Taken J 304 The Northwest Bookshelf. all in all, A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71 is the most complete one-volume history of Western Canada before Confederation which has yet appeared. Let us hope that the author will give us a second volume which will deal with the period since 1871. Walter N. Sage. f British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. 1 306 INI 111, 118; Travel in Europe, 283-292; refer- Drake's Course in the'North Pacific, 161-182 Edwards, George, 21S Ellis, Prank H.,' Pimcer Flying in British Field, Thomas, 213 Findlay, Walter C, 219 EX. From Colony to Province, 1-14 Graham, John. 218 Gray. Joseph, 218 " INE A History of the Canadian West to 1870-71, by George Simpson, review by, 148-146; Hudson's Bay Company, Forts, 75, 76, 82, 84, Royal, 16-24; Ships,' 20s! 204, 207, 212, Hutchinson, Bros, and Company, 284 Immigration, Hudson's Bay Company, 204, Immigration into Vancouver Island in 1SSS, EX. 307 Legends, 32-35. 40, 48: Liquor. 218. 219; Wales Island, 27, 28; Queen Charlotte partment by George Simpson, 1810 and Kennedy, Governor A. E., 2 BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Organized October 31st, 1922. PATRON. His Honour Eric W. Hamber, Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia. OFFICERS, 1939-40. Hon. G. M. Weir - Honorary President T. A. Rickard President. Kenneth A. Waites 1st Vice-President. B. A. McKelvie snd Vice-President G. H. Harman Honorary Treasurer. Muriel R. Cree Honorary Secretary. Robie L. Reid - -.'$■£.• - - Archivist. MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. F. W. Howay J. M. Coady H. T. Nation J. C Goodfellow Helen R. Boutilier John Goldie (Victoria Section). J. R. V. Dunlop (Vancouver Section). W. N. Draper (New Westminster and Fraser Valley Section). OBJECTS. To encourage historical research and stimulate public interest in history; to promote the preservation and marking of historic sites, buildings, relics, natural features, and other objects and places of historical interest, and to publish historical sketches, studies, and documents. MEMBERSHIP. Ordinary members pay a fee of $2 annually in advance. The fiscal year m the first day of October. All members in good standing r< the British Columbia Historical Quarterly without further charge. All correspondence and fees should be addressed in care of the Secretary, Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. 3 9424 05061 161 2
Includes an index Includes bibliographic references There are 21 volumes of The British Columbia historical quarterly. Other copies: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/937942070 Part of: Dr. C.E. Dolman Collection
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The British Columbia historical quarterly. Vol. III
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