| British Columbia (Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District), Port Alberni — Bicentennial of the Spanish Expeditions to the Northwest Coasts of America — 1771–1991 |
| | [Upper Marker]:
Pedro de Alberni, Captain of the Catalan Volunteers and Commander of the Spanish Establishment at Santa Cruz de Nootka, 1790-1792.
Offered by the Government of Spain on the occasion of the visit of the Spanish training ship “Juan Sebastian el Cano” to the province of British Columbia, April 1991.
[Lower Marker]:
Generalitat de Catalunya
The Autonomous Government of Catalonia joins this bicentennial celebration in remembrance of . . . — Map (db m9155) |
| British Columbia (Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District), Port Alberni — Forest Industry in British Columbia — L’Industrie Forestiere en Colombie-Britannique |
| | Harvesting of the forest has long been an important aspect of life on the Pacific Coast. The native people were the first to utilize this valuable resource in the construction of dwellings, canoes, and implements. In the nineteenth century, spars masts, and timber were exported. In 1860 the first export sawmill was constructed near this site. From these beginnings the forest industry has expanded to become a very important element of the economy of British Columbia. In this century considerable . . . — Map (db m9192) |
| British Columbia (Bulkley-Nechako Regional District), Southbank — Ootsa Lake Nechako Reservoir |
| | In 1952, the Kenney Dam was constructed on the Nechako River to service the new Alcan aluminum smelter at Kitimat, resulting in the creation of the Nechako Reservoir and the relocation of over 75 families. The damming also linked the rivers and lakes of Ootsa, Intata, Whitesail, Chelaslie, Tetachuck, Tahtsa and Natalkuz into the reservoir with a surface area of over 90,000 hectares. — Map (db m8855) |
| British Columbia (Capital Regional District), Victoria — “The Birdcages” |
| | The Legislative Buildings for the Colony of Vancouver Island were built on these grounds in 1859. Nicknamed “The Birdcages” because of their quaint style, they were replaced in 1894-97 by the present buildings. The original Legislative Hall, meeting place of the first House of Assembly west of the Great Lakes, was preserved until 1957 when it was destroyed by fire. — Map (db m9196) |
| British Columbia (Capital Regional District), Victoria — Fort Victoria |
| | The mooring rings on the rocks below are the only surviving fragment of Fort Victoria built by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1843. From 1846, when the Oregon boundary was drawn at the 49th parallel, this post served as grand depot and headquarters of the Company’s Pacific fur trade. Ships moored here to unload supplies for an extensive network of forts and to take on natural products for export, principally to Alaska, California and Hawaii. In 1849 the first Legislative Assembly of the Colony of . . . — Map (db m9195) |
| British Columbia (Cariboo Regional District), 150 Mile House — To the Goldfields! |
| | In the 1860s, the fabulous Cariboo goldfields were a lure to thousands. Miners, traders, and adventurers, many afoot, some with wheelbarrows, shared the pioneer route with mule trains, plodding oxen, freight wagons, and swaying stage-coaches.
Havens for man and beast were the road-houses and stables every 12-14 miles along the way. — Map (db m8857) |
| British Columbia (Cariboo Regional District), Quesnel — Collins’ Overland International Telegraph |
| | Promoted by Perry Collins, the U.S. Commercial Agent in Russia, and dependent on the Western Union Telegraph Company’s money, men and technology for its execution, this early telegraph line roused the enthusiasm of the white residents of British Columbia. At no expense to them the colony was to be a vital link in a line joining Europe and America via Russia. In 1867, after completion of the more economical Trans-Atlantic cable, construction ceased at Fort Stager at the confluence of the Kispyap . . . — Map (db m8853) |
| British Columbia (Columbia Shuswap Regional District), Field — Kicking Horse Pass — Le Col du Cheval-Qui-Rue |
| | First recorded in the report of the Palliser expedition of 1857-60, this pass takes its name from an incident in which Dr. James Hector, surgeon in the expedition, was kicked by his horse while exploring in this vicinity. The pass was virtually unused until after 1881 when the Canadian Pacific Railway decided to adopt it as their new route through the Rockies, foregoing the earlier preference for the more northerly Yellowhead Pass. This decision altered the location of the line across western . . . — Map (db m9202) |
| British Columbia (Kitimat-Stikine Regional District), Hazelton — Hazelton |
| | Head of sternwheeler navigation on the Skeena. The town grew at the landing close to the Indian village of Gitenmaks. Crews from the Collins Telegraph arrived in 1866. Following them Omineca gold miners, Hudson’s Bay pack strings and “gandy dancers” of the Grand Truck all tramped these streets. Each is a chapter in the history of “the town on the hazel flats.” — Map (db m9073) |
| British Columbia (Kitimat-Stikine Regional District), Moricetown — Moricetown Canyon |
| | This site, once the largest village of the Bulkley Valley Indians, later was named after the pioneer missionary, Father Morice. Salmon, staple food of the Indian, concentrated in the canyon and were caught with basketry traps, dip-nets, and harpoons. Indians still catch salmon with long gaff nooks and smoke them at this historic native fishery. — Map (db m9072) |
| British Columbia (Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional District), Port Edward — Inverness Cannery |
| | The developing provincial salmon industry spread northward when the Inverness Cannery opened here in 1876. The first cannery in northern British Columbia, it took advantage of the abundant sockeye runs up the Skeena River to challenge the dominance of the canneries along the lower Fraser. Finally closed in 1950, the plant was destroyed by fire in 1973. — Map (db m9075) |
| British Columbia (Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional District), Port Edward — North Pacific Cannery |
| | Salmon canning stimulated economic development on this coast. North Pacific is the oldest West Coast cannery still standing. From here the Bell-Irving family shipped high quality salmon directly to England before 1900. Typical of most canneries in its isolation and operations, North Pacific relied more on native labour than those close to urban centres, was slower to adopt new technology, and had lower production costs. Ethnically-segregated living and work areas divided Chinese, Indian, . . . — Map (db m9203) |
| British Columbia (Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional District), Tyee — “K-Shian” – The Skeena |
| | The Skeena, “river of mists,” makes a major cleft through the Coast Mountains. To Coastal Tsimshian Indians and Interior tribes it was vital to trade and travel. In later years, Port Essington, near the river’s mouth, became the main port of this swift, treacherous waterway – a route serving pioneers from the 1860s to 1914 when the railway was built. — Map (db m9074) |
| British Columbia (Strathcona Regional District), Campbell River — Seymour Narrows |
| | Treacherous currents, swirling eddies, and turbulent tide-rips still harass vessels, despite the blasting away in 1958 of the twin peaks of Ripple Rock. Charted in 1792 by Captain George Vancouver, the Narrows has claimed numerous ships and lives and is considered by many seamen the worst hazard to marine navigation on the British Columbia coast. — Map (db m9077) |
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