macCLOUD FALLS, page 10
APPENDIX
A Chronology of the History of Exploration and Settlement of the territories known to early European voyagers as ‘New Caledonia’
1592
A navigator from the Venetian-governed Ionian isle of Cephalonia, Ioannis Phokas, in the pay of the Viceroy of ‘New Spain’ (Mexico) returns to Acapulco from a second commissioned voyage north along the Pacific coast in search of the entrance to the fabled but as yet unknown sea route between Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, claiming to have found it, with a large island at its mouth, at the latitude of 47 degrees North. The rewards promised to Phokas (known in Spanish as ‘Juan de Fuca’) fail to materialize and he retires to Cephalonia, but rumours of his discovery circulate and the mysterious ‘Straits of Annian’ enter nautical lore.
1596
An English sea-captain Michael Lok (Locke) attempts to enlist Phokas in the service of Queen Elizabeth I, but nothing comes of the plan. However, Lok’s account helps to establish the idea of the mysterious straits as a rediscovery waiting to be made.
1670
The ‘Hudson’s Bay Company’ is granted a charter by King Charles II, giving it a monopoly of trade throughout the watershed of all rivers flowing into Hudson’s Bay. This territory becomes known as ‘Rupert’s Land’ in honour of the king’s cousin Prince Rupert of the Rhine who is made the company’s first governor, and it covers an area of 1.5 million square miles, over one-third of contemporary Canada, but significantly does not reach into the province known today as British Columbia. The Pacific Northwest remains ‘terra incognita’.
1759
An expeditionary force led by Major General James Wolfe, a native of Westerham in Kent who had distinguished himself early in his life during the suppression of the 1745 Jacobite ‘rebellion’ and subsequently spent eight years garrisoned in the Scottish Highlands, attacks the French stronghold of Quebec City. Amongst Wolfe’s troops are a number of Scottish highlanders, of whom he writes in a letter, ‘they are hardy, intrepid, accustomed to a rough country, and no great mischief if they fall.’ After a long siege, Wolfe’s forces are finally triumphant in the famous ‘Battle of the Plains of Abraham’ on the 13th of September, though their young commander dies in the field of battle. The fall of Quebec leads directly to the fall of Montreal, so ending French control of the country. Wolfe becomes an icon of the ‘British Empire’, posthumously dubbed ‘the Conqueror of Canada.’ At this time, the ‘Pacific Northwest’ still remains an unexplored and uncharted territory without established European claim, occupied by a great number of different indigenous peoples with developed cultures isolated from the rest of the world by the ‘Rocky Mountains’ and the ‘Pacific Ocean’. However, many Europeans believe that the western entrance to the ‘Northwest Passage’ lies somewhere along the coast through the ‘Straits of Annian’ of de Fuca. How little is known of this territory in the 18th century in Britain is well-illustrated in the popular fiction of Jonathan Swift, who locates his land of giants, ‘Brobdingnab’, somewhere in the north of the region, claiming it to have been ‘discovered, A.D. 1703’ in map produced by Herman Moll c.1726.
1763
A ‘Royal Proclamation’ is issued on October 7th by King George III following Great Britain’s acquisition of French territory in North America at the end of the ‘Seven Years’ War’. This proclamation forbids all settlement west of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. However, it ensures that British laws are applied in ‘Upper Canada’ after 1791, and that British cultural customs are adopted, in order to attract British settlers.
1774
The people of Haida Gwaii (‘Queen Charlotte Islands’) go out in their great carved canoes to meet Juan Josef Perez Hernandez, a trader instructed by the Spanish Crown to take possession of land by erecting large wooden crosses on shore, during his voyage of exploration northwards along the Pacific coastline. After welcoming the strangers in peace, the Haida trade with them for two days but will not allow the Spanish to set foot ashore.
1775
Captains Juan Francisco la Bodega y Quadra and Bruno de Hezeta approach the Pacific Northwest intent on claiming sovereignty for the Spanish Crown. On the shores of Salish territory in ‘Washington’ state, Bodega erects a cross, but Quinault warriors attack and kill the landing crew.
1778
Captain James Cook leads a British expedition to the northwest coast. Unable to locate the ‘Strait of Annian’ as described by Lok’s account of de Fuca’s voyage, Cook dismisses it as a fabrication. Instead, he anchors off the coast in Nuu-chah-nulth waters, which Cook names ‘Nootka Sound’, and during a month of trading the crew acquire the pelts of several sea otters that later attract a high price in China. The fur trade that develops brings vessels from Spain, Britain, the United States, France, Russia and Portugal to the coast, and eventually leads to the virtual extinction of the sea otter.
1779
The ‘Northwest Company’, a rival to the Hudson’s Bay Company monopoly in the debated territories, is founded in Montreal.
1782
The first smallpox epidemic to reach the lands of ‘Cascadia’ spreads overland from New Spain and goes on to kill one-third of the indigenous population, mostly in Salish territories. By 1840, smallpox, influenza and other diseases have claimed the lives of between 65 and 95 percent of indigenous populations in the area.
1787
The ‘Imperial Eagle’, captained by Englishman Charles William Barkley, finds an inland passage which corresponds to that described by de Fuca, and Barkley names it ‘Strait of Juan de Fuca’ in his honour.
1789
As the value of the sea otter fur trade grows, Spain and Britain struggle for control and sovereignty over the Pacific Northwest. The Spanish seize British ships and lands which the British believe rightly belongs to them. They kill Nuu-chah-nulth Chief Callicum and imprison British officers. Still further north, an employee of the Northwest Company from the Scottish Isle of Lewis, Alasdair MacCoinnich (‘Alexander Mackenzie’), follows the course of the river known to the Dene people as Dehcho in the hope that it would lead him to the Pacific, so establishing a ‘Northwest Passage’, but finds the Dehcho river empties into the Arctic Ocean. It is rumoured that he ‘named’ it ‘Disappointment River’ as a consequence, though subsequently it is given the English version of his surname, ‘MacKenzie.’
1790
Spain and Britain sign the ‘Nootka Convention’, under which Spain surrenders land taken and pays restitution for acts of violence against the British. They agree to equal trading rights in ‘Nootka Sound.’
1791
Spanish explorers Juan Carrasco and Jose Maria Narvaez navigate the Straits of Juan de Fuca. They mistake the lowland estuary of the Fraser River for an inlet of the sea, which they name ‘Canal de Floridablanca’. Meanwhile, a British expedition led by Captain George Vancouver who had accompanied Captain Cook on his earlier voyage, sets out from England commissioned with the task of exploring the Pacific, sailing east around the Cape of Good Hope.
1792
On April 29th, Vancouver’s ships enter the Strait of Juan de Fuca, under orders to survey and map every inlet on the mainland coast as far north as Alaska, ‘naming’ numerous features as they progress – for instance, his 3rd lieutenant Joseph Baker sights a great mountain, which is therefore called ‘Mount Baker’; another lieutenant Peter Puget explores a sound, henceforth ‘Puget Sound’; another peak is named after Vancouver’s friend Alleyne Fitzherbert, 1st Baron St Helens – ‘Mount St Helens.’ Meanwhile, Captain Dionisio Alcano Galliano has sailed north from New Spain in search of the ‘Canal de Floridablanca’ using Narvaez’s chart and on arriving realizes that it is in fact the estuary of a great river. A few days later, on the 13th of June, Captain Vancouver enters the same waters, sailing past a headland which he names ‘Point Grey’ in honour of Captain George Grey, his friend. Vancouver then names ‘Burrard Inlet’ in honour of still another friend, Captain Sir Hero Burrard. Then, on June 22nd, Vancouver unexpectedly encounters Galliano and party at ‘Point Grey’ and, to his mortification, finds that the Spanish have already ‘discovered’ and mapped the coastline of the Straits thanks to the voyage of Narvaez the previous year. Nonetheless, British and Spanish crews collaborate on further surveying, before retiring to Nootka Sound for the winter. Vancouver and the Spanish commander Juan Francisco Bodega y Quadra agree to call the great island in which Nootka lies ‘Quadra and Vancouver Island’, later shortened to ‘Vancouver Island’ when Spanish influence wanes.
1793
Following a trip back to Britain to study the latest developments in longitudinal science, Alasdair MacCoinnich determines to make another overland voyage in search of a trade route to the Pacific. MacCoinnich travels in the company of his Gaelic cousin, Alasdair MacAoidh (‘Alexander MacKay’), two native guides and six French Canadian indentured servants or ‘voyageurs’, and a dog, simply called ‘Our Dog.’ MacCoinnich reaches the Pacific Ocean at Q’urnk’uts (‘Bella Coola’) in Nuxolk territory. In 1801 a map of his journey is published.
1803
Nuu-chah-nulth wit-wank (warriors) led by Chief Maquinna attack the ‘Boston’, a British vessel in Nuu-chah-nulth waters, after the ship’s captain insults him during trade negotiations. They burn the ship, killing all but two crew. European ships do not approach ‘Nootka Sound’ for two years following.
1805
Simon Fraser, a partner in the fur-trading Northwest Company and a man of Scottish descent, establishes the first trading fort in New Caledonia, ‘Fort McLeod’, in Tsek’ehne (Sekani) territory, which is then rapidly followed by others. Within two years the company builds forts St. James, Fraser and George in Dakelh (Carrier) territory. Fort St. James becomes the centre of government and commerce in the emergent interior territory then becoming known as ’New Caledonia’ because of the number of Scotsmen involved in exploration and trade.
1808
The Musqueam people prevent Simon Fraser from entering their territory when he attempts to find a viable trade route to the Pacific Ocean by navigating the great canyon south from New Caledonia. He is forced to retreat up the river that later took his name.
1811
The ‘Tonguin’, a US ship in Tla-o-qui-aht waters, is captured and the crew killed after its captain insults a Nuu-chah-nulth chief by throwing furs in his face during trade negotiations.
1821
After long competition for dominance, the Northwest Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company agree to merge. The British Crown grants the Hudson’s Bay Company exclusive trading privileges with indigenous people in all the areas of North America claimed by the British.
1825
‘Fort Vancouver’ is established at the mouth of the ‘Columbia River’. Great Britain and the United States struggle for control over the debatable lands in ‘Cascadia’.
1828
Dakelh (‘Carrier’) Chief Kwah leads an attack on Fort St. James after Hudson’s Bay Company employees attempt to capture and execute Dakelh-ne men thought to be guilty of killing two Hudson’s Bay Company traders a few years before. James Douglas, the future provincial governor, then assistant chief factor at Fort St. James, is taken prisoner but let go after negotiation.
1829
James Douglas is transferred to Fort Vancouver. He is later promoted to Chief Trader in the Hudson’s Bay Company.
1835
Traders learn from Kwakwaka’wakw people of coal deposits in their territory at ‘Beaver Harbour’. Douglas sends a ship from Fort Vancouver to explore and take ownership of the territory if the claims prove to be true.
1843
James Douglas establishes ‘Fort Victoria’ on ‘Vancouver’s Island.’ As Hudson’s Bay Company chief factor, Douglas assumes Crown authority there, and begins dividing Indigenous territories for European settlement.
1844
Quw’utsun’ (‘Cowichan’) warriors, led by Tzouhalem, attack Fort Victoria.
1846
Great Britain and the United States of America sign the ‘Oregon Boundary Treaty’, establishing a border along the 49th parallel which cuts across Indigenous boundaries in Cascadia. Britain claims ‘Vancouver Island’ and the mainland north of the 49th parallel, so asserting sovereignty over what would ultimately become known as ‘British Columbia.’
1849
James Douglas establishes ‘Fort Rupert’ to begin coal-mining in Kwakwahwakw territory. Douglas aggressively promotes the development of mines all over Vancouver Island, which becomes a recognized British colony. Queen Victoria then leases it to the Hudson’s Bay Company on the condition that the company promotes colonization.
1850
Richard Blanshard becomes the first Governor of the ‘Colony of Vancouver Island’. James Douglas begins to negotiate agreements with Kwakwaka’wakw, Saanich, Snuneymuxw and Songhees/Lekwungen, Sna-Naw-As, Scia’new, T’Souke and Malahat peoples now displaced by the Colony. Written records state that the Indigenous signatories surrendered their territory forever in exchange for small reserves and residual hunting and fishing rights. However, oral record indicates that these agreements actually reaffirmed Indigenous ownership, but allowed for peaceful European settlement within their territories.
1854
The last of Douglas’s treaties is signed, affecting the coal mine in Snuneymuxw territory at Nanaimo. Text of this treaty is subsequently lost, while oral record persists.
1858
The focus of exploitation and colonization shifts from Vancouver Island to the mainland when over 30,000 prospectors, mainly from California, make their way into the ‘Upper Fraser Valley’ and ‘Fraser Canyon’ after reports that gold has been discovered in the river. European and American speculators attempt to sell land near Fort Langley, provoking Douglas to declare without authority that these lands belong to the British Crown, prior to the actual constitution of the mainland ‘Colony of British Columbia’, which nonetheless follows rapidly, the name being selected by Queen Victoria in preference to the term in use, ‘New Caledonia’, on grounds that the French Empire already has a such-named colony in the Pacific. Douglas resigns from the Hudson’s Bay Company to become governor of the new colony. Great Britain grants to him sole authority to allocate land to settlers and to establish Indian reserves. Britain deploys Royal Engineers to build roads and to bridge rivers, to survey and map, to plan settlements and fully establish the United States-British Columbia border.
1859
Governor Douglas issues a proclamation stating that all land, mines and minerals in the Colony of British Columbia belong to the British Crown; he sets out arrangements for land auctions, road-building, ditching and working of gold claims, and declares that the capital for the Colony will be ‘New Westminster’, to be situated at Skaiametl, the main Kwantlen community in Sto:lo territory. Douglas dispatches an Indian agent into Nuu-chah-nulth territory to induce people to abandon their traditional ways, and to regulate the sale of liquor. The Indian agent disappears, presumably killed by the Nuu-chah-nulth.
1862
As the Fraser Canyon gold rush reaches a disappointing end, news of deposits discovered in the ‘Cariboo country’ creates a new fever. Over 10,000 miners travel further north into Dakelh (‘Carrier’) territory through the canyon. Construction of the ‘Cariboo Wagon Road’ from ‘Yale’ to ‘Barkerville’ through Tsilhqot’in and Dakelh territories begins.
1862
Infected European migrants bring smallpox to Fort Victoria, initiating an epidemic. Vaccinations are dispensed, but the disease spreads when infected Indigenous people are forced to go back to their original communities from the colony where they have been living. During the two years of the outbreak, over half the population in native communities die throughout the two colonies.
1864
James Alexander Lyle born in Lerwick, Scotland, 18th April.
The Tsilhqot’in attempt to halt the spread of smallpox into their territory by stopping the construction of the Cariboo Wagon Road. Three Tsilhqot’in men, twelve road workers and six settlers die in the conflict, but within a few weeks an army of 100 colonists track down and arrest eight Tsilhqot’in chiefs. Tried for murder under British law, six are hung.
1864
In response to repeated Indigenous resistance, before his retirement Governor Douglas sends a surveyor, William McColl, to determine what ought to be designated ‘Indian land’ in the central ‘Fraser Valley’, and the outcome is the marking out of a number of reserves, some as sizeable as 9,000 acres. When Douglas retires, Frederick Seymour becomes Governor of the mainland colony, but refuses to recognize the legitimacy of such large areas. Seymour appoints Joseph Trutch as ‘Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for the Colony’, and he assumes responsibility for Indian land policy. Trutch publicly denies the existence of Indigenous rights, reduces the size of existing Douglas reserves, and sets a new reserve allotment formula at 10 acres per family. Thousands of Sto:lo and other Coast Salish peoples travel to New Westminster on Queen Victoria’s birthday to protest against the extent of immigration into their territories, though they express satisfaction with the reserves as initially established by Douglas. Oral records among the Sto:lo suggest that Seymour responded with a promise that one third of the proceeds from all land sales in the Fraser Valley should be taken by the colonial government, the second third should be given directly to the Sto:lo, and that the final third should be set aside for the governmental provision of education and social services for their people. In the same year as the Sto:lo attempt peaceful settlement of their grievances, Nuu-chah-nulth wit-wank board the British vessel the ‘Kingfisher’ in Clayoquot Sound and kill the crew. Britain deploys two naval ships, ostensibly to capture those responsible, but once in Tla-o-qui-aht territory, the ships begin shelling, destroying nine villages and killing 13 Nuu-chah-nulth people.
