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Fort Astoria was acquired and renamed Fort George.
Fort Astoria was founded by a New York financier named John Astor. The fort was acquired by NWC causing Astor and other Americans the loss of many economic opportunities. It was a key trading post center for Natives. -
North West Company & Hudson Bay company merged
The HBC and the NWC decided to merge together due to the conflict at the Selkirk Settlement and the extinction of fur animals. Workers in both companies were faced with unemployment because there were no more jobs needed. The two companies were faced to deal with diversity with the different language and culture, but they learned to cooperate. -
Fort Vancouver was established by the HBC
Fort George was impressive but was poorly located for agriculture which is why in 1825 Simpson picked Fort Vancouver. It was closer to the interior fur trade, the routes, and the North side of the river. Fort Vancouver is very significant to the history of the Northwest agriculture. The company started exporting products to the Russian Forts in Alaska. -
Fort Langley was established
Simpson decided to end the American competition by building a new fort new the mouth of Fraser River. Fort Langley had a large scale farm which actually initiated the famous West Coast salmon packing industry and began BC's foreign commerce. -
Coal was discovered on Vancouver Island
Coal was discovered on the northeaster tip of Vancouver Island at the HBC post, Fort Rupert. Approximately 11,000 tonnes of coal were extracted from the coal field. The miners suffered indentured labour and earning the expected commissions based on the output of their production. -
Fort Victoria was established
Fort Victoria was built by James Douglas to replace Fort Victoria as the company's Pacific headquarters and to strengthen the British claim to Vancouver Island. It continued to grow. It led to Victoria becoming the capital of BC -
The Oregan Treaty
A British minister rejected US president's offer to settle the boundary at the 49th parallel. This treaty made Vancouver Island to retain British. Without this treaty, BC may have been annexed to the US. -
Vancouver Island was proclaimed the Crown Colony
The Crown Colony was created to have control over the Pacific Northwest. Exclusive rights to trade were given to the HBC if they agreed to colonize the Island with British Settlers. -
Queen Charlotte gold rush
This gold rush started in 1851 right after a Haida man traced a 27-ounce nugget in Fort Victoria for 1,500 HBC blankets. It was hard for the miners because they only found small pieces of gold and were being thwarted by Haida ships. -
Fraser Canyon Gold rush
Gold was discovered in the Thompson river which began the gold rush. It caused New Caledonia to be established as the colony of British Columbia to deal with all the foreign miners. This gold rush is very important for BC because it helped fund the building of early road infrastructure and the founding of many towns. -
Colony of BC formed
Douglas stationed a gunboat at the entrance of the Fraser River to exert British authority. This really protected BC from becoming part of the US and also ended fur-trading. The HBC then lost its monopoly over the economy. -
Fraser Canyon War
This war was created when Nlaka'pamux sent 2 headless french miners who had raped a Naka'pamux woman, downstream. The miners burned down 3 Native Villages. -
James Douglas
Sir James Douglas was a company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island. He became the first governor of the Colony of British Columbia to assert British authority during the Fraser Canyon gold rush.He was in office from 1858-1864. Douglas spent a total of 19 years working in Fort Vancouver. He started out as a clerk then got promoted to Chief Trader, then received his commission as on of "the gentlemen of the interior. He is often known as "The Father of British Columbia" -
New westminster named the capital of BC
Richard mood thought that New Westminster should be the first capital of BC because it was farther from the US border. The location needed a large amount of labour and money to clear trees and lay out streets. -
Billy Barker
Billy Barker was an English prospector who was famous for being one of the first to find a large amount of gold in the Cariboo of British Columbia. He also founded Barkerville which is preserved as a historic town. -
Cariboo Gold Rush begins
Gold was discovered on the Horsefly River which caused gold-seekers to this region. Richfield, Camerontown and Barkerville were established. Not many people struck rich, instead many died or went bankrupt. -
The Smallpox epidemic
A miner brought smallpox from San Francisco to Victoria and the disease spread very quickly. It caused the government to force the Natives to leave the city. -
The construction of the Cariboo Road begins
It began at Yale because that was as far as streamers could go up the Fraser river. The Royal Engineers built the most difficult part of the road. The road was built to make traveling easier, create more jobs, and provide effective government presence. The gold rush ended before the road was completed so when it was finished the government was left in debt. -
Arthur Kennedy
Arthur Kennedy was a British colonial administrator who was a governor of many British colonies including Vancouver. He faced an extremely aggressive Legislative Assembly determined to challenge his executive power, Kennedy achieved little of note in his two years in office. During the time Kennedy was governor, the colony fell in to a very bad economic depression. Kennedy left the office in 1866 shortly after the United colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia were created. -
Fredrick Seymour
Seymour was the next governor after Douglas. He responded to the Tsilhqot's attack and continued on with the building of the Wagon road. He tried to oppose the union of the colonies and Victoria as the capital city, but was unsuccessful. -
The union of Vancouver Island and BC
BC and Vancouver both went into debt in 1860, causing them to merge. The assembly was run by unelected officials which made the citizens mad. In the end, the economy did recover a bit but not fast enough. The union was not a permanent solution which led to Canada joining confederation. -
Victoria was named capital of BC
Victoria was the port supply base and outfitting centre for minors. It was also the home of the royal navy, and it was a very busy city at the time, which lead to it becoming the capital of the new united colony, instead of New Westminster. This helped it become one of North Americas biggest importers of Opium. -
British Colombia became the sixth Canadian province
British Colombia joined the confederation with the agreement to extend the CPR and assume the colonies debt. If we had not joined confederation, BC would definitely not be what it is today. -
Amor de Cosmos
Amor de Cosmos was a Canadian journalist, publisher and politician. He believed that the colonies needed to be self-supporting, develop a distinct identity and form a political and economical union. He became the 2nd premier of British Columbia. -
The NWMP Formed
The NWMP is a paramilitary force that was created to maintain law and order in the newly acquired North West Territories. They helped the First Nations from the wolfers, therefore the treaties went well when they negotiated with First Nations. -
The building of the CPR is completed
On November 7th, Donald A. Smith drove the last spike into the railway in Craigellachie, BC. The railway connected BC with the other provinces, and it protected us from becoming a part of the United States. The railway really helped our economy, and helped our population increase rapidly.