-
Trade Wars
From 1649-1650 there were trade wars over trapping furs and selling them to Europe. It was the New England colony traders and Iroqois vs the settlers of New France and the Huron. This led to murdering and fights. -
Radisson and Groseilliers
Radisson and Groseilliers joined to form a partnership in 1660. They led hunting expeditions and explored the northwest. In 1661, they discovered the Hudson Bay. It was rich in furs! They traveled to England to convince Prince Rupert to grant them ships to load the pelts from Hudson's Bay. -
HBC
In 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company was created by Radisson and Groseilliers. It was a trading company for furs. The people only traded, they did NOT use money. -
NWC
The North West Company was established in 1779. It was a trading company made up of Scottish and English merchants. Many French voyagurs also worked for them. The reason that they came together was to avoid rival competition and fighting that had been going on for years. -
Sea Otter Pelts
From 1790-1820, sea otter fur was the most expansive fur in the world. The fur was so valueable that people hunted down most of the sea otters. This event made the animal an endanger species. -
David Thompson
David Thompson worked for the Hudson Bay Company for 28 years and was named trader and surveyor in 1791. -
The Search of Alexander Mackenzie
Alexander Mackenzie was the first person known to cross the continent. In 1792, he found a way through the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean so the hunters could go through. The hunters hunted animals for thier furs. -
Fort St. James
Fort St. James was built in 1806 and led by Simon Fraser. ( The famous Explorerer) The post was located in the territiory of Dakelh. Fort St. James was part of the North West Company. -
Simon Fraser
Simon Fraser was a famous explorer and trader. He worked for the Northwest Company. He went on a mission to find a route so the hunters could go through and found a river that he thought was the Columbia River. But insted he found a crazy rapid whirlpool river! The part of the river that was dangerous is called Hell's Gate right now. It's part of that same river that we call the Fraser River. The river was named after
Simon Fraser. -
Water Route
David Thompson found a route from the Columbia River to the ocean. It was used to transport the furs on a ship to different places like Europe. -
Rivals United
The Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company were rivals. So in 1821, they became one united company called the Hudson's Bay Company or HBC for short. The European customers would trade things like kettles, blankets, knives etc. For furs from the fur traders and the Aboriginal people. Some popular furs that were traded were beaver pelts and sea otter pelts. The foriegn goods lasted longer and worked better than the things that the Natives made. -
The Fraser Gold Rush
There was a major gold rush by the Fraser River because people heard about other prospectors that got rich and wanted to be like them. -
Mining Difficulties 1858-1900's
In the beginning of the mining industry, life was hard as a prospector. All prospectors who wanted to mine in British Columbia, had to get a 'mining license' in Victoria in order to mine. People had to live and sleep in tents, then eventually log cabins were made. Still, it wasn't the best place after a long day of work and carrying a heavy backpack that weighed about 70 pounds. Also, mining cost lots of money and the food was limited. -
Victoria
Because the miners had to get a 'mining license' to prospect for gold, people from all over the world came to Victoria in order to mine for gold in that area. Therefor, the population grew to over 20,000 in Victoria and it became a big city. -
Effects of the Gold Rush
The gold rush effected Canada's environment in a bad way and a good way.
People who didn't even mine became rich because they made the town full of resturants, saloons, ect. That was great, but the people cut down many trees for thier buildings and sidewalks, which was bad for the environment. Also, the river beds and rocks were destroyed because of the digging for gold. -
Douglas Trail
James Douglas made a trail for miners in 1859. It stretched from the coast to the interior of Canada. -
Keithley Creek
Gold was found at Keithley Creek in 1860. It was ONE of the first gold strikes. Many people rushed there to strike it rich! -
William Dietz and Miners
William Dietz and some other miners named a creek in Richfield, British Columbia, ' William's Creek'. -
Billy Barker and Barkerville
Billy Barker found gold in William's Creek in 1861. People heard about how some people like Billy and John Cameron got money and wanted to be rich like them! They rushed there but none were as sucessful as Billy Barker! Barker's method was to bring shafts 80 feet underground to get his gold because, they worked better than gold pans. Billy even got a
town named after him in 1862. It was called 'Barkerville.' -
The Cariboo
There was also a big gold rush in the Cariboo in 1862. In that same year and place, the Cariboo Wagon Road was built. It stretched from Yale to the Fraser Canyon, and from Lytton to Quensnel. This road was wide enough for wagons to go through. The Cariboo Wagon Road was very useful for miners to get to thier destination to prospect for gold. And in 1864, the road reached Barkerville. -
British North America Act
The British North America Act was started in 1866 and finished in 1867. It took about two months to make. The document was rules for how the country (Canada) should be run. The rules got approved on March 29,1867 by the British Parliament. The Dominion of Canada became a country with four provinces, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario on July 1,1867. ( At that time, Quebec and Ontario were called the Province of Canada.) -
New Brunswick entered Canada
New Brunswick entered Canada in 1867 when Canada became a country. New Brunswick got their shield on May 26, 1868. -
Nova Scotia entered Canada
Nova Scotia entered Canada when Canada became a country. (1867)
The shield was givin in 1625. -
Ontario entered Canada
Ontario entered Canada in 1867 when Canada became a country. It's shield was approved on May 26,1868. -
Quebec entered Canada
Quebec also came part of Canada when Canada became a country. The shield for Quebec was approved on December 9, 1939. -
Manitoba entered Canada
Manitoba entered Canada in 1870. The shield was givin to Manitoba on May 10, 1905. -
Northwest Territioes entered Canada
The Northwest Territories entered Canada in 1870. Their shield was granted on February 7, 1957. -
British Columbia entered Canada
British Columbia became part of Canada in 1871. The province got the shield in 1906. -
Sir John A. Macdonald
The Prime Minister at the time, Sir John A. Macdonald was premoting the railway and looking for ways to finance the railway. This railway would unite all of Canada. Unfortunately, he accepted bribes in 1872 to finance the railway and that was illegal. This was called the Pacific Scandal. -
Prince Edward Island entered Canada
Prince Edward Island, or P.E.I for short, became a province in Canada in 1873. It's shield was approved in 1905. -
Alexander Mackenzie
Sir John A. Macdonald resigned as Prime Minister due to the scandal. The new Prime Minister was Alexander Mackenzie. He continued the railway building project. -
Effects of the Railway on the Environment
The railway project took up 25 million acres. Much of the land and natural habitats were destroyed. They cut down many trees, blasted rocks, and dug up rivers. The wildlife was demolished. The rivers were also polluted by the destruction. Also, when trains run, they polute the air because they run on coal. -
The Transcontinental Railway across Canada was started
The first railway across Canada was started in 1881. The government gave money and orders for the railway to be built. William Cornelius Van Horne was hired to be in charge of the construction. Van Horne hired 12,000 men.They used 5,000 horses and 300 dogsled teams. Major Albert Bowman Rogers was a surveyor and discovered the route known as Roger"s Pass. The railway would transport passengers as well as bring raw materials from the west to factories in the east such as coal and ore. -
Bad working Condidtions
Many Chinese immigrants were hired to work on the railway (CPR).The Chinese were treated poorly. The others got paid $I to $2.50 a day and the Chinese were paid 75 cents to $1.25 a day and were sometimes paid in rice mats. Often they had nothing to send home to thier families. The Chinese did the most dangerous jobs like using explosives to blast rocks or mountains to make a route for the railway. Many died form illnesses and accidents on the job. -
Problems and Difficulties with Building the Railway
The Manitoba Metis didn't want the railway because it was a threat to thier way of life. Unlike the Manitoba Metis, the Blackfoot chief, Crowfoot was convinced by Albert Lacombe to let the railway to be built on their land.
The Kicking Horse Pass was also a challenge because it was a steep place to build a railway. Many of the routes they planned on using were replaced by longer routes that were easier to build. Unexpected floods changed their some of their railway plans too. -
Money Issues
The Canadian Pacific Railway company was running out of money in 1883 . So the government of Canada lent the company 22.5 million dollars in 1884 to complete construction of the railway. -
The Railway was Finished
On November 7,1885, the last spike was put on the railway by Donald Alexander Smith. It was the longest railway at the time. It connected most of Canada and covered the west to the east . It did not cover the northern parts of Canada but it still made Canada a unifified nation. -
Yukon entered Canada
Yukon entered Canada in 1898. It's shield was officially granted in 1956. -
Saskatchewan entered Canada
Saskatchewan became part of Canada in 1905. It's shield was approved in 1906. -
Alberta entered Canada
Alberta became part of Canada in 1905. It got it's shield in 1907. -
Newfoundland entered Canada
Newfoundland became a province to Canada in 1949. It's shield was granted to it in November, 1637. -
Constitution
Canada had a constitution in 1982. A constitution is when a country, in this case, Canada, gets their own set of rules and certain rights. The British North America Act was an old constitution with not many powers of independance. The new document, was called the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If Canada didn't have a constitution, Canada would still be ruled by Britan and it wouldn't be an indepandant country like it is now. -
Nunavut entered Canada
Nunavut became a territory of Canada in 1999. The shield was granted one day before Nunavut was part of Canada.
