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Article #2: British Columbia history

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British Columbia, often referred to as forestry, agriculture, and fishing
B.C. or BC (French: Colombie-Britannique, sectors were developed. Mining activity
C.-B.), is the westernmost of Canada's was particularly notable in the Boundary
provinces and is famed for its natural Country, in the Slocan, in the West
beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Kootenay around Trail, the East Kootenay
Splendor sine occasu ("Splendour without (the southeast corner of the province),
diminishment"). It was the sixth province the Fraser Canyon, the Cariboo and
to join Confederation. Residents are elsewhere. Agriculture attracted settlers
referred to as British Columbians or to the fertile Fraser Valley, and cattle
BCers. Its capital is Victoria while the ranchers and later fruit growers to the
largest city is Vancouver, which is also drier grasslands of the Thompson River
Canada's third largest city. area, the Cariboo, the Chilcotin, and the
Pre-Confederation Okanagan. Forestry drew workers to the
The discovery of stone tools on the lush temperate rain forests of the coast,
Beatton River near Fort St. John date which was also the locus of a growing
human habitation in British Columbia to fishery.
at least 11,500 years ago. The First The completion of the CPR in 1885-86 was
Nations population spread throughout the a huge boost to the province's economy,
region, mostly on the coast, where facilitating the transportation of the
aboriginals achieved the highest density region's considerable resources to the
of any place in Canada. At the time of east. The booming logging town of
European contact, nearly half the Granville, near the mouth of the Burrard
aboriginal people in present-day Canada Inlet was selected as the terminus of the
lived in BC. railway, prompting the incorporation of
The explorations of James Cook in the the community as Vancouver in 1886. The
1770s and George Vancouver in the 1790s, completion of the Port of Vancouver
and the concessions of Spain in the 1790s spurred rapid growth, and in less than
established British jurisdiction over the fifty years the city would surpass
coastal area north and west of the Winnipeg as the largest in western
Columbia River. In 1793, Sir Alexander Canada.
Mackenzie was the first European to The early decades of the province were
journey across North America overland to ones in which issues of land use —
the Pacific Ocean, inscribing a stone specifically, its settlement and
marking his accomplishment on the development — were paramount. This
shoreline of South Bentinck Arm near included expropriation from First Nations
Bella Coola. His expedition theoretically people of their land, control over its
established British sovereignty inland, resources, as well as the ability to
and a succession of other fur company trade in some resources (such as the
explorers charted the maze of rivers and fishery). Establishing a labour force to
mountain ranges between the Prairies and develop the province was problematic from
the Pacific. Mackenzie and these other the start, and British Columbia was the
explorers — notably John Finlay, Simon locus of immigration not only from
Fraser, Samuel Black, and David Thompson Europe, but also from China and Japan.
— were primarily concerned with The influx of a non-caucasian population
extending the fur trade, rather than stimulated resentment from the dominant
political considerations. ethnic groups, resulting in agitation
Their establishment of trading posts (much of it successful) to restrict the
under the auspices of the North West ability of Asian people to immigrate to
Company and the Hudson's Bay Company British Columbia through the imposition
(HBC), however, effectively established a of a head tax. This resentment culminated
permanent British presence in the region, in mob attacks against Chinese and
which (south of 54-40 latitude) was, as Japanese immigrants in Vancouver in 1887
of the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, and 1907. By 1923, almost all Chinese
under the "joint occupancy and use" of immigration had been blocked except for
citizens of the United States and merchants and investors (see Anti-Chinese
subjects of Britain (which is to say, the legislation in Canada).
fur companies). This co-occupancy was Meanwhile, the province continued to
ended with the Oregon Treaty of 1846. grow. In 1914, the last spike of a second
Some of these early posts would grow into transcontinental rail line, the Grand
settlements, communities, and cities. Trunk Pacific, linking north-central
Among the places in British Columbia that British Columbia from the Yellowhead Pass
began as fur trading posts are Fort St. through Prince George to Prince Rupert
John (established 1794); Hudson's Hope was driven at Fort Fraser. This opened up
(1805); Fort Nelson (1805); Fort St. the north coast and the Bulkley Valley
James (1806); Prince George (1807); region to new economic opportunities.
Kamloops (1812); Fort Langley (1827); What had previously been an almost
Victoria (1843); Yale (1848); and Nanaimo exclusively fur trade and subsistence
(1853). Fur company posts that became economy soon became a locus for forestry,
cities in what is now the United States farming, and mining.
include Vancouver, Washington (Fort The 1920s through the 1940s
Vancouver), formerly the "capital" of When the men returned from World War I,
Hudson's Bay operations in the Columbia they discovered the recently-enfranchised
District (aka the Oregon Territory). women of the province had helped vote in
With the amalgamation of the two fur the prohibition of liquor in an effort to
trading companies in 1821, the region now end the social problems associated with
comprising British Columbia existed in the hard-core drinking that Vancouver and
three fur trading departments. The bulk the rest of the province was famous for
of the Central and Northern Interior was until the war. Because of pressure from
organised into the New Caledonia veterans, prohibition was quickly relaxed
district, administered from Fort St. so that the "soldier and the working man"
James. The Interior south of the Thompson could enjoy a drink, but widespread
River watershed and north of the Columbia unemployment among veterans was hardened
was organised into the Columbia District, by many of the available jobs being taken
administered from Fort Vancouver by European immigrants - Italians and
(present-day Vancouver, Washington). The others - and disgruntled veterans
northeast corner of the province east of organized a range of "soldier parties" to
the Rockies, known as the Peace River represent their interests, variously
Block, was attached to the much larger named Soldier-Farmer, Soldier-Labour, and
Athabasca District, headquartered in Fort Farmer-Labour Parties. These formed the
Chipewyan (in present day Alberta). basis of the fractured labour-political
Until 1849, these districts were a wholly spectrum that would generate a host of
unorganised area of British North America fringe leftist and rightist parties,
under the defacto jurisdiction of HBC including those who would eventually form
administrators. Unlike Rupert's Land to the Co-operative Commonwealth and the
the north and east, however, the early Social Credit splinter groups.
territory was not a concession to the The advent of prohibition in the United
Company. Rather, it was simply granted a States created new opportunities, and
monopoly to trade with the First Nations many found employment or at least profit
inhabitants. All that was changed with in cross-border liquor smuggling. Much of
the westward extension of American Vancouver's prosperity and opulence in
exploration, and the concomitant the 1920s is due to this "pirate
overlapping claims of territorial economy", although growth in forestry,
sovereignty, especially in the southern fishing and mining continued. The end of
Columbia basin (within present day US-side Prohibition, combined with the
Washington state and Oregon). In 1846, onset of the Great Depression, plunged
the Oregon Treaty divided the territory the province into economic destitution.
along the 49th parallel to Georgia Compounding the already dire local
Strait, with the area south of this economic situation, tens of thousands of
boundary, excluding Vancouver Island and men from colder parts of Canada swarmed
the Gulf Islands) transferred to sole into Vancouver, creating huge hobo
American sovereignty. The Colony of jungles around False Creek and the
Vancouver Island was created in 1849, Burrard Inlet railyards, including the
with Victoria designated as the capital. old CPR mainline right-of-way through the
New Caledonia continued to be an heart of the city's downtown (at Hastings
unorganized territory of British North and Carrall). Increasingly desperate
America, "administered" by individual HBC times led to intense political organizing
trading post managers. efforts, an occupation of the main Post
With the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush in 1858, Office at Granville & Hastings which was
an influx of Americans into New Caledonia violently put down by the police, and an
prompted the colonial office to formally effective imposition of martial law on
designate the mainland as the Colony of the docks for almost three years. A
British Columbia, with New Westminster as Vancouver contingent for the On-to-Ottawa
its capital. A second gold rush — the Trek was organized and seized a train,
Cariboo Gold Rush — followed in 1862, which was loaded with thousands of men
forcing the colonial administration into bound for the capital but was met by a
deeper debt as it struggled to meet the Gatling gun straddling the tracks at
extensive infrastructure needs of Mission; the men were arrested and sent
far-flung boom communities like to work camps for the duration of the
Barkerville and Lillooet, which literally Depression.
sprang up overnight. The Vancouver Island There were some signs of economic life
colony was facing financial crises of its beginning to assert normalcy towards the
own, and pressure to merge the two end of the '30s, but it was the onset of
eventually succeeded in 1866, with the World War II which transformed the
name British Columbia being applied to national economy and ended the hard times
the newly united colony. of the Depression. Because of the war
Rapid growth and development effort, women entered the workforce as
The Confederation League led by such never before.
figures as Amor De Cosmos, John Robson, BC has long taken advantage of its
and Robert Beaven had long led the chorus Pacific coast to have close relations
pressing for the colony to join Canada, with East Asia. However, this has caused
which had been created out of three friction, with frequent feelings of
British North American colonies in 1867. animosity towards Asian immigrants. This
Several factors motivated this agitation, was most manifest during the Second World
including the fear of annexation to the War when many people of Japanese descent
United States, the overwhelming debt were relocated or interned in the
created by rapid population growth, the Interior of the province.
need for government-funded services to A second growth spurt: the 1950s and
support this population, and the economic 1960s
depression caused by the end of the gold The post-World War II years saw Vancouver
rush. With the agreement by the Canadian and Victoria also become cultural centres
government to extend the Canadian Pacific as poets, authors, artists, musicians, as
Railway (CPR) to British Columbia and to well as dancers, actors, and haute
assume the colony's debt, BC became the cuisine chefs flocked to the beautiful
sixth province to join Confederation on scenery and warmer temperatures.
July 20, 1871. The borders of the Similarly, these cities have either
province were not completely settled attracted or given rise to their own
until 1903, however, when the province's noteworthy academics, commentators, and
territory shrank somewhat after the creative thinkers. Tourism also began to
Alaska Boundary Dispute settled the vague play an important role in the economy.
boundary of the Alaska Panhandle. The rise of Japan and other Pacific
Population in British Columbia continued economies was a great boost to the BC
to expand as the province's mining, economy.






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