Victoria History

Native Peoples of Vancouver Island

The Coast Salish people, which included the Songhee tribe, were the original inhabitants of Vancouver Island. There is evidence of a fortified village at Finlayson Point in Beacon Hill Park that existed prior to the arrival of Europeans in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

The Songhees' traditional foods included salmon, shellfish, whale, deer, duck, berries, camas root and herbs. The Coast Salish traditionally lived in bighouses.

Spanish & British Explorations of Vancouver Island

The Spanish claim to Alaska and the Pacific Northwest had dated back to a 1493 papal bull and rights contained in the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas; these two formal acts gave Spain the exclusive rights to colonize all of the Western Hemisphere (excluding Brazil), including the exclusive rights to colonize all of the west coast of North America.

The first European expedition to actually reach the west coast of North America was led by the Spaniard Vasco Nunez de Balboa, which achieved the Pacific coast of Panama in 1513. Balboa claimed the Pacific Ocean for the Spanish Crown, as well as the lands touching it, including all of the west coast of North America. This action of Balboa further solidified the Spanish claim of exclusive control over the entire west coast of North America.

Confident of their claims, the Spanish Empire did not explore or settle the northwest coast of North America in the 250 years after Balboa's claim. By the late 1700s, however, learning of Russian Empire and British arrivals along the Pacific coast, Spain finally grew sufficiently concerned about their claims to the Pacific Northwest and set out to learn the extent of the Russian and British encroachment.

In late 1774, the viceroy of New Spain commanded Juan Jose Perez Hernandez to explore the Pacific coast with the objective of reaching 60° north latitude (about the latitude of today's Cordova, Alaska) to discover possible Russian settlements and to re-assert the long-standing Spanish claim to the Pacific Northwest. Rumors of Russian fur traders caused the Spanish to send the frigate Santiago north under the command of Perez, crewed mostly by Mexicans. Interestingly, Perez was given explicit instructions to treat all natives with respect, and to establish friendly relations with any natives encountered.

It was during this journey in 1774 that Perez became the first European to visit Vancouver Island.

In 1776, Captain James Cook began his epic third and final voyage, with the mission of discovering the famed Northwest Passage. By 1778, he had mapped the western coast of North America, stretching from California to the Bering Strait. It was during this voyage that he ostensibly visited what is now the city of Victoria.

Subsequent Spanish explorations of the Pacific Northwest took place in 1790, 1791 and 1792.

Captain James Cook

Hudson's Bay Company & Fort Victoria

As the fur trade made its move across the North American continent, on March 14, 1843, the Hudson's Bay Company established a fort and trading post at the south end of Vancouver Island on a site originally called Camosun (the native word was "Camosack, meaning "rush of water").

The fort was established here in anticipation of the signing of the Oregon Treaty, between the United States and Britain, which stipulated that the 49th parallel would be set as the international boundary line. Accordingly, the Hudson's Bay Company moved its fort from Vancouver on the Columbia River (the site of present-day Vancouver, Washington) to Vancouver Island. For a short period, the fort was known as "Fort Albert," but by resolution passed by the Council of the Northern Department of the Hudson's Bay Company at a meeting at Fort Garry on June 10, 1843, the fort became "Fort Victoria," named in honor of the new Queen of England.

The Songhees established a village across the harbor from the fort; they were later moved north of Esquimalt.

In 1849, the crown Colony of Vancouver Island was established by Royal Grant. The Hudson's Bay Company was given title to the whole of Vancouver Island on the stipulation that the island be colonized.

Later that year, the Imperial Government of the Crown Colony of Vancouver Island was established. On March 11, 1850, Richard Blanshard, the Chief Factor of the fort (a rank equivalent to a General Manager) was made governor of the Vancouver Island Colony.

In 1852, the name "Victoria" was adopted when the town site was laid out.

The Gold Rush of 1858

Gold was discovered in 1855 on the Thompson River in British Columbia. In 1858, news of the strike was spread to San Francisco when the then governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island, James Douglas, sent a shipment of ore to the San Francisco mint.

San Francisco and the California gold fields met the news with excitement, and within a month 30,000 men descended upon Victoria, which until that time had maintained a population of only 450 men, women and children. This was a record for mass movement of mining populations on the North American frontier.

Overnight, a city of tents sprang up around the fort and quickly spread over both sides of James Bay. A wild land boom followed, and city lots that were left unsold at $25 apiece within a week commanded $3,000 each.

As a result of the gold rush, and the influx of people onto the mainland, the Crown Colony of British Columbia was established at Fort Langley on November 19, 1858. The capital of the new Crown Colony of British Columbia was set at New Westminster (today's Vancouver).

Life After the Gold Rush

In 1865, Esquimalt, located across the harbor from Victoria, was established as the North Pacific home of the Royal Navy.

As the Gold Rush Fever waned, and disappointed miners returned to California, the continued separate existence of the Crown Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia became impractical. The Imperial Parliament passed an act for the Union of the colonies in August, 1866, and the act became effective in November of the same year. As a result of the act, New Westminster became the capital of the new Colony of British Columbia.

The capital of the colony reverted to Victoria in 1868. In 1871, British Columbia became the sixth member of the Canadian Confederation. With Confederation, the continued establishment of the British (or Canadian) naval and military headquarters on the North Pacific at Esquimalt was guaranteed.

As a result of the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway terminus on Burrard Inlet in 1886, Victoria's position as the commercial center of British Columbia was irrevocably lost to the City of Vancouver.

Victoria in the 20th Century

By the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, Victoria evolved primarily into a city of government, retirement and tourism. The city began cultivating an image of genteel civility within a beautiful natural setting. This image was reinforced by the impressions of visitors such as Rudyard Kipling, the construction of the Craigdarroch Castle in the late 1890s, the construction of the Parliament buildings, opened in 1898, the establishment of the Butchart Gardens in 1904 and the construction of the Empress Hotel by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1908.

A real estate development boom ended just before World War I, leaving Victoria with a large stock of Edwardian public, commercial and residential structures that have greatly contributed to the character of the city.

The city remains as Canada's western naval base, and home to a major fishing fleet. Ship building and repair, as well as forest products and machine manufacturing industries, continue to provide significant employment of the local population. Victoria has become noted for its fine educational institutions, including the University of Victoria and other higher education establishments.

The B.C. Legislative Building

Today's Victoria

Into the 21st Century, Victoria has retained a very vital yet comfortable quality of life. The city is justifiably proud of its British heritage, its fine homes and neighborhoods, its attractive and historic downtown area, its parklands and the Inner Harbour, providing beautiful vistas of the Empress Hotel and the Parliament buildings.

Victoria has been dubbed one of the world's best cities by Conde Nast Traveler magazine, topping the list in the category of environment and ambience. Compared with their countrymen, Victoria residents registered the greatest satisfaction with their city. This satisfaction and regard for their quality of life and environment is perhaps the most notable feature of Victoria today, and the challenge for its future.