-
The history of our First Nations people stretches back some 10,000 years to the end of the third ice age, however it wasn't until 1778 that Captain James Cook (the first white man to set foot in British Columbia) landed at Yuqout on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and in 1808 Simon Fraser descended the Fraser River on his famous canoe ride.
The initial explorations of (now) British Columbia were by the early Hudson's Bay Company explorers, but the real opening up of the region did not occur until the first gold rush - the Cariboo Gold Rush - in 1858. Gold prospectors ventured further and further into the province establishing instand boom towns that flourished for awhile. Some then failed and disappeared forever, others survive yet. One - Barkerville - was once a ghost town, but has been completely restored to its original boom town exuberance.
The completion of the trans-continental railroad - the CPR - was the other main influence in developing the province. In 1885 the last spike for the CPR was driven at Craigellachie in the Monashee Mountains (beside present day Highway 1). British Columbia was now connected to the rest of the country and the rest, as they say, is history.
And that history is still us, at hundreds of historical and heritage buildings and sites throughout British Columbia. Some sections of Victoria - old town and Chinatown, have changed very little over the past 100 years. Other historic properties in Victoria are Helmcken House, Craigflower Manor, Craigdarroch Castle, Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse, Point Ellice House and the Empress Hotel and Legislative Buildings.
Visit the O'Keefe Rance in Vernon, Pandosy Mission in Kelowna, or ride a steam train on part of the historic Kettle Valley Steam Railway in Summerland in the Okanagan Valley. The SS Moyie historic Paddlewheeler in Kaslo, the ghost town of Sandon and other relics of the mining boom years are evident throughout the Kootenays. Fort Steele near Kimberley is a completely restored turn of the century town, and the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel in Cranbrook where you can step aboard the refurbished 1929 Trans-Canada Limited.
Hat Creek Ranch near Cache Creek is an original roadhouse on the old gold rush trail, as is Cottonwood House east of Quesnel. Also in the Cariboo is Barkerville, the original gold rush town and probably the most impressive heritage attraction in British Columbia, with over 140 buildings either restored of faithfully restored.
The North Pacific Cannery Village Museum outside of Prince Rupert is a completely restored cannery community. In the New Hazelton area visit 'Ksan Indian Village and at Kitwanga and Kitwancool take the opportunity to view some of the heritage of the First Nations people carved into old totem poles. A visit to tiny Telgraph Creek in northwestern BC is a visit to a living ghost town, and Atlin is rich with the history of their own gold rush.
Everywhere you go in British Columbia you will have the opportunity to visit local museums or historic sites, and view artifacts. Sometimes our history is not all that evident, but there are the crumbling foundations of long deserted towns, railroads, railbeds abandoned years ago, the overgrown remains of the old Waggon Road built by the Royal Engineers, or bridges that haven't felt a horse's hooves or a train's bogies for 70 years.
Spare the time, if you can, to learn a little of the history of the area you are visiting, for it will greatly enhance your experience.
Whistler the top ski resort in British Columbia, choose next and you will see why this is.
Get your own Free Home Page