Grand Trunk Pacific
The last spike in Canada's second trans- continental railroad was driven near this site on April 7, 1914. The Grand Trunk Pacific became the most important factor in the dvelopment of...
- british columbia
- canada
The Mighty Fraser
Our past, present, and future are linked with the Fraser. The past saw fur-traders, the gold rush of 1858, and early settlers. The present sees water teeming with migrating salmon and highway...
- british columbia
- canada
Pacific Great Eastern (Sign missing)
The P.G.E. derived its name from England's Great Eastern Railway. Begun by private interests in 1912, it was acquired by the province in 1918 when the builders ran into financial...
- british columbia
- canada
Vernon Military Camp
Trumpets first sounded here in 1908 calling the Okanagan's cavalry to muster. Joined by infantry battalions, thousands of militiamen and cadets from all over the province came to know Mission Hill...
- british columbia
- canada
Overland Telegraph
Perry Collins, an American, evnisioned a land route to link America and Asia by telegraph. All attempts to lay a cable across the Atlantic had failed. Western Union had completed 800...
- british columbia
- canada
Bridging the Cottonwood (Sign missing)
Plans to complete the Pacific Great Eastern Railroad to Prince George in 1921 failed because instable ground prevented use of the proposed bridge site on the Cottonwood River. Thus construction...
- british columbia
- canada
The Fraser Delta (Sign missing)
About a mile beneath the river in front of you lies the old rock floor of this valley. For over 50 million years the Fraser, interrupted by periods of glaciation and mountain building, has carried...
- british columbia
- canada
Port Moody
Colonel R.C. Moody, R.C., recognized the potential value of Burrard Inlet for military defence. Named in his honour, Port Moody became the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway....
- british columbia
- canada
American Railroad
This old bridge and the sections of abandoned grade are mute reminders of the Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway & Navigation Co. A Great Northern subsidiary it was pushed into the promising...
- british columbia
- canada
From Fort to Capital (Sign missing)
Before you lies Victoria, first settlement on Vancouver Island. The Hudson's Bay Co., seeking a new western depot, built Fort Victoria in 1843. in the 1860's it prospered as a stepping-stone...
- british columbia
- canada
- rewritebc
Cottonwood House
For over half a century the Boyd family operated this haven for man and beast. Here, weary travellers found lodging, food, and drink. Here, fresh horses were hitched to stagecoaches and miners...
- british columbia
- canada
J.W. Trutch, 1826-1904 (Sign missing)
Construction of the Alexandra suspension bridge was the greatest achievement of one of British Columbia's first civil engineers, Joseph Trutch, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works after 1864, he...
- british columbia
- canada
- rewritebc
Salmon! (Sign missing)
This site, on the world's greatest salmon river, lured many pioneer canners in the late 1860's and early 1870's. Pre-eminent was Alexander Ewen, a founder and first president of B.C. Packers,...
- british columbia
- canada
- rewritebc
The Gulf Islands (Sign missing)
Beyond the rolling farmlands of the Saanich Peninsula lies the Straits of Georgia. Among its myriad Gulf Island sailed such 18th century Spanish and British explorers as Galiano and Vancouver. In...
- british columbia
- canada
- rewritebc
To the Goldfields
In the 1860's the fabulous Cariboo goldfields were a lure to thousands. Miners, traders, and adventurers, many afoot with wheelbarrows, shared the pioneer route with mule trains, plodding...
- british columbia
- canada
Historic Yale
This was the head of navigation on the Fraser River. Founded in 1848, as a Hudson's Bay Company fur post, Fort Yate later became a roaring gold- rush town and for 20 years was the starting...
- british columbia
- canada
- rewritebc
Seat of Government (Sign missing)
New Westminster, named by Queen Victoria in 1859, became the seat of government on the mainland colony of British Columbia which was created in 1858. Following union with the Colony of...
- british columbia
- canada
Dr. J.S. Helmcken (Sign missing)
Helmcken, a pioneer Hudson's Bay Company doctor, played a leading role from 1856-71 in the colonial politics of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. A spokesman for those who thought Canada was...
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- canada
Paddlewheels North
Down river lay the perilous and unnavigable canyon. Up-river the Fraser was swift and strong, but sternwheelers could travel for 400 miles from Soda Creek. Men and supplies embarked here in...
- british columbia
- canada
The Yale Convention
By 1868, the gold rushes that had founded British Columbia were over, the public debt was soaring and many were dissatisfied with the colonial government. On September 14, 1868, 26 delegates from...
- british columbia
- canada