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BC
Profiles Sites
to
Explore History
of British
Columbia's
North Pacific
Coast, North
Vancouver
District…North
Vancouver
City…West
Vancouver…
Vancouver
City…. How
did so many
local cities
get a Dutch
name like
Vancouver?
The name goes
back to when
the Canadian
Pacific Railway
came to Port
Moody in 1886,
and then to
Vancouver in
1887.
Vancouver was
first called
Gastown, before
being changed
to Granville
after Lord
Granville for
his part in
birthing the
Canadian
Confederation.
Some key
'movers-and-shakers'
wanted to name
Vancouver 'The
City of
Liverpool'.
The 'Railway
General',
William Van
Horne, then
vice-president
of the CPR,
felt that this
newly
incorporated
city deserved a
famous name to
go with its
famous
future.
"This is
destined", said
Van Horne, " to
become a great
city, perhaps
the greatest
city in
Canada.
We must see to
it that it has
a name
commensurate
with its
dignity and
importance, and
Vancouver it
shall be, if I
have the
ultimate
decision." Since
William Van
Horne had been
the driving
force behind
CPR's rapid
completion of
the CPR line
through the
Prairies and
onto Port
Moody; he was
listened to
most
carefully.
Sir William Van
Horne went on
to become the
President of
the CPR in
1888; before
being knighted
in 1894.
Both the
Vancouver,
Washington
citizens and
the Vancouver
Island
residents were
upset that Van
Horne had
stolen their
name given to
them by Captain
George
Vancouver
himself.
The Victoria
merchants were
so upset by
this 'theft'
that they
organized a
boycott of all
Eastern Canada
companies who
did business
with Van
Horne's
Vancouver.
Robert Beaven
of Victoria
complained how
wrong it was
that Van Horne,
being an
American
citizen, could
take so much
control after
only two years
in
Vancouver.
It is highly
ironic that the
CPR
coast-to-coast
railway, which
kept BC from
joining the
USA, was to a
very large
extent managed
and built by
Americans.
Pierre Burton
notes how upset
some people
were that Van
Horne hired
more Americans
than Canadians
to accomplish
this
nationalist
task of uniting
Canada by
rail. Why
did Van Horne
choose
Vancouver??
Perhaps part of
Van Horne's
attraction to
Captain George
Vancouver is
that they were
both of Dutch
ancestors, and
that both as
orphans had
'made good'
despite
enormous
obstacles.
Vancouver's
paternal family
had once been
the van
Coevordens in
the Province of
Drenkte,
Holland. Captain
Vancouver led
one of the
greatest
expeditions
ever
undertaken.
His mandate
came from a
sudden threat
of war with
Spain.
British ships
had been
seized, the
flag had been
insulted,
rights of
British
subjects had
been violated,
all in that
distant port of
Nootka on what
came to be
called
Vancouver
Island.
Captain
Vancouver was
sent to receive
Nootka back
from the
Spanish, and to
map the Pacific
Coast. He and
his men,
squeezed into
two ninety-nine
foot sloops,
covered 65,000
miles in only
four years.
Vancouver had
meticulously
mapped the
continental
shore line from
latitude 56
degrees north,
in southeastern
Alaska, to his
assigned
southern limit.
He proved once
and for all
that there was
no mythical
Northwest
Passage.
It was a
remarkable
accomplishment,
a tribute to
Vancouver's
perseverance,
drive, and
energy.
Without
Vancouver's
monumental
work, it is
conceivable
that the
northern
boundary of
Oregon might
have been fixed
at latitude
54/40 North and
Canada today
would have no
Pacific
shores. Vancouver
learnt well
from his mentor
Captain Cook in
the methods
of
warding off the
dreaded illness
called
scurvy.
The seamen
detested and
grumbled at the
strange dishes
he made sure
were included
in their daily
diet.
They only
wanted salt
pork, beef, and
dried peas
&endash;their
usual
fare.
However,
Vancouver
provided them
with extras in
the form of
pickled
cabbage, malt,
a
peculiar-tasting
beer,
lime-juice, and
something
officially
described as
carrot
marmalade.
They either ate
their foods or
were given the
lash.
British sailors
got the
nickname
'limey' from
this 'peculiar'
practice of
daily
lime-juice.
Vancouver's
'limeys' stayed
alive and
healthy when,
in almost any
other vessel
afloat, perhaps
half of them
would be dead
inside two
years at
sea. Along
the way to
Vancouver
Island, Captain
Vancouver
learnt many
native
languages with
ease. At
one point, he
used this skill
to do
successful
marriage
counseling that
reconciled the
King and Queen
of
Hawaii.
In a remarkably
contemporary
tone,
King
Tamaahmaah
denied his
wife's
accusations of
adultery,
pleading,
however, 'that
his high rank
and supreme
authority was a
sort of license
for such
indulgences.'
The Hawaiian
King was so
grateful for
Vancouver's
marital and
political
advice that he
ceded all of
the Hawaiian
Islands over to
the British
Crown.
Shortsightedly
the British
government
didn't want
another obscure
little colony,
and so refused
the
offer.
Just
think…if
we'd played our
cards right,
Hawaii could
have become the
11th province
of
Canada! Captain
Vancouver
inscribed the
names of every
officer he had
ever respected
up and down the
coast. :
All in all,
Vancouver
discovered and
named more than
two hundred
places.
As a young
child, I
remembered my
mother
commenting
rapturously
about Mt.
Baker. I
had no idea
that Mom was
invoking the
memory of
Vancouver's
third
lieutenant.
Burrard Inlet
was named by
Vancouver for
an old shipmate
of Europa and
Expedition days
in the
Caribbean, Sir
Harry Burrard
of the
navy.
Point Grey was
named as a
compliment to
Vancouver's
friend Captain
George
Grey.
Many BCers
don't realize
that the
Spanish once
'owned' the BC
Coast. In
honour of his
cordial
relations with
the Captain
Quadra who
relinquished
the Spanish
claim to BC,
Captain
Vancouver gave
to Vancouver
Island the full
name of 'Quadra
& Vancouver
Island'. Four
years at sea
began to wear
down
Vancouver's
spirit.
Near the end,
he commented:
"I am once more
entrapped in
this infernal
Ocean, and am
totally at a
loss to say
when I shall be
able to quit
it." To
his brother
Van, he wrote
complaining
about 'these
remote and
uncouth
regions'.
He never heard
one word from
his superiors
in all of the
four
years.
After his
heroic journey
around the
world,
Vancouver
received little
acclaim and
less
money.
The admiralty
took four years
to pay the
wages they owed
Vancouver; the
small amount
they allowed
barely covered
his debts. With
the horrific
Napoleonic wars
breaking out,
no one had the
time to worry
about some
obscure little
settlements on
the Northwest
coast of what
Queen Victoria
eventually
named as
British
Columbia. Vancouver
died
broken-hearted
and rejected at
age 40.
His tombstone
in Petersham
was only a
plain common
grave that was
soon forgotten
about.
Years later, it
is well-tended
and is
remembered
annually by the
people of
British
Columbia, who
helped rebuild
St. Peter's
Church after
the Second
World
War. On
this 200th
Anniversary of
Vancouver's
death, may we
each choose to
be courageous
on our journeys
of life.
May Jesus the
Captain of our
souls keep our
sails aloft and
trimmed. The
Reverend Ed
Hird
Rector,
St. Simon's
Anglican
Church, North
Vancouver http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/st_simons
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The
role played by
Captain George
Vancouver whose
name is linked
so prominently
in the annals
of regional
history, has
never received
the attention
on the world's
stage it so
well deserves.
We were
impressed with
the creative
approach taken
at Expo '86,
displaying a
replica of the
'Couverdon'
Home at Pacific
Centre in the
heart of
downtown
Vancouver. It
made us truly
proud to show
the world how
the name
originated. The
following
article
reprinted with
the permission
of Reverend Ed
Hird of North
Vancouver puts
the topic in
perspective.
CAPTAIN
(North)
VANCOUVER
