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Vancouver Island history

Source: Museum at Campbell River

The First Nations people have lived on Vancouver Island for centuries. The Island’s oldest known archaeological site, in Port Hardy, dates back more than 8000 years.

The First Nations people were closely tied to the sea - they lived in coastal villages sheltered from storms during the winter, and moved to seasonal food gathering sites during spring, summer and fall. The abundance of their surroundings was matched by their rich cultural traditions expressed in complex ceremonies and art.

Vancouver Island was found to be an island when British and Spanish explorers charted its inside coast in the late 18th Century. They found that tides coming from north and south met in Discovery Passage, indicating that the land mass to the west would end at the Pacific Ocean.

The first contact between native and non-native peoples was at Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island’s west coast. Britain and Spain nearly went to war over possession of the area, but their dispute was settled peaceably, granting access to the British.

Place names of Vancouver Island and neighbouring waters show a diversity of origins – including various languages of the First Nations people and of European explorers, traders and settlers.

The growth of a non-native population began in the mid-19th Century when the Hudson's Bay Co. established trading posts on the Island. Farming, logging and coal mining spread northward from Fort Camosun, later named Fort Victoria, the beginnings of the city of Victoria.

For the isolated communities that developed along the island's coastline, steamships carrying freight, mail and passengers provided a lifeline to the outside world.

Mission ships brought spiritual, medical and social sustenance. Coal mining interests built a railroad on the southern half of the Island.

Seymour Narrows, near Campbell River, was the site of the largest non-nuclear explosion in history in 1958. Over a thousand tons of dynamite were used to blast away over 300,000 tons of rock from a treacherous marine hazard known as Ripple Rock.

Established in 1911 was the province’s first provincial park, beautiful Strathcona Park in the heart of Vancouver Island. Plans were laid for an elaborate resort area, but World War I brought a halt to its development. The wilderness park includes the island’s last remaining icefield, the highest peak on the island and the highest waterfall in Canada.