North Shore - Vancouver - page 486

History Books
Chuck Davis' History of Metropolitan Vancouver (Chuck Davis)
Vanishing Vancouver (Michael Kluckner)
Vancouver Noir (Diane Purvey, John Belshaw)
Captain Van Hits Town
After centuries of unhindered First Nations occupation, Europeans began arriving in the
late 18th century. The Spanish sent three expeditions between 1774 and 1779 in search
of the fabled Northwest Passage. British explorer Captain James Cook elbowed into the
area from the South Pacific in 1779. He had a similar Northwest Passage motive but
when he hit the west coast of Vancouver Island, he believed it to be the mainland. It
wasn't until 1791 that the Strait of Georgia near what we call Vancouver was properly
explored. Spanish navigator José María Narváez did the honors, sailing all the way into
Burrard Inlet.
Next up was Captain George Vancouver, a British navigator. In 1792 he glided into
the inner harbor and spent one day here - an auspicious day, as it turned out. When he
arrived, he discovered that the Spanish, in ships under the command of captains Valdez
and Galiano, had already claimed the area. Meeting at what is today known as Spanish
Banks, the men shared area navigational information. Vancouver made a note of the
deep natural port, which he named Burrard after one of his crew. Then he sailed away,
not thinking twice about a place that would eventually be named after him.
As Spanish influence in the area waned over the next few years in favor of the more
persistent British, explorers such as Simon Fraser and Alexander Mackenzie began
mapping the region's interior, opening it up for overland travelers, the arrival of the le-
gendary Hudson's Bay Company, and the eventual full entry of the region into the Brit-
ish Empire.
The Spanish landed here before the Brits. Captain José María Narváez named the
shoreline stretch where he set foot Islas de Langara, now Spanish Banks. This early
influence is reflected around the BC coastline, where islands are called Saturna, Gali-
ano and Texada.
Gold Rush