Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
formed by hosts garbed in elaborate costumes and masks educated, entertained, and af-
firmed each clan's historical continuity.
Within the Coast Salish nation were many distinct bands. The largest of these on the
mainland was the
Musqueam
band, 3,000 of whom lived in a village beside the Fraser
River (near the south end of present-day Pacific Spirit Regional Park). The
Squamish
lived on the north side of Burrard Inlet and along Howe Sound. At the southern end of
Vancouver Island, the groupings were less distinct but are now divided cleanly into three
groups by linguistics: the Songhees, the Saanich, and the Sooke.
Theoldestarchaeological sitesdiscoveredonthesiteofmodern-dayVancouverarean-
cient middens of clam and mussel shells, which accumulated as garbage dumps for nat-
ive villages. The largest known of these is the Marpole Midden, in southern Vancouver,
which at 3 hectares (7.4 acres) in area and up to 5 meters (16 feet) deep represents a thou-
sand years of seasonal living beginning around 2,500 years ago. The end of the “Marpole
Phase” coincided with prehistoric technological advances, which made living in larger,
more permanent communities more practical.
The first Europeans to venture along North America's west coast north of the 49th parallel
were in search of a northwest passage to the Orient. This fabled route across the top of
the continent was first attempted from the east by Martin Frobisher in 1576, but the route
wasn't attempted from the west until the 1770s. Three Spanish expeditions and a fourth
led by Captain James Cook, with George Vancouver as navigator, sailed past the entrance
totheStraitofGeorgia,butnoneoftheseshipsenteredthewatersuponwhichthecities of
Victoria and Vancouver now lie. In 1792 George Vancouver returned to the area as Cap-
tain Vancouver, leading an expedition sent to chart the waters of the strait. In the process,
Vancouver entered Burrard Inlet and claimed the land for Great Britain.
Fur and Gold
The first wave of Europeans to arrive on the west coast came overland in search of fur-
bearing mammals. The first to reach the coast was Simon Fraser, who was sent west by
theNorthWestCompanytoestablishacoastaltradingpost.In1806hereachedthePacific
Ocean via the river that was later named for him, and in 1808 he built a fur fort east of
today's Vancouver. In 1827 the Hudson's Bay Company established its own trading post,
Fort Langley, on the Fraser River 48 kilometers (30 miles) east of present-day downtown
Vancouver. Neither of these two outposts spawned a permanent settlement, although Fort
