BACKGROUND - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 725

By Sea
In the second half of the 18th century, curiosity about a western approach to the fabled
Northwest Passage and a common desire to discover rich natural resources lured Russian,
Spanish, British, and American explorers and fur traders along the coastline that is now
British Columbia. In 1774, the ship of Mexican Juan Perez was the first vessel to explore
the coastline and trade with First Nations people. He was quickly followed by Spaniard
Don Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, who took possession of the coast of Alaska
for Spain. England's Captain James Cook arrived in 1778 to spend some time at Nootka,
becoming the first European to actually come ashore, trading with the First Nations while
he overhauled his ship. Cook received a number of luxuriantly soft sea otter furs, which he
later sold at a huge profit in China. This news spawned a fur-trading rush that began in 1785
and continued for 25 years. Ship after loaded ship called in along the coast, trading iron,
brass, copper, muskets, cloth, jewelry, and rum to First Nations people in exchange for furs.
The indigenous people were eager to obtain the foreign goods, but they were also known
for driving a hard bargain. The traders took the furs directly to China to trade for silk, tea,
spices, ginger, and other luxuries. In 1789, Bodega y Quadra established a settlement at
Nootka, but after ongoing problems with the British (who also claimed the area), he gave
it up. In 1792, Captain George Vancouver, who had been the navigator on Cook's 1778
expedition, returned to the area and sailed into Burrard Inlet, claiming the land for Great
Britain.
By Land
In the meantime, adventurous North West Company fur traders were crossing the Rockies
in search of waterways to the coast. The first European to reach the coast was Alexander
Mackenzie, who traveled via the Peace, Fraser, and West Road Rivers—you can still see
the rock in the Dean Channel (off Bella Coola) where he inscribed “Alexander Mackenzie
from Canada by land 22nd July 1793.” Not far behind came other explorers, including Si-
mon Fraser, who followed the Fraser River to the sea in 1808, and David Thompson, who
followed the Columbia River to its mouth in 1811. Today the names of these men grace
everything from rivers to motels. In the early 19th century, the North West Company estab-
lished trading posts in New Caledonia (the name Simon Fraser gave to the northern interi-
or). These posts were taken over by Hudson's Bay Company after amalgamation of the two
companies in 1821.