84-530: Savary Island or Áyhus is an island in British Columbia , Canada . Located in the northern part of the Strait of Georgia , it is 144 kilometres (89 mi) northwest of Vancouver . It is approximately 0.8-1.5 km wide and 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) long. It has a permanent population of about 100, expanding to perhaps 2,000 or more in the summer months. Savary Island lies within the traditional territory of
168-621: A humid continental climate with widely variable precipitation. For example, the average daily low in Prince George (roughly in the middle of the province) in January is −12 °C (10 °F). Small towns in the southern interior with high elevation such as Princeton are typically colder and snowier than cities in the valleys. Heavy snowfall occurs in all elevated mountainous terrain providing bases for skiers in both south and central British Columbia. Annual snowfall on highway mountain passes in
252-404: A boat survey team led by Peter Puget and Joseph Whidbey charted Savary Island and spent at least one night on shore, meeting a group of Indigenous people at island's eastern end. Puget did not refer to the island as Savary, instead simply calling it "Indian Island". Permanent European settlement on the island did not begin until well into the 19th century. In the 1870s the government subdivided
336-507: A couple points of higher land, one probably Cape Mudge on Quadra Island , and another to the east, of unclear identity. In June 1792 the Spanish ships Sutil and Mexicana , under Galiano , and the British ships Discovery and Chatham , under Vancouver sailed by the island on their way to Desolation Sound. On or about June 25, 1792, Vancouver gave the name "Savary's Island". In early July
420-466: A favourite of locals and tourists. Lund was named by brothers Frederick and Charles Thulin, who came from Tryserum near Valdemarsvik , Sweden. When they settled at the harbour in December 1889, they named it after Lund , Sweden , because it was Swedish and fairly easy for non-Scandinavians to pronounce. When they arrived, the harbour was a Tla'amin village named ƛaʔamɩn (Klah ah men) . The Thulins built
504-696: A large presence in the Metro Vancouver region. The Franco-Columbian community is an officially recognized linguistic minority, and around one percent of British Columbians claim French as their mother tongue . British Columbia is home to at least 34 distinct Indigenous languages . Major sectors of British Columbia's economy include forestry , mining , filmmaking and video production , tourism , real estate , construction , wholesale , and retail . Its main exports include lumber and timber , pulp and paper products, copper , coal , and natural gas . British Columbia exhibits high property values and
588-589: A nearby town. In the summers, many island commuters from away come and go on seaplanes, especially on Friday and Sunday evening flights. Over the years there have been several shipwrecks (including the Union Steamship Steamer Capilano in 1915) and aircraft crashes (including a small single engine crash in Seaweed Bay in the 1960s). The incidents include: an RCAF Hurricane fighter that crashed off Savary in 1943; lone survivor (12-year-old Fred Ilott) of
672-516: A series of devastating epidemics of diseases the people had no immunity to. The population dramatically collapsed, culminating in the 1862 smallpox outbreak in Victoria that spread throughout the coast. European settlement did not bode well for the remaining native population of British Columbia. Colonial officials deemed colonists could make better use of the land than the First Nations people, and thus
756-827: A small island off the coast of Haida Gwaii . Many healthy populations of fish are present, including salmonids such as several species of salmon , trout , steelhead , and char . Besides salmon and trout, sport-fishers in BC also catch halibut , bass , and sturgeon . On the coast, harbour seals and river otters are common. Cetacean species native to the coast include the orca , humpback whale , grey whale , harbour porpoise , Dall's porpoise , Pacific white-sided dolphin and minke whale . Some endangered species in British Columbia are: Vancouver Island marmot , spotted owl , American white pelican , and badgers. White spruce or Engelmann spruce and their hybrids occur in 12 of
840-502: A store and in 1892 a post office was added followed by the first licensed hotel north of Vancouver two years later. Logging and fishing were the source of income in the early years. Transportation was by water. A second hotel, called the Malaspina, was built by the Thulins. When the original hotel was destroyed by a forest fire in 1918, the newer hotel, which continues to operate in the village,
924-655: A very wide range of birds, has long been popular. Bears ( grizzly , black —including the Kermode bear or spirit bear) live here, as do deer , elk , moose , caribou , big-horn sheep , mountain goats , marmots , beavers , muskrats , coyotes , wolves , mustelids (such as wolverines , badgers and fishers ), cougars , eagles , ospreys , herons , Canada geese , swans , loons , hawks , owls , ravens , harlequin ducks , and many other sorts of ducks. Smaller birds ( robins , jays , grosbeaks , chickadees , and so on) also abound. Murrelets are known from Frederick Island,
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#17328594011991008-455: A wholly unorganized area of British North America under the de facto jurisdiction of HBC administrators; however, unlike Rupert's Land to the north and east, the territory was not a concession to the company. Rather, it was simply granted a monopoly to trade with the First Nations inhabitants. All that was changed with the westward extension of American exploration and the concomitant overlapping claims of territorial sovereignty, especially in
1092-627: Is a significant centre for maritime trade : the Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and the most diversified port in North America . Although less than 5 percent of the province's territory is arable land , significant agriculture exists in the Fraser Valley and Okanagan due to the warmer climate. British Columbia is home to 45% of all publicly listed companies in Canada. The province's name
1176-625: Is accessible by chartered float plane. As an unincorporated community, municipal government is provided by the qathet Regional District . Lund is a part of the North Island-Powell River federal riding. Rachel Blaney , of the New Democratic Party of Canada, is the Member of Parliament. She was elected to represent the riding in the 2015 federal election. Nicholas Simons of the NDP
1260-626: Is an allusion in Ayajuthem to the three main water sources found in the island. The western tip of the Island—named Indian Point by colonial settlers—is called Thetik or Thah teq in Ayajuthem , meaning 'broken off'. The area known by locals as The Meadow is called T’it’may in Ayajuthem , meaning 'wild cherry trees'. The area of the spring at Beacon Point is called Xixajayis in the Ayajuthem language. Over 13 archaeological sites, protected by
1344-468: Is claimed that one of the largest arbutus trees in the world is on the island. A few western white pine are present. A tiny population of Garry oak occurs at the eastern end — the northernmost natural occurrence of this species along the coast. It has splendid beaches, arbutus groves, meadows, and sand cliffs. Salal is the most plentiful shrub in the forest under-storey. Red huckleberry , evergreen huckleberry and red flowering currant are among
1428-548: Is generally in the subarctic climate zone, but even there, milder air can penetrate far inland. The coldest temperature in British Columbia was recorded in Smith River , where it dropped to −58.9 °C (−74.0 °F) on January 31, 1947, one of the coldest readings recorded anywhere in North America. Atlin in the province's far northwest, along with the adjoining Southern Lakes region of Yukon , get midwinter thaws caused by
1512-485: Is home to First Nations groups that have a deep history with a significant number of indigenous languages. There are more than 200 First Nations in BC. Prior to contact (with non-Aboriginal people), human history is known from oral histories, archaeological investigations, and from early records from explorers encountering societies early in the period. The arrival of Paleoindians from Beringia took place between 20,000 and 12,000 years ago. Hunter-gatherer families were
1596-528: Is now the United States include Vancouver, Washington ( Fort Vancouver ), formerly the "capital" of Hudson's Bay operations in the Columbia District, Colville, Washington and Walla Walla, Washington (old Fort Nez Percés ). With the amalgamation of the two fur trading companies in 1821, modern-day British Columbia existed in three fur trading departments. The bulk of the central and northern interior
1680-462: Is the only province in Canada that borders the Pacific Ocean. British Columbia's highest mountain is Mount Fairweather ; the highest mountain entirely within the province is Mount Waddington . British Columbia's capital is Victoria , located at the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island . Only a narrow strip of Vancouver Island, from Campbell River to Victoria, is significantly populated. Much of
1764-593: Is the westernmost province of Canada . Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains , the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, inland deserts and grassy plains. British Columbia borders the province of Alberta to the east; the territories of Yukon and Northwest Territories to
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#17328594011991848-537: The 2021 census recording 2.6 million people in Metro Vancouver . British Columbia is Canada's third-largest province in terms of total area, after Quebec and Ontario . The first known human inhabitants of the area settled in British Columbia at least 10,000 years ago. Such groups include the Coast Salish , Tsilhqotʼin , and Haida peoples, among many others. One of the earliest British settlements in
1932-577: The BC Heritage Conservation Act , have been registered on the Island, including a large habitation and use site on the eastern edge, a signal site atop the high south-southwesterly crest of the island, and numerous ancestral remains. These fragile archaeological sites reflect life in the pre-contact era. It is possible that European ships were in the vicinity of the island in the mid-18th century. Tla'amin (Sliammon) First Nation oral history records
2016-548: The British Isles , many British Columbians also trace their ancestors to continental Europe , East Asia , and South Asia . Indigenous Canadians constitute about 6 percent of the province's total population. Christianity is the largest religion in the region, though the majority of the population is non-religious. English is the common language of the province, although Punjabi , Mandarin Chinese , and Cantonese also have
2100-1042: The Chinook effect, which is also common (and much warmer) in more southerly parts of the Interior. During winter on the coast, rainfall , sometimes relentless heavy rain, dominates because of consistent barrages of cyclonic low-pressure systems from the North Pacific. Average snowfall on the coast during a normal winter is between 25 and 50 centimetres (10 and 20 in), but on occasion (and not every winter) heavy snowfalls with more than 20 centimetres (8 in) and well below freezing temperatures arrive when modified arctic air reaches coastal areas, typically for short periods, and can take temperatures below −10 °C (14 °F), even at sea level. Arctic outflow winds can occasionally result in wind chill temperatures at or even below −17.8 °C (0.0 °F). While winters are very wet, coastal areas are generally milder and dry during summer under
2184-609: The Columbia in the name Columbia Rediviva came from the name Columbia for the New World or parts thereof , a reference to Christopher Columbus . The governments of Canada and British Columbia recognize Colombie-Britannique as the French name for the province. British Columbia is bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean and the American state of Alaska , to the north by Yukon and
2268-638: The Dakelh (Carrier) and the Tsilhqotʼin . The inlets and valleys of the British Columbia coast shelter large, distinctive populations, such as the Haida , Kwakwakaʼwakw and Nuu-chah-nulth , sustained by the region's abundant salmon and shellfish. These peoples developed complex cultures dependent on the western red cedar that included wooden houses, seagoing whaling and war canoes and elaborately carved potlatch items and totem poles . Contact with Europeans brought
2352-578: The Fraser Canyon , close to the confluence of the Fraser and Thompson rivers, where the terrain is rugged and covered with desert-type flora. Semi-desert grassland is found in large areas of the Interior Plateau , with land uses ranging from ranching at lower altitudes to forestry at higher ones. The northern, mostly mountainous, two-thirds of the province is largely unpopulated and undeveloped, except for
2436-460: The Inside Passage 's many inlets provide some of British Columbia's renowned and spectacular scenery, which forms the backdrop and context for a growing outdoor adventure and ecotourism industry. 75 percent of the province is mountainous (more than 1,000 m [3,300 ft] above sea level ); 60 percent is forested; and only about 5 percent is arable. The province's mainland away from
2520-520: The North Coast just south of Southeast Alaska . The exception to British Columbia's wet and cloudy winters is during the El Niño phase. During El Niño events, the jet stream is much farther south across North America, making the province's winters milder and drier than normal. Winters are much wetter and cooler during the opposite phase, La Niña . There are 14 designations of parks and protected areas in
2604-607: The North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), effectively established a permanent British presence in the region. The Columbia District was broadly defined as being south of 54°40 north latitude, (the southern limit of Russian America ), north of Mexican-controlled California, and west of the Rocky Mountains . It was, by the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 , under the "joint occupancy and use" of citizens of
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2688-649: The Northwest Territories , to the east by the province of Alberta , and to the south by the American states of Washington , Idaho , and Montana . The southern border of British Columbia was established by the 1846 Oregon Treaty, although its history is tied with lands as far south as California . British Columbia's land area is 944,735 square kilometres (364,800 sq mi). British Columbia's rugged coastline stretches for more than 27,000 kilometres (17,000 mi), and includes deep, mountainous fjords and about 6,000 islands, most of which are uninhabited. It
2772-574: The Oroville–Osoyoos Border Crossing , is one of several wine and cider -producing regions in Canada. Other wine regions in British Columbia include the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island and the Fraser Valley . The Southern Interior cities of Kamloops and Penticton have some of the warmest and longest summer climates in Canada (while higher elevations are cold and snowy), although their temperatures are often exceeded north of
2856-686: The Pleistocene era as material deposited by meltwater streams from glaciers which advanced southward through the Strait of Georgia over 20,000 years ago. The Ice Age materials are overlain by Holocene (Recent) era deposits; their features include sand dunes. Bedrock is exposed only at the eastern end around Mace Point. Most of Savary's soils are sandy, with Ae horizon development sufficient to make them resemble classic podzols , although their B horizon chemistry qualifies them as brunisols . Since deglaciation (approximately 10,000 years ago), continued erosion under
2940-619: The Salish Sea on the mainland BC coast . The main landmark in the village is the Lund Hotel, established in 1905. By boat from Lund, the Copeland Islands ( Copeland Islands Marine Provincial Park ) and Desolation Sound , (which includes Desolation Sound Marine Provincial Park ) are nearby. Lund is home to many shops and services including a general store, a restaurant overlooking the water, kayak and adventure tourism stores, and Nancy's Bakery,
3024-653: The Tla'amin Nation . Sometime after the end of the glaciers, First Nations peoples arrived in the region. Archaeological evidence documents the occupation by Coast Salish peoples in this area of the Strait of Georgia for over 4,000 years. The island is within the territory of the Tla'amin ( Sliammon ) First Nation. In the language Ayajuthem spoken by the Tla'amin peoples, the whole island is known by two names: Ihohs (previously spelled Áyhus ), meaning 'double-headed serpent' and Kayaykwon which
3108-608: The fur trade , rather than political considerations. In 1794, by the third of a series of agreements known as the Nootka Conventions , Spain conceded its claims of exclusivity in the Pacific. This opened the way for formal claims and colonization by other powers, including Britain, but because of the Napoleonic Wars , there was little British action on its claims in the region until later. The establishment of trading posts by
3192-432: The raccoon is absent; its failure to become established on the island has allowed ground-nesting birds to maintain their populations. Mink is the only native predatory mammal on land and has many mice to prey on. Prior to colonization, Savary was governed by the Tla'amin Nation under Tla'amin law. For many decades after colonization, there was no government to speak of on Savary. Eventually, Savary Island became part of
3276-549: The united colony's capital. In 1871, British Columbia entered Confederation as the sixth province of Canada, in enactment of the British Columbia Terms of Union . British Columbia is a diverse and cosmopolitan province, drawing on a plethora of cultural influences from its British Canadian , European , and Asian diasporas , as well as the Indigenous population . Though the province's ethnic majority originates from
3360-1101: The 14 biogeoclimatic zones of British Columbia . Common types of trees present in BC's forests include western redcedar , yellow-cedar , Rocky Mountain juniper , lodgepole pine , ponderosa or yellow pine , whitebark pine , limber pine , western white pine , western larch , tamarack , alpine larch , white spruce , Engelmann spruce , Sitka spruce , black spruce , grand fir , Amabilis fir , subalpine fir , western hemlock , mountain hemlock , Douglas-fir , western yew , Pacific dogwood , bigleaf maple , Douglas maple , vine maple , arbutus , black hawthorn , cascara , Garry oak , Pacific crab apple , choke cherry , pin cherry , bitter cherry , red alder , mountain alder , paper birch , water birch , black cottonwood , balsam poplar , trembling aspen . First Nations peoples of British Columbia used plants for food, and to produce material goods like fuel and building products. Plant foods included berries, and roots like camas . Environment Canada subdivides British Columbia into six ecozones : The area now known as British Columbia
3444-577: The 14 different designations that includes over 800 distinct areas. British Columbia contains seven of Canada's national parks and National Park Reserves: British Columbia contains a large number of provincial parks , run by BC Parks under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment. British Columbia's provincial parks system is the second largest parks system in Canada, the largest being Canada's National Parks system. Another tier of parks in British Columbia are regional parks , which are maintained and run by
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3528-654: The Interior during mid-summer, with the record high of 49.6 °C (121.3 °F) being held in Lytton on June 29, 2021, during a record-breaking heat wave that year . The extended summer dryness often creates conditions that spark forest fires, from dry-lightning or man-made causes. Many areas of the province are often covered by a blanket of heavy cloud and low fog during the winter months, in contrast to abundant summer sunshine. Annual sunshine hours vary from 2200 near Cranbrook and Victoria to less than 1300 in Prince Rupert , on
3612-593: The Laboratory of Archaeology at UBC . These ancestral remains were returned by UBC to the Tla'amin (Sliammon) First Nation in a repatriation ceremony for burial at Sliammon in June 2006. In 1982 the Royal Savary Hotel was demolished. Since then several B&Bs have opened on the island. This island is composed mostly of unconsolidated material such as glacial till , marine clay , and sand . This comes primarily from
3696-536: The Pacific Ocean, inscribing a stone marking his accomplishment on the shoreline of Dean Channel near Bella Coola . His expedition theoretically established British sovereignty inland, and a succession of other fur company explorers charted the maze of rivers and mountain ranges between the Canadian Prairies and the Pacific. Mackenzie and other explorers—notably John Finlay , Simon Fraser , Samuel Black , and David Thompson —were primarily concerned with extending
3780-616: The PowRivCo Tug Teeshoe sinking who washed up on Savary in the 1950s ( Teeshoe: A Powell River Story by Filmmaker Jan Padgett); a Cessna on the airstrip; two fishboats, one in the Gulf and one in Malaspina Strait, each with loss of life; and a Gulf ship that sank on Dinner Rock in 1947. There have also been swimming and pleasure boating incidents over the years. In the 1960s human remains were found on Savary and these were transferred to
3864-797: The Powell River Regional District, now qathet Regional District . In the late 1990s, the Regional District set began drafting an official community plan for the island. Draft OCPs were prepared in 2001, 2002, and 2006. On February 22, 2007, the Savary Island Official Community Plan, Bylaw No. 403, 2006 was adopted by the Powell River Regional District. The principal aim of the OCP is to maintain Savary Island's unique character and rustic island lifestyle while protecting
3948-781: The United States and subjects of Britain (which is to say, the fur companies). This co-occupancy was ended with the Oregon Treaty of 1846. The major supply route was the York Factory Express between Hudson Bay and Fort Vancouver . Some of the early outposts grew into settlements, communities, and cities. Among the places in British Columbia that began as fur trading posts are Fort St. John (established 1794); Hudson's Hope (1805); Fort Nelson (1805); Fort St. James (1806); Prince George (1807); Kamloops (1812); Fort Langley (1827); Fort Victoria (1843); Yale (1848); and Nanaimo (1853). Fur company posts that became cities in what
4032-753: The area east of the Rockies , where the Peace River Country contains BC's portion of the Canadian Prairies , centred at the city of Dawson Creek . British Columbia is considered part of the Pacific Northwest and the Cascadia bioregion , along with the American states of Alaska, Idaho, (western) Montana, Oregon , Washington, and (northern) California . Because of the many mountain ranges and rugged coastline, British Columbia's climate varies dramatically across
4116-715: The area was Fort Victoria , established in 1843, which gave rise to the city of Victoria, the capital of the Colony of Vancouver Island . The Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) was subsequently founded by Richard Clement Moody , and by the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment , in response to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush . Moody selected the site for and founded the mainland colony's capital New Westminster . The colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia were incorporated in 1866, subsequent to which Victoria became
4200-429: The blocking presence of successive mountain ranges, the climate of some of the interior valleys of the province (such as the Thompson, parts of the Fraser Canyon, the southern Cariboo and parts of the Okanagan) is semi-arid with certain locations receiving less than 250 millimetres (10 in) in annual precipitation. The annual mean temperature in the most populated areas of the province is up to 12 °C (54 °F),
4284-429: The coast in 1775. In doing so, Pérez and Quadra reasserted the Spanish claim for the Pacific coast , first made by Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513. The explorations of James Cook in 1778 and George Vancouver in 1792 and 1793 established British jurisdiction over the coastal area north and west of the Columbia River. In 1793, Sir Alexander Mackenzie was the first European to journey across North America overland to
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#17328594011994368-426: The coastal regions is somewhat moderated by the Pacific Ocean. Terrain ranges from dry inland forests and semi-arid valleys, to the range and canyon districts of the Central and Southern Interior , to boreal forest and subarctic prairie in the Northern Interior. High mountain regions both north and south have subalpine flora and subalpine climate . The Okanagan wine area , extending from Vernon to Osoyoos at
4452-412: The destruction and sinking of a “trading” ship (well known for pirating) in their traditional territory in that period. In 1791 José María Narváez commanded a small schooner, the Santa Saturnina , on an expedition to chart the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Strait of Georgia. He reached Jervis Inlet and was able to determine that Texada Island was in fact an island. In the distance to the north he saw
4536-594: The general influence of prevailing south easterly storm waves, has caused the disappearance of much of the "original island". What remains today is very much in flux as the twin forces of erosion and accretion gradually move or shift the boundaries of the island. As one study described it, "With no exterior sources of sediment, the Island will continue to cannibalize its south coast." In the rain-shadow of Vancouver Island, Savary Island receives between 950 and 1,300 mm of precipitation annually, with maximum amounts in late fall through mid-winter. No permanent streams exist on
4620-427: The influence of stable anti-cyclonic high pressure. Southern Interior valleys are hot in summer; for example, in Osoyoos , the July maximum temperature averages 31.7 °C (89.1 °F), making it the hottest month of any location in Canada; this hot weather sometimes spreads towards the coast or to the far north of the province. Temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in the lower elevations of valleys in
4704-400: The island into lots for homesteading despite Indigenous establishments on the island. Jack Green, the first non-Indigenous permanent resident, was an early settler who built a cabin and store in or about 1886. Green Point (now known as Mace Point) was named for him. In or about 1893 Green and his friend and business partner, Taylor, were murdered on Savary, during a store robbery. The events of
4788-415: The island's ground water resources, its sensitive ecosystems, and its unique biophysical characteristics. Savary Island has inspired a great deal of creativity; artists whose work features Savary include Stephanie Aitken , Helen Griffin, Charles Hepburn Scott , Anne-Marie Harvey, David Burns, Sheldon Heppner, Toni Onley , E. J. Hughes , Keith Pepper and Michael Kluckner. From the early 1900s Savary Island
4872-534: The island, but at least one spring may be found mid-island called Indian Springs. The dry warm summers and erodible soils condition distinctive ecologic settings and surface processes (including wind erosion and deposition). In addition, storm waves, which are predominantly from the southeast, have important erosion and sediment transport effects along the south shore of Savary. Common trees are Douglas-fir , western hemlock , western red cedar , lodgepole pine , grand fir , red alder , bigleaf maple and arbutus . It
4956-425: The islands of southern Alaska and northern British Columbia. The Na-Dene language group is believed to be linked to the Yeniseian languages of Siberia: the Dene of the western Arctic may represent a distinct wave of migration from Asia to North America. The Interior of British Columbia is home to the Salishan language groups such as the Shuswap (Secwepemc) , Okanagan and Athabaskan language groups, primarily
5040-423: The land should be owned by the colonists. To ensure colonists would be able to settle properly and make use of the land, First Nations were forcibly relocated onto reserves , which were often too small to support their way of life. By the 1930s, British Columbia had over 1500 reserves. Lands now known as British Columbia were added to the British Empire during the 19th century. Colonies originally begun with
5124-559: The main social structure from 10,000 to 5,000 years ago. The nomadic population lived in non-permanent structures foraging for nuts, berries and edible roots while hunting and trapping larger and small game for food and furs. Around 5,000 years ago individual groups started to focus on resources available to them locally. Coast Salish peoples had complex land management practices linked to ecosystem health and resilience. Forest gardens on Canada's northwest coast included crabapple, hazelnut, cranberry, wild plum, and wild cherry species. Thus with
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#17328594011995208-429: The mildest anywhere in Canada. The valleys of the Southern Interior have short winters with only brief bouts of cold or infrequent heavy snow, while those in the Cariboo , in the Central Interior , are colder because of increased altitude and latitude, but without the intensity or duration experienced at similar latitudes elsewhere in Canada. Outside of the driest valleys, the Southern and Central Interior generally have
5292-410: The native population of what became British Columbia. The arrival of Europeans began around the mid-18th century, as fur traders entered the area to harvest sea otters . While it is thought Sir Francis Drake may have explored the British Columbian coast in 1579, it was Juan Pérez who completed the first documented voyage, which took place in 1774. Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra explored
5376-421: The north; the U.S. states of Washington , Idaho and Montana to the south, and Alaska to the northwest. With an estimated population of over 5.6 million as of 2024, it is Canada's third-most populous province . The capital of British Columbia is Victoria , while the province's largest city is Vancouver . Vancouver and its suburbs together make up the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada , with
5460-530: The other end of the island, the Ashworth family built the Royal Savary Hotel at Indian Point. Gradually, private boats and water taxis from Lund provided the most common access to the island. The steamship services ended in the 1940s (Union Steamships) and 1950s (Gulf Steamship Line). For a brief time an airstrip was operating on the island, but it was later closed due to safety concerns (two children were killed while riding on ATVs ). The main air access to Savary has been by seaplane and boats that come from Lund,
5544-504: The other shrubs present. Many of the open areas have been conquered by alien species such as Scotch broom , gorse and Himalayan blackberry . The animal population includes birds (bald eagles, barred owls , kingfishers, cliff and northern rough-winged swallows, seagulls, sandpipers, oyster catchers, and herons), mammals (black-tailed deer, mink, harbour seals, sea lions, otters, bats and mice), reptiles (garter snakes and northern alligator lizard ), and numerous invertebrates. Surprisingly,
5628-406: The passage of time there is a pattern of increasing regional generalization with a more sedentary lifestyle . These indigenous populations evolved over the next 5,000 years across a large area into many groups with shared traditions and customs. To the northwest of the province are the peoples of the Na-Dene languages , which include the Athapaskan-speaking peoples and the Tlingit , who live on
5712-401: The province that reflect the different administration and creation of these areas in a modern context. There are 141 ecological reserves, 35 provincial marine parks, 7 provincial heritage sites, 6 National Historic Sites of Canada , 4 national parks and 3 national park reserves. 12.5 percent of the province's area (114,000 km or 44,000 sq mi) is considered protected under one of
5796-458: The province's regional districts . The Ministry of Forests operates forest recreation sites. In addition to these areas, over 47,000 square kilometres (18,000 sq mi) of arable land are protected by the Agricultural Land Reserve . Much of the province is undeveloped, so populations of many mammalian species that have become rare in much of the United States still flourish in British Columbia. Watching animals of various sorts, including
5880-489: The province. Coastal southern British Columbia has a mild and rainy climate influenced by the North Pacific Current . Most of the region is classified as oceanic , though pockets of warm-summer Mediterranean climate also exist in the far-southern parts of the coast. Precipitation averages above 1,000 mm (39 in) in almost all of the coastal region, and Hucuktlis Lake on Vancouver Island receives an average of 6,903 mm (271.8 in) of rain annually. Due to
5964-405: The robbery and murder mirror the robbery by the Flying Dutchman in Union Bay . Green's murderer, Hugh Lynn of the Lynn Valley clan, was eventually captured in a multi-thousand mile, multinational chase and sent to the gallows. The first hotel seems to have been "The Savary", built in 1914, near the Government Wharf. This hotel remained in operation until 1932 when it was destroyed in a fire. At
6048-478: The southern Columbia Basin (within present day Washington and Oregon ). In 1846, the Oregon Treaty divided the territory along the 49th parallel to the Strait of Georgia , with the area south of this boundary (excluding Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands ) transferred to sole American sovereignty. The Colony of Vancouver Island was created in 1849, with Victoria designated as the capital. New Caledonia, as
6132-464: The southern interior rivals some of the snowiest cities in Canada, and freezing rain and fog are sometimes present on such roads as well. This can result in hazardous driving conditions, as people are usually travelling between warmer areas such as Vancouver or Kamloops , and may be unaware that the conditions may be slippery and cold. Winters are generally severe in the Northern Interior which
6216-591: The support of the Hudson's Bay Company (Vancouver Island, the mainland) were amalgamated, then entered Confederation as British Columbia in 1871 as part of the Dominion of Canada. During the 1770s, smallpox killed at least 30 percent of the Pacific Northwest First Nations . This devastating epidemic was the first in a series; the 1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic killed about half to two-thirds of
6300-482: The west across the Strait of Georgia. Transportation is also available from Powell River by private aircraft or scheduled service with Pacific Coastal Airlines , which offers half-hour flights to Vancouver. Road access to Vancouver to the south involves two ferry crossings of fjords along the Sunshine Coast . Lund harbour provides marine vessel access including regular water taxi service to Savary Island and
6384-608: The west side of Okeover Inlet as far north as Penrose Bay. Since 2010, Puddle Jumpers, a pre-school operating out of the Northside Community Recreation Center runs twice a week with about 13 children on average attending. The Lund Barnacle is a quarterly magazine published by the Lund Community Society that covers the events and stories of the community. It is available at many shops in Lund and online . It
6468-548: The western part of Vancouver Island and the rest of the coast is covered by temperate rainforest . The province's most populous city is Vancouver, which is at the confluence of the Fraser River and Georgia Strait , in the mainland's southwest corner (an area often called the Lower Mainland ). By land area, Abbotsford is the largest city. Vanderhoof is near the geographic centre of the province. The Coast Mountains and
6552-417: The whole of the mainland rather than just its north-central Interior came to be called, continued to be an unorganized territory of British North America, "administered" by individual HBC trading post managers. Lund, British Columbia Lund is a small craft harbour and unincorporated village on Tla'amin land in qathet Regional District , British Columbia , Canada . It is along the northern part of
6636-607: Was chosen by Queen Victoria , when the Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) , i.e., "the Mainland", became a British colony in 1858. It refers to the Columbia District , the British name for the territory drained by the Columbia River , in southeastern British Columbia, which was the namesake of the pre- Oregon Treaty Columbia Department of the Hudson's Bay Company . Queen Victoria chose British Columbia to distinguish what
6720-558: Was elected to represent Lund as part of the Powell River-Sunshine Coast constituency in the 2005 BC general election and re-elected in 2009 and in 2013 . Lund’s unofficial sister unincorporated community is Alvin, British Columbia . The Northside Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD) provides fire and emergency response services to the area from just north of the Village of Lund south to Wilde Road and includes properties on
6804-833: Was organized into the New Caledonia district, administered from Fort St. James. The interior south of the Thompson River watershed and north of the Columbia was organized into the Columbia District, administered from Fort Vancouver on the lower Columbia River. The northeast corner of the province east of the Rockies, known as the Peace River Block, was attached to the much larger Athabasca District , headquartered in Fort Chipewyan , in present-day Alberta. Until 1849, these districts were
6888-561: Was renamed the Lund Hotel. A paved road leading south to Vancouver was completed in 1954 and coastal steamer service ended two years later. The original wharf built by the Thulins was damaged by a storm in 1954 and replaced by a government wharf. Lund is the northern terminus of Highway 101 . The highway is locally known as the Sunshine Coast Highway . Powell River is 22 kilometres (14 mi) south by road, from where BC Ferries offers service to Comox on Vancouver Island to
6972-520: Was the British sector of the Columbia District from the United States' ("American Columbia" or "Southern Columbia"), which became the Oregon Territory on August 8, 1848, as a result of the treaty. Ultimately, the Columbia in the name British Columbia is derived from the name of the Columbia Rediviva , an American ship which lent its name to the Columbia River and later the wider region;
7056-1498: Was visited regularly by visual artists working in various media. In the 1930s it became the site of summer sketch camps of the Vancouver School of Art , which were often based at the Royal Savary Hotel . An artefact of these camps is a mimeographed newsletter produced by the students, The Savary Pudding . The natural surroundings of Savary inspired poet Alice Brewer to verse found in her 1926 chapbook entitled Spring in Savary. Bloomfield, Gladys (2005). Magnetic Isle: Gladys Bloomfield's Savary . Savary Island Heritage Society. Whonnock, BC: Savary Island Heritage Society. ISBN 0973920904 . OCLC 62087229 . Brewer, A., MacDonald, J. E. H., & Somerville, R. S. (1926). Spring in Savary . Toronto: Ryerson Press. Ryerson poetry-chap books, no. 10. OCLC 21718301 . Kennedy, Dorothy I. D., Bouchard, Randy (1983). Sliammon Life, Sliammon Lands . Vancouver: Talonbooks. ISBN 0889222118 . OCLC 1114455 . Kennedy, Ian (1992). Sunny Sandy Savary: A History of Savary Island, 1792-1992 . Vancouver: Kennell Pub. ISBN 0969629109 . OCLC 2625798 . The Savary Island Encyclopedia [undated and not current]. https://www.mootgame.com/savary/index.html Archive link: http://web.archive.org/web/20240815011957/https://www.mootgame.com/savary/index.html British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC )
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