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21-680: Originally identified on Admiralty charts as "River Courtenay" and given as "Courtney River" by Dr. Robert Brown of the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition , and as "the Slough known as Tsalum", it first appeared as the Tzolum River on a BC Lands map in 1895, and again in 1905. The name Tsolum River was made official in 1922. In 1964, the Mount Washington Copper Mining Co. had moved into its watershed and began

42-562: A celebrated wood-engraver and artist. His younger brother Edward Whymper was a renowned alpinist who made the first ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865. In his youth, Whymper was a talented artist working to produce engravings for publication and having his landscapes on exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts in London from 1859 to 1861. He travelled to Victoria, British Columbia in 1862 and to

63-729: A more difficult route across the island. The two groups met in Alberni in September. After exploring in that area, they crossed the island to the Qualicum River and then travelled by canoe to Nanaimo to board the Grappler . From there, they returned to Victoria where they arrived, as local celebrities, on October 21. Brown described the settlers he found in the Cowichan Valley , Chemainus , and Comox areas, who had arrived to pre-empt land under

84-427: A series of drawings of the scenes observed during the expedition. Two members of the recently disbanded Royal Engineers , Peter John Leech (1826–99) who was second in command and John Meade were part of the group. There were two university graduates, Henry Thomas Lewis and Alexander Barnston. John Buttle (1838–1908), John Foley and Ranald MacDonald (1824–94) made up the rest. Following the resignation of John Foley,

105-469: A small copper mine. By 1966, the company had left the area after extracting 940,000 tonnes of waste rock. Even though their mining lasted only three year, the repercussions of their mining practices can still be seen today. What was once a river that was sprawling with 15,000 Coho Salmon had depleted to only 14 by 1984. In 1997 the Tsolum River Task Force was formed by over 200 local residents with

126-671: The Cariboo in the following year. In 1864 he joined road builders in the area of Bute Inlet on the Pacific Coast, leaving shortly before the Chilcotin War . Many of his early travels were by steamship; his drawings include volcanoes on Kamchatka and Alaskan glaciers . While in the far north, Whymper served on the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition and the Western Union Telegraph Expedition (1865), spending

147-577: The Cowichan River and the length of Cowichan Lake where they divided into two groups. One, led by Leech, was to travel from the south side of the lake to Port San Juan . The other, led by Brown, followed the Nitinat River to the west coast to meet the Leech party at Port San Juan for fresh supplies which were to be brought in by boat from Victoria. Brown returned by boat to Victoria leaving Leech to lead

168-565: The Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition explored areas of the Colony of Vancouver Island outside the capital of Victoria and settlements in Nanaimo and the Cowichan Valley that were then unknown. The expedition went as far north as the Comox Valley over four and one half months during the summer and fall of 1864. The result was the discovery of gold in one location leading to a minor gold rush,

189-577: The VIEE Committee on July 30 decided that "two efficient miners" should be appointed as replacements. On August 30 Richard Drew and William Hooper were engaged. They added Tomo Antoine, the son of an Iroquois voyageur at their first stop in Cowichan . MacDonald was the oldest of the group at 40. Brown, the commander, was 22. After arriving in Cowichan aboard HMS  Grappler , the group proceeded up

210-591: The Vancouver Island Land Proclamation of September 1862 (single men were allowed 100 acres (0.40 km ), married men 150 acres (0.61 km ) plus 10 acres (40,000 m ) for each child under 18 after 2 years of occupation). Unlike some other observers, Brown described the residents as ill-suited to life as farmers, having come as a result of the Gold Rush . He described the few settlers then present as unenthusiastic and living in poverty. What

231-540: The discovery of coal in the Comox Valley, an historical record of contact with the existing native population, the naming of many geographic features and a series of sketches recording images of the time. The need for exploration of unsettled areas of Vancouver Island had been the subject of comment in the colonial press in the early 1860s but it was not until the new Governor, Arthur Edward Kennedy arrived in March 1864 that

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252-603: The goal of restoring Tsolum River's health and productivity. 49°41′45″N 124°59′39″W  /  49.69583°N 124.99417°W  / 49.69583; -124.99417 This article about a river in the Coast of British Columbia , Canada is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a location on the South Coast of British Columbia , Canada is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition In 1864

273-618: The length of Great Central Lake. Although his seed collection disappointed his sponsors, the experience and the reputation he earned in Victoria was recognized on June 1, 1864 when he was appointed as commander of the Vancouver Island Exploring Expedition. Brown considered his mission to report on the topography, soil, timber and resources however his sponsors were more interested in whether gold would be found. The group he assembled included Frederick Whymper who produced

294-406: The mineral and agricultural potential of the island. Brown's journals include a collection of native myths and legends and one of the earliest accounts of a potlach ceremony. Frederick Whymper Frederick Whymper (20 July 1838 in London – 26 November 1901) was a British artist and explorer . Whymper was the eldest son of Elizabeth Whitworth Claridge and Josiah Wood Whymper ,

315-637: The project had a sponsor. In April 1864 he announced that the government would contribute two dollars for every dollar contributed by the public. From his arrival in Victoria in May 1863, Robert Brown had been working in the colony as a seed collector for the British Columbia Botanical Society of Edinburgh on a meagre income. He had explored the Alberni Inlet including Sproat Lake (which he named ) and Great Central Lake . He named some of

336-429: The remaining group temporarily. While Brown was away, the group found gold at what would become Leechtown . On August 1, the group continued. Brown went on to Nanaimo , then by boat to Comox and from there across the island to Alberni . While in the Comox Valley, Brown discovered coal. Members of expedition insisted that Browns River be named after him at the location where coal was found. Leech's group took

357-579: The staff of the newspaper Alta California . City directories describe him as an artist and mining engineer, and in 1871 he was a founding member of the San Francisco Art Association . He returned to England at some point, publishing The Heroes of the Arctic and their Adventures and The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril and Heroism , prior to his death in London on 26 November 1901 by what

378-485: The surrounding geographic features for his sponsors. Between May 28 and July 8 he explored from Barkley Sound to Kyuquot and Nootka Island . After returning to Victoria, he crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Port Townsend , Port Angeles and Whidbey Island and went as far as Seattle . In September 1863 he travelled to Lilloett and New Westminster followed by a return trip to Port Alberni where he established

399-543: The trail blocked by windfalls and washouts, although he did find one bridge remaining at the Qualicum River. The motivation for support of the expedition was to find gold and promote Victoria, whose growth had stopped after the 1858 gold rush ended. Some gold had been found at the Goldstream River in 1863, and the expedition found some at Leechtown. The expedition also performed mapping and collected information on

420-679: The winter of 1866 at Nulato , Alaska with W.H. Dall and travelling up the Yukon River to Fort Yukon , where he witnessed the first American flag being raised over the new territory of Alaska . In November 1867, Whymper arrived back in England where his account of his travels, Travel and Adventure in the Territory of Alaska , was published in 1868. In 1869, he went back to the United States , by way of New York City to San Francisco and worked on

441-460: Was described as a first class trail between Nanaimo and Comox had been completed in May 1863 but Joseph Despard Pemberton had scrapped the idea of turning the trail into a road because the Colony of Vancouver Island could not afford the $ 70,000 it was expected to cost. As a result, the road from Victoria was completed only as far as Chemainus. When Brown explored up the island in August 1864, he found

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