Exploring British Columbia’s History

Watching a cowboy wrestle a headstrong horse in the Cariboo country or a First Nations canoe muscle its way to keep pace with a killer whale off a rocky coast used to be common sights in British Columbia.

Luckily, farsighted individuals have been busy for the last few decades recording the stories of the elders and gathering the relics of daily living as generations began to pass into the mist. From the shaggy Douglas Firs of the coastal rain forest to the rugged peaks of the Rockies, the region’s history and cultural heritage are being actively preserved.

Here are some suggestions for exploring the province’s past.

Victoria, the capital of the province, was a refuge of civility amongst the frontier hardships of a century ago. At the centre of this oasis on Vancouver Island was the Fairmont Empress Hotel, which was built in 1908. Many settlers used the hotel as a touchstone with the life they had lived before – cultured, refined and educated.

Summer or winter, it still serves Victoria’s residents and visitors as a gateway to an era that is fading fast under the weight of a modern city, where one can sip Earl Grey, Assam or Darjeeling tea while snuggled in a wingback chair. Add ladies in hats and white gloves and a little cigar smoke, and the hotel could pass easily for an early 1900’s high-society meeting place.

Across the road is the Royal BC Museum; it houses an excellent collection illustrating BC’s social history. The natural history gallery, replete with mastodons and sea monsters, tells the pre-history, geography and geology of the region. This is the best place in the province to grow an understanding of the left coast of Canada in a few hours.

Next to the Museum are the Provincial Legislature Buildings. This legislative hub of the province has tours that explain the parliamentary system and how the assembly works, the political and social history of the province and provides information about the buildings and their restoration.

Across the Strait of Georgia on the mainland, Vancouver has a reputation as one of the world’s most beautiful cosmopolitan cities. It is fitting that many of the museums in Vancouver are close to the waterfront, since the history of the province is tied to the sea.

Although some of the heritage buildings in Gastown, where Vancouver began, are festooned with t-shirts and tourist memorabilia, beneath the surface lies some of the oldest structures downtown. As you walk along Water Street, look past the goods to the stone underneath. Gaolers Mews, for instance - just behind the statue of Gassy Jack - used to be the city’s jail. When you stand on the uneven bricks of the courtyard, you are in the centre of 1800’s Vancouver.

While in Gastown, a visit to Storyeum promises a unique theatrical look at British Columbia history. Guests can descend in one of the world's largest passenger lifts and take a 72-minute guided tour through a series of underground interactive theatres – each featuring memorable characters recounting legends and stories of days gone by.

Out of the city core on the waterfront at Alma and Point Grey Road sits the Old Hastings Mill Store. Built as part of the larger Hastings Mill in 1865 near Gaolers Mews, this historic site moved to its current location in 1930. It is said to be the oldest building in Vancouver, and one of the few to survive the great fire of 1886 that levelled the 1,000 or so wooden buildings of the city in 20 terrifying minutes. Survivors who swam out to a vessel in the harbour described the fire as an “explosion”. Now the structure houses a collection of artifacts, including terrific photos of the city when it was young, pioneer furniture and implements of daily living such as clothing and baskets.

The Vancouver Maritime Museum has several treasures relating to Captain George Vancouver during his exploration of this coast during the 1790’s. One example - the Arnold 176 chronometer, a navigational tool which kept accurate time in all weather conditions - was utilized by his crew. In addition, the museum boasts hundreds of exhibits that are rotated through its building each year. Just behind the museum itself, you will find Heritage Harbour with historical vessels, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) vessel, St. Roch, is housed ashore as it was in 1944. Built in 1920 as a supply and patrol vessel, during World War II it became the first vessel to travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic via the treacherous Northwest Passage in the Arctic. In 1944, the St. Roch completed the return trip from Halifax to Vancouver, marking the first successful round-trip voyage through the Northwest Passage. Assigned to Halifax after the war, the schooner sailed via the Panama Canal, thus becoming the first vessel to circumnavigate the North American Continent. The ship was retired in 1954. Self-guided tours, complete with St. Roch video, await visitors.

If you are into the social life of Vancouver over the decades rather than maritime minutia, walk over to the neighbouring Vancouver Museum for fashion and general social history.

Vancouver’s Museum of Anthropology located at the University of BC, has an unsurpassed collection of First Nations artifacts. Totem and mortuary poles preserved from the endless jungles of the coastal rain forest grace the inside of this spectacular glass-backed building, while a replica long house enhances the view of the mountains and the Strait of Georgia.

In Southeastern BC, you will find Cranbrook, home to the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Interpretive Centre at the St. Eugene Mission Resort. The complex is a unique collaboration between the First Nations people of the area and developers. Here, an abandoned school that exclusively taught Native children was resurrected as an upscale resort with its own golf course and casino.

Along the corridors of the hotel are treasured pictures of the region and school from long ago, while on the lower level a museum preserves some of the history of the area. There are also several structures on the property where you can watch artisans at work and purchase their wares.

Kelowna, in the Okanagan Valley, has four museums within a few metres of each other. Each is devoted to a different aspect of the history of the valley. The Laurel Packinghouse is Kelowna's oldest remaining packinghouse. Built in 1917, it houses The Wine Museum and The British Columbia Orchard Industry Museum, which tell of the last century of growth for these two mainstays of the valley’s economy. The Kelowna Museum has collections that illustrate the history of the area, including the Chinese and First Nations communities. Just steps away, the Okanagan Military Museum keeps alive the military heritage of the region.

The Museum of Northern BC in Prince Rupert features a number of intriguing offerings. The museum has an extensive collection that shows the rich history of the Northwest Coast and diverse aspects of First Nations history, including exhibits on their daily life pre and post European contact. The Kwinitsa Railway Station Museum, located in a restored rail depot, concentrates on the history of this unique form of travel in the northern communities – and includes information on Prince Rupert’s early beginnings.

In addition, some of the region’s most famous carvers work in the Museum’s Carving Shed or have contributed pieces over the years. It seems only fitting that the museum has many examples of First Nations art from the distant past as well as contributions from younger artists who are developing new interpretations of traditional art.

For more on British Columbia’s destinations and travel information, call 1-800 HELLO BC (North America) or visit www.HelloBC.com

Contacts:

Royal BC Museum (250) 356-7226 or 1-888-447-7977; www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Legislature Buildings (250) 387-3046; www.legis.gov.bc.ca/info/2-2.htm

Historic Gastown (www.gastown.org)

Storyeum (604) 687-8142; www.storyeum.com

Old Hastings Mill Store (604) 734-1212

Vancouver Maritime Museum (604) 257-8300; www.vancouvermaritimemuseum.com

Vancouver Museum (604) 736-4431; www.vanmuseum.bc.ca

Museum of Anthropology (604) 822-5087; www.moa.ubc.ca

Ktunaxa Kinbasket Interpretive Centre (250) 417-4001; http://photohunter.tripod.com/cult/centre.htm

St. Eugene Mission Golf Resort 1-866-292-2020; www.deltahotels.com/common/home.do

Laurel Packinghouse (250) 763-4761

The Wine Museum (250) 868-0441

The British Columbia Orchard Industry Museum (250) 763-0433

The Kelowna Museum (250) 763-2417; www.kelownamuseum.ca

Okanagan Military Museum (250) 763-9292

The Museum of Northern BC in Prince Rupert (250) 624-3207; www.museumofnorthernbc.com

Barbara Braidwood and Rick Cropp are Vancouver based freelance writers.