Sir James Douglas KCBThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(August 15, 1803 – August 2, 1877) was a company fur-trader and a British
colonial governorThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
on Vancouver Island in northwestern North America, particularly in what is now
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. Douglas worked for the
North West CompanyThe North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
, and later for the
Hudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
becoming a high-ranking company officer. From 1851 to 1864, he was Governor of the
Colony of Vancouver IslandThe Colony of Vancouver Island , was a crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with British Columbia. The united colony joined the Dominion of Canada through Confederation in 1871...
. In 1858 he also became the first Governor of the
Colony of British ColumbiaThe Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...
, in order to assert British authority during the
Fraser Canyon Gold RushThe Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River. This was a few miles upstream from the Thompson's confluence with the Fraser River at present-day Lytton...
, which had the potential to turn the B.C. Mainland into an American state. He remained governor of both Vancouver Island and British Columbia until his retirement in 1864. He is often credited as "The Father of British Columbia".
Early life and fur trader
James Douglas was born in
DemeraraDemerara was a region in South America in what is now Guyana that was colonised by the Dutch in 1611. The British invaded and captured the area in 1796...
(now part of
GuyanaGuyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
) to John Douglas, a Scottish planter, and Martha Ann Tefler, a Creole originally from
BarbadosBarbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
. Telfer was
free coloured, which in her time and place meant a free person of mixed European and African ancestry. The couple had a number of children together, but were not formally married. In 1812 James was sent to
LanarkLanark is a small town in the central belt of Scotland. Its population of 8,253 makes it the 100th largest settlement in Scotland. The name is believed to come from the Cumbric Lanerc meaning "clear space, glade"....
, Scotland to be schooled. It is also believed that he went to school in Chester, England, where he learned to speak and write in fluent
FrenchFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
.
At the age of sixteen Douglas left Britain to enter the
fur tradeThe fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
in the employ of the
North West CompanyThe North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
. He left Liverpool for
LachineLachine was a city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is now a borough within the city of Montreal.-History:...
,
Lower CanadaThe Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
(now part of
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
) in the spring of 1819. From 1819 until 1820 Douglas was stationed at the
Fort William, OntarioFort William was a city in Northern Ontario, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. It amalgamated with Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Ever since then it has been the largest city in Northwestern...
(now part of
Thunder Bay-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...
) as a clerk. In 1820 he was transferred to
Île-à-la-CrosseÎle-à-la-Crosse is the second oldest community in Saskatchewan, Canada, being established in 1846 as a Roman Catholic mission by Alexandre-Antonin Taché, but as a fur trading post in 1779 by the Hudson's Bay Company. It has a rich history being connected to the Churchill River, Beaver River and...
on the
Churchill RiverThe Churchill River is a major river in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada. From the head of the Churchill Lake it is 1,609 km long. It was named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and governor of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1685 to 1691...
in northern
SaskatchewanSaskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
. The
Hudson's Bay CompanyThe Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
(HBC) was also active in this area and Douglas was caught up in at least one confrontation with the rival fur traders. At this post Douglas continued a policy of self-education by reading books brought over from Britain and meeting with many
First NationsFirst Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
people.
In 1821 the North West Company was merged into the Hudson's Bay Company and Douglas' contract was placed onto the HBC's payroll. He quickly moved up the strict structure of the company, and in 1825 was put in charge of the foundation of the
Fort VermilionFort Vermilion is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada within Mackenzie County.Established in 1788, Fort Vermilion shares the title of oldest European settlement in Alberta with Fort Chipewyan. Fort Vermilion contains many modern amenities to serve its inhabitants as well as the surrounding rural...
trading post in what is now northern
AlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
. He was then stationed at
Fort St. JamesFort St. James is a district municipality and former fur trading post in north-central British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the south-eastern shore of Stuart Lake in the Omineca Country, at the northern terminus of Highway 27, which connects to Highway 16 at Vanderhoof...
on
Stuart LakeStuart Lake, or Nak'albun in the Carrier language is a lake situated in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The town of Fort St. James is situated by the lake near the outlet...
, headquarters of the Company's
New CaledoniaNew Caledonia was the name given to a district of the Hudson's Bay Company that comprised the territory largely coterminous with the present-day province of British Columbia, Canada. Though not a British colony, New Caledonia was part of the British claim to North America. Its administrative...
District. In 1827 he established Fort Connolly on Bear Lake. On April 27, 1828, Douglas married the daughter of New Caledonia's Chief Factor William Connolly, Amelia Connolly. Amelia's mother had been
Cree The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...
. Douglas was very close to William Connolly, his superior. Connolly was impressed by Douglas' skills and they got along well, resulting in Connolly agreeing to the marriage between the two.
In 1828, while Douglas was in charge of Fort St. James in Connolly's absence, two Hudson's Bay traders were murdered with the help of a Stuart Lake native. In one of the most controversial moments of Douglas' life he marched into the village and seized the accused murderer. Unfortunately the exact events of the day are not clear. In some accounts Douglas shot the native in the head on the spot with everyone watching. In others, Douglas simply dragged him out of the village to be executed at a later time. Another story is that Douglas attempted to shoot the man in the head but missed and had to get his partners to beat the accused before dragging him out of the village. Various stories were passed around the area and Douglas soon acquired a negative reputation among the local First Nations. Connolly, fearing for Douglas' life, asked HBC Governor
George SimpsonSir George Simpson was a Scots-Quebecer and employee of the Hudson's Bay Company . His title was Governor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land and administrator over the Northwest Territories and Columbia Department in British North America from 1821 to 1860.-Early years:George Simpson was born in Dingwall,...
to transfer Douglas elsewhere. He was thus moved to
Fort VancouverFort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
, headquarters of the Company's
Columbia DistrictThe Columbia District was a fur trading district in the Pacific Northwest region of British North America in the 19th century. It was explored by the North West Company between 1793 and 1811, and established as an operating fur district around 1810...
, located near the mouth of the
Columbia RiverThe Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
in present-day Washington. His wife joined him after the death of their first child in 1830. While in Fort Vancouver she gave birth to ten more children (five died in infancy).
Years in Fort Vancouver and Fort Victoria
Douglas spent nineteen years in
Fort VancouverFort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's Columbia District...
, serving as Chief Accountant until 1834 when he was promoted to Chief Trader of the post. This was a very important position - only held by four others in the District. He received his commission as one of "the gentlemen of the interior" on June 3, 1835 in York Factory upon joining the Council of the Northern Department. In 1838 Douglas was put in charge of the District. While occupying the position Douglas denounced slavery of natives and made settlement with the Russian American Company, which had been active in the northern coastal fur trade. In return for the leasing of fur trading territory on the northern coast from
Mount FairweatherMount Fairweather , is one of the world's highest coastal mountains at 4,671 metres It is located east of the Pacific Ocean on the border of Alaska, United States and western British Columbia, Canada...
south to 54°40′, the Russian-American Company received 2000 otter pelts and a number of other supplies. He also created the
Pugets Sound Agricultural CompanyThe Puget Sound Agricultural Company , commonly referred to with variations of the name using Puget Sound or Puget's Sound, was a joint stock company formed around 1840 as a subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company . The purpose of the company was ostensibly to promote settlement by British subjects...
in an attempt to bring more British into the Columbia River valley to overpower the American presence there.
In September 1840 he was awarded with a commission as Chief Factor, the highest possible rank for field service with the HBC. As Chief Factor his first major contribution was to go on a personal visit south to
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where he met with a
MexicanThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
administrator and received permission to create a trading post in San Francisco. In 1841 Douglas was charged with the duty of setting up a trading post on the southern tip of
Vancouver IslandVancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
, upon the recommendation by George Simpson that a second line of forts be built in case the Columbia River valley fell into American hands (see
Oregon boundary disputeThe Oregon boundary dispute, or the Oregon Question, arose as a result of competing British and American claims to the Pacific Northwest of North America in the first half of the 19th century. Both the United Kingdom and the United States had territorial and commercial aspirations in the region...
). Charged with this task, Douglas founded
Fort VictoriaFort Victoria was a fur trading post of the Hudson’s Bay Company, the headquarters of HBC operations in British Columbia. The fort was the beginnings of a settlement that eventually grew into the modern Victoria, British Columbia, the capital city of British Columbia.The headquarters of HBC...
, on the site of present-day
Victoria, British ColumbiaVictoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
. This proved beneficial when in 1846 the
Oregon TreatyThe Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to the Oregon Country, which had been jointly occupied by...
was signed, extending the
British North AmericaBritish North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...
/
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
border along the 49th parallel from the
RockiesThe Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
to the Strait of Georgia.
In 1849 Britain leased the entirety of Vancouver Island to the HBC with a condition that a colony was to be created. Douglas moved the headquarters of the western portion of the Company from Fort Vancouver to
Fort VictoriaFort Victoria was a fur trading post of the Hudson’s Bay Company, the headquarters of HBC operations in British Columbia. The fort was the beginnings of a settlement that eventually grew into the modern Victoria, British Columbia, the capital city of British Columbia.The headquarters of HBC...
. He was not initially appointed to be Governor of the
Colony of Vancouver IslandThe Colony of Vancouver Island , was a crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with British Columbia. The united colony joined the Dominion of Canada through Confederation in 1871...
- the position instead went to
Richard BlanshardRichard Blanshard MA was an English barrister and first governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island from its foundation in 1849 to his resignation in 1851....
, an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
barristerA barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
. However, most practical authority rested with Douglas, as the chief employer and person in charge of its finances and land, and he effectively drove Blanshard from the position. Douglas acknowledged the
Royal Proclamation of 1763The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
and had a policy to trade the natives for their land. Costs for each parcel of land were usually in the form of blankets, often three for each man. This policy also stemmed from a desire to have good interactions with natives while avoiding violence. After the resignation of Blanshard in 1851, the British Government appointed Douglas as the Governor of Vancouver Island. However, he was still Chief Factor of the HBC, which led to a number of years of balancing the important and time-consuming duties of both positions and was often the subject of controversy in local political debates and editorial tirades.
Governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island
As Governor, Douglas faced a number of significant challenges, not least of which was the expansionist pressure of the neighbouring United States of America. Using his meagre resources, Douglas created the Victoria Voltigeurs, Vancouver Island's first militia, using money from the Company and composed of
MetisThe Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...
and French-Canadians in the company's service. He also used the sparse presence of the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
for protection. During the
Crimean WarThe Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
, in 1854, the British and French carried out an attack on
PetropavlovskPetropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the main city and the administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultural center of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. Population: .-History:It was founded by Danish navigator Vitus Bering, in the service of the Russian Navy...
and casualties were sent to Victoria. After facilities of this key port proved inadequate the British government charged Douglas with the creation of a hospital at
Esquimalt harbourThe Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to the west by Esquimalt Harbour and Royal Roads, to the northwest by the...
along with the improvement of Royal Navy supply capacity. This base proved to be important and successful when in 1865 the headquarters of the North Pacific Squadron were moved to Vancouver Island.
In 1859, Douglas also found his colony embroiled in a dispute with
Washington TerritoryThe Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
over sovereignty in the
San Juan IslandsThe San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the northwest corner of the contiguous United States between the US mainland and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of the U.S...
. The protracted, twelve-year standoff came to be known as the
Pig WarThe Pig War was a confrontation in 1859 between the United States and the British Empire over the boundary between the US and British North America. The territory in dispute was the San Juan Islands, which lie between Vancouver Island and the North American mainland...
. Douglas pressed Britain to exert sovereignty over all islands in the archipelago dividing the
Strait of GeorgiaThe Strait of Georgia or the Georgia Strait is a strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is approximately long and varies in width from...
from
Puget SoundPuget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
. Named for the largest island of the group, the San Juans Islands are immediately adjacent to Victoria and so were of great strategic interest and worry. While opposing troops remained garrisoned on
San Juan IslandSan Juan Island is the second-largest and most populous of the San Juan Islands in northwestern Washington, United States. It has a land area of 142.59 km² and a population of 6,822 as of the 2000 census....
, the dispute was eventually settled by arbitration in favour of the USA.
Douglas' largest problem in the mid- and late-1850s concerned relations with the majority First Nations population - numbered at around 30,000 local
SongheesThe Songhees or Songish, also known as the Lekwungen or Lekungen, are an indigenous North American Coast Salish people who reside on southeastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia in the Greater Victoria area...
,
CowichanCowichan may refer either to:*the Cowichan peoples and their dialect of Hul'qumi'num*the Cowichan Tribes First Nation located in and around Duncan, British Columbia...
, Nanaimo, Nuu-chah-nulth, including raiding Haida from the
Queen Charlotte IslandsHaida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...
and the
EuclatawsLaich-kwil-tach is the proper spelling in the Kwak'wala language of the name used for themselves by the "Southern Kwakiutl" people of Quadra Island and Campbell River in British Columbia, Canada...
KwakiutlThe term Kwakiutl, historically applied to the entire Kwakwaka'wakw ethno-linguistic group of originally 28 tribes, comes from one of the Kwakwaka'wakw tribes, the Kwagu'ł or Kwagyeulth, at Fort Rupert, with whom Franz Boas did most of his anthropological work and whose Indian Act Band government...
of northern Georgia Strait and the Sechelt, Sḵwxwú7mesh, and
Sto:loThe Sto:lo , alternately written as Stó:lō, Stó:lô or Stó:lõ and historically as Staulo or Stahlo, and historically known and commonly referred to in ethnographic literature as the Fraser River Indians or Lower Fraser Salish, are a group of First Nations peoples inhabiting the Fraser Valley of...
peoples of the
Lower MainlandThe Lower Mainland is a name commonly applied to the region surrounding and including Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2007, 2,524,113 people live in the region; sixteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located there.While the term Lower Mainland has been...
. In contrast, Europeans in the Colony numbered under 1000. Meanwhile, in neighbouring
OregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and
Washington TerritoryThe Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
the
CayuseThe Cayuse War was an armed conflict that took place in the Northwestern United States from 1847 to 1855 between the Cayuse people of the region and the United States Government and local Euro-American settlers...
and
Yakima WarThe Yakima War was a conflict between the United States and the Yakama, a Sahaptian-speaking people on the Northwest Plateau, then Washington Territory and now the southern interior of Eastern Washington, from 1855 to 1858.- Naming :...
s and other conflicts between Americans and indigenous peoples were raging. Douglas' relations towards First Nations peoples were mixed. On the one hand, Douglas' wife was Cree, he had established many close business and personal relationships with indigenous peoples as a fur trader, and he sought to conclude treaties (the
Douglas TreatiesThe Douglas Treaties , Vancouver Island Treaties or the Fort Victoria Treaties were a series of treaties signed between certain First Nations on Vancouver Island and the Colony of Vancouver Island.-Background:...
) with First Nations on southern Vancouver Island. On the other hand, Douglas supplied Washington Territory's Governor
Isaac StevensIsaac Ingalls Stevens was the first governor of Washington Territory, a United States Congressman, and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War until his death at the Battle of Chantilly...
with arms and other supplies to assist the American government in its conflict with
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
tribes, and the treaties he concluded were later criticized as having provided woefully inadequate compensation in return for large swaths of territory (in most cases, a few blankets or a few shillings). The treaties, concluded between 1850 and 1854, acquired fourteen parcels of land for the Crown from the native peoples, totalling 570 km
2. The treaty-making was halted after the Colony ran out of money to pursue its expansion policy.
Other actions during Douglas' time as governor include the creation of public elementary schools, attempts to control alcohol and the construction of the Victoria District Church (forerunner to the Christ Church Cathedral). In 1856, as ordered by the British Government, Douglas reluctantly established an elected
Legislative AssemblyThe Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island was the colonial parliamentary body that was elected to represent voters in the Colony of Vancouver Island. It was created in 1856 after a series of petitions were sent to the colonial office in London protesting the Hudson’s Bay Company’s proprietary...
. This was a turning point for Douglas, who was accustomed to administering the colony with absolute authority. The council was opposed to Douglas on many issues, and consistently criticized him for having a conflict of interests between the Company and the colony.
The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
In 1856 gold was discovered in the
Thompson RiverThe Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches called the South Thompson and the North Thompson...
, a tributary of the
Fraser RiverThe Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
, and a year later in the Fraser River itself. This sparked an influx of miners and others, as word of the discoveries spread south to the United States. Thousands of Americans flooded into British Columbia, beginning the
Fraser Canyon Gold RushThe Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River. This was a few miles upstream from the Thompson's confluence with the Fraser River at present-day Lytton...
. Douglas, although he had no political authority on the mainland, felt compelled to exert British jurisdiction over the territory, and stationed a warship at the mouth of the Fraser in order to issue licences to
prospectorProspecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...
s and merchants. A major task during the huge inflow of settlers was to prevent violence between the recent arrivals and the local natives. Due to the
Indian WarsAmerican Indian Wars is the name used in the United States to describe a series of conflicts between American settlers or the federal government and the native peoples of North America before and after the American Revolutionary War. The wars resulted from the arrival of European colonizers who...
, American animosity against natives was often high. In the fall of 1858, escalating tensions between the miners and the
Nlaka'pamuxThe Nlaka'pamux , commonly called "the Thompson", and also Thompson River Salish, Thompson Salish, Thompson River Indians or Thompson River people) are an indigenous First Nations/Native American people of the Interior Salish language group in southern British Columbia...
people of the central area of the canyon broke into the
Fraser Canyon WarThe Fraser Canyon War, also known as the Canyon War or the Fraser River War, was an incident between the Nlaka'pamux people and white miners in the newly declared Colony of British Columbia, which later became part of Canada, in 1858. It occurred during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, which brought a...
.
Douglas' actions in asserting British sovereignty over the mainland is generally conceded today to have helped exert control over American miners, and undermine American territorial ambitions toward this part of British North America. Shortly thereafter, the Colonial Office formally ratified Douglas' proclamation of sovereignty and established a new colony encompassing the mainland.
Governor of two colonies
In 1858 the British Parliament created the
Colony of British ColumbiaThe Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...
, and appointed Douglas as Governor. It was after this act that Douglas was asked to resign as Chief Factor of the western portion of the Hudson's Bay Company. The Company's trade monopoly on the mainland was not renewed, and neither was Douglas' position as Chief Factor. A judge,
Matthew Baillie BegbieSir Matthew Baillie Begbie was born on the island of Mauritius, thereafter raised and educated in the United Kingdom...
(the so-called "hanging judge"), was sent out to help Douglas maintain order and uphold British law in the area. Along with the judge came a contingent of
Royal EngineersThe Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
, to construct the infrastructure (mainly roads and bridges) needed to help open the resources of the land to be exploited by the colony. Soon after his appointment as Governor, Douglas was awarded with an appointment as a Commander of the
Order of the BathThe Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
in recognition of his service as Governor of Vancouver Island.
In August 1858 news reached Douglas that two Vancouver Island miners had been killed by natives. He believed that the whole region was on the verge of war and went out to investigate. There had been numerous minor clashes between natives and whites but they had not yet resulted in death. After investigating the situation he found that alcohol had been a major cause, and prohibited the sale of liquor to natives. While on the trip to the murder scene Douglas brought the Crown Solicitor of Vancouver Island in order to uphold the law and make a show that pronounced that British law was still in effect. During this trip he encountered a great number of squatting foreigners, reducing the total possible revenues for land sales to the government.
In attempt to keep unlawful acts as infrequent as possible Douglas appointed regional constables, a Chief Inspector of Police (
Chartres BrewChartres Brew was a Gold commissioner, Chief Constable and judge in the Colony of British Columbia, later a province of Canada....
), and a network of intelligence officials. He also created Assistant Gold Commissioners (the Chief Gold Commissioner was also Chartres Brew) to look after mining and civil cases. Such preventive measures helped ensure that the chaos accompanying the
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
gold rush was not repeated in British Columbia.
Continuing his service as governor of Vancouver Island, Douglas authorised construction of the government buildings known as the "Birdcages" in 1859. Then in 1862, with the discovery of rich gold deposits in the
Cariboo regionCariboo was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1871 to 1892.This riding was first created as Cariboo District following British Columbia's admission into the Canadian Confederation in 1871...
, sparking the
Cariboo Gold RushThe Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Although the first gold discovery was made in 1859 at Horsefly Creek, followed by more strikes at Keithley Creek and Antler Horns lake in 1860, the actual rush did not begin until 1861, when these discoveries were...
, Douglas ordered the construction of the
Cariboo RoadThe Cariboo Road was a project initiated in 1860 by the colonial Governor of British Columbia, James Douglas...
, an engineering feat running 400 miles from
Fort YaleYale is an unincorporated town in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was founded in 1848 by the Hudson's Bay Company as Fort Yale by Ovid Allard, the appointed manager of the new post, who named it after his superior, James Murray Yale, then Chief Factor of the Columbia District...
to
BarkervilleBarkerville was the main town of the Cariboo Gold Rush in British Columbia, Canada and is preserved as a historic town. It is located on the north slope of the Cariboo Plateau near the Cariboo Mountains east of Quesnel along BC Highway 26, which follows the route of the original access to...
through extremely hazardous canyon territory. The Cariboo road was also called the "Queen's Highway" and the "Great North Road".
Near the end of his rule as Governor, Douglas was criticized for not changing the colony into a self-governing body. Instead, the only act of reform in this fashion was in the creation of an elected Legislative Council. His argument against the creation of a self-governing colony was the state of the population: few were British subjects, most did not hold permanent residence within the colony, and of those few owned property.
He was friends with
Robert KerRobert Ker was the first Auditor General of the Colony and then the Province of British Columbia....
the First Auditor General of the Two Colonies of British Columbia, and
John Sebastian HelmckenJohn Sebastian Helmcken was a British Columbia physician who played a prominent role in bringing the province into Canadian Confederation...
a future Speaker of the House of the
Legislative Assembly of British ColumbiaThe Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....
, both of whom, like Douglas, are considered founding fathers of British Columbia. Helmcken married Douglas' daughter Cecilia.
Retirement and death
When his service to the
EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
ended, Queen Victoria increased his position in the Order of the Bath to Knight Commander. Upon his retirement Douglas was honoured with banquets both in Victoria and
New WestminsterNew Westminster is an historically important city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and is a member municipality of the Greater Vancouver Regional District. It was founded as the capital of the Colony of British Columbia ....
, the capital of the mainland. He also received a thank you on paper signed by 900 people. In 1864 and '65 Douglas toured Europe. He visited relatives in
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and a half-sister in
ParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. However, he had to come home after his daughter, Cecilia, died.
Douglas kept an active lifestyle but stayed out of politics in all forms. He died in Victoria of a heart attack on August 2, 1877 at the age of 73. His funeral procession was possibly the largest in the history of B.C. and he was interred in the
Ross Bay CemeteryRoss Bay Cemetery is located at 1516 Fairfield Road in Victoria, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island, Canada.-History:The cemetery was opened in 1873. The 27.5 acre cemetery is part of a public park and its south side faces Ross Bay on the Pacific Ocean...
.
Places named for Douglas
- Port Douglas, British Columbia
Port Douglas, sometimes referred to simply as Douglas, is a remote community in British Columbia, Canada at the head of Harrison Lake, which is the head of river navigation from the Strait of Georgia...
is a former community located on the northern end of Harrison LakeHarrison Lake is the largest lake in the southern Coast Mountains of Canada, being about 250 square kilometres in area. It is about 60 km in length and at its widest almost 9 km across. Its southern end, at the resort community of Harrison Hot Springs, is c. 95 km east of...
.
- The Douglas Ranges
The Douglas Ranges are a subrange of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains of the Canadian province of British Columbia, about 70 km east of downtown Vancouver, north of the Fraser River and between the valleys of Stave and Harrison Lakes. They are approximately 4900 km² in area...
, a southermost portion of the Coast MountainsThe Coast Mountains are a major mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia. They are so-named because of their proximity to the sea coast, and are often...
west of Harrison Lake and east of Stave LakeStave Lake is a hydroelectric reservoir in the Stave River system, located on the northern edge of the District of Mission, about 65 km east of Vancouver, British Columbia. The main arm of the lake is just over 20 km long, and there is a southwest arm ending at Stave Falls Dam about...
.
- The Douglas Road
The Douglas Road, aka the Lillooet Trail, Harrison Trail or Lakes Route, was a goldrush-era transportation route from the British Columbia Coast to the Interior...
was an important wagon road that ran via a series of lake portages from Harrison Lake north to LillooetLillooet may refer to:*Lillooet, a town in the Fraser Canyon in British Columbia.*the St'at'imc people, also known as the Lillooet people*The Lillooet language, also known under the names of its dialects St'at'imcets and Ucwalmícwts...
.
- Douglas
Douglas is a locality in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, just southeast and outside of the boundary of White Rock, that is the Canadian side of the Peace Arch Border Crossing between British Columbia and Whatcom County, Washington in the United States...
is the name of a Canada-US border crossing in Surrey, British ColumbiaSurrey is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of Metro Vancouver, the governing body of the Greater Vancouver Regional District...
.
- Douglas Peak
Douglas Peak is a peak, 1,525 m, lying 11 nautical miles southwest of Mount Codrington and 8 nautical miles east of Mount Marr. It was discovered in January 1930 by the British Australian New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition under Mawson, and named for Flight Lieutenant E. Douglas, RAAF, a...
is a 1486 m mountain of the Vancouver Island RangesThe Vancouver Island Ranges, formerly called the Vancouver Island Mountains, is a mountain range extending along the length of Vancouver Island which has an area of 31,788 km² . The Vancouver Island Ranges comprise the central and largest part of the island...
, located southeast of Port Alberni.
- Mount Douglas is a prominent, 260 m hill in the Greater Victoria municipality of Saanich
The District of Saanich is a municipality on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. It is located north of the provincial capital, Victoria. It has a population of 108,265 people, making it the most populous municipality on Vancouver Island, and the seventh most populous in the province...
. It lends its name to a high school, road, municipal park, neighbourhood, and several businesses.
- Douglas Channel
Douglas Channel is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast. Its official length from the head of Kitimat Arm, where the aluminum smelter town of Kitimat to Wright Sound, on the Inside Passage ferry route, is 90 km...
is a 90 km inlet on British Columbia's northwest coast, just southwest of KitimatKitimat is a coastal city in northwestern British Columbia, in the Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine. The Kitimat Valley, which includes the adjacent community of Terrace, is the most populous urban district in Northwest British Columbia...
.
- Douglas Inlet lies on the west side of Moresby Island
Moresby Island is a large island that forms part of the Haida Gwaii archipelago in British Columbia, Canada, located at . Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site includes Moresby and other islands...
in the Queen Charlotte IslandsHaida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...
.
- Douglas Island lies east of Vancouver Island, between Parksville
-Demographics:Parksville had a population of 10,993 people in 2006, which was an increase of 6.5% from the 2001 census count. The median household income in 2006 for Parksville was $55,524, which is below the British Columbia provincial average of $62,346....
and Nanaimo. The island was renamed Protection Island in the 1960s.
- Douglas Road, which was one of the first roads connecting New Westminster to Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet is a relatively shallow-sided coastal fjord in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Formed during the last Ice Age, it separates the City of Vancouver and the rest of the low-lying Burrard Peninsula from the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, home to the communities of West...
, still extant in sections in BurnabyBurnaby is a city in British Columbia, Canada, located immediately to the east of Vancouver. It is the third-largest city in British Columbia by population, surpassed only by nearby Surrey and Vancouver....
. Not to be confused with the Douglas Road from Harrison Lake to Lillooet.
- Douglas Street
Douglas Street is a road in Victoria, British Columbia. It is part of the Trans-Canada Highway and is named after Sir James Douglas, the second Governor of Vancouver Island....
(Highways 1 and 17) is a major thoroughfare in Victoria, running north from Dallas Road (Mile "0" of the Trans-Canada Highway) to Dieppe Road in the Broadmead neighbourhood of Saanich.
- Douglas College
Established in 1970, Douglas College is one of the largest public colleges in British Columbia, Canada serving 14,000 credit students, 9,000 continuing education students and 1,000 international students each year.-Programs:...
, is a publicly funded community university transfer and vocational college with campuses in New Westminster and Coquitlam.
- Sir James Douglas Elementary School
Sir James Douglas Elementary is a public elementary school in Vancouver, British Columbia, part of School District 39 Vancouver.- History :Sir James Douglas Elementary School is named after the first governor of the Crown Colony of British Columbia . The original school building was constructed in...
and Sir James Douglas Annex are public elementary schools in South East VancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. There is also a Sir James Douglas Elementary School in Victoria.
- James Island
James Island, one of British Columbia's Gulf Islands, lying in Haro Strait, approximately off the coast of Vancouver Island and from Seattle, Washington. James Island lies between Sidney Island and the coast of Vancouver Island near Sidney, British Columbia. It is 315 ha in size.The name was...
is a privately owned, 315 ha island located to the east of the Saanich PeninsulaThe Saanich Peninsula is located north of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is bounded by the Saanich Inlet on the west, and various straits of the Gulf of Georgia on the east, chiefly Haro Strait The exact southern boundary of what is referred to as the "Saanich Peninsula" is somewhat fluid...
, opposite SidneySidney is a town located at the northern end of the Saanich Peninsula, on Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is one of the 13 Greater Victoria municipalities. It has a population of approximately 11,300. Sidney is located just east of Victoria International Airport,...
.
- James Bay, a small bay within Victoria Harbour
Victoria Harbour is a harbour, seaport, and seaplane airport located in the Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia. It serves as a cruise ship and ferry destination for tourists and visitors to the city and Vancouver Island. It is both a port of entry and an airport of entry for general...
, and the historic neighbourhoodJames Bay is a high density neighbourhood of Victoria, BC. It is the oldest residential neighbourhood on the West coast of North America that is north of San Francisco. James Bay occupies the south side of the Inner Harbour close to downtown...
which surrounds it, which had been the Governor's own property and residence before its development.
- Douglas Hall, a residence hall at Trinity Western University
Trinity Western University is a private, Christian liberal arts university located in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.The school was founded in 1962 as Trinity Junior College, and now enrolls approximately 4000 students and sits on a campus....
in LangleyThe Township of Langley is a district municipality immediately east of the City of Surrey in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It extends south from the Fraser River to the U.S. border, and west of the City of Abbotsford...
, BC
- Douglas Portage, a route around the "Falls of the Fraser" between Spuzzum and Yale
Yale is an unincorporated town in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was founded in 1848 by the Hudson's Bay Company as Fort Yale by Ovid Allard, the appointed manager of the new post, who named it after his superior, James Murray Yale, then Chief Factor of the Columbia District...
originally built as part of the Hudson's Bay Brigade TrailThe Hudson's Bay Brigade Trail, sometimes referred to simply as the Brigade Trail, refers to one of two routes used by Hudson's Bay Company fur traders to transport furs, goods and supplies between coastal and Columbia District headquarters at Fort Vancouver and those in New Caledonia and also in...
but which became important during the Fraser Canyon Gold RushThe Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River. This was a few miles upstream from the Thompson's confluence with the Fraser River at present-day Lytton...
in the absence of other routes. The name Douglas Portage was also used for the first, most southerly, portage of the Douglas RoadThe Douglas Road, aka the Lillooet Trail, Harrison Trail or Lakes Route, was a goldrush-era transportation route from the British Columbia Coast to the Interior...
.
- It is important to note that the famous Douglas Lake Cattle Company
The Douglas Lake Cattle Company is Canada's largest working cattle ranch, usually known as the Douglas Lake Ranch. Founded June 30, 1886, it has been operating continuously since...
, and the lake, creek, and plateau in the area are not named for Douglas, but for a local settler.
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