A Timeline for British Columbia Quiz

It was actually the Spanish that were the first Europeans to explore the region of the North American west coast that is British Columbia today. The first known expedition to reach the area was led by Juan José Pérez Hernández of the frigate Santiago, who sailed as far north as the Haida Gwaii before turning back south. Another voyage followed in 1775, as the Spanish endeavoured to lay claim to the Pacific Northwest by various "acts of sovereignty."

But both the British and the Russians were also trying to establish land claims on the Pacific coast, giving the Spanish some competition. On his third voyage of exploration, Captain James Cook (aboard HMS Resolution) sailed from Hawaii to the coast of Oregon, then continued north until harbouring at Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island, where he stayed for a month (March 29th to April 26th, 1778). Afterwards, he continued north, mapping the coast all the way up to Alaska.

Trade with the local Nuu-chah-nulth tribe was lucrative, and soon the Spanish and British were contesting control of the region. The Nootka Crisis in 1789 almost led to all-out war, but the Nootka Sound Conventions (1790-1795) prevented this escalation, as both Spain and the British agreed to 'mutual abandonment,' disallowing any permanent structures, but keeping the region open for trading opportunities for all.

At the time of the Nootka Sound Conventions, New Spain still extended to Alta California, but the fledgling United States of America soon had control of the region, and were expanding their territory to the Pacific Northwest. The Hudson Bay Company and the Northwest Company were competing for dominance of the fur trade, and various forts were established in the region to protect their commercial endeavours.

It was in 1812 that an agreement was made between the United States and British North America (a.k.a. Canada), settling on the 49th parallel as the border between the two nations from the Lake of the Woods in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. Included in this was a 10-year agreement of joint occupation of the Oregon Territory. This was extended for another 10 years in 1827, but after that tensions began to rise.

Mass immigration into the region led to an eventual compromise, and on June 15th, 1846, the Oregon Treaty secured the extension of the previous 49th parallel agreement all the way to the west coast at the Strait of Georgia.

It was in 1843 that Fort Albert (later Fort Victoria) was established by the Hudson Bay Company, under the leadership of Chief Factor James Douglas on the site of present-Day Victoria. But with the Oregon Treaty of 1846, the British wanted to establish a more permanent presence in the region to reinforce their claims on the land and prevent American incursions.

Thus, in early 1849, the HBC moved its western headquarters from Fort Vancouver at the mouth of the Columbia River (in present-day Washington) to Fort Victoria, and the British colonial office officially designated the territory a Crown colony on January 13th. In July, Richard Blanshard was named as the first governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island, but he would not arrive from London to fill the role until until March of 1850.

Sir James Douglas would take over the role the next year, serving as Governor from 1851 until 1864 (he was knighted in 1863 for "services to the Crown").

"Vancouver" was named for British navigator and explorer George Vancouver, who lived from 1757 to 1798, and charted much of the British Columbia coastline in his 1791-95 expedition.

With an indigenous population on Vancouver Island of more than 30,000, it was important for the fledgling British colony to establish treaty relations with them. Between 1850 and 1854, James Douglas established 14 different treaties with the various First Nations groups on Vancouver Island.

Over time, the legitimacy of these treaties were disputed by the provincial and federal governments, denying that they provided treaty rights. But the Supreme Court ruled in favour of that recognition of treaty rights in a 1965 ruling, and they were subsequently constitutionally protected by Section 35 of the Constitution Act in 1982.

The Colony of Vancouver Island was slow to grow, with some stringent rules set in place regarding the acquisition of land for colonists, and the cost of even getting to the remote location, but everything changed with the discovery of gold on the Thompson River (just upstream from where it merged with the Fraser River).

Gold fever had been in full swing in California for nearly a decade before Governor Douglas sent a shipment of gold down to the San Francisco mint in February of 1857. By April, Fort Victoria (with a non-indigenous population of only 500) was flooded with hundreds of people, beginning what would eventually reach somewhere between 25,000 and 40,000, most arriving in 1858. Over the next few year the population fluctuated greatly as newcomers arrived and unsuccessful prospectors left, and the mainland was similarly overrun.

With the influx of thousands of people seeking gold in the Fraser Canyon, Governor Douglas made efforts to establish some measure of control on the mainland, situating a warship at the mouth of the Fraser River, the establishment of magistrates and constables, and the issuing of licenses to prospectors and merchants. The British colonial office was quick to support this initiative and established the new Colony of British Columbia on August 2nd, 1858, with James Douglas as the governor for the new colony (while simultaneously still the governor of the Colony Vancouver Island) alongside Richard Clement Moody, appointed to the role of the Lieutenant-Governor.

At first based out of Fort Langley, Lt-Gov. Moody selected the site and designed the layout for the first capital of the Colony of British Columbia. Originally named Queensborough, Queen Victoria renamed it (effective July 20th, 1859) to New Westminster; it was incorporated as British Columbia's first city in 1860.

The two colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia were combined by an act of the British Parliament, effective August 6th, 1866, with Frederick Seymour as the governor (he had taken over as governor of the Colony of British Columbia in 1864). The new Colony of British Columbia was established with a compromise - the colony would retain the name of British Columbia, while the capital would go to Victoria of the former Colony of Vancouver Island.

At the time of the establishment of the newly combined Colony of British Columbia in 1866, Vancouver (B.C.'s largest city) didn't even exist. It wasn't until 1867 that a Hastings Mill was established by Captain Edward Stamp on the south shore of Burrard Inlet. This led to "Gassy Jack" (a.k.a. John Deighton) establishing a makeshift tavern adjacent to the mill property. This was the catalyst to the building of a settlement that would one day become the hub of the lower mainland of B.C. and its largest city.

Colloquially known as "Gastown" for its founder, when the town was initially incorporated in 1870, it was named Granville in honour of the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Granville. It would retain this name until its incorporation as a city in 1886, taking on the name Vancouver.

Vancouver's growth came directly from its selection as the terminus for the Canadian Pacific Railway, which was completed in 1885.

With the establishment of the Dominion of Canada in 1867 and the British North America Act, the new Prime Minister of Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald, was keen to extend the new country and to solidify its sovereignty. The four original provinces (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) were joined by Manitoba in 1870. With the promise of a rail linking east to west, Macdonald convinced the United Colony of British Columbia to become Canada's sixth province, officially joining on July 20th, 1871.

The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway was the fulfillment of a promise made to the new Province of British Columbia, but it took a decade before the project was even begun. From 1881 until 1885, beginning its westward expansion from the existing Canada Central Railway at Bonfield, Ontario.

The route selected (with some controversy) stayed close to the American border, traveling through the lands of the Blackfoot First Nation in Alberta, and contended with engineering difficulties at Kicking Horse Pass and Roger's Pass. After many obstacles overcome, and many lives lost in the process, the last spike was driven at Craigellachie, B.C. on November 7th, 1885.

It is estimated that over 15,000 Chinese immigrants were employed in the construction of the CPR under harsh conditions, with more than 600 of them dying in the process, creating a dark legacy to join the incredible feat of engineering.

The Trans-Canada Highway (Hwy No. 1) was not the first roadway to cross British Columbia, as it was predated by the Crowsnest (1932), Big Bend (1941) and Cariboo (1953) Highways, but the Trans-Canada Highway was constructed not only to cross B.C., but also to connect to the rest of the country all the way to Newfoundland.

Sections of what would become the TCH had already been built as early as the 1920s, although those local roads were merely incorporated into what would come. The Trans-Canada Highway Act was established in 1949, with construction beginning in 1950. The goal was to have the highway system completed before the country's centennial in 1967.

With the completion of the section between Golden and Revelstoke (in B.C.) in 1962, the highway was officially opened by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker in a ceremony at Rogers Pass on September 3rd, officially becoming the world's longest continuous highway (at the time) with a length of nearly 7,500 km.

Further construction of different legs and paving of gravel sections continued until 1971.