British Columbia History Trivia

1. Which Spanish explorer sailed in the waters off what is now British Columbia in 1774?

From Quiz British Columbia History up to 1871

Answer: Juan Pérez

In 1774, Spanish explorer Juan Pérez navigated the waters off the west coast of Vancouver Island, but did not make a landing. Later, in 1789, the Spaniards used Pérez's voyage to argue in favour of Spanish ownership of the Nootka Sound area. The Spaniards nearly went to war with the British over this issue. The dispute was resolved in favour of Britain in 1790. The Spaniards had produced no maps of the region, which weakened their claim, while the British had fully mapped the coastline.

From Quiz History of Vancouver, British Columbia

Answer: Spain

Jose Maria Narvaez was the sailor who first landed on the Sunshine Coast. He then traveled to Burrard Inlet, which is where Vancouver is located today. Although he sailed near Vancouver and Puget Sound, he never explored them. The year after, George Vancouver of England met up with the Spanish and explored Puget Sound and the First Nation settlements, claiming much of the land of England.

From Quiz British Columbia History up to 1871

Answer: Captain James Cook

James Cook travelled up the west coast of North America in 1778, landing at Nootka Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Cook's extensive maps of the west coast helped Great Britain lay claim to the territory that later became British Columbia. George Vancouver navigated the waters off the Pacific northwest between 1792 and 1795. Alexander Mackenzie and Simon Fraser made overland journeys across British Columbia in 1793 and 1805 respectively.

From Quiz Becoming British Columbia

Answer: The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush

In the 1800s, the Americans were gaining a bit of a reputation for manifesting their destiny, and getting territory annexed by the US just by having a population in unclaimed or disputed lands. It was a gold rush that transformed San Francisco in 1849. Less than ten years later, in 1857, gold was found in the Columbia District. Gold prospectors from San Francisco flooded the area, and Britain knew that the massive American population might eventually lead to US annexation if left unchecked. The British turned the Columbia District into the Colony of British Columbia (note the "British" in the name), and sent over Richard Moody to properly establish the government and infrastructure of the new colony.

From Quiz History of Vancouver, British Columbia

Answer: Fraser Canyon

There had been a few short gold rushes prior to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, but those did not result in any significant permanent settlement in the area. The new of the discovery of gold in the area first reached San Francisco where tens of thousands move north into the Vancouver area but most walked away empty handed. However, the sudden influx of Americans frightened the British who made British Columbia a colony in fear that the United States would. As a result, the British started building infrastructure projects and cities, including Vancouver.

From Quiz British Columbia History up to 1871

Answer: The Hudson's Bay Company

Between 1800 and 1820, the Northwest Company and the Hudson's Bay Company vied for control of the fur trade in what is now British Columbia. By 1820, the Hudson's Bay Company had taken over the Northwest Company, so becoming the sole proprietor of the fur trade in the region. Top officials of the Hudson's Bay Company went on to become senior officials in the colonial governments of British Columbia and Vancouver Island in the 1850s and 1860s.

From Quiz Becoming British Columbia

Answer: New Westminster

The city of Westminster was the location of parliament in the United Kingdom, so when a new government seat was needed, Richard Moody created New Westminster along the Fraser River. New Westminster was built up explicitly with the purpose of housing the government, but only got to actually be a capital city for about eight years. Prince George is known as the "Northern Capital", being the largest municipality in northern BC (about half way between the northern and southern boundaries of BC). The city of Port Moody was named after British Columbia's first governor.

From Quiz History of Vancouver, British Columbia

Answer: Lumber

The first lumber mill opened in 1863 by Sewell Moody, an American who later gave his name to the Moodyville neighborhood. British Columbia was and still is a heavily forested area of North America with some of the tallest trees in the world. This made it a prime location for a lumbering industry within Canada. Other sawmills soon popped up with most of the production being exported or used in shipbuilding.

From Quiz British Columbia History up to 1871

Answer: The James Douglas Treaties

The 14 treaties mentioned above were signed with the Coast Salish natives in the immediate vicinity of Fort Victoria, Fort Rupert, and Nanaimo. The Coast Salish natives were provided with blankets, and in exchange they gave up most of the land they lived on. After 1854, James Douglas stopped signing treaties with the "First Nations" on Vancouver Island. In the late 19th century the federal government signed a treaty with the "First Nations" peoples in northwestern British Coulmbia. These 14 treaties remained the only ones signed with the "First Nations" peoples of British Columbia until the British Columbia government signed the Nisga'a Treaty in 1998.

From Quiz History of Vancouver, British Columbia

Answer: John A. Macdonald

Macdonald was the first Canadian Prime Minister who was heavily involved in the building and funding of the railway. It later came to light that members of the Liberal-Conservative Party of which Macdonald belonged had taken bribes from railway owners. Macdonald was voted out of office because of it in 1873 but was elected again in 1878. One of British Columbia's conditions on being allowed to join the Canadian Confederation was that it must allow the terminus in Vancouver to be physically connected with the rest of Canada. At the time, most of the provinces in the Confederation were far away on the east coast as most of the prairie provinces had not been officially entered into the Confederation.

From Quiz British Columbia History up to 1871

Answer: New Westminster

The colony of British Columbia was established in 1858, and in 1859 New Westminster became its capital. In 1866, the colony of British Columbia merged with the colony of Vancouver Island to become the single colony of British Columbia. Two years later, in 1868, the capital of British Columbia was moved to Victoria, the former capital of Vancouver Island.

From Quiz History of Vancouver, British Columbia

Answer: A brush fire

Vancouver was expanding rapidly and thus a decision was made to clear away forested land for developmental purposes via burning. A strong wind caused the brush fire to grow and spread until the whole city, apart from just a few buildings, was destroyed. Vancouver was quickly rebuilt and modernized.

From Quiz British Columbia History up to 1871

Answer: Barkerville

William "Billy" Barker found gold on Williams Creek in 1862. The town of Barkerville, named after Billy Barker, sprang up on the site, and thrived as the centre of the Cariboo Gold Rush until 1870. After 1870, Barkerville went into a slow decline, becoming a ghost town by the 1930s. In 1958 the province of British Columbia took control of the town and turned it into a historic site. Wells, Quesnel, and Williams Lake are other towns in the Cariboo region of British Columbia. Wells is only five minutes from Barkerville.

From Quiz Becoming British Columbia

Answer: Six

The Canadian Confederation began in 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Prince Edward Island was invited, but held out for a while. Manitoba was created in 1870 out of Rupert's Land as a province for the Metis people. The rest of Rupert's land was renamed the Northwest Territories. In 1871, just four years after Confederation, British Columbia joined as the sixth province. Prince Edward Island joined soon after, in 1873. The Northwestern part of the Northwest Territories became Yukon in 1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush. Alberta and Saskatchewan were created together in 1905, accidentally splitting the city of Lloydminster between the two. In 1949, the colony of Newfoundland joined the Confederation as the tenth province. And in 1999, almost half of what was left of the Northwest Territories became Nunavut.

From Quiz History of Vancouver, British Columbia

Answer: Gerry McGeer

In 1914, the Panama Canal was completed and it was commonly believed that it would steal trade business from Vancouver. To counteract this, British Columbia proposed lowering the freight rates on goods passing through the Rocky Mountains. This proposal was rejected by the Canadian Government but British Columbia fought back with McGeer was its lawyer and won. As a result, it remained more economically feasible for Canadian and American wheat to be shipped to Asia via Vancouver and not Panama. McGeer went on to gain popularity in politics as Mayor of Vancouver and a member of Parliament.

From Quiz British Columbia History up to 1871

Answer: Smallpox epidemic

In 1854, representatives from the "First Nations" on Vancouver Island were camped out near Fort Victoria. They hoped that James Douglas would sign treaties with them as he had done with the "First Nations" living in the area. When James Douglas decided to end the treaty negotiations, he ordered the "First Nations" peoples back to their villages. As the "First Nations" peoples returned to their villages, they took a smallpox epidemic with them. The smallpox epidemic spread among the "First Nations" along the coast. The "First Nations" population, having stabilized after previous outbreaks of disease earlier in the century, was further decimated by the smallpox epidemic of 1854. The epidemic sent the "First Nations" population of British Columbia into a decline that did not end till the 1950s, by which time the "First Nations" peoples accounted for only 2% of the population.

From Quiz History of Vancouver, British Columbia

Answer: Chinese

An influx of Chinese immigrants had caused riots in 1907 and tensions continued on for decades. The bill, which made exceptions for students and diplomats, essentially banned all Chinese immigrants. It was passed mostly in response to the killing of Janet Smith, who was allegedly murdered by a Chinese immigrant. Today, it is believed the accusation was more based on racism than evidence. The Chinese Immigration Exclusion Act was repealed in 1947. Prime Minister officially apologized for the act in 2006.

From Quiz British Columbia History up to 1871

Answer: Victoria

Victoria, also known at this time as Fort Victoria (after the Hudson's Bay Company's trading post there), became the capital of the new colony of Vancouver Island in 1849. In 1866, Vancouver Island became part of the colony of British Columbia. Victoria became the capital of British Columbia in 1868.

From Quiz History of Vancouver, British Columbia

Answer: Fire balloons

Fu-Go or fire balloons were hydrogen balloons with bombs attached, which the Japanese would float over the Pacific in the hope that they would attack Canada and the USA. They were largely unsuccessful as only one fire balloon claimed any casualties (six people in Oregon). The Japanese launched several balloon bombs, most of which failed to detonate, reach North America or do any damage. None of the balloons even reached Vancouver proper, but some did land close by.

From Quiz British Columbia History up to 1871

Answer: James Douglas

James Douglas also served as the second Governor of Vancouver Island from 1851 to 1863, taking over from Richard Blanshard, who served from 1849 to 1851. In 1864, Frederick Seymour replaced James Douglas as Governor of British Columbia.

From Quiz History of Vancouver, British Columbia

Answer: Alexandre Bilodeau

Bilodeau won gold in the Men's Moguls competition, something he also did at the 2014 Games in Sochi. Canada had not won any gold medals when Montreal Calgary and hosted the games in 1976 and 1988 respectively. It did win an exhibition gold medal for curling when Calgary hosted but curling was not an official sport at the time. Overall, Canada won 14 gold medals, which set a record for the Winter Games, and won 26 medals overall. It was the first time Canada topped the gold medal chart in history.

From Quiz British Columbia History up to 1871

Answer: 12 Chilcotins killed 18 white men

In 1864, the colonial government of British Columbia began building a road inland from Bute Inlet to the Cariboo region. Members of the Chilcotin First Nation, who lived in the area, perceived the Bute Inlet road as an invasion of their territory. Eventually, 5 members of the Chilcotin First Nation were charged with the murder of 8 white men in connection with the Bute Inlet Massacre. The Bute Inlet Massacre was a major factor in the hardening of the white settlers' attitudes towards the "First Nations" peoples after 1864.

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