Tag Archives: BC History

History

How did settlers get to British Columbia?

Europeans knew about North America for over a century before they began settling here. Basque, Portuguese, French, and English fishermen regularly sailed to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in the 1500s and 1600s for the rich offshore cod harvest. They often camped on the beaches but rarely stayed through the harsh winters. At the time, most Europeans lived in smoky, windowless huts heated by an open fire on the floor—hardly an incentive to brave even colder conditions overseas.

Archaeologist William Gilbert, working at Cupids in Newfoundland, suggests a few changes in homes construction changed everything.

“Recently it has been suggested that the late 16th century innovations such as fireplaces, wooden floors, glazed windows and woolen and felt clothing may have made it easier for Europeans to adapt to and survive during our cold northeastern winters. The first successful colony was established at Port Royal in Nova Scotia in 1605, followed by Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, Quebec City in 1608, and Cupids in 1610.”

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Arts

Cumberland Gold for Frank Mottl

Frank Mottl’s latest novel, Cumberland Gold, takes us to the quaint village of Cumberland BC. This is the same setting as his first novel,  The Cumberland Tales, in which Mottl described the community he knew in the 1960s. Only now he is writing about the late 19th century, when Lord Dunsmuir (1825-89) was attempting to recruit Chinese immigrants to work in his coal mine.   

Mottle explained, “ I did some research at the Cumberland Museum, and there was an unsolved homicide in the 19th century in the old Cumberland Chinatown. Nobody knew much about it, other than it was unsolved. That really appealed to me, so I just ran with it. Of course I spent a year teaching in China, so it did have a lot of that Chinese influence inside of it.” 

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Forests, History, Indigenous Nations History

Comox Valley Land Trust seeks to raise $2.4M to protect trees in Puntledge Forest

By Madeline Dunnett, The Discourse,  Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On a crisp morning in early October 2023, Tim Ennis, executive director of Comox Valley Land Trust (CVLT) trekked through the trails of Nymph Falls Nature Park and explained that CVLT was working on a complex purchase of forest on a chunk of BC Hydro land in Nymph Falls, and a possible other section in the Puntledge River Recreation Trails area. 

“The property that we’re walking onto here is owned by BC Hydro … and the timber on the property — the trees — they’re owned separately,” he said.

The lands themselves are part of the traditional unceded territory of the K’ómoks First Nation, who are descendants of the Sathloot, Sasitla, Ieeksen, Xa’xe and Pentlatch. Many surrounding areas get their namesake from the Éy7á7juuthem, Kwak̓wala, and Pəntl’áč languages — including the Puntledge River itself, which stems from the word Pəntl’áč (Pentlatch). 

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Cost of Climate Change, History

Magic mountain, melting snow: Climate uncertainty in the Comox Valley

Editor’s note: Some of the places mentioned in this article, like Mount Washington and the Comox Glacier, are only about 20 km southwest of Cortes Island as the crow flies. Mount Cain is about 100 km west of us. If the snowpack has been decreasing since 2005, is it surprising that we’ve been experiencing droughts during the summer on Cortes and other parts of the Greater Campbell River since 2021?

By Madeline Dunnett, The Discourse,  Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

My dad, far left, and students in a ski retail and repair class he taught at Forbidden Plateau in the early 90s. Submitted photo

When I was a kid, I used to play with the pile of toys at Ski Tak Hut in Courtenay while my dad closed up shop.

Ski Tak Hut has been selling skis and snowboards in Courtenay since 1976. My dad has worked there since before I was born, and when I was a baby he would divide his time seasonally — working as a fishing guide in the summer and at the ski shop in the winter. He became a store partner in 1993 up until his recent retirement, and in a way it became part of the family. 

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Community, History

Beginnings of the Co-op at Refuge Cove

Norm Gibbon’s novel ‘Sea Without Shores’ is set in the tiny village of Refuge Cove, on West Redonda Island, during some of the years he was a member of the community. Refuge Cove’s story goes back several decades before that, but in today’s broadcast Norm outlines some of the history surrounding the beginnings of the Refuge Cove Land and Housing Co-op. 

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