British Columbia, Canada
British Columbia is bounded on the north by Alaska, east
by the Dominion Territories of North West Saskatchewan,
south by Washington Territory of the United States, and
southwest and west by the Pacific Ocean and Alaska,
extending from the 49th parallel to the 60th degree of
north latitude. Organized as a Colony in 1858, and
entered the Dominion in 1871, conjointly with the Colony
of Victoria, comprising Indians. Capital, Victoria.
Principal towns, Barkerville, Burrard Inlet, Clinton,
Comox, Esquimalt, Yale,, Vancouver, Queen Charlottes,
and it large number of other islands constitute an
extensive archipelago on the coast and comprise part of
the Province.
The interior is usually spoken of as the Cariboo,
Kootenay, Omineca, and Cassiar mining districts, the
first being on the upper Fraser River, the second in the
southeast, about the upper Columbia, the third in the
extreme north and the last in the west, bordering the
southern extreme of Alaska. It was established as a
crown colony in 1858, owing its origin as such to the
discovery of gold at that time on the bars and benches
of the Fraser River. The northern boundary as then
defined, was the north fork of the Findlay branch of
Peace River; this, by a subsequent Act of Parliament,
has been extended to the 60th parallel of north
latitude. Prior to the discovery of gold in 1858, it was
exclusively in the hands of the Hudson Bay Company, a
fur trading corporation, whose trading posts were
stationed in various places along the coast and
scattered throughout the interior, some of which have
subsequently become cities of considerable extent and
importance. It was from this humble and insignificant
beginning that Victoria, the present capital, now
containing a population of a little over 4,000
inhabitants, sprung.
Read more....
Pacific Coast Business Directory
Source: Pacific Coast Business
Directory for 1876-78, Compiled by Henry G. Langley, San
Francisco, 1875.
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