to forego possession of the-whole of what is now known as British Columbia. But thanks to men with foresight, like Dr. McLoughlin, and the energy and vision of Sir George Simpson, and Chief Factor James Douglas, that triangle of a kind within Fort St. James on the north, Fort Victoria on the south- west and Fort Langley as the third point, was preserved, with its coast line and all land to the east of these points, as British domain. Several years before the Oregon Treaty of 1846, Sir George Simpson anticipated the DOMINION HOTEL Wn. J. Clark, Manager Victoria, B.C. Comfortable Rooms Moderate Rates POINT HOPE SHIPYARDS LIMITED Telephone G 2514 SHIPBUILDERS and SHIP REPAIRERS Electric Hauling Plant VICTORIA, B.C. ACKE == Lime 7 SONS i “UV SANITARY, HEATING and OIL ENGINEERS SHEET METAL WORK 755 Broughton St. Victoria, B. C. Phone G 6211 TH WESTON’S Bread and Cake (Canada) Limited For Service, Phone Garden 3431 High Quality Bakery Products VICTORIA — VANCOUVER Telephone E1141 Cable Address: ‘‘McQUADE, VICTORIA” Ship Chandlers (McQuade’s) Ltd. Established 1858 SHIP CHANDLERS, MARINE AGENTS and HARDWARE MERCHANTS Naval Stores Janitor Supplies 1214 Wharf Street VICTORIA, B.C. Telephone Garden 1196 McGILL & ORME Limited Prescription Chemists FORT AT BROAD VICTORIA, B.C. Page Fourteen very thing that happened; and in 1842 we find James Douglas sent to locate a suitable site for a trading post, a site which would be well within what was considered as un- disputed British territory. Douglas found what he sought at Camo- sun on Vancouver Island, and the next year he was sent out again. Travelling overland from Fort Vancouver to Fort Nisqually, he and his party boarded the Beaver on March 13th, 1843. They spent the night at Port Townsend on the southern shore of the Juan de Fuca Strait. The next morning they hove to off Shoal Point, Vancouver Island and the next day (March 15th) the party went ashore to find a fort site. Of the actual founding of Fort Victoria we have Douglas’ own words describing the event, pencilled in one of those little jotting books of his, still carefully preserved in the Provincial Government archives at Victoria: “Tuesday, March 14, 1843. Got under way in the morning, ran into Dungeness, landed and saw the place which is there. It contains probably 200 acres of land, the surface is rocky, large boulders of granite are seen piercing the surface here and there. It is on a high bank, on the sea shore, at the foot of which runs a fresh water river. There is a large village of Clalams here, and great quantities of salmon are/ taken in the autumn here. The Indians have small gardens on the plain and grow very fine potatoes. “Wednesday, 15th March. Went out this morning with a boat and examined the wood of the north shore of the harbour; it is not good, being generally short, crooked and almost un- serviceable. On the south shore the wood is of better quality, and I think you will have no dificulty in getting enough for our purpose. Small wood for picketing is scarce, particularly cedar, which answers better than any other kind for that purpose from its (lightness) and greater durability underground. “We will probably have to bring as much as we desire from a distance. “I am at a loss to know where to place the Fort, as there are two positions possessing advantages, though of different kinds. No. 1 has a good view of the harbour, is upon clear ground and only 50 yds. from the beach; on the other hand, vessels drawing 14 feet cannot come within 130 feet of the shore. We will, therefore, either have to (boat cargo) off and on at a great destruction of boats, and considerable loss of time or be put to the expense of forming a jetty at a great amount of labour. No. 2, on the other hand, will allow of vessels lying with their sides grazing on the rocks, which form a natural wharf, whereon cargo may be conveni- ently landed from the ship’s yard, and in that respect would be exceedingly advantageous. But, on the other hand, an intervening point intercepts the view so that the mouth of the Port cannot be seen from it, an objection of much weight in case of vessels entering and leaving Port. Another disadvantage is that the shore is there covered by thick woods to the breadth of 200 yards, so that we must either place the Fort at that distance from the landing place, or clear away the thickets, which would detain us very much in our building operations. . . I will think more on this subject before determin- ing the point.” Building was commenced under the super- vision of Chief Trader Charles Ross, with Roderick Finlayson as his lieutenant. Fin- layson states that a square of one hundred and fifty yards was enclosed with cedar pickets eighteen feet above the ground, with two blockhouses, or bastions, at the angles for defense purposes. These bastions were much similar in construction to that still preserved at Nanaimo, B. C. Wooden buildings for dwellings, and store-houses, were erected inside the stock- ade. These houses were put up with true Scottish frugality, without the driving of a single metal nail, wooden pegs only being used. All Scottish frugality can be gauged as this was, in terms of necessity rather than niggardliness. Wooden ploughs and harrows were made and the cultivation of the land commenced immediately for the purpose of contributing to the fort’s maintenance. Grain was grown and thrashed, and very soon the new fort was in full working order. In the years 1846-47, the stockade and bastions were extended and renewed, and in 1849 the Company’s Pacific Coast head- quarters were removed from Fort Vancou- ver, Washington, to Fort Victoria. Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken, writing in the Victoria Colonist (1887) thus described the interior of Fort Victoria in his day: “There were inside about a dozen large block story-and-a-half buildings, say 60 x 40, roofed with long and wide strips of cedar bark. The buildings were for the storage of goods, Indian trading shop, and a large shop for general trade. It contained everything required. The mess room, off from which lived Mr. Douglas and family, was at the corner (of now) Fort and Government streets. The “counting house” was near (now) Wharf Street. . . A belfry stood in the middle of the yard and its bell tolled for meals, for deaths, for weddings, for church service, for fires, and sometimes for warnings. At meal time it was assisted by a chorus of curs. On Wharf Street there existed a flagstaff and near it a well some eighty feet deep, but which contained but little water. The prevailing colour of the paint was “Spanish Brown,” and “whitewash” was abundant. Another historian tells us that: “The fort when completed contained a stone powder magazine, bake shop, four large ware- houses, two stores, a cooper’s shop, blacksmith shop, grist mill, school, offices, priest’s house, bachelors’ hall, and many servants’ houses, which at first were covered merely with cedar bark. In 1846 the whole establishment was overhauled and reconstructed and the buildings THE TUDOR HOUSE WILF GOUGE, Manager 6 Licensed Premises e Corner Admirals and Esquimalt Roads ESQUIMALT, B.C. HALFWAY HOUSE Licensed Premises r 856 Esquimalt Road ESQUIMALT, B.C. THE SHOULDER STRAP