The Early History of Alert Bay

Cormerant Island was initially a part of the territory of the 'Namgis First Nation, who lived in the village of Whulk (Xulku) on the banks of the Nimpkish River.  The Island, which was known as Yalis, had been used as a canoe pullout, and an important berry harvesting location by First Nations for thousands of years before non-Indigenous settlers arrived.
In 1862 a fish saltery was built in Alert Bay by Mack and Neill. The operation targeted Nimpkish River fish, specifically sockeye. Seasonal processing would employ many local Indigenous people. At about the same time, a Christian mission and school which had briefly been established at Fort Rupert moved to Alert Bay to minister to the Indigenous population which was moving to the island to work in the cannery.
At the time S.A. (Steven Allen) Spencer also owned a photography studio in Victoria, however in 1885 he moved to Alert Bay and developed a cannery, known as the (S.A.) Spencer & (Thomas) Earle cannery. It was the first cannery built between the Skeena River and the Fraser River along the British Columbia coast.

A-04489 - BC Archives - Alert Bay Cannery - 188?

A plant to construct boxes for fish processing plant was constructed in Telegraph Cove.

Cannery at Alert Bay 189? - BC Archives - C-04957

A group in front of Spencer's cannery 1896. BC Archives I-31533

In 1902 the cannery was sold to the British Columbia Packers Association.

Alert Bay Cannery 191? BC Archives I-31533

Earle sold his share of the cannery in 1894 and the cannery was renamed The Alert Bay Canning Company. Spencer also reportedly served as the Alert Bay postmaster before retiring to Victoria.

"Fresh Nimpkish River Salmon, Alert Bay Canning Co." (1910) BC Archives I-60014.

"History of the Alert Bay Plant" 1940 http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/hrcorpreports/pdfs/B/British_Columbia_Packers_Ltd_1940.pdf

Vicks' Store, Fisherman Bay, Cape Scott

In the late 1800s, Danish settlers at Cape Scott set up an initial Co-operative Store at Fisherman Bay, at Nissan Bight. By 1907 the coastal steamships were no longer stopping at Fisherman Bay, and the store closed in 1909 as many of the original settlers left the community. A few years later, with an influx of new settlers living on pre-emption's dotted along the North Island's coastline, the store re-opened and was run by Archie Darlington and then the Vicks family. It again closed in about 1916.

Vicks' Store at Fisherman Bay (circa 1914) City of Vancouver Archives  P1153.4  

Steam Donkey in Quatsino Sound

This week's North Island historical photo shows a logging crew, three uniformed members of the Armed Forces, and an unidentified woman posing with a steam donkey. The photo was taken in Quatsino Sound by Ben Leeson in the early 1900s.
From the mid-1880s, when they were invented, until about 1920, most steam donkeys were powered by a fire which created the steam. One person's job was just to manage the firewood to keep the boiler running. For a short period after that some donkeys ran on oil powered engines. Steam donkeys were an essential piece of coastal forestry equipment until about the 1930s, enabling loggers to pull logs through the woods, therefore leading to logging moving from steep coastal areas to more inland locations.

VPL14001

Kains Island Light Station

The first light station was established at Kains Island, at the mouth of Quatsino Sound in 1905.  At the time the Inlet was becoming a bustling centre of industry and the site of numerous homesteads, pre-emptions, and settlements. At times the mouth of the Sound was easy to pass by, as was evidenced by Captain Vancouver's early charts which missed identifying Quatsino Sound completely. The initial light station was unmanned.

VPL Accession Number: 14135

A more permanent light was established in 1910, and Quatsino Sound resident Nels C. Nelson and his wife moved in as the first resident light keepers.

This photo includes Mr & Mrs Nelson in 1911.

VPL Accession Number: 14154

An excellent account of the history of the Kains Island Light Station is provided on the Lighthouse Friends website: http://lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=1195 .

Sealing Schooner Diana in Quatsino Sound

This photo of the sealing schooner Diana, was taken in Quatsino Sound in about 1896 by Ben Leeson of Winter Harbour/Quatsino. Until the start of the first world war there was a thriving sealing industry in the Bering Strait, and about 50 vessels engaged in the fishery had their home port in BC. Many of the crews were Japanese Canadians. Indigenous people from the North Island were also recruited as crew on the sealing ships because they were good hunters with excellent ocean experience. West Coast Indigenous peoples generally were also experienced whalers.

Sealers would sometimes be away for months at a time, and could travel as far as to Japan on a seasonal trip. There are stories about some of the first people of European heritage to attend a potlatch in Quatsino Sound who were quite surprised to find Indigenous women dressed in kimonos, which had been obtained by men working in the sealing industry.




BC Archives H-04069