The Bowling-Pin Method

Later in May of 1886, Dr. A Harrison Thomas was appointed medical officer, George F. Baldwin city treasurer, J.J. Blake city solicitor and T.F. McGuigan city clerk.

A police commission was formed and consisted of the mayor, the magistrate and the city clerk. Boultbee proposed his brother-in-law, Gardner Johnson, for the position of chief of police and Mayor MacLean nominated his old Winnipeg acquaintance, James M. Stewart. Unfortunately for Johnson, the city clerk was dating Stewart's pretty daughter so Stewart got the appointment. Chief Stewart had a force of four - himself, an assistant chief and two constables.

On May 28, at a public meeting, Sam Pedgrift was elected chief of a volunteer fire brigade. Along with this shoemaker were 13 other members. Members paid dues of 25 cents a month and a fund of $200 was collected. These donations were to go to a fire engine.

As I have said before, Granville was a passive target of Port Moody, Victoria and New Westminster papers for years. But Vancouver had its own press. In January, William Brown started the Vancouver Herald, a four-page weekly. At the end of May, N. Harkness and J.H. Ross started the publication of the Vancouver News, and R.W. Gordon the Vancouver Advertiser. The Herald was a liberal leaning paper whereas the Advertiser was conservative. Granville may have been a settlement by the inlet but Vancouver was a city!

The surveying was still going on and during the spring of 1886, 2000 were employed. A large construction camp existed in the small bay where Hamilton Street met False Creek. Wives and families of the superior employees lived in the old Hastings Townsite where the CPR construction offices were.

On March 6, the company held its first land sale, setting June 10 as the deadline for persons in occupation of land previous to the 1884 agreement to buy their lots at the reserved price of $200.

Walter Graveley was the first buyer of unreserved land, paying $700 for lots 1,2 and 3 on the southeast corner of Carrall and Oppenheimer (now East Cordova) Streets. The CPR was flooded with claims of people claiming to have been occupants of the land- "almost in excess of the entire population of Gastown in 1884". Is it any wonder Van Horne warned Hamilton to keeps his eyes open when doing business with the people of Vancouver.

The railway was also clearing the land along Water, Cordova, Hastings and Pender Streets, as far west as Burrard. Much of this was done using the "bowling-pin" method. Ranks after ranks of the close packed trees were sawed halfway through then a few were felled and those would knock down the others. Scores of the forest giants fell and created a mash up of smashed trunks and branches. Undergrowth and jagged stumps were left to dry out through the summer and burned the following wet season.

I would like to thank the book Vancouver, From Milltown to Metropolis by Alan Morley for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Who Named Vancouver?

The Canadian Pacific Railway made the arrangements necessary to get the land for the new terminus - in Granville - and the agreement included provisions for an immediate survey. Van Horne of the CPR sent L.A. Hamilton who, in 1885, laid out downtown Vancouver on the approximate lines it is today. Van Horne's final instructions to Hamilton contain some interesting words.

"Hamilton," the surveyor reports him as saying, "this eventually is destined to be a great city in Canada. We must see that it has a name that will designate its place on the  map of Canada.

"Vancouver it shall be, if I have the ultimate decision."

This is intriguing to me because there is also the story of Van Horne being taken in a rowboat out around what is now Stanley Park. Trying to show the CPR president that Coal Harbour and Granville was where the terminus should be. The rowboat operator - I can't remember who it is - and Van Horne discussed names and came up with Vancouver. I wonder if that happened before this.

It is possible the decision was Van Horne's since his wish would have carried great weight. However, it is also probable the name had been under general consideration for some time previously. As early as August 1884, it had been used in a Portland, Oregon, newspaper for the western terminus of the CPR.

Whatever the name, the railway's plans for the port pushed ahead.

By this time, it was public knowledge that the CPR was negotiating for a right-of-way to Granville but the public's reaction was interesting.

Investors and speculators, such as J.W. Horne of Brandon, who had "looked in" at Granville in 1883 and again in 1884 and a Victoria businessman, Frederick Buscombe, decided "it was too early yet" to invest in the Granville area. They put off their plans for a year or two.

A. W. Ross, M.P for Lisgar, Manitoba,was hard hit financially in Winnipeg and came west to see if he could retrieve his fortunes in Port Moody. When he got here though, he changed his mind. He invested all he had and borrowed all he could to purchase Granville lots in 1884. Perhaps his former connections with the CPR syndicate had something to do with his decisions.

This was a perfect time for Port Moody speculators - both local and from Victoria - to hedge, but they refused to do so. I guess they lost out.

Thanks to the book Vancouver, From Milltown to Metropolis by Alan Morley for the information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Working Harbour

The mosaic at the top represents the working harbour. It is of a large ship's wheel and train tracks - two of the industries, which have made Vancouver. They represent the deep water harbour and railway that services ships from around the world. The greenery above the wheel represents cargo and the original natural state of the area.

These mosaics are around the city whenever I see one of the signs, I look for it. For some reason, the working harbour mosaic wasn't anywhere around the sign. So you got a picture from the sign.

I have written on the port before but I will tell you a few more things about it. The Port of Vancouver has developed into one of Canada's largest through geography, abundant natural resources, wise business practices and a little political intrigue. There were questionable land grants and kickbacks to government officials, which later brought down the national government. But Vancouver got the railway and the city's future was assured.

If you remember when I wrote on the premiers of this province last summer, one of the enticements the federal government offered British Columbia to join the Canadian Federation was the railway. And wherever the terminus was would become the centre of industry and trade for B.C.  A few places were considered, like Port Moody, before officials realized that the settlement of Granville had a harbour that was more suited to large ships sailing in and out.

I once wrote on how Vancouver got its name and I will tell you again. Because it does have something to do with the railway and the harbour and the ships. 

In 1884, there was a small settlement called Granville with a population of about 400 people living by Burrard Inlet. The residents of this hamlet consisted of workers from the nearby sawmill and their families, some First Nations and of course, one of our more colourful characters, Gassy Jack Deighton.  The General Manager of the Canadian Pacific Railway, William Van Horne, visited the area. (It was apparently he that recommended the terminus be moved from Port Moody.)

Van Horne was taken out in a rowboat by CPR's land commissioner Lauchlan Hamilton - some versions of this story say it was realtor Alexander Wellington Ross at that oars - and toured what was to become Stanley Park. Van Horne was excited and stated that this was destined to be a great city and must have a name commensurate with its greatness. He wasn't sure that people would know where "Granville" was but everyone knew of Captain Vancouver and his Pacific explorations so they would know where this important new link in world shipping was located. 

For the above information, I thank the mosaic's program with the City of Vancouver and The History of Metropolitan Vancouver  website for the information on Van Horne and his trip in the rowboat.

I hope you find the beauty around you.