I have wanted to go to Coal Harbour for years – hearing that it was worth a visit and that it has a museum dedicated to the World War II years when the village was a Royal Canadian Air Force station. My friend Cathy and I departed from Alert Bay to Port MacNeill on the ferry and from Port MacNeill, drove north on the highway going towards Port Hardy. This was our Mother’s Day Sunday outing and the sun was actually out!
Cathy at the dock.
The village is named after what first brought people there – coal, but that industry was abandoned when, as at nearby Fort Rupert, the coal was found to be of inferior quality. Today about 450 persons live in Coal Harbour and some enjoy gorgeous views into Quatsino Sound from homes perched high on a hill at the village’s west end. A major industry keeping the community going has been logging and the day we were there a commercial prawn boat was unloading a huge catch at the dock.
Me at the dock – windy day!
Also at the dock is where you’ll find the RCAF museum which Cathy and I were impressed with and really enjoyed. We were happy to find it open on a Sunday. I had been told that the museum was small, and expected to see perhaps one room. Instead, the museum resides in an old airplane hangar and takes up several rooms with a collection that ranges from turn of the 20th century telephones to Model T Ford cars.
The eclectic collection highlights stories of Coal Harbour’s not so savoury past, such as the years during which it was home to a whaling station that was in operation right up into the 1960s, but profiles the war years with obvious pride. Those years are celebrated with RCAF uniforms and numerous photos and other wartime paraphernalia.
I had heard that a gentleman takes care of the museum, and he wasn’t there that day so I would definitely make another trip in order to chat with him about the collection.
A Spilsbury WWII radio – Spilbury’s Coast is a must-read!
Another reason for visiting Coal Harbour was to find the brother of David (Walrus) Garrick, about whom I am writing while in Alert Bay. Garrick has lived a fascinating life as an eco-warrior, was a Greenpeace founder, and established an educational camp on Hanson Island in the 1990s. I hope to have the story of his life completed sometime next year. We didn’t find his brother, but later in Port Hardy met a lady who said she was his neighbour! Oh well, funny how things happen.
Vancouver Island is full of surprising little places well worth driving to. It was rewarding last summer to hear so many British Columbians say how much they enjoyed the north island and when I start chatting with tourists again, will recommend a visit to Coal Harbour.
I had the pleasure of joining a Wells Gray tour as the accompanying historian for two separate groups on an inaugural tour to Zeballos from Gold River and back via the famous Uchuck III coastal freighter from September 19-21. I joined the first group in Campbell River on Sunday the 19th and boarded the Wells Gray tour bus with Steve at the helm and Marion as the tour director.
We drove along the Gold River Highway (28) paralleling the Campbell River which is busy in the fall with fishermen hoping to catch salmon that come up the river this time of year to spawn. I pointed out the Haig-Brown Heritage House, the former home of renowned conservationist, fisherman and writer Roderick Haig-Brown who established himself and his wife Ann there in the late 1930s. Numerous guests on the tour were very familiar with this passionate thinker who recognized the need to protect fish habitat and wilderness well before environmentalism came into vogue.
We then passed the entrance to Elk Falls, that was harnessed in 1948 for its hydro-electric potential – an event which served as a catalyst for the installation of a pulp and paper mill north of Campbell River, leading to the town’s growth. In fact, the history of the Campbell River region is closely tied to the three dam system in the watershed that starts at Buttle Lake in Strathcona Provincial Park and flows through the two Campbell Lakes, the John Hart Reservoir and the Campbell River to the sea.
On our approach to Strathcona Provincial Park, we first encountered Strathcona Park Lodge and Outdoor Education Centre – in business since 1959, that is renowned for the excellent outdoor programs and comfortable cabins by the lake it offers; not to mention, a spectacular view into the Elk River Valley.
Lovely Lupin Falls
Once within the Park, our driver stopped at the Lupin Falls trailhead, and all disembarked from the bus to take the moderate twenty minute loop walk to see Lupin Falls – a pretty falls in the midst of a scenic rainforest of tall cedars and Douglas firs, with intense hues of green and orange-red on this overcast day. Once we were back on the bus, I explained the history of Strathcona Park, and how it came to be established, as well as some of the controversy that plagued the Park over the years during periods when it was open to industry. I also discussed the exciting archaeological finds at Buttle Lake made in 2019 of over 1000 artifacts left by Indigenous hunters such as arrowheads, probably about 10,000 years ago.
Next stop was Lady Falls, that is a more challenging trail due to its incline, with a very lovely, gushing falls at the end of the trail. Then on to Gold River, for a great dinner at the Ridge Pub and a good stay at the Ridge Motel, where the owners and staff very efficiently moved all 42 of us and our luggage to our rooms.
The next morning, back on the bus and on our way to the dock, I discussed the history of Gold River, an ‘instant’ town created to house workers at the 1965 pulp and paper mill being built then, next to a Muchalaht village site. At the dock we boarded the Uchuck III, a converted minesweeper that has been servicing this stretch of the west coast as a freighter for six decades. In the coastal mist, we cruised west up the Muchalaht Inlet that once was home to the Muchalaht people who hunted and fished in this area for thousands of years. The Muchalaht eventually merged with the Mowachaht of Nootka Sound to form one band, who are members of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth Council of 14 west coast nations.
Captain Cook’s ship HMS Resolution anchored in Ship’s Cove for repairs
When we reached Bligh Island at the mouth of the inlet, I described European exploration to the area and how the island was named for William Bligh, famously of HMS Bounty who was Master aboard Captain James Cook’s ship the Resolution, when it landed at the island in 1778 to affect a repair. It was this unintentional landing and meeting with the Mowachaht people that lead to Cook’s crew procuring sea otter pelts, that dealers in Canton months later paid a surprisingly high price for. Once news spread of the value of these pelts, the Sound was inundated with traders – Americans, British and Spanish who vied for control over the trade. Chief Maquinna of the Mowachaht controlled this trade at his end, a trade that lasted until about 1810, when the population of sea otters dwindled.
Humpback mother with calf
Our voyage took us up north into the Tahsis Inlet where all were thrilled to encounter a mother Humpback with her calf. We witnessed a breach by the calf – an exciting moment! Then, heading west at Tahsis Narrows and on past Ceepeecee, once site of a pilchard reduction plant, and next Esperanza, where the Nootka Mission Hospital was located until 1974, we entered Hecate Channel, continued on to the Zeballos Inlet and cruised north until we reached the village of Zeballos.
Bev and Gail back in Zeballos
On board Bev, who spent her early childhood in Zeballos told us about her father Hedley Vickers, who built the Zeballos Hotel during the settlement’s gold rush of 1938 to 1942. The hotel is now called the Zeballos Lodge. Bev disembarked with our first group and in town, met her sister Gail who was with the second tour group of 30, who had been to Telegraph Cove whale watching. En route to Zeballos, the bus had a flat tire. Tour director Lisa explained that the group were intended to have their boxed lunch on the bus that had to go for repairs at a local heavy duty mechanic’s garage. There was nowhere to sit and eat, however Village staff came to the rescue and hosted the grateful Wells Gray tour group in the Village office building. This group then came on board the Uchuck.
We then reversed our trip, spotted the Humpbacks again, and arrived back at Gold River at 5:00pm. The Wells Gray tour bus and driver Jason met us there and took us to the Ridge Motel. In the morning, we travelled Highway 28 to Campbell River with the same stops in Strathcona Park as the day before, and said ‘farewell’ in the early afternoon.
This inaugural trip was extremely enjoyable and it is hoped will be repeated in upcoming years. Thanks to the good people at Wells Gray, the crew of the Uchuck III (Captain Spencer, Dave and others) and Laurie who worked non-top preparing all our meals. Also, the staff at the Ridge Pub and Ridge Motel for great service. I felt privileged to be on the trip and to accompany the groups as historic interpreter. Pictured below is our approach to Zeballos, Mist on the Inlet, historic Zeballos buildings and tour director Lisa with me at Lady Falls.
Good news!! The trips are on again starting September 18, 2022. Visit Wells Gray Tours website for details https://www.wellsgraytours.com/
I have always been fascinated by British Columbia’s west coast history and I see that Canada’s 150 Anniversary has brought
Spanish Fort San Miguel at Nootka Sound 1789
attention to first contact between Europeans and Indigenous people on this coast. As far as is known, first contact took place at Nootka Sound in 1774 between the Spanish and the Mowachaht people, although it is believed that Sir Francis Drake visited these shores in the 1500s.
I presented a talk on the Nootka Crisis this spring at the Museum at Campbell River, then again at the Courtenay Museum on Wednesday, May 10. As this talk was sold out I will be returning again in October to repeat it. On Saturday, May 13 at 7:00pm I presented the talk on Cortes Island at Mansons Hall and will be returning there in October to talk about Yorke Island. In September I will give the talk in Tahsis, and this summer at other locations – times and dates not yet confirmed.
An excellent book I read about European visitors to Nootka Sound, First Invaders by Alan Twigg is an excellent resource about this history. It answered some of my questions, but raised some as well. I didn’t fully understand why the Spanish didn’t stay in this part of the world once they had a foothold. Through my studies at the University of Victoria, where I am currently pursuing my Masters in History (got through the first year, yeah!) I had an opportunity to really delve into the research of who got to Nootka Sound first and what they were doing, and as it turned out, not doing there. I wrote a paper entitled Nootka Unsettled where I discuss the various writings about an event known as the Nootka Crisis or Controversy that took place in 1789. I was pleased to find William Manning’s book written in 1904, The Nootka Sound Controversy, that was likely the first scholarly investigation into the Crisis. The Crisis or Controversy was a standoff between the Spanish and British about who in fact, had the right to occupy Yuquot (Friendly Cove) on Nootka Island. This of course, was irrespective of the fact that the Mowachaht had been occupying the region for over 4,000 years!
Spanish exploration into the Pacific Northwest began in earnest in the 1770s, with the Spanish sending ships on surveying expeditions out of San Blas, Mexico their Pacific port. The first known visitor to the Nootka region was the chief naval officer at San Blas, Captain Juan Pérez, sailing in the Santiago. He didn’t set foot on Nootka Island, but did meet the native inhabitants. Captain James Cook was to discover that some of the people he encountered four years later in 1778 wore silver spoons, that would have come from the Spanish. The Crisis is a complicated story that arose several years later. It is a matter of claim and counter-claim, with the Spaniard Esteban Jose Martinez asserting that the Spanish were the first to occupy Yuquot with their fort San Miguel, and the British represented by trader James Colnett wondering what happened to the buildings erected by his partner, John Meares the year before. The two governments battled it out in a document known as the Nootka Convention, which drew of the history of exploration to the area.
Ultimately, Captain George Vancouver would be tasked with trying to bring resolution to the occupation in 1792, when he visited Nootka Sound to discuss the matter with Juan Fransisco de la Bodega y Quadra. Neither Captain felt they could resolve the issue and left it to their respective governments. The interesting thing is, that in the end, both countries decided not to stay there and the Mowachaht happily took back the property where the Spanish fort had been erected once the Spanish left.
My presentation is pictorial, and I discuss the ins and outs of European notions of occupation in detail. The Crisis was a drama played out at a location remote from any European government, that almost resulted in war. Perhaps because Quadra and Vancouver were excessively polite with each other and like each other, war was averted. Who knows what might have happened if either man became heavy-handed about the issue? And, as I was asked at recent presentation, what would have happened if the Spanish did not desert Friendly Cove? Yo me pregunto!
