Li? J #7

Land Settlement Policy on the Mainland of British Columbia, 1858 - 1874

by

PHYLLIS MIKKELSEN

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of

the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

in the department

of

HISTORY

September 1950

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Vancouver, Canada AN ABSTRACT

LAND SETTLEMENT POLICY ON THE MAINLAND OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1858--1874.

Like most young colonies,, British Columbia in 1858 was economically undeveloped. Nevertheless,,the colony possessed aavaluable natural resource in its public lands which might be sold to raiBe additional revenue, or given to immigrants in place of financial aid. Unfortunately, geography limited the immediate value of the Grown Lands and made settlement

extraordinarily difficult1.

While attempting to define a successful land-settlement policy for British Columbia,, the government could not ignore the instructions from Great Britain that the colony was to become self-supporting as soon as possible. Sales of land were therefore expected to be an important source of revenue. Unfortunately,,the unstable mining population cared little for farming. The indifference of the miners and the inability of the government to confine the mining population within the limits of surveyed land brought about a gradual reduction in the price of land.

Although it was originally intended that the Wakefield system should be applied to British Columbia, the proximity of the United States made the adoption of the pre-emption system' inevitable. While intended as a-temporary measure the pre-emption system was adopted in 1860 and remained on the statute books throughout the colonial period. The question of free grants of land was widely discussed in British Columbia during the colonial period after the pas• sage of the Homestead Act of 1862 in the United States. How• ever, the lack of surveyed land resulting from the financial and geographical problems of the colony made its adoption im-- possible.

The pre-emption system was therefore the. main feature of the colony1s land-settlement policy fromal858 until Con> federation* . New Westminster was the only district on the main• land in which country land, was sold at auction^ In that dis• trict, by 1868, of the 83,440 acres of surveyed landoffered for sale,,27,797 acres had, been .bought. Of this amount not more than 250 acres had been brought under cultivation-. By

1868 a,total of 1696 pre-emption claims had been recorded of which 6000 acres had,been brought under cultivation..

Throughout the colonial period agriculture remained secon• dary to mining and it is probable that the discoveries of gold had much more influence upon farming: than the actual land-settle• ment policy of the government. The best Justification for the pre-emption system.is the fact that it .allowed settlers in the vicinity of the mines and.beyond: the limits of surveyed land to produce for the local market. Although the absence of a free-grant system was blamed by some for the slow growth of set• tlement, .they failed to discern that settlers who pre-empted in many parts of the colony enjoyed the benefits of a free grant. For, since the government was financially unable .to survey their land, no payment was required. Yet to make agri• culture a parmanent and substantial industry, some confidence in the prosperity of the colony, such as that promised hy Con• federation with its guarantee of railway connections, was needed to support the pre-emption system, -Farmers in the upper country were the chief support of the colony in the depression of 1867, On. the other hand the lower Fraser Valley was still dependent upon imported food; for in that district uncertainty as.to the future of the colony had hindered the investment of capital which was needed to clear and drain.the land, In addition to a pre-emption claim, the settler in British Columbia, after I865, was entitled to a pastoral lease. Although no uniform policy was adopted in granting these leases, the average lease ran for a period of five years at the rate of 4jtf an.acre. The fine quality of the bunch grass in the interior of the colony coupled with the government regulations concerning its use resulted in a?decrease in the list of imported meat. That the colony had to import meat at all can be blamed not upon the system of pastoral leases adopted by the Government but rather upon the ever-present difficulties of transportation. It was impossible to drive cattle down the Cariboo Road to the lower mainland markets because of the dangerous route and scar• city of food. During the colonial period the revenue gained from the sale of surveyed land and town lots was insignificant.compared with that received from custom duties and road tolls. In the year 1870, it contributed only a .little more than one-fortieth of the total revenue of the colony;,- After 1871 Confederation and the promise of a railway diverted the colonial government's point of view from the land policy of the United States to that of the Canadian Government. In 1873 British Columbia adopted the rectangular system of sur• veying as. used by the Dominion Government in. Manitoba, In the following year it adopted.a system of free grants similar to that contained in the Dominion.Lands Act of 1872. Although nothing could.have been more liberal- than the free-grant system provided for by the Land Act of 187*, its influence upon the settlement of the province in the period under consideration was negligible. In other words the charge often made during, the colonial period that the absence of a, free grant system hindered the settlement of the colony was erroneous. The rapid settlement of the province in those early years was beyond the unaided power of any land^settlement policy. The transcontinental, railway was badly needed to overcome the isolation of the Pacific province. TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Preface 1. The Physical Background...... pp. 1 - 9. 2. Special Problems Related to Land Policy in British Columbia During the Colonial Period pp. 10- 46.

3. The Forming of aaLand .Policy. pp. 47- 64, 4. The Evolution of the Pre-emption System in i860 pp. 65- 88. 5. The Pre-emption System, 1860 - 1870..pp. 89-121. 6. Pastoral Laws in British Columbia.....pp. 122-140. 7. Land as a Source of Revenue pp. 141-163. 8. The Effects of Confederation upon the Land Settlement Policy of British Columbia, 1871 - 1874....pp. 164-202. Bibliography .pp. .203-207. PREFACE

I have attempted to deal only w/ith the settle• ment problems which confronted the government on the mainland of British Columbia. The problem of the Indian lands has been omitted since the subject merits separate treatment.For the. same reason and because the material was not available, a discussion of. the land-settlement policies of the Hudson!.s Bay Company has been omitted. I am particularly indebted to Dr. G. N. Tucker of the University of British Columbia for his gener• ous help and patient supervision and to Mr. Willard Ireland, the Provincial Archivist,.for making the material for my work so readily available. 1

Chapter One

The Physical Background

Like most new colonies, British Columbia in 1858 was economically undeveloped. To carry on government the administration was therefore forced to collect import duties which provided an immediate source of revenue. Nevertheless, the colony possessed a valuable natural resource in its pub• lic lands which might be sold to raise additional revenue, or given to immigrants in place of financial aid, or used as subsidies to promote railway construction.

Unfortunately geography limited the immediate value of the Crown Lands. British Columbia was remote from the centres of population. To the northward there was nothing. Westward the widest ocean in the world separated the colony from Asia. A settler from Upper Canada was confronted by a journey of more than two thousand miles across British Ter• ritory uninhabited except by the Red River settlers. A set• tler from the British Isles faced a fifteen thousand mile journey by way of Cape Horn. Colonel Moody, the first Com• missioner of Lands and Works, travelling by the Panama route, completed the journey in fifty-seven days. The main body of Royal Engineers, however, going by way of Cape Horn, were 2

184 days aboard ship.

The physical peculiarities of the colony which re•

tarded settlement in its early years still present problems

to the provincial land administrators. The topography of the

province is such that only an exceedingly limited area, less

than three percent, is suitable for agriculture. British

Columbia consists of a series of mountain ranges roughly par• allel to one another and running in a northwesterley direc•

tion. Between the Rockies on the east and the ©oast Range

on the west lies the interior plateau, elevated from three to four thousand feet above sea-level and pierced by second- 1 ary ranges. The three main chains, the Coast Range, the Selkirks and the Rockies, each rise to maximum elevations of

over eleven thousand feet, in contrast to those of eastern 2 Canada which do not exceed fifty-five hundred feet in height.

Squeezed between these ranges are the deep channels of numerous rivers and the long narrow valleys and lakes of the

interior. In such a mountainous region it is not surprising

that out of a total area of over 234,000,000 acres, the en•

tire acreage in farmlands, as indicated in the 1941 census, 3 was only 4,033,570 acres or less than two percent. The mountains have helped to ensure to British

1 Currie, A. W., Economic Geography of Canada, Toronto, Macmillan Co., 1945, p. 245. 2 The Canada Year Book. 1950, p. 7. 3 MacGillivray, W., "Agriculture." in the Transactions of the Second Resources Conference; Victoria, Department of Lands and Forests, p. 7. 5

Columbia a bountiful rainfall, but the distribution of that rainfall has hindered farming. The province lies across the path of winds which have become fully moistened during their crossing of the Pacific, but because of the uneven nature of the topography, that moisture is dropped in varying amounts across the province. "Due to the elevation and rugged nature of the mountain systems, the precipitation trend is at its maximum on the West Coast and increases to some extent on the

Western Selkirk and Purcell mountains, diminishes again on the eastward slopes and shows a final increase on the west 4 slope of the Rockies." Although the average annual precipi- tation of the Province can be quoted at approximately .Forty- two inches, this figure is deceiving for agricultural purposes, since it gives no indication of the wide variation at indivi• dual points. For example, the average annual precipitation at Ocean Falls on the West Coast is 165.92 inches, hut at Ash- croft, in the interior, it drops to 7.13 inches. In many parts of the province therefore, lack of moisture has made irrigation necessary. The irrigated lands total 150,000 acres, one third of which are under the control of public and private organizations, the remaining two thirds being individual ef• forts. There are, in addition, 500,000 acres of land which could be brought under irrigation but at greater expense than 5 previously encountered. Fortunately, the mountain peaks with their high snow fields, and glaciers help to maintain the 4 Whyte, Col. G.E., "Water Resources of B.C." in the Transac• tions of the Secong Resources Conference, Victoria, Depart• ment of Lands and Forests, p. 39. 5 Farrow, R.C.,"Water Rights of British Columbia," in the Transaction^ of the Second Resonrnfts Honfgrpnog Victoria, Department.of Lands and Forests, p. 47. 4

flow of'streams down the steep slopes during the dry summer months, thereby aiding irrigation. The bench lands of the Okanagan are particularly adapted to irrigation from such a source.

Farming in British Columbia is further complicated by wide variations in climate and vegetation. At Vancouver the temperature ranges between twenty and eighty-five degrees. At some interior points the range is much greater, from below zero in winter to over ninety in summer. Both Vancouver and Oliver have mean annual temperatures of fifty degrees; but Vancouver has .223 frost-free days, while Oliver has only 151. Moreover, Vancouver is in an area characterized by dense for• est growing on alluvial soil, while Oliver is in a district of bunch grass and desert shrubs. Fort Saint John has a frost- free period of 111 days, forty-six days longer than Pouce Coupe although both are situated in the Peace River District.

In contrast to these northerly points, Cranbrook, in the east 6 Kootenay district, has only eighty-tvro frost-free days. Experience has taught administrators that no agri• cultural policy can be applied to the province as a whole. Soil surveys which have been undertaken since 1931 have re- 7 vealed great variation in type throughout the province. The soils of British Columbia have been divided into two main 6 Rowles, Dr. C. A., "Soil," in the Transactions of the Second Resources Conference. Victoria, Department of Lands and Forests, Table 2. 7 Ibid, pp. 7—26. 5

groups, the forest region and the grassland region. These regions are distinguished not because of their characteristic vegetation, hut because of certain properties such as the amount and distribution of nitrogen. The forest soil region is a very extensive one and can in turn be divided into two main soil zones, the brown podsolic and the grey wooded. The brown podsolic zone contains four sub-zones: the Pacific, mountain, intermountain and calcareous intermountain. The Pacific sub-zone ranges along the east coast of Vancouver Island and through the lower Fraser Valley and is valuable for dairying and small fruit production. This is the soil of Agassiz, Vancouver, Duncan, and Nanaimo. The mountain sub- zone soil covers the western and central portions of Vancouver Island, and the higher parts of the mainland coast, but is too coarse for agriculture. The intermountain sub-zone soil is found in the valleys of the southern interior, and if irri• gated is valuable for grazing and for fruit trees. The cal• careous intermountain sub-zone extends through the Rocky Mountain Trench and is good for dryland grain farming and grazing. Cranbrook is in this area. Again, irrigation in• creases productivity of this soil sub-zone. Agriculture is hindered throughout the brown podsolic zone hy the difficul- ties of clearing.

. The grey wooded zone of the forest region is a very extensive one. "From the point of view.of agriculture it is an important one as the largest acreages of undeveloped araX- 8 ble land occur within its boundaries." It too can be divided into sub-zones: the northern grey wooded, the central inter• ior and the southern interior. The northern grey wooded sub- zone includes the greater part of the Peace River District. The soils beyond this area have been unexplored. Land clear• ing in this sub-zone again presents a problem. For success a settler in the region needs a farm of not less than 160 acres and with the use of fertilizers crops of legumes and grass seeds may be produced profitably, but not wheat. Further south the central interior sub-zone covers a broader area from Hazelton to Clinton. In this sub-zone the land once cleared is valuable for mixed farming. The last sub-zone of the grey wooded zone, the southern interior sub-zone, occupie a large portion of the central plateau from Clinton to the southern boundary and is useful for timber grazing. The grassland region is divided into three main soil zones: the brown, the dark brown and the black. The brown soil zone extends from the forty-ninth parallel through the Similkameen Valley to Keremeos and through the Okanagan Valley as far as Summerland. It is also characteristic of the Thompson Valley between Ashcroft and Monte Creek. The soil is found in the driest area of British Columbia and that with the longest frost-free period of the grassland region.

8 Rowles, On. Cit.. p. 20. 7

In contrast to the soil of the northern grey wooded zone, a farm of from ten to fifteen acres, when irrigated, is a suc• cessful unit. The soil is useful for ranching and raising peaches, apricots, cherries, apples and cantelojipes. The dark crown soil zone is distributed among the Okanagan, East Koot• enay, Similkameen and Thompson Valleys. Kelowna, Lillooet, Rock Creek and Grand Forks are representative centres in this soil zone, which is useful for growing hardy fruits, alfalfa, vegetables and grapes, and for grazing. The black soil zone is represented in both the northern and southern parts of the province. Vernon, Princeton, Merritt and Kamloops are situ• ated in what is known as the shallow black sub-zone, the soil of which is the mainstay of the province's ranching industry. When irrigated it also produces prolific crops of alfalfa, hay and vegetables. Dawson Creek and Fort St. John are in what is called the northern degraded black sub-zone. Large farms of from 160 to 520 acres are necessary and the most suitable crops are grain, legumes and grasses. The Bulkley Valley, Francois Lake,aad Ootsa Lake and Vanderhoof are in the last subdivision, the central degraded black sub-zone which is useful chiefly for forage production.

In addition to the.forest and grassland regions are the alluvial soils, found along -the various rivers. The best known area is that along the Fraser, but alluvial soils are

9 MacGillivary, Op. Cit. p. 81. 10 Ibid..p. 75. 8

also found along the Lillooet River, north of Lillooet Lake,

and in the vicinity of Creston. The variety of soils dis•

closed by the soil surveys have forced upon the Department of

Agriculture the conclusion that each region of the province

"must be considered and developed in the light of its own 9

potential agricultural value ..."

As well as a scientific classification of the soil

of British Columbia, the present administrators have the

assistance of modern clearing equipment, to further their

land-settlement policies. Heavy crawler type tractors "push•

ing a V-shaped cutter are capable of shearing off from one

to one and a half acres of brush per hour. ... The fallen

brush is then piled mechanically and burned. The stumps can

be rooted out before the land is prepared for crop, or heavy breaking ploughs, mould board or disc, can be used to plough 10 the land."

The earliest attempts to provide British Columbia

with a successful land-settlement policy were unaided either

by mechanized land clearing equipment or by a scientific

knowledge of soil types. Nor was policy formulated upon the

potential agricultural value of each region which was In

those days unknown. The land laws distinguished two regions

only, one east and the other west of the Coast Mountains.

9: MacGillivray, op. cit. p. 81. 10' Ibid., p. 75. 9

Scientific knowledge today is transforming British Columbia into a province of diversified and valuable agricult• ural production, while modern transportation facilities have overcome the isolation of the province. Yet during the colon• ial period topography and geography combined to thwart the plans of government officials to raise large revenues from the public lands and made settlement extraordinarily difficult. 10.

Chapter Two

Special Problems Related to Land Policy in British Columbia During the Colonial Period

As a logical prelude to the establishment of a successful land policy for British Columbia, the Department of Lands and Works in 1859 realized the importance of com• piling a map. British Columbia, bordering on the Pacific Ocean, was far away from Great Britain. Moreover, her emer• gence as a colony, resulting from the gold discoveries, rather than from a western movement of the Canadian frontier of settlement, aggravated her detached position. In a letter to the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, Captain Parsons of the Royal Engineers, faced with the problem of determining latitudes and longitudes, explained the practical problems resulting from that isolation. "The most accurate method of establishing them is by observing transits of the Moon, but as we are 1/3 of a revolution from Greenwich and the Moon1s proper motion varies considerably in such an interval, a large number of observations would have to be made to obtain 1 satisfactory results if referred to that place."

1.- Capt. R.M.Parsons to Col. R.C.Moody, Nov. 1, 1861, Parsons Correspondence, Manuscript in the Archives of British Col• umbia, hereafter referred to as M.A.B.C. In view of these difficulties Parsons proposed to refer his observations to the meridian of New Westminster, in order to 2 obtain better relative longitudes with fewer1 observations. Because of the mountainous nature of British Col• umbia, the determination of latitudes and longitudes was the only method of connecting widely separated points. It was so difficult, moreover, to carry the necessary instruments over the rough country that Captain Parsons felt that he must be content with determining just two or three absolute longi• tudes, in the central parts of the colony, to serve as initi- 3 al meridians. Under these conditions progress was naturally slow. Four years later, Walter Moberl^y, in charge of a party en• gaged in closing the line from Kamloops, via Okanagan, Cherry Creek and Columbia and that by Shuswap Lake, found that neither his latitudes nor his longitudes agreed with those 4 of the office map. Nor had the position of the Columbia 5 River yet been fixed with regard to New Westminster. In 1866, J. W. Trutch, The Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, reported that the exploration of the country could only be accomplished gradually because of the topographical difficulties. The greater part of the colony had been visi• ted only by trappers or prospecting parties, who furnished 2/ Ibid. 3/ Parsons to Moody, November 1, 1861, Parsons Carrespondence M-.A.B.C. 4/ W. Moberl^y to J.W.Trutch, September 10, 1865, Moberl^y Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 5/ Ibid. 12.

no information from which a map of the district visited could 6 be prepared. However, a sketch map reduced from the general office map to a scale of twenty-five miles to the inch was issued, which showed all reliable information obtained by the Department of Lands and Works from actual surveys and recon- 7 naissances together with the different roads and pack trails. This map was distributed for the guidance of miners visiting the newly discovered gold fields of the Columbia River Dis• trict rather than .for the information of intending settlers. The difficulty in compiling a satisfactory map resulted in a lack of definite knowledge of the agricultural pros• pects of the colony. The British Columbian reported in 1861 that farming had been successful in various parts of the colony, but that "the question as to the extent of our good land cannot be fully answered until the country is further 8 explored and surveyed." In 1864 Trutch urged the Governor to appropriate £5000 for the exploration of the interior districts of the colony. "The objects of such explorations in a country like British Columbia—of which so little is known at present—are so obvious and attractive, and the results which may confidently be hoped to ensue from proper examination and reliable reports on the hitherto unknown

6/ Trutch to Col. Sec, October 29, 1866, Lands and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. ly Trutch to Col. Sec, October 29, 1866, Lands and Works Department to Governor. M.A.B.C. 8y British Columbian. October 10, 1861. -4r 13.

resources of the country are so clear to all, that I do not consider any argument requisite to add force to my recommen- 9 dation." The difficulties which confronted the map makers were also harriers to the speedy settlement of the colony. The heavy forests in the vicinity of Queensborough impressed Colonel Moody with their beauty but slowed down the work of his surveyors. "I stand by and sometimes help a little, as I see with my own eyes what a loss of time it is giving a wince and rubbing your hand when a thorn as big and strong as a shark's tooth tears across it. The woods are magnificent, superb beyond description but most vexatious to a surveyor 10 and the first dwellers in a town." Lieutenant Palmer of the Royal Engineers, scratched and muddy, wrote from the Bella Coola River that before reaching the Fraser River he 11 would have outstripped the sufferings of St. Paul.5; The Governor, James Douglas, travelling along the lower Fraser,

was enchanted by perfume from the wild apple blossoms as his boat swept beneath the canopy of overhanging bows, but he could not repress the wish that "those gorgeous forests might soon be swept away by the efforts of human industry and give place to cultivated fields and other accessories of civili- 9y Trutch to Seymour, August 25, 1864, Land and Works Depar• tment to Governor, M.A.B.G. 10,.*-> Moody to Douglas^, March 17,; 1859, Lands and Works De• partment to Governor. M.A.B.C. 11/ Lieutenant Palmer to Moody, July 16, 1859, Palmer Corres• pondence, M.A.B.C. -€r it

12 zation." Settlers exploring the banks of the lower Fraser for suitable land were blocked in every direction by thick 13 brush and immense quantities of fallen timber. Clearing

such densely wooded land was not only difficult but also

expensive because of a shortage of labour in the colony. 14 Judge Begbie reported paying from £50 to £100 an acre. Governor Douglas estimated the cost more conservatively at 15 £15 to £30 an acre. Such high costs proved no attraction for the Investment of capital and left the clearing to the 16 labour of the actual settlers.

Settlers soon found that land which enticed them by its comparative lack of forest growth was likely subject to floods. "It is already an established and well recognized fact, that, West of the Cascade Mountains, the greater portion of such lands as are capable of cultivation are either liable to inundation in the summer of covered with a forest growth 17 so thick as to afford few inducements to emigrants."

12 Douglas to Newcastle, May 31, 1860, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 13 Ibid. 14 Judge Begbie to Douglas, April 30, 1860, Begbie to Col. Sec, M.A.B.C. 15 Douglas to Newcastle, May 23, 1860, Papers Relative to the Affairs of British Columbia, Part IV, Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty, 1862, hereafter referred to as Cmd. 2952. 16 Ibid. 17 Palmer to Moody, November 23, 1859, Palmer Correspondence, M.A.B.C. -6- 15.

Governor Douglas estimated that about twenty thousand acres

of good arable land requiring no clearing are available on the banks of the Pitt River. However, many parts of it were 18 exposed to overflow. Travelling from Langley to Hope, Douglas found the road through the flooded plains impassable 19 for horses and was compelled to continue by canoe. Very soon the settlers on the islands at the mouth of the Fraser 20 had to learn to embank their lands. In the Sumas area roads had to be constructed on the fern ridges in order to be practicable. These raised roads were reported to be satis• factory except at the highest stages of the water, when roads were unnecessary as the settlers could travel all over the 21 country by canoe. The Fraser was not the only river which caused distress to settlers. In 1870 a petition was sent to the Lands and Works Department praying that a bridge might be constructed across the Nicola River which was impassable WAS during the summer months owing to the high water, andAconse- 22 quently cutting the farmers off from their markets. In certain sections of the colony lack of water hindere18 Douglad ssuccessfu -to Newcastlel farming, May. 31Ye, t1860 numerou, Despatches mountais nfro streamm Downs• ing Street, M.A.B.C.

19 Ibid. w 20 H. R. Hoj2se to Seymour, August 16, 1865, Lands and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. 21 E. Mohun to Trutch, October 12, 1870, Mohun Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 22 P. O'Reilly to B.W.Pearse, July 9, 1870, O'Reilly Corres• pondence, M.A.B.C. -7-

in certain sections alleviated this difficulty by providing a ready means of irrigation. Lieutenant Palmer reported the soils of the Similkameen Valley excellent for grazing and farming if irrigated . hy the adjacent streams Miose sudden fall would greatly facilitate the process. As early as

1860, settlers at Cayoosh were/diverting water from the 24 neighbouring streams for agricultural purposes. Near the mouth of the Hat River, in 1861, a settler was also utilizing 25 nearby streams to overcome the summer droughts. A simi• lar solution was recommended as indispensible for settlers 26 in the vicinity of Pavilion. The efforts of the government to settle the colony were greatly hampered hy a lack of adequate communication with the interior. Douglas boasted that no part of the United States north of the Columbia River could rival the country situated between Lytton and Rock Creek. Unfortuna• tely, however, owing to the state of communications, it was 27 occupied exclusively by miners and. Indians. From observa• tions of the actions of the packers, who were accustomed to leave their animals to roam at large when work was suspended

2fo3 r Palmerthe winter to Moody, he ,als Novembeo recognizer ,23, d1859 th,e Palmeexcellenr Correspondencet pasture , M.A.B.C. 24 Douglas to Newcastle, October 9, 1860, Cmd. 2952. 25 Ibid.. July 16, 1861. 26 Ibid. 27 Douglas to Newcastle, October 25, 1860, Cmd. 2952. -6- 17.

land extending from Cayoosh to Pavilion. Yet this area also 28 was barely settled, because it was so difficult to reach. Judge Begbie, reporting to the Governor after circuit, was struck by the "absence of all means of communication except 29 by foaming torrents in canoe, or over goat track on foot." He estimated the cost of transporting one pound weight from 30 Douglas to Cayoosh, or from Yale to Lytton at eight pence. It was futile to attempt the settlement of the Similkameen and Okanagan Valleys in the then undeveloped state of the colony. Extensive crops could be raised "but the emigrant would have to depend for the other necessities of life either on such few as might from time to time find their way into the country from Washington Territory or on such as might during four months of the year be obtained from Fort Hope and other points on the Fraser either of which could not be ob• tained but at prices too exhorbitant for the pocket of the 31 poor man."

Accordingly it was soon evident to Douglas that the construction of roads should be one of the first objectives 32 of the government. The topography of the colony, however, would immediately increase the engineering difficulties and 28 Ibid., July 16, 1861. 2th9e Begbiexpensee .t o DouglasJudge Begbi, Aprie lcalculate 28, 1859d ,tha Begbit accordine to Colg t.o Sec.MAB.C the . 30 Begbie to Douglas, April 30, 1860, Begbie to Col.S-.MA.B.C. 31 Palmer to Moody, Nov.23,1859,Palmer Corresp. M.A.B.C. 32/Douglas to Lytton, October 12, 1858, Papers Relative to ' the Affairs of British Columbia. Part II, Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty, 1859, hereafter referred to as Cmd. 2578. -9- '8.

work accomplished hy the sappers under Captain Grant of the Royal Engineers, eight hundred days of labour were required 33 for one mile of road. Before actual construction commenced preliminary investigations had to be carried out to discover feasible routes. To save time and expense this had to be carried out "by the District Officers, assisted by Indian 34 Guides and white men inured to hardship and privation." The main waggon road ran through the Cariboo District, but in the interior pack trails in place of roads were the best that could be accomplished. By 1866, the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works was able to report that pack trails had been extended from Hope to Wild Horse Creek, and from Shus- 35 wap Lake to the Columbia River. Economic as well as geographic difficulties added to the problems of Land and Works Department. Agriculture was -outstripped by mining as the most attractive means of making a living. All the surveyed country at New Westminster was put up for sale on the fifth and sixth of October, 1859, but only four lots were sold; all at the upset price of ten 36 shillings an acre, there being no competition. Travelling 33 Begbie to Douglas, November 15, 1859, Begbie to Col.Sec.MA- 3throug4 Douglah Lyttons to ,Newcastle,Januar Douglas was surprisey 28 1861d t,o Despatchefind thats notot a(B.C . Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 35 Trutch to Col. Sec, October 29,1866, Lands and Works. Dep• artment to Governor, M.A.B.C. 36 Douglas to Newcastle, October 18, 1859, Papers Relative to the Affairs of British Columbia. Part III, Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty, 1860, Hereafter referred to as Cwit.2724. single farm had been opened in the district, in spite of there being plenty of good soil, and clear land. "The want of roads and the enormous cost of transport may in some meas• ure account for that circumstance, but it strongly marks the

character of a population diverted to other pursuits, and who 37 probably look to other countries for a permanent home." Douglas' only hope was that perhaps the scarcity of food and

the high prices of imported food might induce settlers to give 38 up the mines for farming. The financial problems of the colony were enormous. The Imperial Government would lend its assistance in the early establishing of the colony, but expected that British 39 Columbia would become self-supporting as soon as possible.

A party of Royal Engineers was despatched to the colony to

survey those parts of the region considered suitable for

settlement, but on the understanding that the force was to be maintained at the expense of the Imperial Government for only 40 a limited period. A separate account of all revenue derived from the sale of land was to be kept, and the first charge upon that revenue was to be the expense of the surveying

3party7 Dougla. Fosr tthio sNewcastle reason ,Lytto Octoben objecter 9, 1860d to, Cmdthe. employmen .8952. t of 38 Douglas to Newcastle, February 3, 1863, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 39 Sir E.B.Lytton to Douglas, July 31, 1858, Papers Relative to the Affairs of British Columbia. Part I,Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty, 1859, hereafter referred to as Cmd. ,2476. 40 Ibid. zo.

/ surve/ors other than the Royal Engineers, since it would add 41 so much to the financial burden of the colony. As far as his civil duties were concerned, Colonel Moody received his in• structions from Downing'Street, and in these much emphasis was placed upon the need for economy. The comprehensive sur• vey was to be the work of the Royal Engineers alone. The ordinary filling in of allotments for sale could be executed by contract, but to save expense, the cost of surveying allot• ments was to be added to the purchase price of the land. "All augmentation of the expenses thus calculated should be 48 sedulously avoided." In accordance with these instructions Douglas reported in December 1858, that the colony was unen- 43 cumbered by any civil corps of surveying officers. It was not long, however, before it became evident that the Corps of Royal Engineers was inadequate for the long list of duties assigned to them. By July 1858, the public were clamouring over the fact that no country land had been brought into the market. The necessity of laying out the site of Queensborough had so far fully occupied the surveys 44 ing party. Colonel Moody had previously reported to Douglas that with the addition of a first rate draughtsman he would have a complete little party valuable chiefly for laying out 41 Lytton to Douglas, October 16, 1858. Cmd. 2476. 42 Instructions'to Moody from Lytton, October 29, 1858, Folder 1149b, M.A.B.C.- 43 Douglas to Lytton, Dec. 29, 1858, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 44 Douglas to Lytton, July 4, 1859, Cmd. 2724. -±s- 21

towns and surveying lines of communication, but too small in

number-, to execute rural surveys. The remainder of the de•

tachment was composed of useful tradesmen such as carpenters,

masons, brick-layers and smiths who, however, knew nothing of 45 surveying.

Although the need was dire, the colonial revenue could not support any addition to the surveying party. Since

British Columbia was remote and difficult to develop, large 46 revenues could not be expected immediately. There was thus no possibility of the colony providing the funds necessary for the upkeep of the Engineers. But the Imperial Government would make advances solely for services in connection with 47 their military duties. Therefore, although admitting the value of further additions to the surveying party, Lytton could not sanction "any increase in the expenditure of Colonel Moody's department which might add to the sum which will have 48 to be voted by Parliament. For this reason Governor Douglas had to refuse Colonel Moody's request that J.W. Trutch be 49 added to his staff of surveyors. Douglas could only urge 45 Moody to Douglas, January 31, 1859, Department of Land and Works to Governor, M.A.B.C. 46 Douglas to Newcastle, October 24, 1859, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 47 Douglas to Newcastle, October 24, 1859, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 48 Lytton to Douglas, April 12, 1859, Cmd. 2578. 49 Douglas to Moody, June 1, 1859, Douglas' Private Letter Book, Mo* Archivco of D. C. . M.A.B.C. Moody to carry on as best he could with his military staff. "We are now hard pressed for money, and find it increasingly hard to meet our liabilities. Under these circumstances I must beg of you to discharge the whole of the civil surveyors and other officers, and hereafter to build and make all other improvements needed in the country by means of troops alone ... cut down on expenditures to the lowest point and get through the work of the department as well as you can with your military staff as Her Majesty's Government are resolved to pay no other charge, and I cannot raise the money in the 50 Colony." Judge Begbie summed up the financial problem: "The pecuniary resources for establishing any land system, organiz• ing and paying a proper staff, creating roads, or paying a contractor for surveying and road making may be said to be at 51 present nil." Four months earlier Douglas had attempted to remove at least one of these items of expense. Because the expenses of moving surveying parties to the various parts of the colony where land was required would exceed the money value of the land sold, Douglas decided to inaugurate the pre-emption system. According to his Proclamation of January 4, I860, settlers were granted a pre-emptive right to a

50 Douglas to Moody June 27, 1859, Douglas' Private Letter Book, Ms. Archives of B. C. 51 Begbie to Douglas, April 30, 1860, Begbie to Col. Sec, M.A.B.C. -44^ 23

hundred and sixty acres each, on condition that they immedi•

ately occupied and improved such land and agreed to pay the 52 Government not more than ten shillings an acre when surveyed. By postponing the surveys in this manner, they could be car• ried out much more economically later on, when^.r-oads^had 53 been properly constructed. In spite of this relief, ^.complaints from the Gov• ernor over expenses still followed Colonel Moody's survey• ing parties. Judge Begbie lamented that the surveyors have "marked and trenched nothing but town lots and surburban lots in four localities of the colony: New Westminster, Douglas, 54 Fort Hope, and Fort Yale." Douglas threatened to terminate their duties, however, if heavy bills such as those from the surveying party employed at Fort Hope continued to come in^. "If the expenses be necessarily heavy, or if it exceeds the value of the work, or of the land surveyed, it becomes a question whether the cost should be incurred, or whether it would be in our power with the limited means of the colony 55 to employ the Royal Engineers in distant survey service." With expenses so severely curtailed, the work of

th52 e RoyaDouglal sEngineer to Newcastles becam, eJanuar more yan 12d mor, 1860e burdensome, Cmd. 2724. .Lisub • 53 Ibid. tenan54 Begbit Palmere t,o Douglastravellin, gApri frol m 30Bell, 1860a Cool, Begbia Rivee r ttoo Col th.e Sec, M.A.B.C. 55 Douglas to Moody, April 10, 1860, Col. Sec to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. -15-

Fraser, requested Colonel Moody's instructions as to "whether I am to stop when the £350 is finished or go on. I scarcely

think I shall he able to do all the work that is laid down, 56 either within the season or within the £350." Colonel Moody answered the Governor's complaints over expenses with demands for more instruments. If the engineers were to ex• ecute all the surveys without civil assistance they must have more instruments. "It is obvious that without sufficient instruments the progress of the Survey of allotments in the wooded regions, so thickly entangled with underbrush must be 57 extremely slow." At this time, there were approximately sixteen Royal Engineers employed on survey duties. Of these, five in the office were engaged in the registration of land, taking meteorological observations, plotting, drawing, and felling trees for the office fires. Two were employed at Hope, assisted by two civilian axe-men or chain-men. The remaining nine were divided into two groups engaged in laying out surburban and rural lands near New Westminster without 58 any civilian assistance. As Captain Parsons pointed out, the training of these last mentioned was being completely

wasted56 Palmer. "Eac toh Moody man ,o fJul thye nin16,e 1859woul,d Palmerbe abl eCorrespondence to conduct a , M.A.B.C. 57 Moody to Douglas, May 1, 1860, Lands and Works Depart• ment to Governor, M.A.B.C. 58 Parsons to Moody, May 3, 1860, Parsons Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 25

simple survey were he assisted by untrained persons to clear 59 a passage for and to draw the chain." Since this small sur• veying party was also part of the military establishment, constant interruption was caused by the need for each man to take his turn at camp duty. This is not merely the loss of the men's services for a definite period, hut it entails a forgetfulness of locality, of progress and design in the 60 surveys which greatly retard the accuracy of the work. " Under these conditions the failure of the surveyors to mark out anything.but town and suburban lots in four localities was not surprising. At Colonel Moody's suggestion, Captain Parsons offered his own ideas for improving the organization of the surveying party. For laying out actual townsites he felt that trained surveyors were necessary; but the minor details of lots and streets could be filled in by men whose training was limited to laying off a right angle and accurate chain• ing. He recommended that the Royal Engineers should not be used to survey pre-empted lands. In their place he suggest• ed that Crown Surveyors of Districts or Sworn Surveyors should be appointed to correct the rude boundaries made by the pre-emptors themselves. They should he men of absolute integrity, since their work could not be checked until much 59. Ibid. 60 Parsons to Moody, May 3, 1860, Parsons Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 2t>

later, "but they would not need to have anything approaching 61 the technical knowledge which the Royal Engineers possessed.

In accordance with these suggestions, the Pre-emp•

tion Amendment Act of January 19., 1861, granted civil assis•

tance to the surveying party of the Royal Engineers. Any person wishing to pay for the land acquired by him under the

Pre-emption Act could apply to the Chief Commissioner of

Lands and Works to appoint a Sworn Surveyor; the cost of the 62 survey to be borne by the applicant himself. As a result Colonel Moody asked for the appointment of Walter Moberl/y,

Edgar Dewdney, Joseph W. Trutch and John Cochrane as Sworn 63 Surveyors. A scale of fees was determined upon, and defin• ite instructions were prepared for the guidance of the Sworn Surveyors throughout the colony. For eighty acres the charge was to be Is. 6d. for each acre and Is. for each additional acre. At every angle of the lot or section, a post was to be planted firmly in the ground, projecting at least four feet above the ground and squared for at least one foot at the top. The post was to be marked with the number of the lot, group or section, and block. Besides paying the cost of the sur• vey, the applicant was to meet the travelling expenses of the 64 surveyors. The Government was thus to be relieved of all

61 Ibid.. January 1, 1861. 62 British Columbia Ordinances. 1861, No. 1. 63 Moody to C. Bre^T February 23, 1861, Lands and Works Department, Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 64 Moody to Douglas, April 10, 1861, Lands and Works Depart• ment to Governor, M. Ac'B. C. .18- 37

expense in connection with the employment of civil surveyors.

The relief so afforded to the Royal Engineers was not destined to last for long. On May 17, 1861, Colonel Moody requested that he he allowed to employ Edward Stephen as a Sworn Surveyor to help in surveying of suburban lots in

New Westminster. Considering the extreme density of the brush-wood, Moody considered his fee of £220 for 145 lots 65 quite reasonable. Permission seems to have been granted, for in the following month Moody reported that Stephen had 66 been sworn in as a surveyor. Douglas apparently feared that such an extension of the duties of Sworn Surveyors beyond pre-emption claims would prove too great a financial burden on the colony. On May 17, 1861, the Colonial Secretary sent Moody the draft of a proclamation to be issued as soon as completed. According to this proclamation, pre-emptors were to pay for their pre-emptions, and receive title to them when the government survey should have reached their land. It would therefore be unnecessary to employ sworn surveyors, and the clauses providing for them in the Pre-emption Amend- 67 ment Act of January 1861 were to be speedily repealed. This was done on September 10, 1861, with the enacting of the

Pre-emption Consolidation Act.

65 Moody to Douglas, May 17, 1861, Lands and Works Depart• ment to Governor, M.A.B.C. 66 Ibid.. June 26, 1861. 67 Col. Sec. to Moody, May 27, 1861, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. U2T %8

Deprived of civil assistance the survey work of the Royal Engineers continued to he slow, with resulting ill- feeling between Douglas and Moody. The Colonel explained to Douglas that the few surveyors of the Royal Engineers were employed on so many different services, and so frequently 68 changed their work, that the surveys had hitherto been slow.

Instead of help, Moody received a reprimand from the Gover• nor for carrying out the surveys in such a 'desultory' man- 69 ner, and was urged to.make better use of the surveying party. Colonel Moody retorted that the surveying had been slow be• cause of frequent requests from the Governor for the use of 70 the engineers on other projects. The British Columbian complained that the scientific skill of the Royal Engineers was being wasted, since they %ere employed as common novices in making roads which were blunderingly located by inexperi• enced and irresponsible men . . . In this the end of 1861 we know very little more about the interior of the country through the operations of the Royal Engineers than we did in 71 1858." The same paper took up the cry for civil assistance. On March 6, 1862, it asserted that a civilian paid by the acre could have done in two months as much surveying 68 Moody to Douglas, July 4, 1861, Col. Sec. to Lands and as thWorke Royas Departmentl Engineer, sM.A.B.C had don.e thus far. The complaint was 69 Col. Sec. to Moody, September 12, 1861, Col. Sec. to Land and Works Department, M.A.B.C. 70 Moody to Douglas, October 31, 1861, Land and Works Depart• ment to Governor, M.A.B.C. 71 British Columbian, ffiiwember 7, 1861. 2& 2.9

just, but the problem was insoluble while the finances of the 72 colony remained so precarious.

The nature of the population presented another prob• lem to the Lands and Works Department. The rush of miners to the Fraser River caused Douglas to fear that in their haste for land they might ignore the Government's authority over it.

He pressed Lord Stanley that the whole country should be immediately thrown open for settlement. "Otherwise the coun• try will be filled with lawless crowds, the public lands un• lawfully occupied by squatters of every description, and the 73 authority of the Government will ultimately be set at naught." To a certain extent his fears were substantiated. Because of an attempt of John Ray and other parties to sell Crown land, Douglas issued a proclamation at Fort Yale emphasizing the 74 Government's authority over the land. "I do hereby warn all persons whom it may concern, that no lands at or near Langley, or elsewhere on Fraser River, have been encumbered or sold, and that the title to all such lands is vested in the Crown and that any person found occupying the same without due 75 authority from me will be summarily ejected . . . ."

The problem was not only the sudden rush of miners to the colony in 1858, but also the constant moving of the 72 British Columbian. March 6, 1862. populatio73 Douglan s withito Stanleyn Britis, Junh Columbiae 10, 1858. ,Judg Cmde. Begbi2476e. described 74. Douglas to Lytton, October 12, 1858, Cmd. 2578. 75 Ibid., Enclosure No. 3. 3o

the population thus: "The greater part of it is quite nomad in its propensities. A bar which is covered with miners in April is several fathoms under water on June 1. Miles of river are deserted by hundreds of rockers ... bars and dry diggings are often deserted from no natural necessity but because better news comes from 'up the country' and the 76 miners are tired of the monotony." The Assistant Commis• sioner of Lands and Yforks at Yale reported in April, 1861, that his district was almost deserted. Within a month 270 white miners had departed for the Cariboo, the land of 77 promise. The resulting effect upon agriculture was ex• asperating. "Of the 575 acres of rural, land pre-empted in 78 this district only 57 are under cultivation. " For the same reason Douglas reported that the Similkameen, Rock Creek and 79 Thompson River districts had been forsaken. With the ap• proach of- winter miners flocked out of the colony in droves. Even in the Cariboo, the remaining population at the begin- 80 ning of 1863 numbered no more than 350. The problem was how to lure settlers from the mines onto farms so as to pro• vide a permanent population in the colony. "The annual ex• odu76 s Begbiof minere tos Douglasfrom th, eApri Caribool 30,, 1858causin, g Begbithe esuspensio to Col.n Secof . M.A.B.C. 77 Sanders to Col. Sec, April 1, 1861, Sanders Correspond• ence, M.A.B.C. 78 Ibid. 79 Douglas to Newcastle, October 27, 1862, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 80 Ibid..February 3, 1863. -ee— 31

work for nearly seven months in the year and effecting the

amount of Public Revenue to a most serious extent, is an evil originating almost entirely in the scarcity and high prices

of the food and it is one of those evils which must continue to tell severely on the industry of the country, until the

extensive tracts of arable land in the neighbouring Distri-TS

JC&S" now lying waste, are brought into cultivation and the 81 Colony is supplied with home grown food." The numbers of such a population could not be de• termined accurately. Judge Begbie estimated that the popula- 82 tion varied from 1200 to 6,000 or 7,000 in 1859. Its char• acter was definitely American. He was struck by "the prepon• derance of the Californian or Californicized element of the 83. population and the paucity of British subjects." A year later the American element was still predominant. "The pop• ulation are nearly all aliens—one sixth probably are British subjects—either from the mother country or from the British provinces. The remaining 5/6 are citizens of the United 84 States or Germans, French and Italians. . ." The composi• tion of the population thus made it additionally difficult to establish a successful land policy, for although the alien81 Ibids wer. e not inferior in quality they constituted an un• 82 Begbie to Douglas, April 30, 1860, Begbie to Col.Sec. stablM.A.B.Ce element. . They came seeking gold; not as immigrant - 83 Ibid.. April 25, 18591 84 Ibid.. April 30, 1860. 33

settlers looking for land. For this reason Douglas looked to the British Isles as the source of the colony*s permanent population. In the spring of 1863 the annual mining migra• tion starred well but slackened alarmingly, being diverted by gold discoveries on the Salmon River.. This fact made Douglas fully conscious how precarious it was to depend upon these aliens as the main source of British Columbia's popula• tion. "It is not improbable that some causes may altogether change our present relations and that they may in great measure cease to play the part of fruitful nurseries for re- cruiting the population in Her Majesty's colonies on this coast a contingency that will render direct immigration from 85 the Mother Country more than ever essential to our progress." These economic problems had definite influence upon the method of surveying. The sudden onrush of miners necessitated some temporary arrangement for hastily surveying land in immediate demand. Before receiving instructions from London as to the disposal of the Crown Lands, Douglas was making rapid preparations. "I have communicated with Mr. Pemberton, the Surveyor-General of Vancouver Island, and desired him to make temporary arrangements with any qualified persons he may find in this Colony, for the purpose of in• creasing the staff of surveying officers, and of engaging actively.in an extended survey of the lands of Fraser's River, whenever your instructions to that effect are received from 85 Douglas to Newcastle, July 2, 1863, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. •&4-

86 England ..." Pemberton was appointed as provisional Sur• veyor-General of Fraser River with a large corps of surveying 87 officers under his management. He was sent immediately to 88 Fort Langley, Fort Hope and Fort Yale to lay out town sites. Fort Langley was quickly laid out into lots 641 x 120' for 89 immediate sale on October 20, 1858. For purposes of expedi• ency, trigonometrical surveying was to be omitted for the time being. Instead the country was to be divided into square miles, subdivided into 8 sections of 80 acres each or 6 sec- 90 tions of 107 acres each. Mr. Pemberton's words expressed the need for haste. "I would recommend omitting trigonometrical surveying at first, on account of the delay in bringing lands into market and allotting to purchasers, who may he expected to arrive in great numbers, and who will be put to much ex• pense and inconvenience if not put in immediate possession of 91 land." Colonel Moody favoured surveying preceding settle• ment as in the United States, but realized that it was not pos• sible if British Columbia were to be a self-supporting colony. "In the United States this is practicable, because the surveys are borne as the charge of the Nation (The Federal Government) which also receives the benefit; making however appropriations 8.6 . Dougla. to ths et o'States Stanley' ,i nJun whice 10h ,th 1858e survey, Cmds. an2476d lan. d sales are 87 Ibid. 88 Ibid..Douglas to Lytton, October 11, 1858. 89 Ibid. 90 Douglas to Lytton, October 27, 1858, Enclosure No. 8, Cmd. 2578. 91 Douglas to Lytton, October 27, 1858, Enclosure No. 8, Cmd. 2578. 34-

made. In the early stages of a Colony, which is to be self- supporting, this principle may not perhaps be practicable, and to make the two oases analogous it would be necessary for the Home Government to defray all the cost of Survey, receiv• ing directly all the amounts by Sales of land accruing until 92 such cost with fair interest shall have been repaid." In spite of the British Government's refusal to grant financial aid, Colonel Moody hoped that the American method of survey• ing might be applied profitably in British Columbia. In June 1859 he wrote to James Tilton, the Surveyor-General at Olympia, requesting copies of his books of instructions to deputy sur• veyors, and any further details which ¥rould be helpful in car• rying out the American system as applied in Oregon and Wash- 95 ington. Walter Moberl^y shared Moody's admiration of the American system, suggesting that the "lands be laid out in square sections containing 640 acres and divided with road allowances similar to the system now adopted in the lately 94 surveyed lands in the United States." In accordance with Lytton's instructions that the filling in of allotments could be executed by a contract, Mood92 yMood camy et to oDouglas an agreemen, Novembet witr h7 ,Southgat 1860, Lande ansd anDrad g Workfors survey Depar-• tment to Governor, M.A.B.C. 93 Moody to J.E.Tilton,. June 18, 1859, Land and Works Depart• ment Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 94 Moberl^y to Moody, May 28, 1859, Moberley Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 26 35:

ing rural lands in the vicinity of Semiahmoo. • They were instructed to follow the American system. From the point

near: Semiahmoo where the 48-th parallel intersected the ocean, the coast meridian was to he run northward. Parallel to it, the exterior lines of the block were to be drawn, resting upon the -49- parallel as the base. "The blocks to be three miles square or thereabouts to be numbered East and West of said Meridian and north from the base line (49° Lati• tude) and to contain 36 sections (except where made fraction• al by local circumstances) each 40 chains square or there• abouts to be numbered from one to thirty-six commencing at the North East corner and running from East to West and from West to East alternately through the block. At each Block or Section corner posts to be set and established with four bear• ing trees where practicable . . . and these Posts and bearing

trees to be established and marked in all respects as in the 95 United States land Survey." A similar agreement for surveying rural allotments was signed with J. W„ Trutch. The original contract failed to receive the sanction of Douglas because of the large amounts of land and money involved. The Governor pointed out to Colonel Moody that the colony could afford to have surveyed only such land as was required for immediate settlement, whereas Moody envisioned a considerable area be• ing laid out in preparation for future settlers and as a means 95 Moody to Drag and Southgate, July 22, 1859, Lands and Works Correspondence Outward, M.A«.B«C. 96 of attracting them. ... I never for one moment contemplated any trans• action of the magnitude to which this agreement ex• tends. - - - it involves an amount of expenditure, which it would he quite impossible for us to meet, and it also throws upon our hands, an extent .of land that we probably could not sell for years to come. . .

My most anxious desire.for months past has been to accomplish the Survey and allotment of a portion of the rich agricultural lands which are naturally ready for occupation, so that many individuals who have applied for lands and who are fully prepared to settle in British Columbia might at once be able to take possession of their allotments. ... it is under these considerations and from your representa• tion of the inability of the Royal Engineers to undertake such surveys at present that I have been induced to acquiesce in the employment of civil labour.

°A Instead of $40,000 Moody was limited to an expenditure of £1,000, a sum which Douglas considered would place at their 9? disposal an adequate amount of surveyed land. In addition,

although leaving it for Moody to decide, Douglas suggested 98 that he was not in favour of the American method of surveying. In spite of financial restrictions and the Governor's disap• proval of American methods, the memorandum of the agreement between Trutch and Moody contained explicit instructions to follow the American pattern. "Such survey and allotments to be in all respects (save as herein and in a letter of instru• ctions from the said Colonel Moody to the said Joseph William

Trutch of—date herewith) of the same character and of the same quality as are accepted by the United States Government in the General Survey of the Public Lands in the United States 96. Douglas to Moody, June 29, 1859, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department. M.A.B.C. 97 Douglas to Moody, June 29, 1859, Col. Sec. to Lands and Workd Department, M.A.B.C. 98 Ibid. •CO 37

99 land districts of Oregon and Washington."

. . , The Governor's order of June .27, 1859, to dismiss all civil surveyors, and the subsequent adoption of the pre• emption system, ended Moody's plan for- surveys preceding set• tlement in the American fashion. Nor was it long before the British Columbian, was complaining of the consequent effect upon agriculture. On September 5, 1861, it pointed out the lack of uniformity resulting from the absence of survey lines

to guide the settler. " . . . If the base lines could be run and main roads located before the lands are pre-empted, as was the case in Canada, it would be a very great advantage both to the settler and the government; and without this we

fear it.will be very difficult ever to attain that uniformity 100 and arrangement in our districts which is so desirable." A similar complaint over the lack of uniformity appeared in the same newspaper the following year. "Under the Rre-emp- tion Consolidation Act the pre-emptor wanders through the woods until he hits upon a spot that suits his fancy, where he puts down stakes, locating the lot broadside on a river or 101 a road as best suits his notion. ..." In a colony like British Columbia, with so many varieties of land, the settlers experienced difficulty in 99 Memorandum of an agreement between J. W. Trutch and B.C. Moody, July 25, 1859, Land and Works Department, Contra• cts and Agreements, 1859,. M.A.B.C. 100 British Columbian. September 5, 1861. 101-. British Columbian. April 24, 1861. 38

finding suitable locations without the aid of surveys. Hear•

ing that quite a number of settlers were leaving the colony e- because of the failure to find land, the JEditor of the 108 British Columbian interviewed Colonel Moody. The result was the publication of a notice inviting immigrants to inquire 103 at Moody's office concerning the location of agricultural land. The British Columbian, however, had little faith in the bene• fits of such inquiries. "A conversation with Colonel Moody will, to the intending settler, be interesting and may be very profitable .... No information of a definite nature can be obtained as to what lots are pre-empted or claimed in any way. To give a man ... a glowing verbal description of the agricultural districts and send him out to look up a home for himself, is just about as unpractical a thing as 104 could be imagined." Yet, hampered as he was by his small

staff of surveyors, there was little definite or practical information that Colonel Moody could give to settlers.

The economic and social problems influenced the sur• veying of town sites as well as that of rural land. With the sudden onrush of gold miners, the choice of townsites fol• lowed the whims of the gold seekers rather than any precon• ceived government plan. In many cases settlers had erected

102 British Columbian, May 28, 1862 103 Ibid. 104 British Columbian. May 31, 1862. 39

buildings before a proper division of lots could be made by

the government. Cayoosh sprang up as the centre of a mining

district and as a depot for goods being shipped to the in- 105 terior of the Colony. However, settlers were there before the surveyors and Governor Douglas had to* encourage the in• habitants "to build and improve their lots, with the assur• ance that the improvements, would be added to the upset price and reserved for the benefit of the holder when the lots are 106 sold." A similar assurance was given to the settlers at 107 Lytton. Although it was difficult to predict the future course of the settlers, the government made some attempt to precede and direct them. Colonel Moody was instructed from Downing Street "to regard with a military eye the best pos• ition for such Towns and Cities as well as for the engineer• ing of roads and passes or the laying the foundations of any 108 public works." For this reason, he was particularly anxious

about the proposed site of Princeton on the Similkameen River.

Governor Douglas had requested P. O'Reilly, to mark out the site for a town to be used chiefly as a depot on the Similka- 109 meen. Colonel Moody took objection to this delegation of

105 Douglas to Newcastle, October 9, 1860, Cmd. 2952. 106 Douglas to Newcastle, October 9, 1860, Cmd. 2952. 107 Ibid. 108 Instructions to Moody from Lytton, October 29, 1858, Folder 1149b, M.A.B.C. 109 Col. Sec. to O'Reilly, August 14, 1860, Col. Sec. Corres• pondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 40

authority, since he considered that the site of the proposed town was extremely important from a military point of view. "The site of all Towns, as well as all Roads, Trails or com• munications of whatsoever nature along our Continental Fron• tier possess a Military importance of the highest character and in this instance the importance is very great. It is the first Town across the main range of Mountains, easier of approach from the United States Frontier than from hence and 110 directly on what would be the main line of 'Operations' . . .'J In addition the government attempted to reserve for Government purposes all sites of commercial importance. In a circular letter to the Assistant Commissioners of Lands and Works, Governor Douglas requested them, in every district where there might be a centre of trade, to reserve it as a 111 town site. Instructions were also sent to Colonel Moody to mark out distinctly, as quickly as possible, all sites of 112 proposed towns throughout the colony. In this connection, the District Magistrates, acting as Assistant Commissioners of Lands and Works were to make the reserves under Colonel Moody's directions at whatever points and to whatever extent US he considered necessary. Expensive surveys involving the subdivision of the sites into lots were to be postponed until 114. the prospects of sale became favourable.

110 Moody to Douglas, August 24, 1860, Lands and Works Dep• artment to Governor, M.A.B.C. 111 Douglas to Magistrates, October 1, 1859, Col. Sec. Cor• respondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 112 Col. Sec. to Moody, March 5, 1861, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department M.A.B.C. 113 Ibid. 114 Ibid. 2&

In accordance with this policy, sites were chosen at strategic points along the wagon roads. For example, Sapper Duffy was instructed to lay out a few town lots at Anderson. "Mark a lot round Chapman's house and make that the corner Lot to the left hand of the Wagon road coming in 115 from Pemberton . . . ." At the upper Lillooet meadows, a Town site to be called Lillooet was to be laid out where the 116 new wagon road commenced. Nind, the District Magistrate, reported William's Lake as a strategic commercial site. "Merchants from above have lately stopped here on the lookout to buy cargoes brought from Oregon on the lower Fraser— those who have the command of ready money find this more con• venient than proceding to Cayoosh or Lytton for goods. . . packers find it unadvisable to go further have turned out their animals broken cargoes and sold them in tents on the 117 spot." Governor Douglas consequently gave his assent to 118 a town-site being marked out. A site for a town to be cal• led Cottonwood was reserved at the mouth of Lightning Creek. "It may be pronounced the limit of the Cariboo district from which the mountain region is immediately entered. Therefore it is probable that a different class of pack trains will take the provisions from that point into the rough mountain-

115 Moody to Palmer, October 1, 1860, Lands and Works De• partment Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 116 Ibid. 117 P.H.Nind to Douglas, May 4, 1861, Nind Correspondence M.A.B.C. 118 Ibid. -33- 42

ous country above and hence the probability that it will be 119 a depot." Sergeant McColl was ordered to lay out town sites at Richfield and Quesnelmouth and elsewhere in the Sariboo 120 "at any bifurcation of roads." "The Governor and nearly everyone with whom I have consulted appear to consider that Quesnelmouth and Richfield will be the most important posi• tions and that everything points to Quesnelmouth as likely to be the largest Depot-Town and Capital of the Upper Coun- 121 try." In spite of these attempts to reserve strategic locations, considerable confusion was caused in towns where settlers had arrived before the surveyors. Many mining towns were merely temporary stopping places which made it problem• atical whether the government should incur the expense of surveying them. "Parties in the Mining Districts even group themselves hurriedly together in what may be called Towns— as at Quesnel, Antler and other places—from circumstances 122 entirely impossible to be foreseen by the Government." Although people had congregated on the site of Fort Douglas, Judge Begbie did not feel that it should be chosen as a perm• anent town. "This perhaps cannot, in the social and finan•

11cia9 l Palmepositior nt oo Moodyf the, Colony August, 27be, a1862t presen, Palmet avoidedr Correspondence. But I , M.A.B.C. 120 Moody to Capt. Grant, May 6, 1863, Lands and Works De• partment Correspondence Outward. M.A.B.C. 121 Ibid. 122 Moody to Col. Sec. Dec. 31, 1861, Lands and Works Depart• ment to Governor, M.A.B.C. .34- 43

suggest that the sale ought to he prefaced with some observa• tions, ... throwing the selection of this site on the in• habitants themselves, so as to avoid the imputation of bad faith if the Government should hereafter, which I think prob• able, find it absolutely necessary to change this terminus of 123 the Lillooet route." Colonel Moody recommended that the temporary occupations be sanctioned until the permanency of the so-called towns seemed sure. "A mining Town is in truth for a long while more the character of a prolonged 'Fair' . 124 than anything else." Once the stability of a town has been established, he felt it could then be subdivided into lots attaching valuations, for any improvements which settlers had made, to the upset price. The adoption of the pre-emption system added to the difficulties of the government in laying out towns. In many cases before prospective town sites could be reserved they had been occupied by pre-emptors. At Cayoosh settlers were afraid to take up land in case it should be later included 125 in the town site. At Cottonwood, however, Lieutenant Pal• mer reported that the land had been deliberately pre-empted before government reservation could be made. "A small mining 123 Begbie to Douglas, May 7, 1859, Begbie to Col. Sec.M.A.B.C. 124 Moody to Col. Sec, December 31, 1861, Land and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. 125 Begbie to Douglas, April 11, 1860, Begbie to Col. Sec M.A.B.C. 44 settlement and store depot has [sic] already sprung up—of course, the whole of the land is already pre-empted and Mas— 126 ter Begbie has his finger in the pie, but I can't help that." The British Columbian chided the Government for its delay in choosing Cottonwood for a town site. "Three shrewd Americans ... have, we are informed, pre-empted three sections of one hundred and sixty acres each . . . and, having laid off a portion of it in town lots, are actually selling them at $250 127 a piece." Mry Elliot, the District Magistrate at Lillooet reported that parts of the town sites of Lillooet and Clinton 128 were claimed by pre-emptors. Colonel Moody, however, was aware of the situation and pointed out to the Governor how the pre-emption system added to the already difficult prob• lem of choosing town sites. "The Pre-emption Proclamations giving right to individuals to take up locations freely all over the colony, debar the Government from making selections previously for town sites except at great cost and loss of time and which might practically in the end prove, in many 129 instances to have been thrown away." With many of the towns occupied before being laid out, great difficulty was experienced in attaining uniformity in the official survey. Fort Langley and Lytton, two of the 126. Balmer to Moody, . August 27, 1862, Palmer Correspond• ence, M.A.B.C. 127 British Columbian. July 30, 1862. 128 A. C. Elliot to Moody, March 30, 1863 and October 27, 1863, Elliot Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 129 Moody to Col. Sec, December 31, 1861, Lands and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. «-5

earlier locations, were surveyed in allotments 64 x 120 feet 130 and 50 x 100 feet respectively. For later sites such as Anderson, Lillooet, Cayoosh, Rock Creek and Quesnelmouth, 131 66' x 132' was the size adopted. However, since many people required temporary stopping places rather than permanent homes, frequent changes had to be made in the official survey.

Lots at Port Douglas had to be reduced to 40' x 80'. Instead of occupying the whole of their lot, settlers were dividing 132 them and selling the half for more than the government price. Great confusion resulted at Lillooet because of the delay in surveying. "The giving of certificates for town lots will be a difficult task owing to the manner in which the lots are cut up. It will not appear by the certificate the parts of; 133 the lot in which the land is situated." At Quesnelmouth the government overestimated the future prosperity of the town and in 1864 orders were given to reduce the reserved land and 134 to throw the released land open to pre-emption. The government had therefore to adapt its land-set• tlement policy to the geographic, economic and social problems 130 Douglas to Lytton, November 29, 1858, Cmd. 2578 and of thCe. colonyS. Nico. l Geographto Moodyy ,an Aprid thl e4 ,lac 1859k of, moneNicoy lprevente Correspondenced , M.A.B.C. 131 Moody to Palmer, October 1, 1860, Moody to G. W. Cox,

March 6, 1861 and Moody to Grant, July 1, 1863, Lands anda Works Department Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 132 Nicol to Col. Sec, April 22, 1859, Nicol Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 133 Elliot to Moody, March 27, 1863, Elliot Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 134 Trutch to Brew, June 11, 1868, Lands and Works Department, Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 44>

officials from opening the whole colony to immediate orderly settlement. Yet, at the same time, the shifting population, whose main objective was to acquire gold, made it impossible to confine settlement within the limits of surveyed land. +7

Chapter Three

The Forming of a Land Policy

While attempting to define a successful land-setr tlement policy for British Columbia, the Government had under consideration several specific objectives. At no time could it ignore the unusual financial difficulties of the colony. One of the chief purposes of its land policy therefore, was the raising of revenue. Included in Sir E. B. Lytton's despatch, informing Governor Douglas that the colony was expected to become self-supporting as soon as possible, was the explicit instruction that the Crown Lands' were to form one source of immediate revenue. "The disposal of public lands and especially of town lots, for which I am led to be• lieve there will be a great demand, will afford a rapid means of obtaining funds applicable to the general purposes 1 of the colony." The proposed price of town lots as sug• gested by Lytton, however, was vague and variable. On Aug• ust 14, 1858, he proposed that £1 an acre should be the 2 absolute minimum upset price. But on February 7, 1859, he pointed out that in most British colonies town lots seldom \/ Lytton to Douglas, July 31, 1858, Cmd. 2476. 2/ Ibid.. August 14, 1858. 46

sold at less than the rate of £100 an acre and often reached 3 that of £1000. Nevertheless the general purport of the despatches was quite clear; namely, that the government should not part with the land too cheaply. Before receiving these despatches from Lytton, Douglas had already anticipated using the land as an impor• tant source of revenue. He informed Lord Stanley that by AM selling country land at not more than 20s. acre, the pro• ceeds, in addition to customs duties and imports and fees from miners' licences, would form a large revenue for govern- 4 ment purposes. Subsequently Lytton's suggestion of a higher price for town lots was adopted. Even before he had become certain of his authority to dispose of Crown Lands, Douglas had been securing revenue by granting leases, at the monthly rent of 41s. 8d., to settlers desiring town lots at 5 Fort Yale and Fort Hope. This payment was to be considered part of the purchase price when the lots were put up for actual sale. Town lots of 64' x 120' at Fort Langley were sold at an upset price of $100 or £20. 18s. 3d. The occasion 6 was considered rather unfavourable, yet in the interests of the colonial revenue the first sale was held in Victoria on November 23, 1858. Although only ten percent was paid

down, Douglas was pleased with the publicCmd respons. 257e8 and 4,.^ Douglas to Stanley, June 10, 1858, Cmd. 2578 Cmd. 2578 Cmd. 2476 H-9 particularly with the promised £13,000, "a needful supply of money for defraying the necessary expenses of the public service." Approximately 342 lots were sold in two days; $725 being the highest bid for a single lot. Slightly lar• ger lots, 66' x 120', were quickly laid out at Fort Hope and 7 Fort Yale, to be sold at £20. 16s. 8d. By 1859, Douglas had adopted the general policy of selling town lots, 1201 x 60', 8 at the minumum price of £20. 10s. 8d. His Proclamation of February 14, 1859, however, left the upset price to the Governor!s discretion. To further supplement the land revenue, suburban lots were laid out in five-acre sections immediately beyond the town lots. "This is' found to be both a useful distinc• tion, and profitable to the Revenue inasmuch that the land 9 brings in a higher price than country land." Moreover, for the sake of revenue, by Section 7 of the Proclamation of February 14, 1859, titles to land were not to include deposits of gold and silver. To establish a permanent population was a further objective of the Government's land policy. For building up the permanent prosperity of the colony, Douglas had little confidence in either the merchants or the migratory and un• settled miners. "The miner is at best a producer, and leaves no traces but those of desolation behind; the merchant 7>- Douglas to Lytton, November 29, 1858.. Cmd. 2578. 8y Douglas to Lytton, May 8, 1859, Cmd. 2724. 9.f Douglas to Newcastle, August 24, 1860, Despatches to Downing Street, M. A. B.C. 50

is allured by the hope of gain; but the durable prosperity and substantial wealth of states is no doubt derived from the cultivation of the soil. Without the farmer's aid, British

Columbia must ever remain a desert, be drained of its wealth, 10 and dependent on other countries for daily food. " Although instructed from London to view land as a source of revenue, Douglas realized the futility of attempt• ing to do so without an adequate population. A high price could not be maintained amid a population which cared little for farming. "It is evident that without population a rev• enue for the support of government is unattainable, and un• productive land is next to valueless both to the country and to the Crown. The sale of land affords a temporary revenue, but the settler indirectly, by the payment of duties on the foreign articles he consumes, and by means of a small direct tax which could be levied on the land he occupies, will be• come a permanent contributor to the revenue, and, therefore, although the land may have been acquired for nothing, and brought no revenue in the first instance, yet in such case, 11 the Crown in the end would become the gainer by his presence." The dismal report of land sales for 1860 corroborated his views. The land revenue for 1860 amounted to £10,962, £7,915 12 belo10,. wDougla that so f toth eNewcastle previous, yearOctobe. r 18,No r1859 coul, dCmd Dougla. 2724s . pre- ll'., Douglas to Newcastle, May 23, 1860, Cmd. 2952. 12,*.- Douglas to Newcastle, January 26, 1861, Despatches to Downing Street, M. A. B.C. 51

diet much improvement with a population composed chiefly of miners "accustomed to excitement, fond of adventure and entertaining generally a thorough contempt for the quiet 13 pursuits of life." If mere farming remained unattractive, Walter Mob- erl^y suggested that the profits of cattle raising in the upper country might induce a larger proportion of the mining 14 population to become permanent settlers. To offset the feeling that the country was uninhabitable, an impression likely to arise from the annual exodus of miners, the Victo• ria Gazette favoured gifts of land to settlers until a suf- 15 ficient number had been lured into agriculture. Since foreigners could not obtain grants of waste land, Douglas was instructed that naturalization should be granted to all who desired it, in order to attract as many 16 permanent settlers as possible. Activated by the presence of Americans at the first sale of Fort Langley lots, he pro• ceeded to prepare a measure securing to aliens "the full rights of possession and enjoyment of any lands they may pur• chase of the Crown for a space of three years when they will be required to become British subjects or convey their rights to other parties who are permitted to enjoy that privilege 13..- Ibid. 17 b14y ^birt Victorih or anaturalization. Gazette, Februar" y 17Th,e 1859measur. e was later 15^ Victoria Gazette. May 12, 1859. 16s" Lytton to Douglass, August 14, 1858, Cmd. 2476. 17

liberalized, but in its original form it illustrated the

Governor's anxiety to increase the permanent population.

As an inducement to settlers, Douglas issued a

Proclamation on February 14, 1859, reducing the upset price 18 of surveyed country land from £1 to 10s. -pes*- acre. To give effect to the measure, surveys were extended as quickly 19

as possible to the cleared districts along the Fraser River.

The plains in the vicinity of the Pitt, Sumas and Chilliwack

Rivers were to be speedily divided into eighty-acre sections 20

for immediate occupancy.

Closely related to the Government's desire to

attract a permanent population was the necessity of producing

sufficient food for the mining districts. In the early

months of 1859, the pack trains along the Harrison - Lillooet

trail, using some 260 mules, which were all that were avail•

able, were carrying up to 5000 pounds of supplies daily,

enough to supply only 1100 or 1200 men. "This, in the event

of immigration flowing into this section of the country will 21 be quite inadequate for its support." The cultivation of land in the mining districts, therefore, became one of the 22

chief objectives of the Government. To help relieve the

situation in the Cariboo, Captain Grant suggested that the < 18,.- Douglas/J to Lytton, February 19, 1859, Cmd. 2578. 19^- Douglas to Lytton, May 23, 1859, Cmd. 2724. 20..-- Ibid. May 8, 1859. 21^ Victoria Gazette. February 17, 1859. 22 S Douglas to Lytton, May 8, 1859, Cmd. 2724. 53

fertile land in the Lillooet Valley be settled in plots not 23 exceeding 40 acres to hasten the production of food.

Nevertheless the shortage of food continued. Two years later the Colonial Secretary wrote to the Magistrate of the Cariboo

District: "The great numbers of miners travelling by the

Fraser River to the Cariboo mines will rapidly consume the small stock of food in the country and great distress must necessarily ensue unless supplies of meat and breadstuffs 24 are brought into the colony with despatch and regularity."

The discovery of gold in isolated sections of the colony such as Rock Creek made the question of food supplies even £5 more vexatious.

Douglas encouraged the production of food in the colony, both in order to feed the miners and to decrease the long list of imported articles. "The regular settlement of the country by a class of industrious cultivators is an object of the utmost importance to the colony, which is at present dependent for every necessity of life, even to the 26 food of the people, on importation from abroad." The following list of excerpts from the British Columbia Blue

Book shows the extent to which the colony was dependent upon

23x Moody to Douglas, May 30, 1860, Land and Work2s7 Depart• importmens tfo tro th Governore suppor,t M.A.B.Cof its. meagr e population. 24^ W..A..G.Young to Cox, May 16, 1862, M.A.B.C. 25,- Douglas to Newcastle, August 3, 1860, -Cmd. 2952. 26v" Douglas to Lytton, July 4, 1859, Cmd. 2724. 27^- Blue Books, for the years 1839 and 1862. -8- 5+

Imports from Vancouver Island (including materials

shipped from the United States and the British Isles.)

1859 1862 Bacon £11,069. 13. 10. . . £23,748. 14. 1. Beef Cattle . . . 3,473. 0. 0. . . 8,158. 12. 0. Horses » 732. 0. 0. . . 27,424. 16. 0. Sheep 1,201. 16. 5. . . 3,933. 16. 0.

Imports Overland from the United States.

1859 1862 Bacon ...... £ 419. 6. 7. . . £ 972. 10. 8. Barley 403. 11. 5. . . 3,204. 15. 5. Beans 215. 6. 11. . . 233. 19. 7. Horses, 240. 0. 0. . . 67,496. 12. 0. Beef-Cattle . . . 7,984. 0. 0. . . 46,516. 0. 0. Oats 9. 0. 0. . . 167. 18. 0.

Douglas reported that in 1862, in the Cariboo District, hay

sold at £46. 13. 4. a ton, and barley at 45s. to 75s. a 28 bushel. No exact population figures are available, but the high prices of commodities indicated that imports were not in excess of demand.

He was also convinced that the welfare of the col• ony depended upon increasing the British element of the pop• ulation. Determined to attract as many British settlers as possible, he accepted enthusiastically Lytton's suggestion

that land grants should be made to the retired officers of 29 the army and navy. "I think it is especially desirable 28.- Douglas to Newcastle, October 27, 1862, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 29y Lytton to Douglas, September 2, 1858, Cmd. 2476. 9- 55

to introduce the remission system into British Columbia, for the purpose of adding a respectable British element to the population, and thereby infusing and encouraging sentiments 30 of attachment and loyalty to the Crown." In June, 1859, therefore, he received a copy of the usual regulations grant• ing remissions of the purchase price of land to retired 31 officers. Non-commissioned officers and men of the Royal

Engineers were to receive thirty acres each after six years service in British Columbia, on condition of residence and . 32 military service within the colony if called upon.

British civilians were needed to supplement the military population. Moody was in favour of a pre-emptive right for British subjects only, so as to reduce the pro- 33 portion of American settlers. "The evidence is irresist- able to one's plain common sense that if British subjects do not early people these wastes, United States citizens in increasing numbers, will continue to occupy the country, till the Y/hole becomes practically, and soon actually will 34 be theirs." At the risk of delaying settlement, Douglas addressed a circular letter to the magistrates, instructing them that unsurveyed Crown lands could be held by a pre• 30..- Douglas to Lytton, November 8, 1858, Cmd. 2578. 31emptiv^ Douglae rights ,t obu Lyttont by Britis, June h 30subject, 1859s, Despatcheonly. "Ths et Governmeno Downing t Street, M.A. B.C. 32^ Lytton to Douglas,-September 2, 1858, Cmd. 2476. 33.-- Moody to Douglas, August 13, 1859, Lands and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. 34^- Ibid. Sfe

has at present the great object in view of attracting to British Columbia an industrious population, for the develop• ment of its agricultural as well as of its auriferous resour• ces, but that object is sought to be obtained only by such means as will induce a loyal population, attached to British Laws, Institutions and Rules to reside in the country, as it is of far greater importance to the Empire, that the character

of the population should be such, than that the Colony should 35 be rapidly filled by an alien population...." The government hoped to provide a cheap method of defence along the boundary by means of free grants to mili• tary settlers. Lord Carnarvon suggested to Moody that the non-commissioned officers and men of the Royal Engineers, when receiving their thirty-acre grants, might be located 36 along the frontier. When a voluntary force of Royal Mar• ines arrived during 1859, for service in the colony, Douglas suggested that they receive land grants. "I....consider it would be a beneficent'; measure on behalf of the colony—the more particular under the circumstances of the Colony border• ing as it does on the possessions of a foreign power and it is 37 upon the frontier that we propose to make these free grants." The Proclamation of February 14, 1859, while fix• ing the price of surveyed country land at 10s. an acre, left 35,.*- Douglas to Moody, October 7, 1859, Col. Sec. to Lands and the. disposaWorks Departmentl of particula. M.A.B.Cr localitie. s to the Governor's 36..- Lytton to Douglas, September 2, 1858, Cmd. 2476. 37^ Douglas to Lytton, June 8, 1859, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 57

38 discretion. Douglas explained to Lytton that, "the land

for special settlement is that bordering the frontier of the

United States and on this we propose to make a military

reserve on behalf of the Royal Engineers, and if possible

also otherwise to settle it with a population composed ex- 39

clusively of English subjects."

Moody admitted that the military settlers might

not become successful farmers but he was favourably impres•

sed by the cheap means of defence thereby provided. Like

Douglas, he proposed to include British civilians in his

'Frontier Corps.' "In embodying the Civilians it is essen•

tial they should be British subjects 'pur sang' and more

especially Canadians, who know by past experience the neces•

sity of Frontier organization for self-defence, and who,

with their Forefathers have again and again, so gallantly 40

proved their efficiency when called upon." Quite optijrl- roistic as to the future immigration of British settlers, he

planned to locate them on the type of land to which they were

accustomed. "The rich and valuable but timbered, lands of

the lower Fraser for those accustomed to such countries—and

the more open, but not more valuable (from isolated position

and limited quantity of water and fuel) Districts of the

Frontierland in the Interior, for those not so well accust-m 38^ Douglas to Lytton, February 19, 1859, Cmd. 2578. 39„- Ibid. 40^" Moody to Douglas, November 10, 1859, Lands and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. 58

ed to bush life—Canadians for the first, Australians and 41

Englishmen for the latter." According to his plan, mem)5-

£ers of the Corps would be provided with food, clothing and

tools at cost price for two years in addition to remunera•

tion for drilling and active service if called upon. As one

of its duties, the Corps was to be engaged in forming roads

to facilitate communications in case of military contingen•

cies. Moody also hoped to include as officers of the Corps, men from the active ranks of the army as well as retired 42 pensioners. He enthusiastically compared his proposed

organization to that of Gustavus Adolphus who "selected some

of his best officers to lead the others in the early work,

and made it a distinguished post to strive for. He remuner•

ated them in various ways, besides grants of land—they be•

came in his subsequent campaigns some of his best officers—

full of resources under difficulties, and although it was a

Local Corps, not to be called on for service elsewhere, many

of the men, and a very large proportion of their families,

were afterwards found amongst the 'elite' of the small, but 43

excellent armies, he led in his subsequent campaigns. "

Moody's scheme proved too grandiose for actual execution in

the colony, nevertheless military considerations continued to

influence the governments land policy. 41„- Ibid. 42^ Moody to Douglas, November 10, 1859. Lands and Works Department to Governor. M.A. B. C. 45> Ibid. 43- 59

There were certain external forces which affected the achievement of these objectives. Governor Douglas could not ignore the liberal land policy applied to the neighbour• ing American territory. Prior to the formation of the colony of British Columbia the United States government had awarded free grants to settlers in Oregon. Single men arriving before 1850 received a half-section of land, and 44 married men a whole section. In 1841 a pre-emption law was passed giving settlers the right to buy, without compe• tition, the lands they selected at $1.25 per acre. Amend• ments followed on March 3, 1853, and March 27, 1852, permit• ting these pre-emptions to extend to the unsurveyed lands in California, Oregon, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska and New 45 Mexico. Following the establishment of British Columbia, the gradual liberalization of the American land policy cul• minated with the passage of the Homestead Act in 1862.

"Instead of the public lands being sold for cash, for profit, or being taken, first, under the pre-emption system, which eventuated in cash purchases, they were to be given to actual settlers who would occupy, improve and cultivate them for a term of years, and then receive a patent free of acreage charges, with fees paid by the homesteader sufficient to 46 cover cost of survey and-transfer of title. " An American 44^ Morton, A.S. and Martin,C. History of Prairie Settle• ment and"Dominion Land Policy,nToronto, Macmillan Co. 1938, p. 363. 4:5y Flugel and Faulkner, Readings in Economic and Social History of the United States, New York, Harper Bros. 1921, p. 186. 46/ Ibid, p. 473. -14- 60

settler on the Pacific coast could thus secure 160 acres for the nominal fee of $34. Nor could the lands acquired under the provisions of the Homestead Act be seized for pay- 47 ment of debts prior to the receipt of the patent.

This American liberality had particular effect upon the attempt of Governor Douglas to raise revenue from the sale of lands in British Columbia. Lytton was aware of the problem to a certain extent. "I believe that a relatively high upset price has many advantages; but your course must, in some degree, be guided by the price at which 48 such land is selling in neighbouring American territories."

The price, in British Columbia, however, had gradually to be lowered until it reached the American level. The Procla• mation of February 14, 1859, reduced the upset price of sur• veyed rural land from £1 to 10s. an acre. Explaining his action, Douglas wrote to Lytton: "We....feared that by adopting a higher price for land, the sturdy yeomen expected this year from Canada, Australia and other British Colonies might be driven in hundreds across the frontier to seek for homes in the United States territories, where it is the 49 custom to make free grants of land."

The mere reduction in price, however, was not a sufficient incentive to settlement. Only surveyed land was

47offerex JbMd fo">Pr -purchas 475.3

lands at the auction sales. The pre-emption system was of necessity introduced into British Columbia on January 4,

1860, but the price of land remained at 10s. an acre. Begbie urged the adoption of a fixed price of 4s. an acre. "The comparison is constantly, universally made, to the disparage• ment of our liberality, when we demand £1 or even as in

British Columbia 10s. per acre for land similar to that which the United States offers at 5s. when the land will cost £20 per acre to bring into cultivation. I feel sure that to lower our price below the United States price of 5s. would 50 tend to bring us permanent settlers." Douglas realized the logic of his assertion and urged upon Newcastle Begbie's suggestion of a lower price. "I believe it is cheap land, coupled with the conditions of occupation, that has made the

United States what they are; and that is now clearing the wilderness and adding so largely to the population and reve• nue of Canada. The settlement of British Columbia is I be• lieve dependent on the same wise policy, and must be fostered and promoted by the same means, or immigrants will be forced into the neighbouring Territories of the United States where they may freely select from millions of acres, equal to any land in British Columbia at the low price of $1.25 per acre 51 payable only after survey." Thus 4s. 2d. an acre was subse• quently adopted as the price of unsurveyed rural land bring- 50> Begbie to Douglas,- April 30, 1860, Begbie to Col. Sec. M.A.B.C. 51,.-- Douglas to Newcastle, August 24, 1860. Despatches to Downing Street. M.A. B.C. 4G-

ing to an end any hopes of an immediate revenue from country land.

The adoption of the pre-emption system and the con• comitant cheap price for land was accomplished not without opposition from the Colonial Office. According to Lytton, land was to be opened for settlement only gradually. Sur• veyed land alone was to be sold and squatting upon unsold 53 land was to be prevented as much as possible. Sale by auction and prompt payment were favoured for all country lands in accordance with Wakefield's doctrine of preventing 54 labourers with insufficient capital from becoming landowners. Simultaneously with the attempts of Douglas to compete with the popular American land policy Newcastle tried to maintain Lytton's policy of regarding land as an immediate source of revenue. To satisfy the demands of settlers in the areas where no country land had been surveyed, Douglas direct- ted the Assistant Commissioners to permit British Subjects to hold 160 acres of land to be paid for at the rate of 10s. an acre when surveyed. In explaining his action to Newcastle in October 1859, Douglas revealed that he was prepared to go even further by inaugurating a system of free grants to attract settlers. "If that plan should fail in attracting a population I think it would be advisable to resort to the 52,,- Country Lands Act, British Columbia Proclamations, 1861, No. 2. 53,* Lytton to Douglas, August 14, 1858, Cmd. 2476. 54^ Lytton' to::Douglas,.: February: 7, • 1859./ Cmd. 2578. -3^ 63

Canadian system of making free grants not exceeding 100 acres of rural land to actual settlers on condition of their making 55 certain specified improvements." In reply he received from Newcastle suggestions as to a possible land system to be applied in British Columbia. The suggestions embodied in a letter from Captain Clarke, a former Surveyor General of the colony of Victoria, made no reference to either a pre• emption system or free grants. The details of the p.lan and the attitude to it of the government officials will be dis• cussed more fully in a later chapter. Generally, the pro• posed scheme reflected the views earlier expressed by Lytton, and was in no way applicable as a solution to the problems which faced Douglas. All land was to be sold at auction after survey, with the additional proviso that unsurveyed 56 land might be held by license. Although professing no intention of imposing Clarke's scheme as such upon British

Columbia without adapting it to the requirements of the colo• ny, Newcastle withheld his assent to the introduction of the pre-emption system until he received a reply from Douglas as 57 to the merit of the proposed scheme. The reluctance of the Colonial Office to acknow• ledge the influence of American land policy was consistent with its desire that British Columbia become self-supporting 55,.- Douglas to Newcastle, October 18, 1859, Cmd. 2724. 56.- Newcastle to Douglas, January 7, 1860, Despatches from Downing Street, M. A. B. C. 57/ Ibid., February 18, 1860, and A. C. Lewis to Douglas, July 16, 1860. ^8- 64

as soon as possible. Douglas and Begbie disliked American methods, but were converted to them by the special circum• stances of the colony. Begbie explained his attitude to the pre-emption system thus: "When I first came to the colony I was strongly of the .... opinion—'That no occupation of the soil till after the survey and sale be allowed.' I have completely changed my opinion; and I don't believe any man could have gone around the country, even to the limited ex• tent to which my duties have led me, without coming to the

same conclusion (viz) that to carry out the prohibition is 58 fortunately impossible." Douglas was in a difficult position. His objec• tives were clear but inherently irreconcilable. A policy aimed at the attainment of any one of these appeared preju• dicial to all others. The adoption of a pre-emption would reduce the immediate revenue from land and decrease the value of the proposed military grants. On the other hand refusal to open unsurveyed land for settlement would mean a loss of settlers to the United States, and a shortage of home-grown produce in the remote mining districts.

58,.-" Begbie to Douglas, April 30, 1860, Begbie to Col Sec, M.A.B.C. (>5

Chapter Four

The Evolution of the Pre-emption System to 1860

Until 1863 Great Britain had absolute control over the disposal of the Crown Lands of British Columbia. The

instructions to Douglas on September 2, 1858, authorized him to make laws by proclamation for the peace, order and good government of the colony, subject to instructions from Great 1 Britain. When the original act for the government of Brit• ish Columbia expired in 1863, the question of the Crown Lands was discussed by Newcastle. Limited representative govern• ment was to be granted; in:the form of a partly elected legis• lative council. After Douglas had proclaimed a permanent law establishing a civil list, the revenue from the Crown Lands was to be placed under the control of the new council. Great Britain's control over the lands was to be limited to her power of disallowance and to a retention of "such legal powers over the lands as are necessary for disposing of all questions (if any) which remain to be settled with the 2 Hudson's Bay Company. . ." 1 Instructions to Douglas from Lytton, September 2, 1859, Cmd. 2476. 2 Newcastle to Douglas, June 15, 1863, Papers Relative to the Proposed Union of British Columbia and Vancouver Island. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majecty. 1866. In September 1863, Douglas issued a proclamation granting a civil list which guaranteed £8700 for the salar• ies of the chief (officials. This was followed on February

1 by the Confirmatory Ordinance of 1864 which embodied the 3 council's assent to Douglas' action. This grant of a civil list accompanied the transfer of the Crown Lands of the mainland and their revenue to the council. For this reason the Attorney General opposed the resolution moved by Dr. Helmcken on January 15, 1869, in the Legislative Coun• cil, to the effect that the Crown Salaries Ordinance be repealed in order that the civil list might be reduced. In his report to Seymour on the passage of the estimates dur• ing the session, Crease stated: "I explained to the Council that the first step proposed by this Resolution would be a Repeal of the Contract between the Home Government and the Colony whereby the Crown Lands and Revenue had been so long handed over to the Colony in return for their permanently quaranteeing by Law the payment of the Crown Officers Sala• ries .... the repeal of the Crown Salaries Act would throw the Crown Lands the Crown fees of all kinds, which now form a very large proportion of the revenue . . '. back into the hands of the Crown and retard the progress of the coun-

3 Crown Officers' Salaries Act, British Columbia Proclama- ations. 1863, No. IS. British Columbia Ordinances. 1864, No. 2. 67

4 try for many years." its Through -be*- power of disallowance, The Crown con• tinued to exert considerable influence over the land-settle• ment policy of the colony. The Land Ordinance of 1865 contained the first provision for free grants to civil settlers. The grants were not to be made, however, before the Governor had received the Queen's consent. "It shall be lawful for the Governor upon receiving the assent of Her Majesty's Government thereto, and the publication thereof in the Government Gazette, to make such free or partially free grants of the unoccupied Crown Lands of the Colony, for the 5 encouragement of Immigration . . Although the ordinance was not actually disallowed, Seymour received from the Col- e. onial Secretary strict Instructions regarding the implemen• tation of section fifty-five. "You will on no account make any such grant except under special circumstances and with my previous approval in each case, or in virtue of some pub• lished Regulations, which I should similarly wish you to submit to me with a full leport before bringing them into 6 operation." That the Legislative Council felt the influence of Great Britain over colonial land policy to be burdensome was 4 H.P.Crease to Seymour, Februarys?, 1869, Attorney/General Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 5 British Columbia Ordinances. 1865, No. 27. 6 Cardwell to Seymour, October 7, 1865, Despatches from Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 68

apparent in the report of the Select Committee appointed in 1867 to inquire into the land laws. It stated that: "... in their opinion the fee simple of the Crown Lands of the Colony should as soon as possible be vested in its Legisla• ture, with a view to the adoption of a system of free grants to intending settlers. To such a disposition, the assent of Her Majesty's Government is under the present law an absolute necessity, entailing a delay which, for obvious reasons, 7 places the Colony at a great disadvantage." In his speech proroguing the Legislative Council in April 1867, Seymour announced that he had reserved the land ordinance passed during the session, and promised to transmit it along with the resolution of the Council in 8 favour of a system of free grants. The report of the Attor• ney-General regarding the ordinance opposed its allowance for several reasons. With regard to the section concerning free grants, Crease wrote: "Much can be said for and against Free

Grants, but though it is doubtless frequently useful for the

Governor to have power for that purpose, it throws upon him 9 an onerous responsibility." Seymour's report was equally unfavourable, recommending that no change be made in the land laws of the colony. "Englishmen or naturalized Englishmen 7 Report of the Select Committee Appointed to Enquire into the Land Laws, Journal of the Legislative Council of British Columbia. 1867, p. 65. 8 Ibid.. p. 71. 9 Crease to Seymour, November 2, 1867, Attorney/General Correspondence Outward., M.A.B.C can now virtually get land for nothing provided that they improve that which they settle on—no payment is required until the Government Survey has reached their land and that survey the government is not at present in a position to 10 undertake." As a result the despatch from Buckingham, confirming Seymour's opinion that no change in the land laws 11 was necessary, was not unexpected.

The situation was confused hy the fact that the

Crown Lands of Vancouver Island remained in the hands of the

Crown since the legislative assembly refused to" pass a civil 12. list. The revenue therefore went into the Crown Fund of

Vancouver Island, and continued to do so after 1866 although the civil list of Vancouver Island was provided for by the 13 union of the two colonies. It was not until the eve of Confederation when British Columbia as a province would auto• matically assume control over the public lands that Great Britain transferred the Crown Lands of Vancouver Island to the colonial legislature. The Land Ordinance of 1870, which extended a uniform land system over the united colony, marked 14 the transfer of the Island's lands to the colonial government.

The ordinance passed by the Legislative Council on April 22,

11870 0 Seymouwas nor tt too Buckingham come into, effecNovembet untir 19l ,a 1867 proclamatio, Despatchen em-s to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 11 Buckingham to Seymour, December 1, 1868, Despatches from Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 12 Crease"to Musgrave, April 26, 1870, Attorney/General Cor• respondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 13 J.F.McCreight to Trutch, May 10, 1872, Attorney General Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 14 Ibid. "6. 70

bodying Her Majesty's consent was published. The proclama- 15 tion was not issued until October 20, 1870. This was two

months after the Imperial Order in Council had been passed

constituting a Legislative Council with a majority of elected

members to ratify the Terras of Union with Canada, The Land

Ordinance of 1870 further pleased the Legislative Council by

authorizing the Governor in Council to make free grants with- 16 out reference to Great Britain in each case.

An administrative department to deal with the Crown

Lands of British Columbia was established on January 4, 1859,

when Colonel Moody was sworn in as Chief Commissioner of

Lands and Works. Nevertheless, Douglas continued to super• vise closely the actions of the Chief Commissioner, and in so

doing created ill-feeling which at times retarded the work of

the department. In a confidential report on the officers of

British Columbia, Douglas described his relations with Moody

thus: "The attainments, high moral worth and gentlemanly

qualities of Colonel Moody are familiarly known to his friends. I am in duty bound however to remark that as a pub• lic administrator of this Colony, his management has not been

satisfactory to me. I have in fact found it necessary to ex•

ercise the utmost vigilance over his public acts; .... I found it requisite to issue the most precise instructions for his guidance in matters of finance as well as of general 17 administration ..." The British Columbian reported the 15 Appendix. British Columbia Statutes. 1871, No. 27. 16 British Columbia Ordinances. 1870, No. 18. 17 Confidential Report on the Officers of British Columbia by Douglas, M.A.B.C. 11

Chief Commissioner as having less discretionary power than a merchant's clerk unable to "go beyond the word of the 18 Czar to do good or bad." In addition to the central office, local land offices were gradually established throughout the colony under the control of the District Magistrates. Before the arrival of Moody, Joseph Pemberton, whom Douglas had appoint• ed as Acting Colonial Surveyor, had proposed the formation of such branch offices at Langley, Hope and Yale, with an 19 assistant commissioner in charge of each. But for the sake of economy, Douglas empowered the District Magistrates to record applications for land and directed them to report 20 to the Chief Commissioner and to the Colonial Secretary. The land reports were sent much less regularly to the Chief Commissioner than to the Colonial Secretary* Moody accordingly urged upon Douglas the need of increasing the Chief Commissioner's control over his own department. He suggested that the District Magistrates be entitled Acting Sub-Commissioners of Lands and be required to communicate regularly with the Chief Commissioner, from whom Douglas could receive all the information he desired concerning the 21 1Crow8 Britisn Landsh .Columbian Receivin. Mag yn 30o ,reply 1861,. Mood y made more urgent 19 Douglas to Lytton, October 27, 1858, Cmd. 2578. 20 Douglas to Lytton, January 12, 1860, Cmd. 2724. 21 Moody to Douglas, March 5, 1860, Lands and Works Depart• ment to ..Governor, M.A.BiC. 72

and specific demands eight months later. On this occasion he asked that the District Magistrates be known more simply as Assistant Commissioners of Lands, and that they be in direct communication with the Chief Commissioner as previous• ly requested. In addition any money collected by the Assis• tant Commissioners should be accounted for, hot to the Treas• urer, but to the Chief Commissioner who would then account for it to the Treasurer and to the Colonial Secretary. Finally, all land titles should be issued by the Chief Com• missioner and not by the Attorney General, who would be asked,

however, to handle disputed cases when referred to him by the 22 Chief Commissioner. The following month he received from Douglas a schedule of regulations concerning the functioning 23 of his department embodying the above suggestions. The duties of Assistant Commissioners extended to

pre-empted lands only. Although they were authorized to

cause periodic auction sales of town and surveyed lands to 24 take place, they could not record applications for such 25 land or any land reserved for government purposes. With regard to pre-empted lands the Assistant Commissioners were empowered to issue the following documents: a Certificate of Record, a Certificate of Improvement, and a receipt for any

22Ibid. November 27, 1860. 23 W.A.O.Young to Moody, December 17, 1860, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. 24 Ibid., April 10, 1860. 25 Elliott to Col. See. November 10, 1863, Elliott Corres• pondence, M.A.B.C. 73

26 deposits. The purposes of these will he discussed in the following chapter.

The withdrawal of the Royal Engineers from Brit• ish Columbia decreased the number of men available for ex• ploring and surveying. During 1865, six men were employed permanently in the lands office at New Westminster. Trutch as Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works and Surveyor General, and Walter Moberl^y as Assistant Surveyor General, were as• sisted by a clerk of surveys, a clerk of correspondence, a draftsman and an accountant. In addition the Magistrates acted as Assistant Commissioners of Lands in their respect• ive districts throughout the colony. All other work of the department, however, was carried out by temporary assistants. Dewdney and Spence were employed as provisional superintend• ents of construction and repair work. Leech was employed for OL. two and a half months to survey pre-emption claims. In Addi•

tion a total of eighteen months of exploration and reconnais- 27 sance work was distributed among Leech, Turnbull and Green. In spite of financial difficulties which in 1867 necessitated the dismissal of Moberl^y as Assistant Surveyor 28 General, Trutch made successful efforts to improve the

efficiency of his department. In 1865 he received Seymour's

26 Douglas to Moody, May 27, 1861, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. 27 Trutch to Col. Sec. October 29, 1866, Land and Works Department to Governor. M.A.B.C. 28 Birch to Moberl^y, January 10, 1867, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. consent to his suggestion that the Crown Titles for lands be issued to the original buyers, instead of to those who sub- 29 sequently acquired the lands by private negotiations. Although Moody had received approval of his suggestion that he be in direct communication with the District Magistrates acting as Assistant Commissioners of Lands, his recommenda• tion had never been given statutory authorization. Thus in the Land Ordinance of 1865 the Stipendiary Magistrates were authorized to record pre-emption claims, no mention being made of their connection with the Lands and Works Depart- 30 ment. However, by Section 3 of the Pre-emption Ordinance of 1866, Trutch was enabled to correspond with the local Magistrates, acting as Assistant Commissioners of Lands and Works, on pre-emption matters without the intervention of 31 another department. From the first temporary measures taken by Douglas in August 1858, until the end of the colonial period, the land laws of the colony had to be liberalized gradually in an attempt to attract settlers to the isolated province. Before any constitutional arrangement had been made concerning the separate colony of British Columbia, Douglas, as Governor of

29 Trutch to Col. Sec. September 8, 1865, Lands and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. 30 British Columbia -Ordinances. 1865, No. 27. 31 Crease to Birch April 21, 1866, Attorney General Corres• pondence Outward,. M.A.B.C. . British Columbia Ordinances. 1866, No. 13. .. -±3^ 75

Vancouver Island, was forming plans for the regulation of the

Crown Lands on the mainland. On June 10, 1858, he recommended

to Stanley that "... the whole country be immediately thrown

open for settlement .... the land be surveyed, and sold at 32 a fixed rate, not to exceed 20s. an acre." Before his legal

power of granting titles to land on the mainland was complet•

ed, Douglas adopted temporary measures to allow settlers to

take lands. At Fort Hope, Fort Yale and Port Douglas, sett•

lers were allowed to occupy town lots, "under a lease termin•

able at the pleasure of the Crown and to be held at a monthly

rental of 41/8 sterling payable in advance, with the under•

standing that the holder would be allowed a pre-emption right

of purchase when the land is sold in T/hich case the sum of 33 monthly rent would be considered as part of purchase money."

This was a purely temporary measure, and in November 1858

Douglas ordered that no further leases were to be granted for 34 town lots, since he was prepared to issue legal titles. Accordingly, on December 2, 1858, he issued the proclamation 35 asserting his authority to grant such titles for Crown Lands.

It was not until January 1859, nevertheless, that

Douglas clearly understood the correct form of the titles 32 Douglas to Stanley, June 10, 1858, Cmd. 2476. 3whic3 hDougla he wass tprepareo Lyttond, tOctobeo issuer . 12,I n1858 tha,t montCmd. h2578 he .receive d 54 Col.. Sec. to R, Bryant,. November 27, 1858/ Col. Sec. Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 35 British Columbia Proclamations. 1858. 76

a despatch correcting certain errors contained in a sample grant which he had sent to Lytton. The corrections were made so as to bring the form of the grant in line with those issued in other British colonies. Land was to be issued in the name of the Queen, not in that of the Governor; all res• ervations of timber and minerals were to be omitted in the grant but this did not entitle the grantee to any gold or silver found on his land, although he could have the baser 36 metals and coal. Lytton had previously sent to Douglas certain rules to guide him in dealing with the Crown Lands. These lands were to be opened only gradually for settlement; only surveyed land was to be sold; an upset price of £1 an acre was to be charged for town land, and a relatively high upset price for country land. The price could be modified to some extent, if 37 necessary, by American policies. The first proclamation regulating the sale of country land was issued by Douglas on February 14, 1859. It followed closely the instructions from Lytton. According to the proclamation only surveyed land was to be sold, all sales to be by auction. The price of town land was to be fixed according to the value of the site, but country land was to be sold at an upset price of 10s. -p-ea? acre, one-half payable at the time of sale,-and the remainder within 36 Lytton to Douglas, January 20, 1859, Despatches from Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 37 Lytton to Douglas, August 14, 1858, Cmd. 2476. 77

two years. Country land which remained unsold after being

offered at auction was to be made available at the upset 38 price. Two reasons were given by Douglas for adopting what he considered a relatively low upset price for country land: a desire to atttract British settlers and to offset the lib- 39 eral policies of the American Government. The proclamation was received unfavourably by both

Lytton and the settler's of British Columbia. Lytton objected

to the provision whereby country land could be paid for by

instalments. In October 1858, Douglas had written to Lytton

expressing his opinion that the instalment system should be

applied to British Columbia in the sales of all country lands

exceeding fifty acres, chiefly because of the benefits ex- 40 tended thereby to the poorer settlers. In his reply on February 7, 1859, Lytton upheld the merits of prompt payment. "It is the best indication of a purchaser's being really possessed of means to cultivate his lot, it avoids harassing the Government with the existence of a whole population of small debtors, from whom it is next to impossible to collect their dues, and above all it maintains a sounder state of society by not encouraging the premature conversion into petty and impoverished landowners• of those who ought to be 41 labourers." The despatch containing this expression of

38 British Columbia Proclamationst 1859. 39 Douglas to Lytton, February 19, 1859, Cmd. 2578. 40 Ibid.. October 27, 1858. 41 Lytton to Douglas, 'February 7, 1859, Cmd. 2578. -14— 7e

Wakefield's doctrine arrived too late to be incorporated into the proclamation.

After receiving a copy of the proclamation, Lytton wrote to Douglas again on the same matter. Upon this occa• sion he emphasized his previous arguments in favour of prompt payment, and expressed his willingness to lower the price of 42 land to a point where immediate payment could be enforced.

Nevertheless, !by emphasizing the poverty and scarcity of inten• ding settlers, Douglas was able to persuade Lytton to allow 43 the instalment system to continue. More important was the dissatisfaction felt in the colony itself regarding the proclamation. The chief objec• tion to it was the fact that only surveyed country land was to be made available for purchase. The financial difficul• ties of the colony and the small corps of surveyors meant that very little agricultural land would be put up for sale. Although aware that Lytton favoured surveys to precede set• tlement, Douglas advised him that the system was not working in British Columbia and suggested that settlers be granted pre-emption privileges on unsurvfeyed lands. He reported that ". . .no country land has as yet been brought into market. There is-much popular clamour on that account, and should the pressure for land be great, I think it will be advisable to meet the emergency by establishing some tempor- 42 Ibid.. May 7, 1859. 43 Douglas to Lytton, May 23, 1859, Cmd. 2724. 79

ary system of occupation, which would enable settlers to hold and improve certain specified tracts of land under a pre-emption right until the surveys are completed, when it 44 might cease to be in force." Struck by the scarcity of fresh vegetables, Begbie, while on circuit, had already authorized certain settlers to cultivate strips of land aver• aging about five acres per person, with the right to the crop but no pre-emption privileges. He reported to Douglas the need for some security of tenure for agricultural purposes. "There was a considerable degree of anxiety manifested every• where for the possession of land, in some instances the mere right to take the crop was not satisfactory—in others it 45 was acquiesed in." The newspapers were agitating for a pre-emption system similar to that in the United States whereby settlers, after paying, a deposit on their purchase money, were allowed to settle on vacant unsurveyed lands. "In view of the natu• ral drawbacks to settlement in British Columbia as compared with adjacent American territory, a policy is demanded which shall not only equal the American plan in liberality but ex• ceed it. We hold then, it is.the duty of the Home Govern• ment to admit the acquiring of Pre-emption rights by actual settlement, as well as to set apart, certain portions of the 44 Douglas to Lytton, July 4, 1859, Cmd. 2724. 45- Begbie to Douglas, April 25, 1859, Begbie to Col. Sec, M.A.B.C. -±6~ 80

public domain to be donated to those who shall become 'bona- 46 fide' occupants." On July 30, 1859, The Victoria Gazette published the petition to the Governor and recommendations of the Reform League regarding the land laws of the colony. Bearing the signatures of 130 inhabitants of New Westminster, the petition urged the adoption of a pre-emption system, the want of which they considered the most important grievance of the colony. "If settlement has to depend upon actual survey, there will be few in the country except a numerous staff of 47 official to witness the completion." The following recom• mendations were made: no land except town lots should be sold at auction; single men and married men should be allowed to pre-empt 160 and 210 acres respectively; the price of land should not be more than $1 -pes acre with four or five years to pay. The British Colonist also urged the adoption of a pre-emption system to encourage those with little •. capital to settle in the colony. "The country would be bet• ter known and sooner settled; the public lands adjoining enhanced in value ... the settler would not have to wait years on government for surveys which private enterprise would accomplish in days; and on the whole the bona fide settler, the hardy pioneer would be offered and inducement to settle in the country, and justly receive' decided advan- 46 Victoria Gazette. June 2, 1859. 47 Victoria Gazette, July 30, 1859. 81

48 tages over the many-acred monopolist." By September Douglas felt that some action was necessary to dispel the growing feeling that the government 49 was not disposed to sell land in British Columbia. Since the demand for surveyed land could not be met, he proposed authorizing applicants to occupy and improve the land they desired. In a registry he had had compiled of such appli- 50 cants, there were.recorded approximately 1500 acres. A month later, Douglas informed Newcastle that he had instructed the Assistant Commissioners at Hope, Yale, Douglas, Lytton and Cayoosh to permit all British subjects to occupy 160 acres of land, to be paid for when surveyed at the rate of not more than 10s. per acre. "This is in fact the basis of a pre-emption law founded on occupation and improvement, the Government, agreeing on those conditions to convey the land at a fixed price; it being moreover provided that the rights of actual settlers, of those persons only who are found in possession when the land is surveyed will be recognized and 51 allowed." To discourage speculation, those who wanted more than 160 acres were to pay a deposit of 5s. per acre.

Yet the Colonial Office did not favour the adoption of a pre-emption system in British Columbia. Instead, Douglas 48 British Colonist. March 5, 1859. 49 Douglas to Moody, September 20, 1859, Governor's Private Official Letter Book, 1859 - 1864. 50 Ibid. • 51 Douglas to Newcastle, October 18, 1859, Cmd. 2724. 8*

received from Newcastle a scheme proposed by Captain Clarke of the Royal Engineers and former Surveyor General of the 52 Colony of Victoria. The purpose of his plan was to encour• age immigration to British Columbia without "playing too much 53 into the hands of the Americans." According to Clarke's proposals, all land should be sold at auction. However, country land remaining unsold after auction might be pur• chased directly from the government. The colony should be divided into counties, hundreds and parishes and no land alienated before survey. Five shillings per acre was sug• gested as the lowest upset price for country land, 25% pay• able upon purchase, the remainder within sixty days. Country land beyond the limits of survey might be occupied upon re• ceipt of a license from the nearest magistrate. Clarke's scheme was not well received in British Columbia since it offered no solution of the problems caused by the shortage of surveyed land. The proposed licenses offered no more security of tenure than did the measures already adopted by Douglas for the occupation of unsurveyed land. Begbie, in his report to Douglas on Clarke's scheme, emphasized the fact that the land laws of British Columbia must be adapted to the peculiar geographical, social and 54 financial problems of the colony. In his opinion, the div- 52 Newcastle to Douglas, January 7, 1860, Cmd. 2724. 53 Ibid. 54 Begbie to Douglas, April 30, 1860, Begbie to Col. Sec, M.A.B.C. -19- 83

^sion of the colony into" counties could he done only gradu- -aily in view of the inaccessibility of parts of the colony. Because of financial difficulties and the shortage of sur• veyors he opposed Clarke's suggestion that no land be aliena• ted until surveyed. "In this colony, there is no use, I conceive, in arguing an abstract question on the merits of pre-emption. The population are accustomed to pre-empt and 55 they will pre-empt or else they will stay away ..." He would reduce Clarke's proposed price of 5s. per acre to 4s. so as to be less than that of the American Government. The objections of Douglas to Clarke's scheme were very similar to those of Begbie. Whereas Clarke assumed that British Columbia possessed a population eager and able tocpurchase land, Douglas pointed out to Newcastle that: ". . . no disposition has been manifested by monied men to invest capital in that way, and the labouring classes cannot 56 for want of means become land owners. . ." For this reason he took particular objection to Clarke's suggestion that all land be paid for at least sixty days after the date of sale. "Its effect would be to place the country in a false position, there being on the one hand no capitalists disposed to pur• chase land, while on the other hand the stringency of the terms would amount to a rejection to the only class who are 55 Begbie to Douglas, April 50, 1860, Begbie to Col. Sec. M.A.B.C. 56 Douglas to Newcastle, August 24, 1860, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. -20- 84

57 desirous of settling in the country." Douglas had no par• ticular objection to the division of the colony into counties except that under existing conditions the suggestion was premature. He endorsed Clarke's price of 5s. an acre, which was one-half of the existing price in British Columbia. Nevertheless, he was in favour of a further reduction. "The Crown Lands should, I think, be treated as a means of aiding the progress and development of the country and not merely as a source of revenue. If the increase of population is admit• ted to be the paramount object of consideration, then I con• ceive the settlement of the country should be encouraged through the only means in our power, the cheap and easy acquisition of land .... that object I think would be cheaply attained were it even to involve a free gift of a 58 great part of the waste land in British Columbia. . ." To reinforce his argument Douglas referred to the pre-emption system of the United States, where the low price of $1.25 an acre was not demanded until after survey. Moody expressed his opinion of Clarke's scheme in a very brief letter to Douglas. His attitude was simply that Clarke had not sufficient information about the local situa• tion in British Columbia to attempt the framing of a land 59 scheme suitable for the colony. 57 Ibid. 58 Douglas to Newcastle, August 24, 1860, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C 59 Moody to Douglas, November 7, 1860, Lands and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C 85

One of the main reasons for the long report written by Douglas urging a more liberal system than that suggested by Clarke, was the fact that a pre-emption system had already been introduced into British Columbia. Newcastle had sent Clarke's scheme on January 7, 1860, whereas Douglas had issued the Pre-emption Act on January 4. The arguments of Moody were a prime factor in caus• ing Douglas to adopt the pre-emption system. The Chief Com• missioner feared American aggression particularly after the San Juan crisis of 1859, and considered a pre-emption system the only means of settling the colony with British Subjects. "All Theories of Colonization affecting Sales of Land I sub• mit must for the present yield to the more important point of practically and effectually beyond all peril, securing to the British Crown, in a legitimate and economical manner 60 these Colonies." Without a pre-emption system he felt it was almost impossible for Canadians or other British subjects to take up land in the colony because of the high cost of travelling. Even if settlers recorded their pre-emptions as the agents of land speculators, Moody felt that the British 61 subjects so gained were worth the risk involved. He favoured the adoption of a pre-emption system as a temporary measure for two or three years, after which

60 Moody to Douglas,- August 13, 1859, Land and Works Depart• ment to Governor. M.A.B.C. 61 Ibid.. August 15, 1859. 8i>

the traditional British policy of selling only surveyed land at auction might once more tee adopted. "Elsewhere British subjects may come or may stay away so far as Great Britain or the ultimate advantage of the colony is concerned. Here Great Britain urgently needs them now . . . and she, there• fore, for the time at all events must adopt the popular view as to obtaining land, though her own may be in truth the 62 wisest in the end as a permanent measure. On September 13, 1859, Moody wrote to Douglas asking his permission to allow British subjects to pre-empt unsurveyed lands. The Chief Commissioner suggested that British subjects be allowed to occupy not more than 160 acres, on condition that they erect a building not less than 14» x 20* and clear at least four acres every year. He proposed no definite price for the land, but suggested that it should be paid for when surveyed. The expense of the survey he felt should be borne by the 63 pre-emptor. Douglas fully agreed with Moody as to the need of attracting British settlers to the colony. Thus, on October 7, 1859, he informed the Chief Commissioner that he had addressed a circular letter to the District Magistrates in• structing them to allow the occupation of unsurveyed land.

In accordance with Moody's suggestion the privilege was to be

62 Moody to Douglas, August 15, 1859, Lands and Works Depart• ment to Governor, M.A.B.C. 63 Ibid.. September 13, 1859. -CD 87

restricted to those who were or who had recorded their inten• tion of becoming British subjects. The reason for the res• triction was stated thus by Douglas: "The Government has at present the great object in view of attracting to British Columbia an industrious population, for the development of its agricultural as well as of its auriferous resources, but that object is sought to be obtained by such means only as will induce a loyal population, attached to British Laws, Institutions and Rule to reside in the country, as it is of far greater importance to the Empire, that the character of the population should be such, even though the progress of settlement be somewhat retarded, than that the colony should be rapidly filled by an alien population, expensive and dif• ficult to govern, and who would probably seize the first op• portunity of discarding their allegiance." A settler was to

be allowed to occupy 160 acres of unsurveyed land to be paid an for at the rate of 10s. -per- acre upon survey. Town or subur• ban lands, and rural lands immediately surrounding suburban lots, were not open for pre-emption. To offset the resulting loss of revenue, and also to hinder speculation, settlers desiring more than 160 acres were to pay a deposit of 5s. an 64 acre on the additional land. Although intended by Moody to be only a temporary measure, the pre-emption system became a permanent feature of 64 Douglas to Moody, October 7, 1859, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. the colony's land policy. The subsequent land ordinances were concerned chiefly with liberalizing the policy laid down in Douglas' instructions of October 1859, in order to enable the colony to compete with the United States for settlers. Chapter Five

The Pre-emption System, 1860 - 1870

The instructions issued in October 1859 to the District Magistrates, were proclaimed as law on January 4, 1860, in the form of the Pre-emption Act. The terms were the same as those previously outlined by Douglas, but the act contained additional details as to the actual function• ing of the system. The pre-emptor was to record his claim with the nearest magistrate upon the payment of 8s. A writ• ten description of the occupied land together with a rough plan was to be presented to the same magistrate. For con• venience, any identifying land marks on the claim were to be included in the written description. For uniformity, each claim was to be rectangular, the shorter side at least two thirds as long as the other, and with each corner marked by a post. Upon receipt of a certificate of improvement, granted by the magistrate after completion of improvements to the extent of 10s. an acre, the pre-emptor might transfer his interests in the land. After survey, the certificates

of improvement entitled the holder to receive title to the 1 land upon payment at a rate not exceeding 10s. an acre.

1 British Columbia Proclamations. 1860. To offset Newcastle's expected objection to the settlement of the land without immediate payment, Douglas, in his report to London, emphasized particularly the future financial benefits which the colony would gain by the act. The newly attracted settlers as producers and consumers would contribute to the public revenue. The government survey could be carried out more economically later when roads had been built..' Meanwhile the rights of the Crown had been pro- 2 tected, since no titles were to be issued until after payment As previously stated, the proclamation was issued by Douglas just a few days before Clarke's proposed land scheme had been forwarded by Newcastle. On February 18, 1860. Newcastle informed Douglas that he had no intention of forc• ing Clarke's scheme upon British Columbia, but was merely anxious that Douglas should become acquainted with Clarke's views. Hoping to receive Newcastle's assent to his pre-emp• tion act, Douglas had postponed his reply concerning Clarke's plan. Nevertheless, on May 7 and July 16, 1860, further des• patches were sent from London informing him that Newcastle was still awaiting his report, and until receiving it was sus- 3 pending his opinion of the pre-emption act. The Colonial Secretary's chief objection to the act was his fear that pre- emptors would become landowners prematurely, with no capital 4 2to worDouglak ths et lano Newcastled to its, bes Januart advantagey 12, 1860. Finall, Cmd.y 2784on Augus. t .84, 3 Lewis to Douglas, July 16, 1860, Despatches from Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 4 Lewis to Douglas, July 16, 1860, Despatches from Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 91

I860, Douglas forwarded to London his opinion of Clarke's suggestions together with the report of Begbie. In his reply Newcastle upheld the theoretical advantages of measures to compel prompt payment, but admitted that the system could not be practically enforced in British Columbia because of the peculiar circumstances of the colony itself and the influence of the United States. He therefore reluctantly consented to the continuance of the pre-emption system but hoped that it would be a temporary measure only. "Upon the whole, there• fore, and looking moreover to the general prevalence of de/- ferred payments on the American continent, I am willing that

for the present, the system which you consider essential to 5 the progress of the colony should be continued ..." Contrary to Newcastle's wishes, the pre-emption system was not^retained as a permanent feature of colonial land policy, but was also gradually liberalized. Criticism of the pre-emption act was immediately voiced in the British Colonist which demanded a reduction in the price of land from 10 to 5s. an acre. "Even now the iron hand has only loosened its grasp a little. Pre-emptors run the risk of having to pay twice the amount required by the American government for 6 wild land." Government officials also expressed dissatisfaction with the act. At Douglas' request both Moody and Begbie 5 Newcastle to Douglas, December 6, 1860, Despatches from Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 6 British Colonist. January 12, 1860. ^4- 92

submitted their suggestions for its improvement. Moody argued that the production of food in the mining districts was the most urgent need. For this purpose the colony must look for immigrants either to Canada or the United States, since distance, for the time being, precluded settlement from the British Isles. He therefore felt that the colony must offer land at least as cheaply as its American competitor. To make land easier to obtain he proposed a complicated scheme whereby a settler might obtain land cheaper than under the existing pre-emption act. His plan involved three modes of pre-emption. By the first method a pre-emptor could receive title for his land at the end of two years after ful• filling conditions relative to residence and improvement. His expenses would include 10s. for recording his claim, plus the expense of survey, and 10s. on depositing the surveyor's plan in the land office. On the other hand, if he waited for the government survey he would pay Is. an acre for the land. By the second method, the pre-emptor could receive title after three months, by paying 5s. an acre for the land and a. 20s. fee for the title. If he paid the expense of survey, Is. an acre would be returned to him. By the third method, surveyed land was to be sold at auction at the upset price of 5s. per acre. To forestall speculation, under modes two and three, after two years, 3s. an acre would be returned to settlers fulfilling the "conditions concerning residence 7 and improvement. - - 7 Moody to Douglas, November 7, 1860, Lands and Works Depart• ment to Governor, M.A.B.C. 93

Begbie's suggestions were much less complicated,

chiefly because he felt that under the existing conditions

only the simplest system could be effectively administered.

"The land system . . . which ought in my opinion to recom•

mend itself to the Government would he that which requires

the least to be done by the Government . . . and allows the

widest power of selection and the greatest share of respons- 8

ibility to the public at large." He proposed continuing

the present pre-emption system, but with a reduction in price

to 4s. an acre. "I feel sure that' to lower our price below

the United States price of 5s. would tend to bring us perm- 9

^nent settlers." To satisfy the complaints made to him by

pre-emptors, he further advised the redress of two hardships

caused by the adoption of the rectangular system. Since

most pre-empted land in the colony possessed a water frontage,

a natural consequence of difficult communications, Begbie

suggested that a pre-emption claim should be considered to

have been sufficiently marked out if bounded by one or more

straight lines and the shore of a river or lake. If, in

order to achieve a rectangular shape, a pre-emptor was forced to include rocky land within his claim, Begbie favoured al• io lowing him to pay only for the suitable land after survey. 8 Begbie to Douglas, April SO, 1860, Begbie to Col. Sec. M.A.B.C. 9 Ibid. 10 Begbie to Douglas, April 11, 1860, Begbie to Col. Sec. M.A.B.C. The British Colonist objected not only to the price of land but also to the simple administrative system so com• mended by Begbie. De Cosmos warned of the difficulties which might arise if two pre-emptors recorded the same claim with different magistrates. His warning, in fact, underrated the dangers inherent in the system. Even should two pre-emptors record the same claim with the same magistrate, it was his duty merely to record, not to judge the validity of each claim. All responsibility was to rest with the pre-emptors not with the magistrates. In a circular letter advising the magistrates of their duties, Douglas made this very clear.

"It is your duty to accept any record which may be tendered to you, even although you may at the time be privately of opinion that the document is valueless by reason of the mis• description of the land, or by reason of its being already recorded or occupied or for any other reason, because every applicant has a right to form his own opinion, and to make 11 his own claim and to support his own rights. . ." To en• able the applicants to judge for themselves, each magistrate was to produce all records made with him. Of these the pre- emptor might make pencil notes but no pen or ink was to be allowed near them.

Two remedial proclamations were issued by Douglas on January 19, 1861, concerning the pre-emption system. The

11 Col. Sec. to Magistrates, April 20, 1860, Col. Sec. Correspondence Outward. M.A.B.C. 95

12 Country Lands Act reduced the price of land from 10s. to 13 4s. 2d. an acre. The Pre-emption Amendment Act dealt chiefly with the shape of land claims. In accordance with

Begbie's suggestions, natural boundaries, such as mountains, rocks, lakes, swamps and rivers might be adopted as the lim• its of a claim. Although the two proclamations in the main embodied Begbie's recommendations, Moody's suggestion that pre-emptors be allowed to have their land surveyed at their own expense rather than wait for the government survey, was adopted. "Any person desirous of paying for any land acquir• ed by him or her may apply to the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works to appoint a 'Sworn Surveyor' to survey the said 14 land at the expense of the applicant."

To ensure cultivation of the land, the Pre-emption

Purchase Act was issued by Douglas in the same year forbid• ding anyone, under penalty of forfeiture, to hold more than 15 one pre-emption claim.

However liberalizing in their effects, the various amendments proved confusing to both administrators and s et*

/lers. Although repeated warnings were sent to the magis• trates directing them to record but not to judge applications, they were advised to adopt "a consistent and prudential course 16 of action" to prevent disputes. At the same time they 12 British Columbia Proclamations. No.. .2. 13 Ibid.. No. 1. 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid., No. 6. 16 Col. Sec. to Magistrates, April 5, 1861, Col. Sec. Cor• respondence Outward. M.A.B.C. 96

received a tactful reminder that the pre-emption system was

inaugurated for the benefit of actual settlers, not for 17 government officials. Only three settlers, in addition to

Moody and Douglas, had purchased country land at the former price of 10s. an acre. When the first payment became due in

1861, their request to be allowed the benefit of the new 18 price was refused by Douglas. The provisions of the Pre•

emption Amendment Act whereby a settler might apply to the government to have his land surveyed at his own expense, was 19

soon regretted by Douglas as being too confusing. The

British Columbian voiced the opinion of the perplexed sett• lers. "Our Land Proclamations are rapidly multiplying, and must soon assume such a complicated and voluminous form, as

to require the services of a lawyer to enable the intending SO

settler to comprehend them . . ."

Accordingly, on September 10, 1861, Douglas issued the Pre-emption Consolidation Act repealing the Proclamation of January 4, 1860, The Pre-emption Amendment Act and the

Pre-emption Purchase Act, substituting instead one compact

set of pre-emption regulations.. In accordance with the re• duced price of land as effected by the Country Land Act,

1th7 e deposiIbid. t required for the purchase of an additional 160 18 Moody to Douglas, June 8, 1861, Lands and Works Depart• ment to Governor, M.A.B.C. Good to Moody, June 21, 1861, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. 19 Ibid., May 27, 1861. 20 British Columbian." June 20, 1861. 21 acres was reduced to 2s. Id. an acre. Since, for financial

reasons, it had been decided to delay the government survey

of pre-emption claims, the right of the pre-emptor, to have

a "Sworn Surveyor" appointed to survey his claim, was omit- 22

ted, in the new act. In reporting to Newcastle, Douglas

praised the financial advantage to poorer settlers which

would result. "In consequence of the great expense in mov•

ing surveying parties from place to place, the very limited

demand for surveying land, and the migratory character of

the population of British Columbia which makes it impossible

to determine what course settlement will take, or where

surveyed land may be wanted, it has been thought advisable

to postpone the general survey. . . In the meantime the Pre•

emption Consolidation Act enables bona fide settlers. . . to

make homesteads for themselves without waiting for the of•

ficial survey .... The settler who from want of means is

only able to utilize a small piece of land will not be har-

rassed or distressed for the purchase money, and he is sefi- 25 cured in the ultimate conveyance of the land at 4/2 per acre."

Nevertheless, the confusion concerning pre-emption

regulations continued. Much misunderstanding was caused by

the magistrates receiving records for land not legally open

to pre-emption. New instructions to the magistrates forbade 21 British Columbia Proclamations. 1861, No. 2. 22 Douglas to Newcastle, October 15, 1861, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 25. Ibid. iff 98 them to receive records for lands of the following classes: "lands occupied or surveyed, or reserved for the Crown or "being the site> or intended site, of a Town, or being aurif• erous and available for mining purposes, or an Indian Reserve 24 or settlement." Should the magistrate in error receive a record for such land, the unfortunate settler was to be re- 25 fused a Certificate of Improvement. Although by 1861 government surveys of country land had been resumed in the New Westminster district, pre-emptors caught unawares by the approach of surveyors were not pres• sed for payment. Two years were to be allowed after survey 26 for payment in full. Nevertheless, some pre-emptors beyond the New Westminster district, anxious to receive title for the land, chafed at the delay of the official survey. Trutch explained their predicament thus: "The Pre-emption Act af• fords to the pre-emptor or purchaser a perfectly good hold• ing but he cannot convey and consequently he cannot mortgage the lands held by him or the improvements made thereon until the 'Gov't. Survey' be extended to the district in which his lands are situated—nor until such extension of the "Govern• ment Survey" takes place, can any disputes between neigh• bours as to boundaries or pre-emption or purchase claims be 27 2officiall4 Col. ySec determined.. to Magistrates" for, thesNovembee reasonsr 30, , 1863he wa, sCol desirou. Sec. s0 Correspondence Outward. M.A.B.C. 25 Ibid. 26 Col. Sec. to Moody, October 26, 1863. Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. 27 Trutch to Col. Sec. Lands and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. of amending the land laws so as to allow pre-emption claims to be surveyed in isolated regions and titles granted. As r for waiting for the government survey, he remarked, "... if settlers are to a/rait this consummation, the period of

their becoming possessed of their titles to their lands would ,28 be long deferred indeed." His anxiety to survey claims

was increased by his fears of speculation, since according to

the Pre-emption Consolidation Act no limit was placed upon the amount of land which a pre-emptor might purchase adjacent 29 to his claim. Accordingly a Circular Letter sent to the magistrates on October 22, 1864, advised them to reserve all

the Crown Lands of the Colony from pre-emption until a re- 30 vision of the land laws had been made. The Land Ordinance of 1865 passed by the Legislat• ive Council made no radical change in the pre-emption laws, but clarified the duties of the magistrates. Instead of permitting any number of persons to record the same land claim, the new ordinance compelled each pre-emptor to obtain a Record Certificate from the magistrate. If the desired land had been already recorded but abandoned, registration in the new claimant's name would be made only after one month's public notice. The magistrates were granted power to settle all disputes. The Record Certificate entitled the 28 Ibid. 29 Ibid. 30 Good to Magistrates, October 22, 1864, Col. Sec. Corres• pondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 100

claimant to a leave of absence not exceeding six months for the purpose of procuring seeds and equipment. In accordance with Trutch's recommendation, the amount of land which a pre-emptor could purchase contiguous to his pre-emption claim 31 was limited to 480 acres. To enable pre-emptors to obtain titles for their pre-emption claims, printed notices were posted throughout the colony explaining how settlers might have their land sur• veyed. Applications for survey, accompanied by a rough plan of the claim, were to be deposited with the nearest magis• trate, along with a $10 survey fee. The surveys were to be carried out as soon as sufficient applications were made in 32 the respective districts. As well as enabling settlers to obtain titles for their lands, the surveys were needed to furnish revenue for the government. Trutch hoped that in this way £1550 might be collected as payment for pre-empted and purchased lands. For this reason he suggested that 33 £3000 be spent on surveys during 1866. Nevertheless, the results were disappointing. By October 1866, Trutch reported that only thirty claims, totalling 2598 acres, had been sur- 34 veyed. The surveyors experienced great difficulty in try• ing to ensure that claims were of the prescribed rectangular

31 British Columbia Ordinances. 1865. No. 27. 32 Trutch to Col. Sec, July 21, 1865, Lands and Works Dep• artment to Governor, M.A.B.C. i3,3 Ibid.,November 27, 1865. 34 Ibid..October 29, 1866. -±3- lol

shape. The magistrates were urged to help hy insisting that

applicants obey the requirements of the land ordinance res- 35 pecting the shape of their claims. Trutch was also asked

to instruct his surveyors to comply as closely as possible 36 to the rectangular system. The difficulties were well illustrated by Nind's list of applications for survey. The farms were all of different sizes, varying as follows: 3, 10, 37 12, 20, 27, 36, 80, 100, 160 and 640 acres. Accordingly, by section two of the Pre-emption Ordinance of 1866, the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works was authorized to 38 deviate where necessary from the rectangular system. Several problems continued to harass the government in spite of the numerous enactments concerning the pre-emp• tion system. One which remained unsolved until 1870 was the problem of defining and enforcing the duties of occupation. To ensure cultivation Moody had suggested a land tax of 3d. 39 an acre, which should not he collected from settlers after 40 they had cleared and cultivated half of their claim. Such a tax was discussed by the Legislative Council in 1865, but as pointed out by the Attorney General, it would be unfair

55 Col. Sec. to Magistrates, January 25, 1866, Col. Sec. Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 36 Col. Sec. to Trutch, February 15, 1866, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. 37 Nind to Trutch, August 30, 1865, Nind Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 58 British Columbia Ordinances. 1866, No. 13. 39 Moody to Douglas, November 7, 1860, Lands and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. 40 Ibid.. November 22, 1860. -i4r

41 to settlers living on heavily timbered lands. The efforts to ensure occupation and improvement were thus limited to the rules as stated in the various land laws. By the Pre-emption Act of January 4, 1860, the magistrate was to issue the cer• tificate of improvement only after the settler had permanently occupied and improved his land to the extent of 10s. an acre. Although these duties of occupation were intended to apply to all land purchased adjacent to the pre-emption claim, it was

not made clear in the act. In the reply to his despatch ed blaming Moody for selling unsurvey/land before improvements 42 had been made, Douglas received a reprimand from Newcastle. "Although it is doubtless very desirable that land disposed of before survey should be subject to the condition of con• tinuous occupation till the Survey comes up to it, that con• dition is not imposed by the seventh article of the Procla• mation. Any confusion therefore which may. result from the omission of that condition is in my opinion chargeable on the imperfect language of the Proclamation and not on the Chief 43 Commissioner." The Pre-emption Purchase Act of 1861, was consequently issued imposing the same occupation duties on land purchased under the provisions of the proclamation of 44 January 4, as upon pre-empted land.

41 British Columbian, January ,21, 1865. 42 Douglas to Newcastle, June 4, 1861, Despatches to Downing Street,. M.A.B.C. 43 Newcastle to Douglas, August 21, 1861, Despatches from Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 44 British Columbia Proclamations. 1861, No. 6. 103

Although no change with regard to occupation and

improvement was made by the Land Ordinance of 1865, both the

Attorney General and Chief Commissioner agreed that Xoccupatf- tion should be defined as meaning actual residence upon the

land.The British Columbian asked ". . . . if a pre-emptor

should clear a small piece of ground and build a shanty for

the express purpose of making good his claim to land upon

which he was not a bona fide settler, would that be consid- 45

ered "occupation . . . .?" A clause requiring actual res•

idence was sought to be included in the Pre-emption Ordi•

nance of 1866, by Crease and Trutch but was voted down ten 46

to four in the Legislative Council. Since the demand for

agricultural land was not great, Seymour gave his consent

to the ordinance, but felt that some such definition would 47

prove necessary when the value of land increased.

Among the reasons given by Trutch and Crease for

recommending that the Land Ordinance of 1867 be disallowed was the fact that it permitted land claims to be held by 48 agents. "Personal residence of the Slaimant on the land

claimed by him by pre-emption right is in fact the essential

requirement of the pre-emption system as it is practically 45 British Columbian, September 5, 1861. 46 Birch, to Cardwell, April 21, 1866, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 47 Ibid. 48 Trutch to Seymour, November 19, 1867, Lands and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. Crease to Seymour, November 2, 1867, Attorney General Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. I OH-

carried out in the neighbouring United States Territories

from whence it was adopted into this Colony. His presence

on the land ... is the equivalent required for the privi•

lege granted to the pre-emptor of settling on the land in

advance of survey without--payment and with the secured right 49

of eventual purchase at the upset price." Of the 1696

claims recorded on the mainland, only 500, totalling 90,000

acres had' been settled upon either by pre-emptors or their

agents. However, of this area 6000 acres at the most had 50

been actually cultivated. It was not until the passage of

the Land Ordinance of 1870 that both the Attorney General

and Chief Commissioner were satisfied with the regulations

concerning occupation. By that act the District Magistrates

were empowered to cancel the pre-emption claims of the set•

tlers who had not personally and continuously resided on

their land for four years. Nevertheless the residence duties

were mitigated by the settler's right to an annual leave of

absence of four months, two of which he could take at will, while the other two required special permission from a magis•

trate. The farmer might get still another two months if he

applied for a license enabling him to put another man on his 51 farm during the six months' period. 49 Trutch to Seymour, August 12, 1868, Lands and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. 50 Trutch to Seymour, August 12, 1868, Lands and V/orks Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. 51 British Columbia Ordinances." No. 18. 105

The government found it equally perplexing.to decide which settlers should be allowed to pre-empt. With regard to British 'subjects the decision was easily made, but because of the large number of Americans, provision had to be made for aliens to hold land. Originally Douglas had in• tended to allow aliens title* to land which they had purchas• ed ^f or -(three years only)^ In order to retain their rights as landowners, they would then be required to become British 52 subjects. However, Lytton felt that the law could be made more favourable to aliens, in the manner of the correspond• ing Canadian act. He pointed out that in Canada an alien could be naturalized after three years' residence upon affir• ming on oath his length of residence and his allegiance to the Crown. Yet, aliens who failed to become naturalized after three years were not liable to lose title to their 53 land. Douglas accordingly revised his original intention and issued the Alien Act on May 14, 1859. The provision of the act concerning land ownership was as follows: "Every alien shall have the same capacity to take, hold, enjoy, receive, convey and transmit title to lands and real estate of every description, in this Colony, as if he were, at the time of passing of this Act, a natural born British subject; and no person shall be disturbed in the possession or pre• cluded from the recovery of any lands or real estate in this

52 Douglas to Lytton, November 29, 1858, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 53 Lytton to Douglas, February 11, 1859, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. -ie- 106

Colony by reason only that some person from or through whom 54 he may derive his title was an alien."

Since the Alien Act was issued in 1859 it made no

reference to the pre-emption system which was inaugurated

in British Columbia the following year. Nevertheless, the

Pre-emption Act of January 4, 1860, allowed aliens who should

take the oath of allegiance, to pre-empt land. It was Begbie

who first pointed out that Americans would have no incentive

to swear allegiance in view of Section 7 of the Alien Act 55 quoted above. His predictions proved correct, for in 1864

Trutch complained that the majority of the pre-emptors in

the colony were aliens who had not taken the oath of alle«£2f- 56 giance. The Land Ordinance of 1865, contained the provision

requiring aliens to take the oath of allegiance before pre•

empting, and also provided for the creation of a tribunal to 57

settle the land holdings of those who had neglected to do so.

Trutch continued to be dissatisfied with the situation, par•

ticularly when he received applications from aliens to have 58

their land surveyed. The fact that the proposed Land Ord•

inance of 1867 allowed aliens the right to pre-empt without

without taking the oath of allegiance as previously required

cause54 Britisd both hColumbie and aCreas Proclamationse to recommen. 1859d it. s disallowance. 55 Begbie to Col. Sec, June 29, 1860, Begbie to Col. Sec. M.A.B.C. 56 Trutch to Seymour, August 26, 1864. Lands and Works Department to Governor. M.A.B.C. 57 Crease to Col. Sec June 14, 1865, Attorney General Cor• respondence Outward, M.A.B.C. •%B Trutch to.Seymour, July 21, 1866, Lands and Works Depart• ment to.Governor, M.A.B.C. itr- 107

"I would favour by every legitimate means the settlement of

foreigners among us and encourage them to purchase land

whether from the government or from private individuals; but

it appears to me that the right of pre-emption should be in

this Colony—as it is in the United States—specially re#- 59 served for those who owe allegiance to the Government."

The problem was not settled until the passage of the Land

Ordinance of 1870, which restricted the privilege of pre-

-empting to male British ^subjects over eighteen years of age.

The government had also to decide whether or not

Indians should be allowed to pre-empt. In 1862, Moody asked for instructions since Indians were pre-empting "to consider- 60 able extent" along the Fraser River. The following year he reported that the Indians along, the Coquitlam River,

urged on by the Roman Catholic Priests, wanted to pre-empt.

They chose this method of enlarging their holdings since a

mere extension of the boundaries of their reserve would have 61

given them only swampy ground.

Douglas accordingly decided that Indians might

pre-empt on condition that they reside continuously on their

farms; they build houses of squared logs with shingled roofs

not less than 30' x 20' and sidewalls 10' high; they clear, "two enclose and cultivate, in the first year, *2x acres of wood 59 Ibid.. November 19, 1867. 60 Moody to Douglas, June 11, 1862, Lands and Works Depart• ment to Governor,M.A.B.C. 61 Moody to Douglas, April 28, 186S, Lands and Works Depart• ment to Governor. M.A.B.C. 108

land or five acres of prairie land, in the second year and ;. "three: afterwards till the end of the fifth year, «S. acres of wood- land or *"& acres of prairie land. They were not to convey the 62 land without first obtaining the consent of the Governor.

They were also to be allowed to purchase land on the same terms as British subjects. These regulations were set ^ forth only in the Governor's correspondence with Moody, but in 1864 Douglas reasserted the policy in his opening speech 64 to the Legislative Council.

Nevertheless, Governor Seymour upon his arrival in

British Columbia, informed the Attorney General that the

Crown could not delegate its constitutional trust over Indian lands, and that therefore Indians could not he allowed to 65 pre-empt. Thus the Pre-emption Ordinance of 1866 was passed to prevent Indians from pre-empting unless they had first 66 obtained the Governor's written permission. A similar res• triction was included in the Land Ordinance of 1870.

Because settlers were few the pre-emption system had been forced upon the colony. Nevertheless officials had to consider seriously how the land laws might be liberalized

62 W.F..G. Young to Moody, July 2, 1862, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. 6.3 Ibid. .June 18, 1862. 64 Ball to Trutch, November 19, 1869, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department. M.A.B.C. 6:5 Ball to Trutch, November 19, 1869, Col. Sec. to Lands and works Department, M.A.B.C. 66 British Columbia Ordinances. 1866, No. 13. J09

even further so as to attract immigrants. In 1866 the

British Columbian proposed a homestead law similar to those

in the United States and on Vancouver Island. "It is not

reasonable to expect that settlers will come here to run the

risk of having their last cow and their last acre swept

away by the Sheriff at every freak of fickle fortune, when

they can, on either side of us, be secured in a comfortable 67

and permanent home against all reverses." A year later, The

Homestead Ordinance of 1867 was passed by the Legislative

Council. According to its provisions, a homestead was de•

fined as ". -. . the pieces or parcels of land, together with any erections or buildings thereon, whether Leasehold or 68 Freehold ..." After registration, the homestead, if worth less than $2500, was to be wholly protected from con• fiscation. If of greater value, only the amount exceeding 69

$2500 was to be liable to seizure. Although admitting that

British Columbia was competing with the United States for

settlers and must therefore offer greater inducements, the

Attorney General opposed the act on the ground that it would lead to fraud. "The honest in estimating their financial, debtor and creditor position not unnaturally put an extra- vegant estimate on their riches and their assets and take a

Couleur de Rose view of their solvency. The crafty and dis• honest purposely misrepresent theirs to procure the desired 67 British Columbian. January 3, 1866. 698 BritisIbid. h Columbia Ordinances. 1867, No. 16. 70 registration." Upon Seymour's recommendation that the 71 measure was one which might tend to settle the country, the act was assented to. Nevertheless, impressed with the Attor• ney General's warning, Buckingham advised that care be taken in carrying out the act, and requested a report on its ef• fects on settlement. Accordingly, Newcastle later reported that the act was being efficiently administered, but admit• ted its comparative ineffectiveness as an attraction for settlers. "I do not know that the Homestead Ordinance has brought many people into the colony, but I am certain that 72 it has had the effect of retaining some."

The question of free grants to attract settlers was widely discussed in British Columbia after the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862 in the United States. Accord• ing to this statute, American settlers might occupy 160 acres of land for which they might receive title after five years of residence. The only payment required was the amount suf• ficient to cover the cost of survey and transfer of title.

On the Pacific Coast this amounted to $34.00. Settlers who paid for their land at the rate of $1.2-5 or $2.50 an acre 73 could receive title at the end of six months. By December,

1862, the British Columbian began its agitation for similar grants in British Columbia. "We have no right to expect a 70 Crease to Seymour, June 21, 1867, Attorney General Cor• respondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 71 Seymour to Buckingham, September 23, 1867, Despatches to. Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 72 • Ibid., August 6,-1868. 73 Flugel and Faulkner, on. cit., p. 475. 23" 111

rural population unless we hold out inducements equally lib• eral with those offered by the adjacent States. It is true that $160 may appear a very trifling consideration; but small

as it is, it undoubtedly exercises a wonderful influence over 74 the minds of immigrants." "One object of agrarian legisla• tion should ever be to encourage the occupation of our agri• cultural lands by those who will turn them at once to their legitimate use . . . Every Colonist now contributes something like $80 a year towards the revenue of the colony, which, in two years, would be just equal to the purchase price of 160 acres of land, and the man who settles upon and improves his farm will contribute even more than that. As districts are opened for settlement base lines must be defined, and allot- 75 ments marked out upon these lines, regularly numbered . . . ." That the settlers in British Columbia expected free grants is evident from difficulties experienced by the gov• ernment in attempting to enforce payment for pre-emption claims after survey. The reduction in the price of land to•

gether with the introduction of the pre-emption system had naturally decreased the revenue from land. The delay in car• rying out the surveys aggravated the problem so that in 1865 "the only receipts under the head of Land Sales were derived from the sale of a few town and suburban lots offered for 76 public competition during 1865 . . . ." Nevertheless, even 74 British Columbian.- December 20, 1862. T5 British Columbian. October 26, 1864. 76 Birch to Carnarvon, October 31, 1866, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. H7L after surveying had recommenced the government found the

settlers reluctant to pay for their land. Some felt that 77 the survey fee should he applied to the purchase price. Others argued that they had had their claims surveyed only 78 because they misunderstood it as being compulsory. The government officials were embarrassed because the Land Ordinance of 1865 stated merely that settlers were entitled to pay for their lands after survey, but gave no power to the government to enforce payment. Crease proposed a circu• lar to be sent to settlers in default, warning them that legal action would be taken. However, Trutch preferred that an ordinance should be passed first giving the government the 79 power to enforce payment. For this reason the Pre-emption Payment Ordinance was enacted by the Legislative Council on March 1, 1869. "The purchase money for Pre-emption Claims, held under any of the laws heretofore . . . shall be and are deemed to have been and to be due and payable . . . from the date of the service of an application, signed by the Chief

Commissioner of Lands and Works and Surveyor General, upon the person or persons to be affected thereby and notifying the completion of the Government Survey of the Land specified in such application, and calling upon such person or persons for the payment of the amount . . . due . . . in_jrespect to 80 such land." 77 Sanders to Trutch, September 25, 1866, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 78 P.J.Leech to Trutch, September 9, 1867, Leech Correspond• ence, M.A.B.C. 79 Trutch to Colonial Secretary, October 17, 1867, Lands and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. 80 British Columbia Ordinances. 1869, No. 11. The ordinance did little more than to state that the money was legally due after survey. That it contained no threat of forfeiture upon failure to pay was merely because settlers were scarce and urgently needed. Although confirm• ing the ordinance, Granville forwarded the report of the

Emigration Commissioners, advising that some methiod of en- 81 forcingnpayment be included in the act. Granville allowed the matter to rest after receiving the following reply from Musgrave:". . . the provision for the summary remedy ... was purposely omitted in order to ensure the easy passage of the ordinance, and particularly to avoid the appearance in a Colony where it is so much desired to encourage settlement of too urgent pressure on bona fide settlers perhaps unable to 82 pay up promptly." It seems that settlers usually paid within the three months allowed by the government after they had receiv- 83 ed the applications mentioned in the above ordinance. How• ever, several warning letters threatening legal action appear in the Attorney General's correspondence for those who failed 34 to do so.

In 1868 Trutch admitted that a system whereby cer• tain districts might be surveyed and granted free of charge 81 Granville to the Officer Administering the Government, to settlerJune 28s ,woul 1869d ,b Despatchee the mosst froliberam Londonl measur, M.A.B.Ce as wel. l as the 82 Musgrave to Granville, February 5, 1870, Despatches to London, M.A.B.C. • - * 83 Trutch to O'Reilly, Lands and Workd Department, Corres• pondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 34 G. Phillippo to Sanders, October 25, 1870, Attorney Gen• eral, Correspondence Outward, M.A.B;C; Ii

most beneficial to the Colony. Nevertheless, he still opposed

the system as being impracticable in British Columbia, his - reasons being that the colony lacked the money to make sur^ veys in widespread, isolated tracts, and that even with money, the land for settlement was so scattered that years would pass before they could be laid out into sections. For these reasons he felt that the attempt to inaugurate such a system 85 would merely delay settlement.

It- was not until the passage of the Land Ordinance of 1870, that the Governor, with the advice of his Council, was given authority to make free grants without reference in each case to Great Britain. Since Her Majesty's assent to the ordinance was not proclaimed in the colony until Octo• ber 20, 1870, the provision could have no effect upon land settlement before Confederation. Moreover, the scarcity of surveyed land available for free grants made the system in no way comparable to that of the United States, provided by the Homestead Act of 1862. The ordinance provided that:

"It shall be lawful for the Governor in Council to make such special Free or partially Free Grants of the unoccupied and unappropriated Crown Lands of the Colony, for the encourage• ment of Immigration or other purposes of public advantage with and under such provisions, restrictions and privileges, as to the Governor in Council may seem most advisable for • • 86 the encouragement and permanent settlement of Immigrants . . I? 85 Trutch to Seymour, August 12, 1864, Lands and Works De• partment to Governor. M.A.B.C. 86 British Columbia Ordinances. 1870, No. 18. The ordinance in fact merely liberalized the pre• emption system instead of introducing a comprehensive free- grant system. Thereafter settlers living in the bunch grass country north and east of the Cascades could pre-empt 320 acres of land, a privilege which allowed those raising cat• tle on a small scale to escape from paying rent for pastoral 87 leases.

It is impossible to judge accurately the effect of the pre-emption system upon the settlement of British Col• umbia during the colonial period. Yet it is safe to say. that most of the land under cultivation, except for areas which had been squatted upon illegally, was held under a pre• emption right. New Westminster was the only district on the mainland in which country land was sold at auction. In that district, by 1868, of the 83,440 acres of surveyed land of• fered for sale, 27,797 acres had been bought. Of this amount 88 not more than 250 acres had been brought under cultivation.

Agriculture was secondary .to mining, and it is probable that the discoveries of gold had much more influence upon farming than the actual land-settlement policy of the government.. Because transport in British Columbia was so difficult, it was necessary for the farmer to live as close as possible to his market. Partly for this reason settlement followed the roads leading to the gold mines. In 1860, farm• ers near the mouth of the Lillooet River, close to the Harri- 89 son-Lillooet trail, were making £240 an acre from potatoes. 87 Ibid. .... 88 Trutch to Seymour, August 12,1868, Lands and Y/orks Dep• artment to Governor,M.A.B.C. 89 Douglas to Newcastle, October 9,1860, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. -80- llfe

Douglas reported that "continued accessions are being made to the general population of the Upper Country, the newly formed

roads having given a prodigious impulse to settlement . . .

Mr. Commissioner O'Reilly writing from Williams Lake on April 29 . . . observed on his way up from Lillooet large tracts of land that were fenced in, and at all the wayside houses great preparations for embarking largely in farming operations and moreover in the District of Bridge Creek and Williams.. Lake—he states that 500 acres of land were actually 90 under crops ..." In 1865 the Cariboo Sentinel reported that there was little likelihood of an increase in the price of flour, since "more than a million pounds of flour will be 91 made in the country this year from home grown wheat." The same newspaper soon after announced that owing to the compe• tition of locally grown vegetables, potatoes were selling at 92 less than half the proce of former seasons. The following charts show the total number of acres under cultivation in several districts of the colony,-, as well 93 as the acreage devoted to each of the most important crops. The apparent disappearance of cultivated land in Douglas in and after 1866 does not mean that agriculture had disappeared entirely, but rather that the land recording office had been move90 dDougla to Lillooets to Newcastle. However, Ma, y th18e, marke 1863d, Despatchedecline isn tcultivateo Down• d ing Street, M.A.B.C. 9land1 sCaribo in tho eSentinel Douglas , districSeptembet rbetwee 2, 1865n 186. 2 an# 1865 does illus- 92 Ibid.. September 16 1865. 93 Blue Books of British Columbia, 1862, 1865, 1866, 1867, and 1868.

/ trate the unsettled nature of much of the agriculture in

British Columbia, a problem with which no government land

policy, of whatever nature, could have coped. Douglas had

come into sudden importance as the western terminus of the

Harrison-Lillooet trail, but when that route gave way in popularity to the Cariboo road, Douglas lost much of its former significance and of its farming population as well. —50 • i'8

ACREAGE UNDER CROPS ON THE MAINLAND

Location 1862 1865 1866 1867 1868

Rock Creek 160 0 0 0 0

Douglas 1432 451 0 0 0

Lillooet 330 22 2710 3158 3479

Yale 190 147} ) )

Hope 60 ) 1044) 1797) 3550 Lytton 56 20) 5 5 New Westminster 599 432 1035 614 1137

Sooyoos 0 124 174 290 380

Quesnel and Williams Lake 2011 1276 1820 2989 ACRES IN EACH CROP

Wheat Barley Oats Potatoes Garden Stuff

Location 1862 1868 1862 k1868 1862 1868 1862 1868 1862 1868

Lillooet 0 2016 140 802 376 176 180 .50 including oats

Yale, Hope & Lytton 2 930 4 1366 364 176 205 25 530 including oats New West• minster 0 173 8 63 364 71 380 0 86 including oats

Quesnel and Williams Lake 0 566 0 705 0 1115 0 250 0 340 120

The best justification for the pre-emption system is the fact that it allowed settlers in the vicinity of the mines and beyond the limits of surveyed land to produce for system the local market. Although the absence of a free-grant -sya- was blamed by some for the slow growth of jttee'settlement, they failed to discern that settlers who had pre-empted land in many parts of the colony enjoyed the benefits of a free grant. For since the government was financially unable to survey their land, no payment was required. Yet to make agriculture a permanent and a substantial industry, some con• fidence in the prosperity of the colony, such as that promis• ed by Confederation with its guarantee of railway connections, was needed to support the pre-emption system. Farmers in the upper country could meet the demands of the local flour mar- 94 ket after 1865, and were the chief support of the colony in the depression of 1867. On the other hand, the lower Fraser 95 Valley was still dependent upon imported food; for in that district, uncertainty as to the future of the colony had hin• dered the investment of capital which was needed to clear and drain the land. To those who urged that a free-grant system would solve the settlement problems of the colony, the Cariboo 96 Sentinel offered a sounder argument:

94 Birch to Carnarvon, October 31, 1866, Despatches to Down• ing Street, M.A.B.C. 95 Seymour to Buckingham, August 22, 1868, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 96 Cariboo Sentinel, November 12, 1869. Until now,when Confederation promises to give us popular government and direct communication we have had few attractions to offer for permanent settlement. True, land is cheap and produce dear, but the future has always been the decisive con• sideration and hence production falls far short of the demands .... Something like 'a future' is dawning on the colony, and land that can now be had for a dollar an acre, will soon, by the magical influence of overland railways, popular government, and increased importance, as part of the Dominion, that will attach to the colony, become doubly, trebly, a hundred times more valuable just as it does in Canada and the United States. X 122.

Chapter Six

Pastoral Laws in British Columbia

The excellent quality of the bunch grass in the

country east of the Cascades was noted by Begbie while on circuit. He compared the entire country to "a vast park

attached to a nobleman's mansion in England—nothing but 1 grass and ornamental stumps of trees." Settlers assured him that "at one settlement near Lake Nicola . . . cows had remained out in full milk all through the severe winter: the calves however were put under cover .... a bullock pur• chased in Oregon for a few pounds, can in five or eight weeks be driven at no expense but grazing and fattening as he goes, 2 to the mines." Lieutenant Palmer reported that the grass 5 measured 9' [sic] in height and jj" in diameter. Similar reports were made by District Magistrates in the various districts of the colony. The magistrate at Cayoosh described the grass as most fattening and agreeable 4 to stock of all descriptions. Another pictured the valleys

1 Begbie to Douglas, November 7, 1859. Begbie to Col. Sec. M.A.B.C. 2 Ibid.^April 30, 1860. 3 Palmer to Moody,November 25,1859,Palmer Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 4 Elwyn to Douglas, July 50, 1859, Elwyn Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 123

of the Okanagan as "clothed with every description of herb 5 and plant that could possibly be desired by the stock farmer'.' A third magistrate noted that bunch grass covered the hills 6 surrounding the Upper Thompson from head to foot. Douglas enthusiastically relayed their comments to London as well as his own eye-witness report that "... the peculiar feature of the country is the profusion of grass that covers both woodland and meadows affording rich pasture for domestic animals .... horses and domestic cattle are left out all winter to shift for themselves, and generally thrive without any care on the range . . . pastures being 7 already formed where thousands of cattle may find food." The newspapers of the colony were equally impressed. The Cariboo Sentinel was convinced that large fortunes await- 8 ed those who went in for stock-raising. The editor of the

British Columbian was willing to admit that as an agricul• tural country British Columbia was inferior to Upper Canada, 9 but as a pastoral colony he rated it above California. Although the colony was a potential cattle producer, in the early years it depended upon the United States for its meat supply. Cattle were driven up the Okanagan Valley to 5 Cox to Col. Sec, July 4, 1861, Cox Correspondence,M.A.B.C. 6 Nind to Col. Sec, July 11, 1865,Nind Correspondence,M.A.B.C. 7 Douglas to Newcastle, October 25, 1865, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 8 Cariboo Sentinel. October 15, 1866. 9 British Columbian. February 21 and March 18, 1863. 12,+

the Thompson River and from there to the Cariboo mines. The following figures showing the livestock on which duty was paid during 1861 and 1862 illustrate the extent of these operations: 5396 horses, 4817 cattle, 778 mules and 1371 10 sheep. Magistrate Cox at Rock Creek expressed fear that a certain American would control the beef market in the upper country as a result of his large importations. Until beef production could be stimulated within the colony the govern• ment was unconcerned as to who actually controlled the mar• ket. Its chief purpose was to see that American herds reached the Cariboo since sufficient meat for the miners 12 could not be transported from the coast. At the same time cattle breeding was being encouraged within the colony by the remission of duties under the Southern Boundary Act, to 13 settlers importing cattle for stocking their farms. It soon became apparent that legislation to govern the use of the pasture land in the colony was needed. Al• though the bunch grass was luxuriant it was obvious that it could not last it left as free food for American herds. The activity of the packers caused concern in several dis• tricts. As early as 1860 the magistrate at Cayoosh advised. 10 Nor'ris, L., »W. G. Cox and His Times." Sixth Report of the Okanagan Historical Society, 1935, p. 199. 11 Cox to Col. Sec; March 3, 1861, Cox Correspondence,MABC. 12 W.A.G.Young to Cox, May 16, 1862, Col. Sec. Outward, Corr• espondence, M.A.B.C. 15 J.J.Young to Cox, September 28, 1861, Col. Sec. Corres• pondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 4 125

that two hundred acres of land should he fenced in for the use of government horses. The large number of animals col- 14 lected there by the packers had caused a shortage of grass. In 1862 G. B. Wright and Company warned Douglas that pack animals were likely to destroy the grass growing along the trails, a calamity-which, it was pointed out, had already fal- 15 len upon certain portions of the Bonaparte Valley. Yet the colony in those years was dependent upon imported meat, and could not restrict too closely the activity of the cattle drivers. The importers' point of view is re• vealed in a letter on behalf of the packers sent by H.-H. Ladner to the Governer in 1863. "A Mr. Cornwall pre-empted a piece grass land on the line of Waggon Road forty miles beyond Lytton, he merely planted stakes at the corners of his pre-emption but did not put up any fence-—a man named Courtenay came along the road with 80 head of cattle—he stop• ped with his cattle where water was convenient—during the night his cattle as it appeared in the morning had been gra• zing on the pre-emption claim of "Cornwall" and he claimed from Courtenay $1 per head for the cattle—or he would bring an action for trespass .... Your Excellency will readily perceive the great inconvenience and injury that could be 14 Elwyn to Col. Sec, November 16, 1860, Elwyn Correspond• ence, M.A.B.C. 15 G. E. Wright to Douglas, February 5, 1862, Moberly Corres• pondence, M.A.B.C. -5- 126

inflicted on the packing community if such a law holds good, 16 ..." Another letter revealed the attitude of the farm• ers within the colony to the activity of the cattle drivers: '.' . . . if we are not protected by Lease, or in some other • way from those who travel from place to place, like Gipsies, in Tents, eating up the Brovender which we.have nursed in Summer for our Stock in Winter we will be compelled either t to adopt the same system, or leave the Sountry .... We would require to know, at least one or two years before the expiration of the Lease, the intention of the Government, whether the Lease, is to be continuous or withdrawn, in order that, we can make preparations for our stock in some 17 other way." Captain Clarke's suggested land policy for Brit• ish Columbia contained provisions for dealing with pasture land. "Without the boundaries of declared hundreds, land for depasturage of stock may be occupied under annual licence; amount of licence fee to be determined by capabil• ity of land; or, when two or more applicants wish for same land, the amount of licence to be determined at auction, in which ease the highest bidder to have right of renewal of depasturing licence for—years. This licence, it being

16 Crease to Col. Sec, July 11, 1863, Attorney General correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 17 Sanders to Col. Sec, June 15, 1870, Sanders Corres• pondence, M.A.B.C. -6- 127

distinctly understood, to lapse when all or portion of land

occupied under it be brought within a hundred, be applied for 18 purchase, or be occupied by miners." Douglas' only com- 19 ment was that the plan was inapplicable to British Columbia. In this opinion he was supported by Judge Begbie, who felt that it was hardly possible to prevent trespass in the im• mense grazing districts east of the Cascades. "It is safer 20 and far easier to do nothing." Moody was not satisfied with the "do-nothing" poli• cy. In November, 1860, he advised Douglas that something would have to be done about the pasture lands in the Interior of the colony. He referred to the Australian system of li• censing, and although realizing its disadvantages, felt that a somewhat similar system should be introduced into British Columbia. "With our comparatively limited area it would not do to drift into the same difficulties as exist in Australia by passing over enormous tracts of excellent land to a few individuals for nominal returns, and never being able to re• cover them. Whatever we do in the way of leasing, it must be with our eyes open to the fact that leasing means in the 21 end—real parting with the land forever." In spite of Moody's advice the land laws of the 1colon8 Newcastly made eno tprovisioo Douglasn , foJanuarr regulatiny 7, 1860g pastur, Cmd.e 2724land.s until 19 Douglas to Newcastle, August '24, 'I860, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 20 Begbie to Douglas, April 50, 1860, Begbie to Col. Sec. M.A.B.C. 21 Moody to Douglas, November 7, 1860, Lands and Works Department to the Governor, M.A.B.C. 128

the passage of the Land Ordinance of 1865. Until that time

cattle raisers simply pre-empted land or let their animals 22 roam at large. By section 51 of the Land Ordinance just

mentioned, the Governor was empowered to grant leases of un•

surveyed land. They were to be given only to pre-emptors or

persons who had bought land. Settlers could lease land only

on condition that they stock it within six months with a

proportion of animals to each hundred acres as specified by

the Stipendiary Magistrates. The rent for each lease was to be decided by the Governor. To protect farmers, all land

leased for pastoral purposes was to be liable to pre-emption 23 or purchase, without compensation. These regulations re• mained the same in the Land Ordinance of 1870.

The fact that the ordinance fixed no limit to the

term of pastoral leases brought forth criticism from London.

Seymour was ordered to limit all leases to seven years with no right of renewal. The reason given for such a restric- 24 tion was the fear that long leases might obstruct settlement.

vThe criticism from the Cariboo Sentinel was con• cerned not so much with the term as with the extent of the leases. A.notice posted by the Stipendiary Magistrate, not• ifying people to keep their animals off a range of 15,000 22 Crease to Col. Sec, July 11, 1863, Attorney General Correspondence Outward, Iff.A.B.C. 23 British Columbia Ordinances.1865. No. 27.- 24 Cardwell to Seymour, October 7, 1865, Despatches from Downing Street, M.A.B.C. -8- 129

acres in Hat Valley which the Cornwall brothers 25 had applied to lease, caused a great furor. "We cannot conceive any benefit the Government would derive from allow• ing so much land to get into the hands of one or two persona We would be glad to see every inch of ground from Yale to Cariboo taken up and occupied by bona fide settlers, because that would be an evidence of the country's progress, but to parcel out the best lands of the colony among a few capital• ists would only be bringing upon us an incumbus [?tc] like the Hudson's Bay Company to stop settlement and ruin the 26 country." The British Columbian objected to the same lease being granted because the packers were accustomed to use the valley for grazing purposes. However, a letter from Cornwall to the same paper explained that the land included in the lease was useless for agriculture and used only rare- 27 ly by the pack trains. In order to obtain a pastoral lease the settler made his application through the District Magistrate who forwarded it to the Governor. The District Magistrate ino each case attached to the application his estimate of a reasonable rent and the amount of cattle that the land could support. If there were several applicants for one range, the leases were not actually auctioned off, but the District Magistrates were -requested to find out the highest rent

25 Cariboo Sentinel. August 12, 1865. 26 Ibid.. August 19, 1865. 27 British Columbian. August 24 and October 28, 1865. 130

28 which was being offered.

At first no uniform policy was followed in grant• ing the leases. Those granted in the New Westminster area in 1869 show a variation in term from three to ten years and 29 in rent from $20 per annum to $150 quarterly. Early in

July 1870, B. W. Pearse, the Acting Chief Commissioner of

Lands and Works, suggested that a uniform rate of rent and a uniform rate of cattle to be located on each area should be established. He felt that one rate could be applied to the upper country and the other to Vancouver Island. Accord• ingly, at the Governor's request, he submitted a schedule of rules. His suggestions for the mainland were as follows: no lease should exceed 5 square miles or 3200 acres; appli• cants to stock their land at the rate of one head of horned cattle or horses, or three head of sheep to every ten acres; rental for lands if fenced 30 an acre, if unfenced 70; terms of leases for unfenced lands, 7 years; for fenced land 14 years. In order to preserve the bunch grass he also re• quested that each applicant should be required to depasture his stock alternately on each half of his land or to plant 30 English Grasses or Mexican alfalfa on 20 acres each year.

28 Trutch to Sanders, October 26, 1869, Lands and Works Department Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 29 Statement of Pastoral Leases in the New Westminster District, September 16, 1869, Folder 952, M.A.B.C. 30 Pearse to Musgrave, July 4 and July 29, 1870, Lands and Works Department to the Governor, M.A.B.C. 131

In making this last suggestion he pointed out that for many- miles in the upper country the grass had been so thoroughly eaten off and destroyed that it could hardly be seen along the waggon road.

Musgrave's opinion of this schedule was modified 31 by suggestions from the cattle raisers of Alkali Lake.

Although no definite schedule was drawn up, a more or less uniform policy was being followed in 1871. Leases granted in Sumas, Chilliwack and in the Bonaparte, Thompson and

Okanagan Valleys in that year were for a fiver-year period at the rate of 40 an acre. Although the expense of survey varied according to location and extent, $75 was the average 32 cost for a lease of one thousand acres. In the more remote parts of the colony, no limit appears to have been set to the extent of leases as suggested by Pearse. The records show leases of five thousand and six thousand acres in the 33 Similkameen and Hat Creek districts respectively. In most cases a maximum of one head of cattle to ten acres was 34 allowed. Although the provision for pastoral leases was the most important legislation passed during the colonial period 31 Sanders to Col. Sec, June 15, 1870, M.A.B.C. 32 Lands and Works Department Correspondence Outward,. October 25 and November 1, .1871, M.A.B.C. 33 Trutch to O'Reilly, August 26, 1869," and" Pearse to Bushby, October 25, 18711:, Lands and Works Department Correspondence Outward^, M.A.B.C. ' " " 34 Sanders to Col. Sec, April 24, 1869, Sanders Corres• pondence, M.A.B.C. -±±- 032

to encourage cattle raising there were several minor laws enacted for that purpose. The Fence Ordinance of 1869 made it possible for any area in the colony to be designated as a fence district if so desired by two-thirds of the land-owners. After the request had been granted, no person living within

the area could claim damages for tresspass becauselof cattle straying onto his land unless his property was protected by a "lawful fence." This fence was defined;in the act as a fence "at least 4'9" high throughout, above the general sur• face of the ground, and substantially constructed of either stone, brick, earth, wood or iron .... and if made of horizontal bars .... of such dimensions so as not to leave more than 6" between the several bars or rails respec• tively, up to the height of 3' from the surface'of the ground and for the remainder of the fence not more than 12" between the said bars or rails." If cattle broke into land protected by such a fence, the owner was to be liable for

the damages. His cattle might be impounded or sold at pub- 35 lie auction. The ordinance was passed in spite of the misgiv• ings of some officials. Crease was not in favour of it, since fences had already been erected at great expense in some districts of the colony which he felt .were effective in keeping out cattle although not constructed in accordance

35 British Columbia Ordinances. 1869, No. 9. -±2 I33 with the definition of a lawful fence. He pointed out that

the slightest deviation from the definition of a fence in the act would preclude the owner from claiming damages for 36 trespasss Bushby, the Registrar General, had similar fears about the ordinance and predicted that settlers would re• gret the application of it to themselves. In addition he objected to including the Indian reserves within a fence 37 district.

Another law passed to encourage stock raising was the Cattle Ordinance of 1869. Its purpose was to limit cattle stealing and shooting chiefly among the settlers on

Vancouver Island. Sesws conditions on the mainland were more peaceful, only certain sections of the act applied to that area. The sections of the act applying to the mainland suthorized the Justices of the Peace to restore stolen cat• tle. To prevent cattle from being shot and secretly skin• ned in the woods, the act imposed a penalty on anyone pos• sessing the carcasses of stolen cattle. To prevent cattle from being stolen it imposed a penalty on anyone fraudulent• ly branding them. It further required anyone using a brand 39 to register it with the magistrate of the district. To help settlers to get their beef to market the

36 Crease to Seymour, April 16, 1869, Attorney General, Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 37 Bushby to Col. Sec, May 12, 1870, Bushby Correspondence, M.A.B.C... 38 Crease to Seymour, April 16, 1869, Attorney General, Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 39 British Columbia Ordinances. 1869, No. 10. ~i3-

Tolls Exemption Act of 1871 exempted from road and ferry 40 tolls all cattle coming from the interior of the colony.

Although the transportation difficulties remained great it was hoped that the relief thus offered might encourage set- 41 tiers to send their cattle, wool and hides to the coast. Settlers with little money to stock their farms were encouraged by the Cattle Exemption Act of 1871. Al• though they could easily acquire land in the colony, farmers found the rate of interest too high to borrow money for the purchase of stock. It thus became increasingly common for settlers to obtain cattle from persons wishing to invest money, in return for providing fodder and a run for the stock. As explained by the Attorney-General, "both parties incur some risk of not having entered into a profitable speculation, but should it prove successful they divide the 42 profits in the manner agreed upon." The Cattle Exemption Act of 1871 encouraged this practice by assuring the owner who put his cattle out on shares that they could not be the seized and sold for/debt of the person on whose land they 43 might be. To prevent settlers from claiming the cattle as their personal property in order to obtain cr.edit, the ordinance made it necessary that the agreement, should be registered with the Stipendiary Magistrate. For the en- 40 British Columbia Ordinances. 1871. No. 20. 41 G. Phillippo to Musgrave, March 29, 1871, Attorney Gen• eral Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 42 Phillippo to Musgrave, April 6, 1871, Attorney General Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.-C- 43 British Columbia Ordinances. 1871. No. 24. *±4- 135

couragement thus provided to poorer settlers the Daily Stan• dard hailed the act as "one of those reforms that is calculat- 44 ed to give a great impetus to the settlement of the country. Although pastoral leases were available, it is evident that some cattle raisers used the land illegally. Magistrates throughout the interior of the colony cited in• stances of Indian lands being used by white men for pasturing cattle. Before leases had been provided for, it was reported that Chief Nisquaimlth had rented part of his land on the 45 Upper Thompson and Shuswap Lake area to a stock-raiser. The practice continued after the passage of the Land Ordin• ance of 1865. W. Moberl^y, who was sent out to reduce the reserves of the Shuswap Indians, told Trutch that Nisquaimlth objected to the reduction since the Indians received "con• siderable sums of money from white men for the use of their 46 grass lands." Similarly in the Okanagan Lake area, J. Turnbull reported that the Indians were charging for the use 47 of their lands. The British Columbian stated that Chief

St. Paul on the Thompson River had rented his entire tract from Fort Kamloops to the Little Shuswap Lake to Jerome Har• per as a stock range for $25 a month. "Thus one of the most valuable ranges in the country is locked up, and anyone who 44 Daily Standard. April 18,. 1871. 45 Nind.to Col. Sec, July 17, 1865, Nind Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 46 Moberljgy to Trutch, December 22, 1865, Moberl^y Corres• pondence, M.A.B.C. 47 Turnbull to Trutch, January 17, 1866, Turnbull Corres• pondence, M.A.B.C. attempts to cut hay or otherwise make use of any portion of it 48 is hunted off by the Indians. " This practice became so common that Sanders suggested that the Magistrates should be legally authorized, with the consent of the Indians, to lease portions of their reserves to white settlers, the money to be 49 used to support the Indians during the winter months. His suggestion was not approved. Instead Trutch ordered that every precaution should be taken to keep white men off the 50 reserves.

. In spite of the illegal use of Indian lands, the government regulations worked well.. Applications for leases increased, particularly between 1869 and 1871. The demand became so great in some districts that Pearse suggested that the ranges might be auctioned off. During 1870 settlers applied to lease 700 acres in the New Westminster District and 22,850 acres in the Lillooet District. By the end of the year leases had been granted covering 13,430 acres in the

Hope, Yale and Lytton area and 3500 acres in the Lillooet 52 area. However, these figures do not accurately measure the number of leases that the government desired to grant.

48 British Columbian. August 4, 1866. 49 Sanders to Col. Sec, Feb. 2, 1868, Sanders Correspon^- dence^ M.A.B.C. 50 Trutch to.Sanders, March 11, 1868, Lands and Works Depart• ment Correspondence Outward,.M.A.B.C. 51 Pearse to Musgrave, July 7, 1870, Lands and Works Depart• ment to Governor, M.A.B.C. 52 Journals of the -Legislative Council of British Columbia. 1871. No. 54. I I r i i -±6«*-7

From September 1870 to the end of the year leases were refus• ed because of negotiations with the Dominion Government for land along the proposed railway. By 1871 they were once more being granted with the condition attached that the government might terminate the lease "after six months notice should any such lands be included or be selected as part of the tract of land to be granted by this Colony in aid of the construction 54 of the proposed railroad."

Accordingly there was a great increase in the num• ber of leases granted in 1871. On August .21, 1871, Pearse authorized Bushby to conclude leases amounting to 14,400 acres in the Yale/Lytton district. On October 5, 1871, the same Magistrate was instructed to grant an additional 3281 acres. On October'14 and 25 he leased a total of 2000 and

7000 acres^ In the Kootenay district Haynes parted with a 55 total of 7500 acres between October 14 and November 1, 1871.

The increase was also reflected in the areas which requested to be made into fence districts. Before granting such requests great care was taken by officials to explain to settlers the effects which the Fence Ordinance would have upon them. Thus, in 1869 a meeting of the settlers of the 53 Pearse to Sanders, September 3, 1870 and Pearse to 0»Reilly, September 3, 1870, Lands and Works Department, Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 54 Trutch to Bushby, December 27, .1870, Lands and Works Department, Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 55 Pearse to Bushby, August 21, October 5, 14, 25, and Nov• ember 1, 1871, & Holbrook to Bushby, November 18, 1871, and Pearse to Haynes, October 14 and November 11, 1871, Lands and Works Department, Correspondence Outward,M.A.B.C. 136

North Arm District was called by Bushby to discuss their 56 application with the result that it was unanimously withdrawn. In February 1870, permission was given to the settlers in the Chilliwack area to organize their territory as a fence dis• trict, the deciding factor being the large number of cattle 57 owners who signed the petition. Although the settlers on the south side of the Fraser opposite New Westminster made 58 a similar request in 1869 approval was not given until 1871. By that time population had so increased that officials no longer feared that the original signers of the petition might be outnumbered by new cattle raisers who might object to the request. The growing importance of stock raising in the t jStolony was remarked upon by Musgrave in a despatch to London. "Your Lordship will observe the significance of the fact that attention is now directed to obtaining a market for produce which is raised among ourselves,, instead of all our supplies being drawn from abroad. Probably next year there will be little or no beef imported in Victoria. The Upper Country of the Fraser being already supplied as cheaply with 59 Mea56 tBushb and yBreadstuff to Col. Secs as ,an Septembey other r portio3, 1869n o,f Bushb the ycolony. Corres" • pondence, M.A.B.C. 57 Ball to Col. Sec. January S7, 1870, Ball Correspondence, M.A.B.C. . - - 58 Bushby to Col. Sec, January 31, 1871, Bushby Corres• pondence, M.A.B.C. 59 Musgrave to Granville, October 15, 1869, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 18- »-39

The low cost of meat in the Upper Fraser was verified by the Cariboo Sentinel. "Our markets are well supplied with excel• lent beef and mutton from colonial stock and at very moderate prices—'from 100 to 150 per pound. There seems to be no longer any necessity for importing heaves and sheep for the

interior and upper country, and we shall soon be independent 60 of foreign supplies in respect of bacon and hams." Official statistics reveal that the colony's dependence upon imported meat was considerably less than in 1862. In 1870 only 1037 horses and mules, 182 cows, 136 calves, 1061 beef cattle, 5513 sheep and 972 hogs were brought in from the 61 United States. That the colony had to import meat at all can be blamed not upon the system of pastoral leases adopted by the Government but rather upon the ever-present difficulties of transportation. The Cariboo Sentinel was convinced that the whole of the lower mainland could be supplied with meat from the interior if roads were built. "The pastoral lands of the colony, extending from Lytton to the base of the Rocky Moun^- tains are capable of affording sustenance to a thousand times the present number of cattle in the colony. The market, however, is a small one, and the efforts made to stock the country are limited; but if road facilities were available, - • 62 the market would be largely increased ..." 60 Cariboo Sentinel. September 24, 1870. 61 Blue Book of 1870. 62 Cariboo Sentinel, November 20, 1869. -19- »40

In 1871 there were approximately 1300 beef cattle in the Thompson and Okanagan Valleys ready for the lower mainland and Victoria markets. However, it was impossible to drive them down the Cariboo Road because of the dangerous route and the scarcity of food. The settlers' only resource was to use the Similkameen-Hope route, but fallen timber had 63 blocked the trail and high water had washed away bridges. It is evident that the defect lay in the geographical and economic conditions of the colony, and to ensure the success of the Government's pastoral laws the proposed transcontinen• tal railway was badly needed.

63 Dewdney to Pearse, December 19, 1871, Lands and Works Department, Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. Chapter Seven

LAND AS A SOURCE OF PUBLIC REVENUE

The main purpose of the pre-emption and pastoral laws was to increase the population of the colony. However, there were other aspects of; the government's land policy the chief aims ^of which were to raise revenue.

As in most young colonies, land scrip was used in place of money to pay for public works. As early as May 1859, Walter Moberl^y suggested that 125 acres should be granted labourers for every mile of road they opened up pro• vided they could reside on the land and clear at least two 1 acres a year. Accordingly the contractors for the Harrison- Lillboet Road were paid 1/10 in money and 9/10 in land esti• mated at the value of 10s. an acre. They were granted 1738 2/5 acres in all, valued at £869. 4s. A return prepared by Moody listing the amount of land scrip issued from October 1859 to December 1862 revealed that 12,365 acres valued at 2 approximately £4000 had been granted during that period.

1 Moberl^y to Moody, May 28, 1859, Moberley Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 2 Moody to Douglas, December 3, 1859, Lands and Works Dep• artment to the Governor, M.A.B.C. Moody to Douglas, 1862, Return in Folder 918, M.A.B.C. 14 2

The chief use made of scrip was in payment for road work. This was particularly true in the lower mainland area. Here land scrip paid for the construction of roads in the Pitt Meadows, Coquitlam and Harrison-Lillooet areas, as 3 well as in the vicinity of New Westminster. The Contractor who erected the customs house at New Westminster received 556 acres of land as the equivalent of £178. A grant of £300 in scrip was issued to the Municipal Council of New West- 4 minster for clearing the streets of the town. Although the weight of the colony's financial bur• den was eased by using land in place of money, the use of scrip had an unfavourable result on the value of land. In 1860 when land was selling at 10s. an acre, Douglas informed Moody that no more scrip was to be issued. "In one case in which a tender was sent in for the execution of a public work, and where part payment was to be made in land, I found 5 that the value of the land was estimated at 900 per acre." After the price of land was reduced in 1861, land scrip was once more issued for the construction of roads. Alarmed at the reduction, however, contractors became increasingly re• 3luctan Douglat tso accepto Moodyt scri, Februarp as paymenty 17, .1860 Thos, ane dwh Auguso lacket 1d8 capita1862, l Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. 1 Moody to Douglas, September 4 and 17, and December 6, 1862 Lands and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. 4 w; A."G. Young to Moody, August 15, 1860 and December 7, 1863, Colonial Secretary to Lands and Works Department.MABC. 5 Douglas to Moody, April 10, i860, M.A.B.C. Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. 143

had to borrow money at the highest rates of interest. "Scrip

is rejected as security, its convertibility into cash being

uncertain. Merchants will not take Scrip in payment for pro•

visions and tools for working parties—The Labourers cannot

take Scrip as payment. The Scrip therefore has to be held

oftentimes for many months, the contractor all the while pay- 6

ing the high % for the cash he borrowed." Scrip became so

difficult to negotiate that the contractors working on the

Pitt Meadow Road requested that their remaining payments be 7 made in cash at a 20% discount instead of in scrip. The scrip became equally obnoxious to the government officials 8 charged with keeping track of it. For these reasons when Trutch became Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works land 9

scrip was completely discarded.

The policy of the government with respect to sur•

veyed country land had as its chief object the raising of

revenue. According to Douglas' proclamation of February 14,

1859, surveyed country land was to sell at an upset price of

10s. an acre, payable half in cash at the time of the sale,

and the other half in two years- All surveyed country land

was to be offered first at auction, but any that remained un- 10 sold would be available at the upset price of 10s. The 6 Moody to Douglas,August 15 1860and December 7,1863,Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. 7 W.A.C-.Young to Moody, May 22 1862, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department,M.A.B.C. 8 Moody to Douglas, May 26 1863. Lands and Works Department to Governor, M.A.B.C. Captain H.L.Luard to Moody, August 16 1861, Luard Correspondence,M.A.B.C. 9 Moberl^y to H.McRoberts, May 30, 1865, Lands and Works Dep• artment Correspondence Outward., M.A.B.C. 10 Proclamation of February 14, 1859. British Columbia Proc- lamations, 1858 - 1864. 14-4

price of such land was reduced to 4s. 2d. by the Country 11 Lands Act of 1861.' The price as stated in decimal currency 12

by the Land Ordinance of 1870 was $1.00 an acre.

The sale of surveyed country land was not a finan•

cial success. In 1868 Trutch informed the Governor that New

Westminster was the only district on the mainland in which

country land had been sold at auction. In that district

83,440 acres had been surveyed and offered for sale. Of this

area only 6,789 acres had been bought at auction, although

an additional 21,008 acres, having failed to sell at auction,

had been bought outright at the upset price. Since the

chief object of the government was to raise revenue, no limit was placed upon the amount of land sold to each individual at

the auction sales, nor were any resident requirements imposed.

The result was that not more than 250 acres of the 27,797

acres sold in New Westminster had been brought under culti- 13 vation, the rest being used for pasturage.

The failure to impose resident requirements upon

the buyers of surveyed land brought forth criticism from the

British Columbian to the effect that New Westminster had been landlocked by speculators. The following is an extract from a letter sent to that newspaper by a settler who found 11 British Columbia Proclamations. 1861, No. 2. 12 British Columbia . Ordinances,• 1870, No. 18. 13 Trutch to Seymour; August 12, 1868, Lands and Y/orks De• partment to the Governor, M.A.B.C. 14- 5

himself surrounded hy unimproved land. "Here I am on the south side of the Fraser—the solitary settler—all the avail• able land on.either side of me has been taken up and secured by Deeds from the Crown . . . .If this land on the bank of the river had been let alone by speculators, I would have had at least g dozen neighbours for the land is too valuable to have remained unoccupied; not a week passes without one or two parties visiting this side of the river looking for land to pre-empt, and when they"find out that all this wilderness around me is taken up and secured by gentlemen of ease and 14 position, their curses are loud and long . . ." The editor advocated "such conditions of sale as would prevent persons purchasing and holding Crown lands without occupying or im• proving the same .... and a tax upon unimproved country 15 lands." Although no wild-land tax was imposed until afterr Confederation, justification for the British Columbian's objections can be found in Trutch^'s opinion of the same problem. He wrote that: ". . .it appears very clear that the sale of Crown Lands at Auction in unlimited extents is unsuited to the circumstances of this young country: for the evil results of this system are strikingly exemplified in the Districts around Victoria and New Westminster (and more par• ticularly in the' latter) in which large tracts of land pur- 14 British Columbian. October 11, 1862. 15 British Columbian, January 14, 1865. chased at auction for purely speculative purposes remain still in the same primitive condition as when they were sold—not a tree felled—.not an acre ploughed up—totally unproductive to the owners—and retarding the general progress of the 16 country."

The sale of town lots was another aspect of the government's land policy which had as its chief object the raising of revenue. The Proclamation of February 14, 1859, 17 established the policy of selling town lots at auction. The upset price was to be set by the governor according to 18 the value of the site. Previous to this, for the purpose of raising immediate revenue, lots had been leased at Fort 19 Hope and Fort Yale at a monthly rental of 41s. 8d. or $10. Notice was given in November 1858 that this system 20 of leasing was to cease. Considerable confusion was caused, however, by those leases which had already been granted. Begbie reported that the residents of Hope were willing to accept $100 as the price of their lots, but unwilling to pay 21 further rent until the titles had been issued to them. The town of Yale was found in such confusion over disputed lots 16 Trutch to Seymour, August 12, 1868, Lands and Works De• that partmenBegbie t suggesteto thed Governor that th, eM.A.B.C whole .are a should be laid out 17 Proclamation of February 14, 1859, British.Columbia Proc• lamations . 1858 - 1864. 18 Douglas to Lytton, February 19, 1859, Cmd. 2578. 19 Douglas to Moody, May 4,.. 1859,. Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. "20 Douglas to R. D. Bryant and R. Hicks, November 27, 1858, Col. Sec. Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 21 Begbie to Douglas, March 18, 1859, Begbie to Col. Sec. M.A.B.C. 147

again and the bidders allowed the rent they had already paid, for ". . .if this general confiscation be not made, it seems probable that a far larger amount of £.s.d. will be shortly expended in law cases ...» At Port Douglas similar prob• lems developed owing to the fact that no official list was 22 kept of those receiving leases. Douglas was highly pleased with the first sale of Few Westminster town lots which took place in Victoria on June 1 and 2, 1859, under the terms of the Proclamation of February 14, 1859. "The result has proved most satisfactory as a financial operation and indicates a general confidence in the future of the colony. The actual amount of sales was rather over $89,000 of which a deposit of twenty-five per cent was made on the purchase. The remaining balance to be paid in three instalments on the first day of July, August, September next respectively. The average price of the lots sold was nearly $290, $1295 being the highest amount realized 23 for a single lot." For the other towns of the colony the following up• set prices were set by the Governor for town lots; Yale, Rich• field and Quesnelmouth, £60; Boston Bar, $75; Lillooet, $100; 2-2 Nicol to W.A.G.Young, May 28, 1859, Nicol Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 23 Douglas to Lytton, June 6, 1859, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. !4-8

Clinton, $200; Alexandria, $100; Barkerville and Cameron 24 Town, $200. Suburban lots, varying in size from 2§ to 15

acres and marked off from rural land by a belt of 5 chains 25

wide, sold at an upset price of £20.

In spite of Douglas' enthusiasm over the first sale

of town lots at New Westminster, complaints were soon receiv•

ed about the high upset prices. C. S. Nicol noticed the

feeling of dissatisfaction as early as June 1859 at Port

Douglas. "I think it will be as well for the next sale to

take place in Victoria—the people here seem not at all in•

clined to buy now quite a reaction has taken place some 26

months ago they were eager to buy." Prospective buyers

were unwilling to pay.the high prices asked because of the

uncertain future of the towns in the colony. A memorial sent

by the residents of Clinton to the Governor asked for a 50$ rep_- reduction in price. "We beg to/present that the price of 24 Col. Sec. to Nind, November 26, 1860, Col. Sec. Corres• pondence Outward, M.A.B.C. - ~i' Douglas to Moody, May 11, 1863, Col. Sec. to Land and Works Department, M.A.B.C. O'Reilly to Col. Sec, August 3, 1863, O'Reilly Corres• pondence, M.A.B.C. Seymour to Trutch, November 27, 1865, Col. Sec. to Land and Works Department, M.A.B.C. Howae to Trutch, October 5, 1866, Folder 947, Lands and Works Department Correspondence, M.A.B.C. Sanders to Trutch, March 5, 1868, Sanders Correspondence, M.A.B.C. Pearse to Sanders, February 10, 1871, Lands and Works Department Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 25 Douglas to Moody, January 10, 1860 and September 28, 1863, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. 26 Nicol to Moody, June 10, 1859, Nicol Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 149

$200 is higher than is justified by the future prospects of the Town that more lots would be sold at a lower price and the interests of the Town better promoted and that we have 27 purchased lots solely to avoid the loss of our improvements." O'Reilly observed that the residents at Richfield attempted to boycott the auction sales. He reported that: "... owing to a combination entered into by some of the house• holders (the object of which was an endeavour to frustrate the sale, and to retain possession of the lots, by paying the usual Rental of 10s. per month) not more than half the amount 28 I had calculated on was realized. . ."

The government was forced to respond to these com• plaints, unwilling to encourage leasing of lots which had created such confusion, Trutch ordered that the buyers of 29 town lots should not be pressed for their instalments. In addition notice was given to reduce the price of town lots at .30 Clinton from $200 to $100. The need for money did not blind the government to the dangers of selling town lots by auction and sincere ef• forts were made to prevent speculation. The District Magis• trates, auctioneers or any person connected with the conduct 27 A.C.Elliott To Col. Sec, October 27, 1863, Elliot31 t Cor• of threspondencee auction ,sale M.A.B.Cs wer.e not allowed to buy lots. Lots 23 O'Reilly to Col. Sec, September 1, 1863, O'Reilly Corres• pondence, M.A.B.C. 29 Trutch to Cox, May 7, 1867, Lands and Works Department Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 30 Pearse to Sanders, February 10, 1871, Lands and Works Detriment Depatrnt* Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 31 W.A.G.Young to Moody, May 11, 1863, M.A.B.C. -±6- \5o

of little commercial value in New Westminster were made

available to the "Heads of Departments and to their principal

assistants" at the upset price "to prevent thoisj© Gentlemen lBeing obliged to go into the market to bid against specula•

tors for the purpose of obtaining a- site for a residence, which in the circumstances of the Country it was indispehs- 32 sible they should procure. . ."

These precautions therefore limited public criti- c

cism ghiefly to the government's methods of selling suburban

lots. The British Columbian objected to the large area sur•

rounding New Westminster which had been marked off into sub•

urban lots with no conditions of settlement attached to their 33.

sale. "Let the farmer come close to the town. The pros•

pect of his land becoming valuable will prompt him to carry 34

on his improvements with energy."

It is difficult to give accurate figures showing

the amount of money that the government raised by the sale

of town lots, since the figures in the Blue Books do not dis•

tinguish between revenue from town and country land. It is

safe to say, however, that the amounts became increasingly

disappointing in comparison with those obtained at the first

sale, of lots in New Westminster. At that sale over $89,000

had b'een raised. In 1860 the total revenue from land was " 32 W.A.G.Young- to Moody, March 19, 1860, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, •M.A.B.C. 33 British Columbian. August- 1-5,- 1861. 34 British Columbian. September 5, 1861. - I 5*J

35 approximately £11,000. The estimated revenue from town 36 lots for 1866 dropped to £1500" and for 1867 was only $700.

The policy of using land as a source of revenue

created the problem of Government Reserves." The Proclamation

of February 14, 1859, stated that one-quarter of the lots in

Ne?/ Westminster were to be reserved for purchase in the United 37

Kingdom and the British Colonies. De Cosmos, the editor of

the British Colonist, at once lashed out. "Advertise abroad

if you think it will bring immigrants to the country, but

sell here. We want no absentee landlords to draw money out 38 of the country, and spend it abroad." Because the same criticism was expressed by Lytton, the reservation was with- 39 drawn.

Before town lots could be sold, town sites had to be chosen and marked as government reserves. Settlers com• plained that the government reserved much more land than was necessary. In 1859 when Douglas was still hoping that sur• veyed country land would be sold at auction throughout the colony, magistrates were advised to reserve all country land 40 immediately beyond the suburban-lots. The delay in marking out these reserves was an inconvenience to settlers since it 41 caused confusion as to what land was open for pre-emption.

35 Blue Book of I860. 36 Trutch to Col. Sec, November 27, 1865 and January 23, 1867, Lands and Works Department to the Government, M.A.B.C. 37 Proclamation of February 14, 1859, British Columbia Pro• clamations . 1858 - 1864. 38 British Colonist. February 19, 1859. 39 Lytton to Douglas, May 7, 1859, Cmd. 2578. 40 Douglas, -Circular Letter to the Magistrates, October 1, 1859, Col. Sec Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 41 Douglas to Moody, April 10, 1860, Col. Sec to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. ^8-

Begbie complained that at Cayoosh an indefinite space of two

miles on each side of the Fraser was rumoured to be reserved

for a town while settlers anxious to pre-empt land there,

but unable because of the vagueness of the area, paid 6d.

each for potatoes. At Douglas the whole flat of over 1000

acres, including nearly all the arable land, was reserved for

a town-site, whereas Begbie estimated that 40 to 50 acres

would be sufficient. He maintained that the number of lots

already sold and laid out in New Westminster was almost

double the inhabited area of "Victoria and would therefore 42

be left unoccupied for many years.

The newspapers echoed Begbie's criticisms. The

Cariboo Sentinel complained of the extensive reserves annou-

Xced weekly in the Government Gazette and urged officials to 43

look to settlers and not to high priced lands for revenue."

The British Columbian described the plight of settlers look•

ing for pre-emption sites in the vicinity of New Westminster.

"Let five or six men desirous of settling conceive that any

part of the country would suit them, and down goes Reserva•

tion on that spot as quickly as if somebody stood over the map with a stencil, plate and brush ready for such contingen- 44 cies." As one solution Begbie suggested that the limit of

42 Begbie to Douglas, April 11, 1860, Begbie to Col.. Sec. M.A.B.C. 43 Cariboo Sentinel. August 25, 1869. . 44 British Columbian. March 6., 1862. -±3-

such reservations could be established by defining town

sites as including "all the land within Car. radius of one-

half mile from a fixed post (fixing the post at once) and

suburban lands all beyond that distance and within a radius 45

of one mile from such post." No such definite limitation in

size was set'upon the reserves, but the magistrates were

directed to mark out the boundaries by corner and intermedi•

ate posts,.and to notify settlers that the reserves were not

to be encroached upon, without discouraging them from settl- 46

ing in the neighbourhood.

In areas where the government's hopes for revenue

had been too optimistic the reserve signs were gradually re- 47

moved and the land thrown open for pre-emption. Yet this"'

was not accomplished without charges of corruption. A let•

ter appearing in the British Columbian charged that govern•

ment favourites were receiving notice of the removal before

-the public did. The writer demanded ". . . that all reserved

lands, be duly advertised: that on any reserves being withr-

drawn, the public be duly appraised of the same: thus preveht- 48

4in5 g Begbisecrete, jobbery.to Douglas" , ApriA memorial 30, l1860 to ,th Begbie Duke e toof Col Newcastl. Sec.e M.A.B.C. 4fro6 m Dougladelegates tso Moodyrepresentin, Mar.g 4Hope, 1862, Dougla, Col. s Secand. Netow Land Westminstes and r Works Department, M.A.B.C. 47 Moody to Douglas, July 5, 1860, Lands and Works Depart• ment to.the Governor, M.A.B.C. 48 British Columbian. March 28, 1861. 154-

charged that ". . . lands have been declared public reserves, which have been afterwards claimed by parties connected with 49 the Colonial Government." Douglas considered the charges as 50 being without foundation and accepted Moody's explanation that the notices of withdrawal were announced at auction sales 51 and also published in the,, .Government Gazette. To solve its military problems the government hoped to use land as a means of providing a system of cheap defence. The fear of American aggression is reflected in the military, reserves at strategic points along the boundary. The Justice of the Peace at New Westminster, was instructed to reserve "the whole of the opposite side of the river extending from two miles above the junction of the Pitt River with the Fraser to six miles below the city and all across to the fron• tier. The above is on account of Military considerations of 52 of grave importance." On the recommendation of Lieutenant Palmer additional military sites were reserved in the Similk- 53 ameen Valley. In order to create additional revenue, Moody was instructed to lease the military reserves opposite New 54 Westminster at low rents and subject to military resumption. 49 Douglas to Newcastle, April 22, 1861, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 50 Ibid. 51 Moody to Douglas, July 5, 1860 and April 1, 1861, Lands and Works Department to the Governor, M.A.B.C. 52 Moody to Spayd.ding, January 20, 1860, Lands and Works Department Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 53 Palmer to Moody, November 23, 1859, Palmer Correspondence, M.A.B.C. Moody to O'Reilly, September 21, 1860, Lands and Works Department, Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 54 W.A.G.Young to Moody February 17, 1860, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. -15- 1^5

Complementary to the system of military reserves was the government's policy of attracting military settlers. Non-commissioned officers and men of the Royal Engineers were to receive grants not exceeding thirty acres after six years of service in British Columbia on condition that they-reside on the land and be available for military service if called upon. It was suggested by Lord Carnarvon that the men should 55 be located at strategic points along the frontier. At Douglas* request a copy of the usual regulations granting remissions on the purchase price of land to officers of the army and navy were forwarded by Lytton. The Colonial Secretary doubted the success of such a scheme, but agreed with Douglas that, if successful, the effect would be "to introduce a superior and a very loyal and attached class of settler and that ... could not fail to be especially bene- 56 flcial in British Columbia." The regulations were embodied in a proclamation issued by Douglas March 18, 1861. Military and naval officers who had lived in the colony for two years y/ould receive a location ticket allowing them remissions on the purchase price of their lands. The amounts allowed were 55 Carnarvon to Moody enclosed in Lytton to Douglas, Septem• ber 2, 1858, Despatched from Downing Street, M.A.B.C. • 56 Lytton to Douglas, March 19, 1859^ Despatches from Down• ing Street, M.A.B.C. -16- I5&

based upon the rank and length of service of the officers 57 as follows:

Field Officers of 25 years' service £600 Field Officers of 20 years* service £500 Field Officers of 15 years' service £400 Captains of 20 years' service and upwards £500 Captains of 15 years' service and less £300 Subalterns of 20 years' service and upwards £300 Subalterns of 7 years' service and upwards £200

Circumstances within the colony caused the Military and Naval Settlers Act to be passed in 1863 revising the system of remissions on the price of land. Since the origin• al sums had been calculated on the assumption that the price of land would remain at £1 an acre, a change was necessary when it fell to 4s. 2d. Thus, in order to restrict the acreage of military grants, the new act provided for free grants in place of cash credits. A Field officer of 25 years' service or more, instead of receiving a remission of

£600 would receive a free grant of six hundred acres. The acreage for the lesser officers was worked out according to their length of service in the same ratio as in the previous 58 act. Residence requirements were made more specific in the new ordinance. Although few officers had taken advantage of the legislation, those who had had left their lands unim• proved and had created the impression that they were being 59 held for profitable resale. De/Cosmos had labelled the 57 Remission of Purchase Money to Military and Naval Set• tlers, British Columbia Proclamations.^1861. No. 3. 58 British Columbia Proclamations. 1863, No. 2. 59 Douglas to Newcastle, May 15, 1863, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. •±¥- 15/

original act a piece of class legislation which allowed a fetired officer to "smoke his cigars, drink his brandy and water, eat his fine dinners, and never turn a furrow nor cut down a tree, nor set foot for two years on his free grant; and at the end of that period receive an absolute fee simple 60 title ..." By the new act the officer was required to re• side on the land he selected for two years before receiving the title. He was also limited in his choice to unsurveyed country land. With these restrictions imposed, the act of• fered little more than the pre-emption laws, a fact which caused Douglas to remark that it could be left off the stat- 61 ute books without detriment to the colony. To ease these restrictions the Naval and Military Settlers Relief Ordinance, 1864 exempted officers who had re• signed from the services before August 31, 1863, thereby 62 allowing them to receive cash credit and a larger grant. To encourage non-commissioned officers the thirty acres, originally valued at £30, to which they were entitled, was 63 enlarged to 150 acres after the fall in price of land. This relief was necessitated by the disappointing response of the Royal Engineers as described by the Colonial Secretary. 60 British Colonist. March 26, 1861. H6e1 wrotW.A.G.Youne that g" .t .o Moody.at ,th Marce timh e9 ,th 1863e Detachmen, Col. Sect .wa st obroke Landsn and Works Department, M.A.B.C. 62 British Columbia Proclamations. 1864, No. 15. 63 A. N. Birch to Trutch, April. 6, 1867, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. -18- 158

up ... a paper was handed to the men to which all those who wished to avail themselves of the promise made by Sir

E. B. Lytton were desired to sign their names. Out of the

100 men who selected to take their discharge only one was found willing to undertake the obligations he would incur in accepting the Free Grant ... It is I consider very improb• able, that men who are making from $3 to $8 a day could be willing to accept so small a grant as 30 acres on the terms specified in a colony where the acquisition of land under the 64 pre-emption law is so easy and inexpensive."

The result of the system of military grants was disappointing chiefly because of the competition from the pre-emption laws. The enlarged grants to the non-commissioned officers were effective to a certain extent since by 1869 65 fifty of them has been made in the New Westminster district.

The situation with respect to the officers' grants was equal• ly discouraging. In 1870 when a circular despatch arrived from London warning that specified improvements were to be required of officers who desired title to their land, Musgrave could only reply that stipulated improvements could hardly be expected since what was offered was so little compared with 66 the pre-emption privileges. Although the government found it difficult to raise 64 Birch to Cardwell, October 2, 1865, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. 65 Ball to Trutch, November 9, 1869, Col. Sec. to Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. 66 Musgrave to Kimberley, August 25, 1870, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. -±9- 159

money by the sale of land, special legislation had to be

passed to prevent companies from attempting to do so.

Because land companies had attempted to pre-empt land which

they proposed to hold for sale at a later date, the Pre-emp•

tion Ordinance of 1866 was passed at the advice of the 67 Attorney General. Thereafter companies of all description were prohibited from pre-empting land without special per- 68 mission from the Governor.

Throughout the colonial period there was general

dissatisfaction because the government itself failed to use

land grants, since it lacked revenue, to assist immigration.

That Douglas certainly hoped for immigrants is evident in

his optimistic assurance to Newcastle that H.a natural road

exists leading to the Red River settlement by the Coutehnais

pass through the Rocky Mountains and from thence following

the valley of the Saskatchewan chiefly over an open Prairie

Country—a settlement may then take his departure from Red

River in Spring with his cattle and stock and reach British 69

Columbia by that road in course of the Autumn following."

It was hoped that the pre-emption laws were sufficiently

liberal to attract a considerable number of immigrants.

j. . 67 Crease to Col. Sec, April 21, 1866, Attorney General Correspondence Outward, M.A.E.Ci 68 Pre-emption Ordinance, 1866, British Columbia Ordinances. 1866, No. 13. 69 Douglas to Newcastle, Ocpobdi; 18^(3.859, Despatches to Downing Street, M.A.B.C. '• "There is no douht that the facilities and inducements now

held out to settlers in this colony by the pre-emption law

and other enactments might enable thousands of the destitute

of Britain, by a few years of steady industry to secure for

themselves happy homes and a comfortable independence for 70 life."

The British Columbian was convinced that a system

of free grants alone would be sufficient to attract settlers. 71 Regular editorials such as the following appeared in that

newspaper: "It is said we cannot afford to extend any monied

assistance to bring emigrants out. If we cannot help to pay

their passage to the Colony let us seek at least to attract 72

them to it by offering free grants of land." Judging, how•

ever, by the small number of settlers that immigration com•

panies would undertake to bring to the colony, something

more than free land was needed. Transportation costs were

too high. It was not until after confederation, and the

promise of a railroad, that free grants were offered by the

government to immigrants.

In answer to a letter inquiring what assistance

the government would give to immigrants from the British

Isles, Moody sent a copy of the pre-emption act and the fol•

lowing advice to prospective settlers. If they wished to 70 Crease to Col. Sec, April 21, 1866, Attorney General Correspondence. Outward, M.A.B.C. 71 British Columbian, January 2, 1862, May 4, August 27 and September 7, 1861, March 27 and April 23, 1869. 72 Ibid.. June 19, 1869. buy surveyed land, they should Inquire at the Lands and

Works Office in New Westminster. To find out what land was

available for pre-emption "the evidence of his own senses and

honest inquiries on the ground from the Indians, or from the

Settlers in occupation will be quite sufficient, to guide him 73

from trespass ..." As for financial assistance the only

encouragement given was that land scrip might be issued to 74

immigrants in return for work they might do on branch roads.

The government interviewed several agents interest•

ed in bringing immigrants to British Columbia but found their demands far beyond the resources of the colony. One proposed

company would agree to bring in only one hundred settlers within five years on the following terms: one million acres of land was to be selected by the company and paid for at the rate of 2d. an acre within two years after the date of selection; the selected land was to be sold to British sub• jects at an upset price of 4s. an acre; the company was to be willing to loan up to one million dollars within five years to the government, security being the customs and toll of the colony. Both Moody and Douglas agreed ". . . that there is nothing whatever to shew .... a large population would arrive, would remain and would occupy the land eto the.-perma-

73 Moody to W. Cormack, May 11, 1862, Lands, and Works De- . partment Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. 74 Moody to W. Cormack, May 11,. 1862, Lands and Works De• partment Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. - TIP

75 nent advantage of themselves and the Colony."

Another proposed concern was willing to send out

400 families in return for 50,000 acres of land of which

40,000 acres were to he given to the settlers in allotments of 400 acres, the remaining 10,000 acres to be a free grant to the company. The government of British Columbia was to pay the travelling expenses of the colonists and furnish them with tools and seed. It was suggested that it could meet • 76 these expenses by selling £100,000 worth, of bonds. Had it not been for the remoteness of the colony, the offer of free land would have relieved the government of any financial responsibility regarding immigration. Yet since the govern• ment was unable to give the necessary financial assistance, land as a natural resource was of little value as a stimulus to immigration.

The table on the following page shows that the revenue from land was insignificant compared with that receiv- 77 ed from custom duties and road tolls. It was even insuffi• cient to cover the civil list approved by the council in

1864, which guaranteed salaries totalling £8700 to the nine 78 chief officials. In the year 1870, land revenue contributed only a little more than one-fortieth of the total revenue of the colony. 75 Moody to Douglas, June 9, 1863, Lands and Works Depart• ment to the Governor, M.A.B.C. Col. Sec. to Moody, June 76 19, 1863, Col. Sec. to the Lands and Works Department, M.A.B.C. 76 Trutch to Musgrave, November 1, 1870, Lands and Works Department to the Governor, M.A.B.C. 1865 to

77 Blue Books for the years 1859 to 1862 and/I§7^J~inciUsive. 78 Crown Officers' Salaries Act, British Columbia Proclama• tions. 1863, No. 12. A Comparative Statement of the Amounts Received from Lands, Road Tolls and Custom Duties. Figures obtained from the annual Blue Books of the Colony. The} Blue Book for 1865 is missing. Shillings and pence are omitted)

Year Revenue from Land Revenue from Revenue from Total Revenue (Including amounts Custom Duties Road Tolls of the Colony received from the sale of land, fees & rents.)

1858 & 1859 £19>512 £18,308 £47,125 1860 £11,156 £29,829 £589 £53,526 1861 £ 6,489 £32,950 £6,296 £58,595 £ 6,254 £49,356 £11,368 £88,598 1862 £ 4,418 £47,627 £25,416 £104,099 1864 £ 2,106 £73,109 £17,098 £116,106 1865 $10,059.55 $224,239.61 $79,579.44 $454,799.49 1866 $ 7,162.16 $258,354.27 $59,522.86 $462,894.76 1867 $11,718.43 $369,447.45 $67,802.94 $583,945.00 1868 $ 6,017.20 $344,577.34 $47,512.14 $530,474.20 1869 $12,883.18 $314,028.18 $39,553.12 $494,550.34 1870 Chapter Eight

The Effects of Confederation upon the

Land Settlement Policy of British Columbia,

1871 - 1874

The most important feature of British Columbia's land-settlement policy before 1871 was the pre-emption sys• tem, copied from the United States and reluctantly allowed by Great Britain because the colony needed settlers. Free home- steadsrdid not become part of the colony's land policy for two reasons: the reluctance of Great Britain to sanction such a policy and the lack of surveyed land.

After 1871 the government of British Columbia approached its land-settlement policy with renewed interest. Confederation and the promise of a railway diverted its point of view from the land policy of the United States to that of the Canadian Government. The Dominion Government's objec• tive in administering Manitoba's public lands was similar to that of the government of British Columbia—to obtain settlers at the expense of revenue from the land. Its land policy therefore had considerable influence upon that of British Columbia. For a period of two years the land policy of British Columbia was limited by the Terms of Union with Canada. Article eleven of the Terms of Union, which obliged the province to convey to the Dominion Government a belt of land not more than twenty miles wide on either side of the proposed railway, restricted the province to its pre-emption system in dealing with the public lands. It read in part as follows: "....until the commencement within two years...from the date of the Union, of the construction of the said rail•

way, the Government of British Columbia shall not sell or alienate any further portions of the public lands of British Columbia in any other way than under right of pre-emption,

requiring actual residence of the preemptor on the land 1 claimed by him." Any change in the method of disposing of

the public lands had thus to be delayed until July 20, 1873. One amendment which the government was anxious to introduce was a system of free grants. In his opening speech

to the Legislature in February 1872, the Lieutenant-Governor, J. W. Trutch, regretted that "the 11th Section of the Terms

of Union with Canada tends to delay the introduction of a system of Free Grants of Land, the adoption of which seems advisable in entering into competition for population as we 2 do with other countries on the Continent." The Land Ordi• nance, 1870, contained a provision allowing the Governor in Council to make free grants but his power to do so was \/ Address of the Legislative Council of British Columbia to Her Majesty in Council, British North America Acts and Selected Statutes. Ottawa, King's Printer, 1943, / pp. 163 - 164. 2,/ Journal______s o_f the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, -5- lloto

automatically revoked by the 11th Article of the Terms of Union.

Although a change was thus precluded for two years, the British Colonist followed closely the Dominion Govern• ment's land policy during that period. A Dominion Order in Council of March 1, 1871 made provision for free homesteads of 160 acres in Manitoba upon payment of $10. Settlers were required to live on the land for five years before receiving 3 title to their land. In the same month an editorial in the British Colonist urged the adoption of a similar policy in British Columbia. The editor asked: "... does not the prop• osition to give a free homestead to every settler in Manitoba fitly suggest the duty of the early adoption of a similar policy in this colony? Shall we be less liberal and progres• sive in dealing with the almost boundless acres to be left 4 at the disposal of the local Government?" The following month the same paper publicized the homestead system of the Province of Ontario, under which a married man received a free grant of 200 acres, and a single person at the age of eighteen 100 acres. "The settler is required to clear and crop at least 15 acres on each 100 acres and to build habitable houses not less than 16 x 20 feet in size, and to reside on the-land at least six months 3/ Morton, A. S. and Martin,C., History of Prairie Settle• ment and "Dominion Lands" Policy. Toronto, Macmillan Co., 1938, p. 395. 4/ British Colonist. March 30, 1871. in each year. Having complied with these certainly not arbi• trary conditions he is entitled at the expiration of five 5 years to receive his Crown deed." Influenced by the adoption of free grants in Ontario

and Manitoba, the Executive Council of British Columbia re-1 a. quested the Dominion Government to modify Article eleven of the Terms of Union so as to allow the province to make free grants in certain areas. The request was refused and British Columbia therefore had to wait until the two-year period had 6 expired. In the meantime the first Dominion Lands Act was passed in 1872, embodying in a statute the free-homestead system and reducing the residence requirements from five to 7 three years. In the following year, British Columbia pas• sed the Land Ordinance Amendment Act authorizing the LieuX- tenant-Governor in Council to set aside lands for free grants in the Province. Although assented to in February 1873, the Act was not to become effective until July 21, 1873, in accordance with the Terms of Union. By the new Act,the system of free grants was super• imposed upon the pre-emption system as provided for in-the main .Act, the Land Ordinance of 1870. Settlers could either pre-empt unsurveyed land and pay for it at the rate of $1 an 5/ British Colonist. April 21. 1871. 6/" Joseph Howe to Trutch', November 29, 1872 and February 14, 1873, Despatches from Ottawa, M.A.B.C. 7/ Morten and Martin, OP. cit.. p. 396. lto8

acre, when surveyed, or be located for a free grant on land so appropriated by the government. As in the Dominion Act, settlers had to live for three years on their lands before receiving the title. The settlement duties were the same as those required in Ontario. They were as follows: ".- . . the locatee ... shall have cleared and have under cultivation at least twenty acres of the said land, whereof at least five acres shall be cleared and cultivated annually during the three years next after the date of location, . . . and have built a house thereon fit for habitation, at least 16 x 20 feet . . . and . . . absence from the said land for in all not more than six months during any one year . . . shall not 8 be held to be a cessation of such residence." An Order in Council issued on July 25, 1873 set forth the areas in which free grants might be Ideated. East of the Cascade Range a settler might have up to 240 acres, while in the New Westminster District the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works was authorized to set apart two townships 9 in which settlers could receive free grants of 160 acres. Regulations were printed in September confining the settler to either a pre-emption claim or a free grant, and reiterat• ing the settlement duties as stated in the Land Ordinance Amendment Act. Although the land act had stated that settlers By 36 Vic, C. 1 (British Columbia.) 9/ Order in Council, July 25, 1873, Land Laws of British

Columbiaf 1873. 14,9

would receive not more than 250 acres, the maximum was reduc• ed to 240 acres so as to conform with the system of survey 10 adopted in 1873. The free-grant system alone was not the solution to British Columbia's problems. By the end of August 1873 not one application had been made for a free grant. Settlers had inquired in the New Westminster District, but were wait• ing until the surveys of the two townships had been completed. No enthusiasm could be aroused for free grants in the unsur- 11 veyed land east of the Cascades. As was the case before Confederation, land-settlement policy was hampered by the lack of surveyed land. Nevertheless, the surveys carried out by the Do;_- minion Government served as a model to British Columbia. "A glance abroad may help to sharpen public perception. It is not yet two years since Manitoba was "unblanketed" and con• stituted a Province of the Dominion of Canada. There are no fewer than fifty Government surveying parties out in Manitoba this season, and it is confidently expected that by the close of the summer they will have no less than 100 townships laid out and completely surveyed, in all or nearly all of which the intending settler may select and take possession of a free homestead .... British Columbia has been an organized 10/ Regulations Respecting the Acquisition of Free Grants, September-5, 1873, Land Laws of British Columbia. 1873. 11/ Victoria Daily Standard. August 30, 1873, (hereafter referred to as the Daily Standard). J70

colony of the British Empire for over fifteen years and yet there is not a single township laid out: There is not a base line run—nothing in fact to guide the immigrant in his 12 search for land." The situation in British Columbia was not quite as bad as that pictured by the British Colonist. A beginning had been made during the colonial period, but as previously related financial problems had curtailed surveying. In 1859 about 41,000 acres of delta land at the mouth of the Fraser River had been laid out in sections of 160 acres. A further 30,000 acres lying between the Fraser and Burrard Inlet had been divided into sections of irregular size varying in area from fifty to five hundred acres. The remaining work during the colonial period had been concerned with surveying isqX- 13 lated pre-emption claims and pastoral leases. The method of surveying to be used by the Dominion Government in Manitoba was announced in an Order in Council 14 of April 25, 1871. Dominion lands were to be divided into square townships of 36 sections, each section to contain 640 acres, as in the United States. The main deviation from the American method was the fact that on Dominion lands a road allowance of 99 feet was to be left between each section 12/ British Colonist15 . May 23, 1872. an13Vd thJournale nexts oneand. Sessional Papers of British Columbia. ' 1873-74, p. 54. 14/ Morton and Martin, op. cit.. p. 234. 15/ Morton and Martin, op. cit.. p. 232. 171

In 1873 British Columbia decided to follow the Dominion Government's model. "The system of surveying adop^- ted this season [l873] has been as nearly as circumstances would permit, similar to that in use in the Dominion, in the Province of Manitoba, and also by the Government of the 16 United States on this coast..." In British Columbia no provision was made for a road allowance between sections, the Chief Commissioner being authorized to take land up to ^ct/ 17 j>6- feet in width for road purposes. The ranges of town• ships were run east and west of the Coast Meridian. As was -tWttl-SL* the case in Manitoba, the .156- sections of each township were numbered from a base line beginning at the lower right-hand corner of the township instead of from the north-east corner as in the United States. On July 21, 1873, no longer hampered by the Terms of Union, the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works instru• cted two of his surveyors to run the exterior lines of town-, ships in the New Westminster District and ten days later the

subdivision of Township No. 1 was begun. By the end of the season $10,000 had been spent on running the exterior lines jtt*. 18 of 1& townships and subdividing two of them. In 1874 approximately $33,000 was spent on survey-

16Journals and Sessional Papers of British Columbia. : ' 1873-74, p. 55. 17, / Land Act, 1874, 36 Vic, c 2 (British Columbia). 18. - Journals and Sessional Papers of British Columbia. 1873-74, p. 55. m

ing, and the work was therefore more extensive than that of the previous year. The subdivision of townships in the New Westminster District continued, and the exterior lines of eight new townships were run. Work was also begun in the Interior. Pre-emption claims in the Nicola Valley were adjusted. A portion of three townships in the Okanagan Val• ley was surveyed along with fourteen full sections in the 19 Lillooet District. By the end of 1875 the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works was proud to announce that not only had the pre• emption claims of settlers who had recorded lands fifteen years ago been satisfactorily adjusted, in the principal centres of settlement, but that the Government also had a large extent of surveyed land available for incoming settlers. For information the settler had only to inspect the maps in the Land Office on which the nature of the land was described in detail. During the year $33,600 had been spent on sur• veys. Subdivision of townships had continued and pre-emption claims had been adjusted in Sumas and Chilliwack. In the Interior pre-emption claims had been surveyed in the Kamloops and, Osoyoos areas as well as three more sections in the 20 Lillooet area.

19/ Journals and Sessional Papers of British Columbia. 1875, pp. 444 - 446 and p. 475. 20./ Sessional Papers of British Columbia, 1876, pp. 531 - 533 and p. 594. -iQ- J73

With surveyed land now available, the government was able to match more closely the land policy of the Dqflf- minion Government. Complaints were made that the land laws of the province were too complicated and not liberal enough, since pre-emptors had to pay for their land after survey. It was also felt that free grants should not be restricted to certain areas. Upon moving the second reading of the Land Amendment Bill in January 1874, one of the Assembly members argued that pre-emptors after obtaining their Cert• ificate of Improvement should receive a Crown Grant with no charge for the land. The British Colonist reported his opinion thus: "So far as the exchequer of the Province was concerned it would make very little difference, but to the hardworking settlers the free grant would be a great boon.

If the Province was ever to be settled it must be by a free 21 grant system." The question was thereupon referred to a Select Committee. The result of the deliberations of the Select Committee was the Land Act of 1874 which repealed all pre• vious land ordinances. Settlers could now obtain a free grant of surveyed or unsurveyed land anywhere in the Province. A settler choosing surveyed land could pre-empt, a maximum of 160 acres elsewhere in the Province. Upon payment of $2, the C R pre-emptor received a Certificate of r"ecord and became known as a "homestead settler." To receive a Crown Grant for his 21/ British Colonist. January 7. 18747"

r. land the "homestead settler" was required to live for two years on it, and to qualify for a Certificate of Improvement which signified that he had made improvements to the extent of. $2.50 an acre. The total cost to the pre-emptor was thus $7, $2 for the Certificate of Record and $5 for the Crown Grant, no charge being made for the land. A settler choos• ing unsurveyed land could record a maximum of 320 acres east and north of the Cascades or a maximum of 160 acres elsewhere in the Province. Upon payment of $2 a Certificate of Record was issued to him and he became known as a "settler." The "settler" could, if he so wished, have his land surveyed at

his own expense. Upon depositing the map of his surveyed ; : land with the Land and Works Department he became known as a "homestead settler." To receive title for his land he then had to fulfill the same conditions as the "homestead settler" 22 who originally had occupied surveyed land. Although the word "pre-emption" was still used in the Act, it no longer had the same significance as it had had in the colonial period. At that time the right of pre-emption involved the privilege of settling upon unsurveyed land and paying for it when surveyed at the upset price without com• peting at auction. In the new Act pre-emption simply meant the right to a free homestead upon surveyed land. The effective operation of the Act was postponed

22,/36 Vic, c 2 (British Columbia) 4 75

owing to misunderstanding between the Federal Government and that of British Columbia concerning Indian affairs and- the railway lands. The Land Act of 1874 was assented to by the

Lieutenant-Governor on March 2, 1874, but disallowed by the 23 Governor General on March 16, 1875. A report by the Min• ister of Justice,, sent to the Provincial Government in Jan• uary .1875, had explained why the Act was likely to be disal• lowed. No land for the Indians had been reserved by the Land 24 Act of 1874., nor had the railway lands been mentioned; consequently the Act was repealed and replaced by the Land 25 Act of 1875 which was not disallowed by Ottawa. The latter made no change in the land-settlement policy of the province, since the Act was simply a transcript of the previous one ex• cept that the provincial government was given power to lay aside lands for railway purposes and fuller authority as to Indian, reserves. The main object of British Columbia's land-settle• ment policy in,the years immediately following Confederation was to acquire settlers. Free homesteads were therefore the chief feature of the Province's land laws, whereas the rais• ing, of revenue was merely incidental. The Terms of Union prevented the sale of land for 23/ E. J. Langevin to Trutch, March 18, 1875, Despatches from Ottawa, M.A.B.C. 24/ Report of the Minister of Justice enclosed in Langevin to Trutch, January 29, 1875, Despatches from Ottawa, M.A.B.C. 25.^ R. W..Scott to Trutch, May 11, 1876, Despatches from Ottawa, M.A.B.C. ~±5~ .76

two years. After July 21, 1873, however, auction sales could once more take place and were provided for by the Land Ordi• nance Amendment Act of 1873, which set the upset price of un• occupied land at $1 an acre, with the added proviso that the Lieutenant-Governor in Council could sell such land at auc- 26 tion at the upset price of not less than $1 when so desired. The first sale of surveyed land took place on September 30, 1873, at Victoria, when 37,000 acres of land situated in the New Westminster District were offered at the upset price of $1 an acre. Upon hearing of the proposed sale the British Colonist charged the government with encouraging speculation. "Instead ... of holding the sale in the most important District in which the land is situated, it is to be held on Vancouver Island, where the settlers must go at an expense in time and money ... They must come all the way here tq com• pete with outside speculators, or else they must be absent and allow the bits of land they so much need and to which, through their industry, they have, so to speak, acquired a 27 moral title, to fall into the hands of absentee speculators J3 The reason for offering the land for sale was to allow aliens to acquire land. Under the existing laws they were barred from pre-empting or receiving a free grant until 28 they had sworn to become British subjects. The British 26/ 36 Vic. c. 1 (British Columbia). 27/ British Colonist, August 13, 1873. 28/ Daily Standard. August 5, 1873. -±4* \77

Colonist continued to complain about the sale and the expen• ses involved in printing "sheaves of catalogues" and a"large 29 number of maps ... at San Francisco."

The results of the sale were disappointing, and revealed that British Columbia's farm lands were not yet high• ly valued by immigrants. Only 8,284 of the 37,000 acres offered were sold and those at an average price of only $1.21 an acre. After deducting the expenses involved in advertis• ing and carrying out the sale, the gross proceeds of $10,06-4..50 were reduced to $9,052.99, reducing the average price of each 30 acre to $1.09.

Section 16 of the Land Ordinance Amendment Act of

1873 introduced a new feature into the land sales policy of

British Columbia by authorizing the sale of unsurveyed land.

During the consideration of the bill in the Legislative

Assembly, the Attorney-General explained that the idea was 31 similar to the policy of the Dominion Government in Manitoba.

Section 29 of the Dominion Lands Act set the price of unap• propriated land at $1 an acre, reserving the Secretary of 32

State's right to sell land at auction at the same upset price.

In British Columbia elaborate regulations were 29/ British Colonist. October 2, 1873. 30,.issue' dJournal governins ang dth Sessionae sale lo fPaper unsurveyes of dBritis land.h ColumbiaFor thirt. y days 1875-74. p. 64. 31.- Daily Standard. February 19, 1873. 52'/ 35 Vic, c 23. (Dominion) 178

previous to the date of application, the settler had to post

a notice on the land he proposed to purchase, thus giving

fair warning to anyone who might object. A fee of $5, toget• her with payment for the estimated acreage at the rate of $1

an acre, had to accompany the application form v". describing the situation and dimensions of the land. The

government would then inform the settler how many acres he

could have and advise him of the terms of payment should the price exceed $1 an acre. After the land had been surveyed,

either at the farmer's expense or after the government sur- 33 vey, the settler could apply for a Crown Grant. An Order in Council of September 5, 1873, set the price of unsurveyed land at $2.50 an acre, reserving to the Crown all precious and base metals and as in the Dominion Act, restricting the 34 settler to 640 acres.

The British Colonist had nothing but derision for the burdensome regulations to which the intending buyers were subjected. "In so far as the simplicity of. these regulations is concerned, let it suffice for the present to say that the immigrant will find it very desirable to avail himself of the services of a lawyer and a surveyor; and inasmuch as these are luxuries beyond the reach of many, we incline to the 33/ Regulations Concerning the Purchase of Unsurveyed Land, August 27, 1873, Land Laws of British Columbia. 1873. 34/ Order in Council fixing the price of Unsurveyed and Unoccupied Land, September 5, 1873, Land Laws of British Columbia. 1873. 179

opinion that few will attempt to thread unaided the labyrin- 35 thian mazes of these "few simple" regulations." The same newspaper took exception to the high price of unsurveyed land 36 and to the decision of the government to reserve all minerals.

Although the government's explanation of its course of action was a reasonable one, the Order in Council was re- 37 scinded on February 28, 1874. This action heralded a change to be contained in the Land Act of 1874, then being consid• ered by the Legislative Assembly. The government defended its original policy by pointing out that the relatively high charge for unsurveyed land and the reservation of all miner• als were intended to discourage speculation, whereas bona fide settlers pre-empting or receiving free grants were en- 38 titled to the base metals. The price proved prohibitive, however, and the Land Act of 1874, although preserving the same policy of selling unsurveyed as well as surveyed land, 39 reduced the price of both to $1 an acre. The new price was obviously an attempt to sacrifice revenue in order to attract settlers to the province. Although the British Colonist had previously urged a lower price, the newspaper inconsistently charged the government wit35/h Britisencouraginh Colonistg speculation. August. 30A,s a1873 specifi. c instance it 36V British Colonist. September 14, 1873. 37V Daily Standard. March 17, 1874. 38.' Daily Standard. September 20. 1873. 39/ 36 Vic, c.2 (British Columbia). ~±7- 18o

mentioned the sale of 6500 acres of land in the Lower Fraser 40 area to one man for $1 an acre. The result was a thorough discussion of the government's sales policy in the Assembly. A resolution was introduced to prevent the govern• ment from "selling rural lands, except to bona fide settlers and not to them in such considerable quantities to make it appear that speculation as well as partial cultivation and . 41 settlement is intended." In moving the resolution, the member referred to the sale of the 6500 acres on the Lower Fraser. Defending the government's action, R.B.eaven;..,the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works explained that the pro• visions were very much like those in force in the Province of Manitoba. He went on to reveal that the land in the Lower yet

Fraser had been sold, but the Crown Grant not/issuedf to a gentleman who intended to settle fourteen families from the County of Bruce, Ontario, on the land in question. A Select Committee to investigate the disposal of land by outright 42 sale and by auction was consequently appointed. In its report the Select Committee upheld ithe Government's action. Under the Land Act of 1874 only 2,726 acres had been sold by auction, consisting principally of land unfit for cultivation. In the New Westminster District 40onl/ y Britis6,602§ h acreColonists of .surveye Septembed lanr d12 ,ha d 1874bee.n transferred by 41/ British Colonist. March 23, 1875. 42/ Daily Standard. March 23, 1875. private sale and that chiefly to bona fide settlers. The only unsurveyed land sold during the year had been the 6500 acres previously mentioned. In concluding its report the committee affirmed "that the Government, in thus disposing of the said Lands, acted strictly in accordance with the 43 Land Act of 1874." Statistics show that the revenue from the sale of land during these early years following Confederation was not great. The amounts collected from the sale of land for the years 1874, 1875 and 1876 were respectively: $23,617.86, 44 $18,324.53, and $16,904.73. Although the report of the committee disproved that extensive land speculation was being encouraged by the sale of land under the provisions of the Land Act of 1874, some damage had been done previous to Confederation in the 45 New Westminster District. A wild-land tax was therefore levied by the Assembly in 1872. This tax provided an addi• tional revenue for the province, but the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works explained that revenue was not the main purpose of the Act. "He thought it was time that some action was taken in the Province to rescue some of the fine agri• 43.- Journals and Sessional Papers of British Columbia. cultura1875l ,land p. s 692whic. h were locked up in the hands of specula- 44. - Sessional Papers of British Columbia. 1875, p. 642; -' 1876, p. 563; 1877, p. 356. 45/ Trutch to Seymour, August 12, 1868, Lands and Works Department to the Governor, M.A.B.C. 46 tors . . . around New Westminster and Victoria." The Wild Land Tax Act, as originally passed in 47 April 1872, provided for a tax of 44 an acre on wild land. Exempt from the tax were lands vested in or held in trust for Her Majesty or for the public uses of the province. The ex• emption would thus include the lands to be conveyed in trust by British Columbia to the Federal Government according to the Terms of Union. However, the Dominion Government reserv• ed the Act, arguing that once the land was in turn conveyed by them to the railway company, it would become taxable. "The chief inducement to such Capitalists, is the promise of a large grant of land in aid of the enterprise and the impo• sition of such a tax upon Railway lands would greatly dimin- 48 ish the prospect of a Company being formed." It was there• fore suggested that in future, in any such acts, the railway land should be exempted. A Wild Land Tax Bill was again considered by the

Assembly in February 1873. The new bill differed from the Act of 1872 in the adoption of an ad valorem instead of a specific tax of 44 an acre. However the suggestion of the Federal Government to exempt railway lands as a politic mea#- sure to facilitate the construction of the railway was not

46/ Daily Standard. April 6, 1872. 47/ Daily Standard. April 10, 1872. 48.' Report of the Committee of the Honourable Privy Council enclosed in E.A.Meredith to Trutch, October 16, 1872, Despatches from Ottawa, M.A.B.C. -an J83 adopted. Certain members of the Assembly urged the govern• ment not to throw obstacles in the way of the railway company. "Such an action would seriously cripple the undertakings of the railway company, and put them to a great inconvenience 49 in raising capital in England." The Attorney General fear• ed that once they had exempted land companies the government would be unable to tax the land after it had been sold to private individuals. "The precedent of exemption would be a bad one, and would only put so much more money in the hands of the companies, and take so much more out of the coffers 50 of the colony." The question of inserting a clause ex• empting the railway lands was accordingly lost by a vote of *a to ys. The Land Tax Act of 1873 imposed an annual ad val• orem tax of 1% upon unimproved country lands. The fact that certain types of land were enumerated in the act as being exempt from the tax protected the bona fide settler who was making proper use of his land. The exemptions were as follows.: Mad held in trust for Her Majesty; land within the limits of any incorporated 6ity, Township or District; Indian reserves; the land of benevolent societies, schools or hospitals; pre• empted land occupied in accordance with the requirements of the Land Ordinance of 1870; lands upon which the owner resi• ded and sgent $1 an acre provided the land was not worth more 49/ Daily Standard. February 13, 1873. 50/ Ibid. 184 than $20 an acre; land which had been permanently improved to the extent of 20$ of its assessed value; land not worth more than $5 an acre upon which Vef head of horses or cattle per JL0O acres or y3 head of sheep per AOC" acres were depas-- 51 tured and any land held under a timber or pastoral lease. Although one member of the Assembly moved in 1874 that the Act be repealed as being too burdensome, the Chief Commissioner ridiculed the attempt by claiming to be a con• stituent of the mover and the only one in his district paying 52 the tax. The general feeling was that although the revenue collected was small, the general effect of the Act upon the 53 province was beneficial. How little the treasury benefited is shown by the amounts collected under the Act for the years 1873, 1874, 1875 and 1876 respectively: $938.79, $2543.42, 54 $1510.00 and $2108.70.

The rents gathered from pastoral leases provided an additional though small source of revBnue for the Province.

The policy of leasing continued unchanged after Confederation. The Sessional Papers show the following acreage under pastoral 55 lease on the mainland by November 30, 1873, New Westminster District, 1467 acres, and Yale District 67,253 acres. The

51/ 36 Vic, c.ll (British Columbia). 52'.- Daily Standard. January 10, 1874. 53V Ibid., and January 14, 1874. 54Journals and Sessional Papers of British Columbia. , 18,73" m?4. p. 2 of the Estimates: 1875. p. 642: 1876. p. 725: 1877 p. 505. 55/ Journals and Sessional Papers of British Columbia. 1875- 1874. p. 65. 185

total acreage under pastoral lease on the mainland was there• fore 68,720 acres. No statistics are available showing the actual revenue which the government collected from these lea• ses since land fees and rents are listed as one sum. However, the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, in answer to a question in the Assembly, stated that the average rent for 56 pastoral leases was 40 an acre. On this basis the annual revenue would be approximately $2690. As before Confederation, the difficulties of trans• portation still obstructed the success of stockraising in British Columbia. For this reason, in 1874, construction was started on a road beginning at Ladner's Landing and leading to Hope, and explorations were carried out to discover the most direct route by which a road might connect Hope with the 57 Nicola Valley. "The main object which the Government have in view in procuring the construction of this road is to give the stock-raisers in the interior of our own country the means of transporting their animals to the seaboard to supply the demand for beef, mutton, etc. of the people of Victoria, New Westminster, Burrard Inlet and Nanaimo, which are now mainly supplied by American produce at a loss to the Province, in 58 hard cash, of upwards of $150,000 per annum." The concern over the problems which the stockraisers 56/ British Colonist. January 18, 1873. 57/ Journals and Sessional Papers of British Columbia. 1875, pp.303-306,. 58./ Daily Standard. March 19, 1874. -23-

faced in driving their cattle to market was part of the Government's growing realization that certain physical im• pediments had to he overcome before any land-settlement policy could be successful in British Columbia. The promised railway was to be the answer to the Province's isolation. However, the provincial government was still confronted with the water problems of British Columbia.

The need for irrigation in many areas in the Pro• vince had been recognized during the colonial period. In 1859, the magistrate at Cayoosh reported that two settlers in the vicinity were diverting water from a nearby stream since the land in the area was too sandy to be farmed with- 59 out irrigation. The same defect was noted in the soil 60 around William's Lake and from Kamloops to Shuswap Lake. The Cariboo Sentinel verified these reports by citing sev• eral instances of irrigation, one of which read as follows: " ... at one ranch not far from Soda Creek, that of the popular Frank Way's [sic] , there are more than 150 acres under oats and barley, the land being all irrigated and 61 highly cultivated."

59/ T. Elwyn to Douglas, July 30, 1859, Elwyn Correspond• ence, M.A.B.C. 60/ Cox to Col. Sec, August 9, 1863, Cox Correspondence, M.A.B.C. Moberly to Trutch, January 22, 1866, Moberly Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 61/ Cariboo Sentinel. June 17, 1865, see also July 19, 1866 and July 24, 1869. »87

Towards the end of the colonial period there was an increasing awareness of the ultimate value of the colony's land if only irrigation could be applied on a large scale. A despatch to London of 1866, referring to the lands beyond the Cascades summed up the situation well. "A very erroneous opinion of the capabilities of British Columbia as an Agri• cultural and Stock raising country has been formed and the year 1865 may be said to be the first in which practical ex• perience has refuted the general opinion as to the sterility of the soil .... It has been proved by the experience of by 1865 thafya system of irrigation (rendered necessary by the small amount of rain that falls) this land will produce ex• traordinary crops of all descriptions. The root crops are not to be surpassed in any Part of the World, and the cereals, both as regards the quantity and quality of the crops can 62 compete with any that are grown in the Mother Country."

The government, however, could give no financial assistance to settlers desiring to build irrigation works.

The editor of the Cariboo Sentinel estimated that it would cost $15,000 to construct a flume with which to irrigate 2500 63 acres. A petition from the settlers of Hat Creek for a loan of £1000, being half the sum required, in their estima-

62/ A. N. Birch to Carnarvon, October 31, 1866, Despatches to London, M.A.B.C. 63/ Cariboo Sentinel. July 24, 1869. 188

tion, to build an irrigation ditch sixteen miles in length, . 64 was refused by the government for lack of funds. Where irrigation could not be carried out without financial aid, the government simply granted pastoral leases. In replying to applicationsfor such leases around Alkali Lake, Pearse agreed to grant the leases; but in passing he remarked that in the course of time all the land would be utilized by an 65 extensive system of irrigation. For those who wanted to irrigate on a small scale the Land Ordinance of 1865 contained the first provisions regulating the use of water for agricultural purposes. By that act settlers after applying for a license from the local magistrate "... could divert any unoccupied water from the natural channel of any stream, lake or river adja• cent to or passing through such land ... specifying ... quantity sought to be diverted, the place of diversion and 66 the object thereof ..." The Land Ordinance of 1870 con• firmed this right and emphasized the fact that in cases of dispute "priority of right' to any such water privilege ... shall depend on priority of record." Settlers were moreover entitled to pass through the land of others for carrying such water, provided that they compensated the owner for any 64/ J. Veasey and Co. to Seymour, October 20, 1868, Veasey Correspondence. 65/ Memo by Pearse on back of Sanders to Col. Sec, June 15, 1870, Sanders Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 66..- British Columbia Ordinances. 1865, No. 27. -26- 189

damages that might result. As a conservation measure, a settler's right to the water he recorded could he forfeited 67 if he willingly wasted it. During a meeting of the Legis• lative Council in January 1871 the question was asked whether or not the government would give financial aid to farmers 68 for irrigating their land; but nothing further was done.

Following Confederation the Land Ordinance Amend• ment Act of 1872 was devoted exclusively to stricter regu• lations preventing the wasting of water. Hereafter a set• tler recording water had to construct a ditch and use only

such water as it was capable of carrying. A maximum fine of 69 $100 could be collected from anyone wasting water. Although the available correspondence of the Lands and Works Department for the period immediately following Confederation is meagre, there is one letter written by Beaven which illus• trates that he was concerned with the problem of irrigation. In this letter to C. A. Semlin of Cache Creek, the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works revealed his intention of boring for water on Semlin's property. If the experiment was successful, he pointed out that there was plenty of wind for 70 operating windmills. The British Colonist welcomed the 67/ British Columbia Ordinances. 1870, No. 18. new68'.--s Dailof thy e Standardexperiment. Februar, and yi n1 ,Octobe 1871r. reported that opera- 69> 35 Vic, c. 31 (British Columbia). 70./ R. Beaven to C. A. Semlin, August 14, 1874, Lands and Works Department, Correspondence Outward, M.A.B.C. ipo

tions would be started very shortly with the use of a bor- 71 ing plant bequeathed to the colony by Colonel Moody. However, beyond this item there is no further reference to the experiment either in that newspaper or in the available correspondence of the Lands and Works Department. The Drainage, Dyking and Irrigation Act of 1873, to be mentioned later in this chapter, was the earliest piece of legislation to deal with British Columbia's arid as well as her flooded lands. The areas subject to overflow in British Columbia received more attention than those which needed irrigation, since the most fertile districts of the Province and those closest to the centres of settlement, that is to say the Fraser Valley lands, suffered the most seriously from floods. A report of the Land and Works Department on the New Westminster District revealed the same physical obstacles to farming in that district as Douglas had noted fifteen years before. Describing the country between Boundary Bay and Langley Prairie the report read: "A few patches of swamp grass land were met with; also two belts of alder land. With the exception of these the country is heavily timbered .... years of labour would have to be expended, before even the most favourable parts could be made available for 72 agricultural purposes. " The country between Langley and 71/ British Colonist. October 7, 1874. 72/ J. Fannin's Report on the New Westminster Land Dis/- trict, October 25, 1873, Lands and Works Department Inward Correspondence, M.A.B.C. »9»

Matsqui was described as being even worse. "The timber has been nearly all destroyed by fire, and fallen timber and matted undergrowth, cover the whole face of the country, forming an almost impenetrable jungle ... no settler, how• ever earnestly he may be in search of a home, will be likely to penetrate this jungle of fallen timber and matted under- 73 growth." Although much of Sumas Prairie, an area of approximately 25,000 acres, was subject to flooding, the au• thor of the report felt that the land could be made avail• able for settlement much more cheaply than the heavily tim• bered land in the vicinity. "Guarded on the east and west by the Chilliwhack [sic] and Sumass Mountains fsic] , it pre• sents a frontage to the river two and a half miles long, across which and between the points of these two mountains it is contended a dyke, the average height of which would not exceede six feet, would effectually reclaim the whole valley.

It is also claimed by practical minds, that the actual cost of dyking, would not exceed an average of one dollar per 74 acre." Pitt River Meadows, an area of almost 20,000 acres, was also subject to flood, but since the whole plain was nearly surrounded by water, dyking was not considered possible.

Offers by private individuals to reclaim the two above mentioned areas forcibly impressed the government with tfy' Ibid.. 74.- Fannin, On. Cit. »92>

the importance of the matter. Three Americans who stated that they had already reclaimed 120,000 acres of swamp land around the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers wanted to buy "the swamp or tide lands situated at the delta of the Fraser River |sic | and also the land known as Pitt River Meadows L75 J . . They enclosed a copy of the California Law and offered to pay the same price as that provided by it for swamp land. Two years earlier a request had been submitted by a government surveyor, E. Mohun, and two others, to re• claim Sumas Prairie. In return ifor their work they wanted a free grant of Sumas Lake and 5000 acres of land in addition to the land of Sumas Prairie, not already alienated, for 76 which they were willing to pay at the rate of 500 an acre. Very little was done to dyke agricultural land during the period under discussion, but it is only fair to mention that the problem was considered by the Legislative Assembly. The Land Ordinance Amendment Act of 1873 author• ized the Lieutenant-Governor in Council "to sell any vacant land of the Crown, or make free grants thereof to any person or company, for the purpose of dyking, draining or irrigat• ing the same, subject to such regulations as the Lieutenant- 77 Governor in Council shall see fit." During the same ses- 75/ Haggin, Hearst and Lane to Beavan, February 13, 1873, Lands and Works Department, Inward Correspondence,M.A.B.C. 76/ Mohun, Wilson and Dupont to Beaven, 1871, Lands and Works Department Inward Correspondence, M.A.B.C. 77./ 36 Vic, cl. (British Columbia). »93

sion a Drainage, Dyking and Irrigation Act was passed which provided for the appointment of Commissioners hy the Govern• ment and hy the owners of "marsh, swamp or meadow lands." The commissioners were empowered to request help in the form of men, teams and tools from such landowners for building or repairing dykes. Landowners were to be assessed for the cost of "dykes, weirs, dams, ditches, flumes, flood-gates or breakwaters" according to the quantity and quality of their 78 land and the benefit received." Of much more immediate value as a dyking measure was the road leading from Ladner's Landing to Hope, which was begun in 1874. The first nine miles of the road, which passed across tidal lands of the Lower Fraser, was constr-^ Tae-ted as an experiment to determine whether or not a system of roads, dykes, and ditches could be combined. The method of construction was described as follows: "... by cutting two wide and deep ditches, twenty-one feet apart, on the Township line, between No. S and 4, and by building up in the centre, between two walls of sod, the material excavated from the ditches, a roadway and dyke is formed, the ditches draining the land into the different sloughs and other out• lets, and by putting in flood-gates, that close by the action of the tide, at the crossings of all sloughs, culverts and termination of ditches, the salt water is entirely excluded from the inside ditch, thus dyking the land in the rear of 78//36 Vic, c 10, (British Columbia). -Si B94-

79 the roadway." An added advantage was the fact that by opening the floodgate of the outside ditch where it emptied into the Fraser, and thus letting in water when the tide rose, settlers could transport supplies by boat to their farms. The Department of Lands and Works was particularly pleased by the fact that even former settlers of the Wilamette Val- 80 ley in Oregon were seeking land along the roadway.

Nevertheless the results of the provincial land- settlement policy from 1871 to 1874 were disappointing. Although there were prosperous farmers in the province there was room for many more. An item in the Cariboo Sentinel described the rich possibilities of the country from Cache Creek to the Okanagan, but left unanswered the question of why there were only a few hundred settlers in the whole area. The description read as follows: ... 6000 head of cattle fatten upon nature's rich pastures. There is room for double that number. In 1871 the yield on the Tranquille, North and South Forks of the Thompson, amounted to lj million lbs. That was the product of less than 1/10 of the land held under pre-emption, the whole being 6680 acres which should be capable of producing at least 12 million lbs. Of bacon upwards of 40,000 lbs. were cured. At one dairy ... 2500 lbs. of excel• lent butter was made . . . The Okanagan will yield only fall wheat without irrigation: spring wheat, oats and barley, etc. in wonderful profusion with irrigation. The yield of wheat ranges from 1^ to l| tons per acre, the grain producing from 65 to 70$ of flour. As high as nine tons of potatoes have been taken from the acre. Wherever tried fruit trees have done exceedingly well ... Indian corn, tomatoes,

79,/ Journals and Sessional Papers of British Columbia. 1875, p. 304. 80. / Loc. Cit. 195

musk melons, water melons, and even the grape vine have been cultivated with great success and without recourse to artificial expedients ... Horses, horned cattle and sheep pass the winter unhoused and uncared for and as a rule come out in good condition in the spring . . . In the country there are ... a few hundred settlers. 81

J. Fannin, in his report on the New Westminster District was impressed by the progress of Chilliwack and des• cribed it as the best regulated farming district on the main- lie land. "Here are to/seen those signs which are the certain indications of prosperity; extensive and carefully cultivated fields, large and well filled barns, and neat and comfortable looking farm houses aurrounded with their gardens of fruit 82 and vegetables." But he too was unable to explain why ao much good land was left uncultivated. In his description of Matsqui Prairie he added the significant remark that "I have no doubt that most of the land bordering on the prairie, is already occupied, and taking into consideration the ease with which this land can be cleared, it is somewhat surprising that more of it is not under cultivation. However, back, and within easy access of the prairie, the settler who is really earnest with regard to seeking a home will find his wants 83 satisfied." It is unreasonable to blame the policy of the Pro• vince for the limited number of farming population. Sincere

81/ Cariboo Sentinel. August 24, 1872. 82/ Fannin, Qp. Cit. 83V Ibid. efforts had been made to make it easy for the conscientious settler to acquire land. For example, previous to the intro• duction of the liberal free-grant system provided for in the Land Act of 1874, the residence conditions required of pre- emptors had been relaxed. The Land Ordinance Amendment Act 84 of 1873 allov/ed settlers to occupy their land through agents. The British Colonist, late in 1870, had reported that many complaints had been voiced over the strict residence duties required in the Land Ordinance of 1870 and expressed the opinion that it seemed "as though the man who is prepared to pay another for occupying and working his farm should enjoy 85 all the privileges of a pre-emptor." The new regulation offered some relief for in the year 1873 a total of 441 pre- emptors were recorded as opposed to 287, 204 and 228 for the 86 years 1870, 1871 and 1872 respectively. Yet the attempts of the Provincial Government to accelerate the immigration of farmers met with little but frustration. A new Military and Naval Settlers Act was pas• sed in March 1872, to make it easier for such men to acquire land. Because of the long journey from England to British Columbia, the new Act allowed them three years instead of one 87 to claim their land. The acting Attorney General of Britis84.- 36h VicColumbi. c.a 1.realize, (Britisd thah tColumbia) the Act. wa s in conflict with 85V British Colonistf December 17, 1870, see also November * 30, 1872. 86.* Sessional Papers of British Columbia./1876. p. 563. 87/ Daily Standard. March 22. 1872.' """ -34- 097

the eleventh article of the Terms of Union, which prohibited free grants, and could only recommend that the Lieutenant- 88 Governor reserve his assent. Upon its transmission to Ottawa, the Act was reserved by the Governor General in 89 Council for the reason which McCreight had foreseen. At the conference on immigration between the Fed• eral and Provincial Governments in 1871, several proposals were agreed upon for promoting the settlement of Canada. The Dominion Government agreed to maintain immigration agen• cies in the United Kingdom, Europe and elsewhere in addition to promoting the settlement of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories by a liberal land policy. The Provinces like• wise agreed to adopt "a liberal policy for the settlement and colonization of [theirl uncultivated lands," and to fur- nish "The Department of Agriculture and ... the Immigration Agents of the Dominion, full information as to its system of settlement and colonization, the lands assigned for free grants to settlers, if any, and the conditions of such grants; and all other information, and all documents deemed requisite 90 for the advancement of immigration." British Columbia subsequently liberalized her land policy by adopting first a restricted system of free grants unde88/ rJ th. Fe . LanMcCreighd Ordinanct to e TrutchAmendmen, Aprit Acl t 16o,f 18721873, anAttorned then y a General Correspondence Outward, M. A. B. C. 89. - E.A.Meredith to Trutch, October 7, 1872, Despatches from Ottawa, M.A.B.C. 90. ^ Journals and Sessional Papers of British Columbia. /1875- •55- «98

complete homestead policy under the Land Act of 1874, More•

over, the Lieutenant-Governor, in his opening speech to the

Assembly in 1872, reported that much attention had been

drawn to the Province by the Agents in London and San Fran- 91 cisco. The Daily Standard enlightened the public by

printing extracts from the placards used by the agents to advertise British Columbia in London and San Francisco. Two of them were as follows:

Westward Hoi British Columbia (including Vancouver Island). The new maritime Province on the Pacific Ocean, western end of the Canadian Pacific Railway, wages high, provisions cheap, superb climate, fine country for'-, young farmers, homes reserved against seizure for debt, free and non-sectarian education, laws rigidly enforced ... Apply to the Agent General (G. M. Sproat Esq.) London.

British Columbia! Immigrants are invited to inquire into the advantages of settling in British Columbia, free grants of land, high wages, good climate, maps and cereals may be seen and all information obtained at the office of the immigration agent, W.H.R. Adam- son, 315 California Street. 92

According to the British Colonist the reputation

of British Columbia as a desirable home for immigrants was considerably damaged by a later action of the San Francisco Agent. The latter published in 1873 a notice to the effect

that British Columbia was offering free grants of 250 acres

to each settler of 18 years or over upon performance of the 93 necessary settlement duties. He had obviously taken as his

authority the Land Ordinance Amendment Act and had not been 92v Daily Standard. May 29, 1873. 95.- British Colonist. September 10, 1873. * 91/ Journals and Sessional Papers of British Columbia, 1875-74, p. 21. ""56 • .99

informed of the later decision of the Executive Council to limit the free grants to either 240 or 160 acres according to their location east or west of the Cascades. The announ• cement also failed to point out that on the mainland, west of the Cascades the free grants were available only in the two townships, not yet surveyed in the New Westminster Dis• trict.

The British Colonist took full advantage of the misunderstanding that ensued. According to its columns more than 40© misinformed Americans arrived in July 1873, ex• pecting free grants of 250 acres anywhere in the Province. One item copied from the San Francisco Bulletin expressed the feelings of the Americans concerning British Columbia. 94 It read in part as follows: For some few months past placards have been exten• sively posted in San Francisco, advising those in search of a permanent home to depart ... for this so-called paradise of the Pacific. Among other inducements held out are, a free grant of 250 acres of land ... We find that some of our most recent arrivals, who were not familiar with the hardships encountered by those led away by the British Colum• bia excitement a few years ago, have been induced to break up their homes in California to wop Dame Fortune under the Cross of St. George. A few of these . . .have now returned to San Francisco and they ask the Bulletin, as a matter of kindness and as a duty to those who are debating the prospect of emigrating, to call attention to the fact that the advertisements of British Columbia only exist in the imagination of the writer of the placard ... One of these informs us that the land grant of 250 acres is all moonshine...."

94/ British Colonist. September 13, 1873. Zoo

The Agent no doubt should have been informed as to the exact nature of the free-grant system in force in British Columbia but the above item from the Bulletin made so much of by the British Colonist, was a natural one to appear in the news• paper of an American State which had no desire to lose any of its settlers to British Territory. However, the editor had no cause to worry for the dismal report in the Sessional Papers of 1873-4 revealed that only 142 persons "visited British Columbia in 1873, after communicating with Mr. Adam- son, the Agent at San Francisco, with the avowed intention 95 of settling.

Statistics show that the liberal land laws of the

Province, adopted in the period immediately following Con•

federation, made no great change in the settlement of Brit- tish Columbia. The Homestead Act of 1867 was amended early

in 1873 so as to increase the amount of personal property 96 exempt from seizure for debt from $150 to $500. The fol• lowing figures, showing the number of homesteads registered up to December 31, 1873, reveal that the amendment made 97 little difference: 95.^ Journals and Sessional Papers of British Columbia. " 1873-74. p. 81. 96/ Homestead Amendment Act, 1873, 36 Vic, c.38. (Brit• ish Columbia. 97.^ Journals and Sessional Papers of British Columbia. 1875-74. p. 35. Number of Homesteads Registered in British Columbia up to December 31, 1873.

Year. Number Declared Number Registered Value Abandoned

1867 14 $26,850 1 1868 13 25,940 3 1869 11 23,600 2 1870 12 20,550 3 1871 11 19,800 2 1872 7 14,600 3 1873 11 22,950 4

Nothing could have been more liberal than the free-grant system provided for by the Land Act of 1874 but its influence upon the settlement of the province was negli• gible. Under the Land Act of 1874 allowing free grants anywhere in the Province, 93, 179 and 171 homesteads were recorded in the years 1874, 1875 and 1876 respectively. A comparison of the number of pre-emptions made during the years from 1870 to 1873 with the number of free grants made 98 from 1874 to 1876 is significant.

Year No. of Pre- Year . No. of emptions Free Grants 1870 287 1874 93 1871 204 1875 179 1872 228 1876 171 1873 441

The above figures show that in the period under

consideration the free-grant system was no more effective

98/ Journals and Sessional Papers of British Columbia. 1875, p. 480; 1876 pp. 562-563; 1877, p. 356. -39-

in settling the Province than the old pre-emption system. In other words, the charge often made during the colonial period that Britain was preventing the settlement of the colony hy prohibiting a free-grant system was erroneous. The rapid settlement of the Province in these early years was beyond the unaided power of any land-settle• ment policy. Before its lands would attract settlers in large numbers, -British Columbia needed a railway to overcome both its isolated position and the transportation difficul• ties within the Province itself. Nevertheless the provin• cial officials had no need to feel ashamed of the meagre results of their carefully planned land-settlement policy, for in the seventies the efforts of the Dominion Government on the prairies were equally disappointing. 203

BIBLIOGRAPHY

I MANUSCRIPT MATERIAL

(A) CORRESPONDENCE: 1. Despatches from the Governors of British Columbia to the Colonial Secretary, 1858 - 1871 2. Despatches from the Colonial Secretary to the Governors of British Columbia, 1858 - 1871 3. Governor's Private Official Letter Book, 1859 - 1864 4. Colonial Secretary of British Columbia: Bound letter-books (9 vols.): January 1859 to September 1860 September 1860 to September 1863 September 1863 to May 1872 July 1858 to May 1859 July 1860 to September 1861 September 1861 to November 1862 November 1862 to September 1864 September 1864 to December 1866 Official Letter Book 1867 - 1870 The first three volumes consist of letters to the Lands and Works Department. The last six volumes consist of letters to various cor• respondents among which those to the District Magistrates wereuus.eful.

5. Despatches from the Secretary of State, Ottawa to the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, 1872 - 1875 6. Lands and Works Department of British Columbia: Bound letter-books (9 vols.): August 1859 to March 1860 February 1860 to April 1861 April 1861 to September 1863 September 1863 to November 1864 September 1865 to January 1872 March 1859 to August 1859 August 1859 to August 1861 August 1861 to May 1865 June 1865 to August 1872 The first five volumes consist of letters to the Governor. The last four contain letters to various cor• respondents.

Unbound letters: Letters to the Governor and Colonial Secretary, 1859 - 1871 (Folders 915-957 except Nos. 929,930,934.937,938,940,943/ 944,945,948,949 and 954). Letters to various correspondents (Mis• cellaneous Folders, 1870 and 1871). Letters to various correspondents, 1873- 1883, incomplete series. Contracts and Agreements (Folder 957a, 1859). Unclassified.Material, 1871 - 1875: Mohun and Dupont's Application for Dyk• ing Sumas Lake, 1871; Mohun's Application for Sumas Dyke, 1872; J. Fannin's Report on the New Westminster Land District, 1873; American offer to buy 100,000 acres at Pitt Meadows, 1873; Estimate of Stock between New Westminster and Fort Hope, 1873; Early Settlers in Nicola Valley, 1874; Pastoral Leases of British Columbia, 1874; N. D. Patterson to Surveyor-General, 1875; and Walkem on Military Grants,1875.

Attorney General of British Columbia: Bound letter-books (5 vols.): . October 1861-May 1863 May 1863-February 1866 February 1866-April 1870 April 1870-April 1871 November 1871-February 1874.

These volumes consist of letters to the Governor and to various corres• pondents. The Attorney General's reports on the land laws were par• ticularly useful. Zo5

8. District Magistrates: Unbound letters of H. M. Ball, C. Brew, W.G.Cox, A. C. Elliot, T. Elwyn, J. B. Gaggin, J. C. Haynes, R. H. Hicks, S. C> Nicol, P. H. Nind, P. O'Reilly, E. H. Sanders and W. R. Spalding.

These letters to the Governor and to the Commissioner of Lands and Works were useful for information concerning the pre-emption system.

9. Unbound letters of Judge Begbie to the Governor and Colonial Secretary.

The letters containing Judge Begbie's opinion of what land settlement policy should be adopted in the early years of the colony were valuable.

10. Unbound letters of A. T. Bushby, the Registrar General, to the Governor and Colonial Secretary.

11. Unbound letters of the following Surveyors: P. J. Leech, Capt. H. R. Luard, W. Moberley, E. Mohun, Lieut. Palmer, Capt. Parsons and J. Turnbull.

(B) REPORTS and BLUE BOOKS:

James Douglas—Confidential Report on the Officers of British Columbia. Blue Books of the Colony, 1859, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1865, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1869 and 1870.

II PRINTED and TYPESCRIPT MATERIAL

(A) OFFICIAL:

British Columbia Proclamations, 1858-1864, New West- :• '\. ..minster. Ordinances of the Legislative Council of British Columbia, 1865-1871, New Westminster. British Columbia Statutes, 1872-1375, Victoria. Papers Relative to the Affairs of British Columbia, Part I. Presented to both Houses of Parliament -4-

by Command of Her Majesty, February 18, 1859, London, Printed by Eyre and Spottiswoode. Part II, August 12, 1859; Part III, I860 and Part IV, 1862.

Papers Relative to the Proposed Union of British Columbia and Vancouver Island. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty, 1866; London, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1866-1367. Journals of the Legislative Council of British Columbia, 1865-1868, New Westminster (4 vols.); 1868-1871, Victoria /(3 vols.). Journals and Sessional Papers of British Columbia, 1872-1877, Victoria. The Land Laws of British Columbia, Victoria, 1873. Transactions of the Second,Resources Conference, Department of Land's and Forests, Victoria, 1949 (bound typescript).

(B) UNOFFICIAL:

Books:

Currie, A. W. Economic Geography of Canada, Toronto, Macmillan Company, 1945. Flugel, F. and Faulkner, H. V., Readings on the Economic and Social History of the United States. New York, Harpers, 1929. Howay, F. W. and Scholefield, E. 0. S., British Columbia, Vancouver, Clarke Company, 1914. Shann, E., An Economic History of Australia. Cambridge University Press, 1930. Wrinch, L. A., Land Policy of the Colony of Vancouver Island. 1849-1866, M. A. Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1932(bound typescript).

Articles:

Buckland, F. M., "The Hope Trail," First Annual Report of the Okanagan Historical and Nat• ural History Society. Vernon, 1926, p. 14. Buckland, F. M., "The'Hudson's Bay Brigade Trail," Sixth Report of the Okanagan Hist- torical Society, Vancouver, Wrigley Print• ing Company, 1936, pp. 11-22. 207

Laing, F. W., "Hudson's Bay Company Lands on the Mainland of British Columbia, 1858-1861," British Columbia Historical Quarterly. Victoria, 1939, vol. 3, pp. 75-99. Morrison, H. M., "The Background of the Free Land Homestead Law of 1872," Annual Report of the Canadian Historical Association, Toronto University Press, 1935, pp. 58-66. Morris, L., "The Rise and Fall of Rock Creek," Sixth Report of the Okanagan Historical Society, Vancouver,. Wrigley Printing Comp• any, 1936, pp. 233-241. Norris, L., "W. G. Cox and His Times," Sixth Report of the Okanagan Historical Society, Vancouver, Wrigley Printing Company, 1936, pp. 195-199. Patterson, G. C, "Land Settlement in Upper Canada, 1783-1840," Sixteenth Report of the Department of Archives,-Ontario, Toronto, Clarkson, 1920, pp. 1-278. White, H. E_, "John Carmichael Haynes," British Columbia Historical Quarterly. Victoria, 1940, vol. 4, pp. 183-207.

Newspapers: -

The British Columbian, New Westminster, . The British Colonist, Victoria, The Cariboo Sentinel, Barkerville, The Victoria Gazette, - The Victoria Daily Standard,