ThE LIBRARY ROYAL FOADS ‘I i-’riJ& THE BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY JANUARY - APRIL, 1954 BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Published by the Archives of British Columbia in co.operation with the British Columbia Historical Association. EDiTOR Wn.Ln E. IRELAND, Provincial Archives, Victoria. ASSOCIATE EDITOR Mnoa W0LPENDEN, Provincial Archives, Victoria. ADVISORY BOARD J. C. Goorwnuow, Princeton. W. N. SAGE, Vancouver. Editorial communications should be addressed to the Editor. Subscriptions should be sent to the Provincial Archives, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, B.C. Price, 5O the copy, or $2 the year. Members of the British Columbia Historical Association in good standing receive the Quarterly without further charge. Neither the Provincial Archives nor the British Columbia Historical Association assumes any responsibility for statements made by contributors to the magazine. BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY “Any country worthy of a future should be interested in its past.” VOL. XVIII VIcT0RL4, B.C., JANuY-AP1ur, 1954 Nos. 1 and 2 CONTENTS PAGE The Early Militia and Defence of British Columbia, 1871—1885. By Reginald H. Roy — 1 Post-Contact Culture Changes among the Lummi Indians. By Wayne Suttles 29 Arthur Kennedy’s Administration of the Colony of Western Australia Examined as a Background to the Initiation of the Vancou ver Island Exploration Expedition of 1864. ByH. C. Gilliland 103 The Naming of Holland Point. ByMadgeWolfenden 117 NOTES AND COMMENTS: British Columbia Historical Association 123 Kamloops Museum Association 130 New Westminster Historic Centre 131 Boat Encampment Cairn 131 Contributors to This Issue 132 THE EARLY 1flLITIA AND DEFENCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1871—1885 When the Crown Colony of British Columbia entered into confed eration with the Dominion of Canada in 1871, the problem of its defence was automatically assumed by the Federal authorities. At that time there existed in British Columbia, at least in name, three militia units. In the Provincial capital was the Victoria Rifle Corps, a unit formed in the summer of 1864, consisting of two companies, each of which once had a peak strength of some forty-five men. On the Mainland, in New Westminster, were two militia companies. The New Westminster Vol unteer Rifles had been formed in November, 1863. In its ranks were to be found many men who had served with the recently disbanded detachment of Royal Engineers.1 The Seymour Artillery Company, also of New Westminster, was organized in July, 1866, as a direct result of the Fenian scare in the East, but it was not until a year later that this company received its main armament—two 24-pounder bronze cannon. The artillery and infantry companies were, as their names suggest, composed entirely of volunteers. Then, as now, interest in the militia units was governed mainly by the imminence of internal or external danger to the colony. Thus, during the time of the Fenian scare in 1866, the militia ranks had been swelled to their greatest numbers. As fears of such a raid subsided, interest in the companies waned and their strength melted as a consequence. In many respects the attention paid the militia by the local government and the Colonial Office paralleled that in the colony itself. At the height of the Fenian scare the War Office shipped a supply of guns, rifles, ammunition, and equipment to the colony, most of which, when it arrived in 1867, was used to outfit the New Westminster companies. No comparable supply of warlike stores reached British Columbia again until six years later. The colonial government, whose past financial grants to the militia companies were both few and meagre, was delighted at the response to the threatened Fenian raid. Not only did the men enrol in the militia, but they pur (1) The first detachment of Royal Engineers to be sent from England to British Columbia arrived in the colony in 1858. Of a total of 165 who came, about 130 decided to remain in the colony when their detachment was disbanded in 1863. F. W. Howay, The Work of the Royal Engineers in British Columbia, 1858 to 1863, Victoria, 1910, p. 11. British Columbia Historical Quarterly, Vol. XVIII, Nos. 1 and 2. 1 _______________ 2 REGINALD H. Ro Jan.-Apr. chased their own uniforms and contributed toward the maintenance of the companies. This spirit of sacrifice, applauded but unmatched by the colonial legislature, subsided into an apathy and neglect from 1867 onwards. By 1871, therefore, the militia in British Columbia was but a shadow of its former state. Armed with outmoded muzzle-loading rifles,2 ignored by the authorities in London, faced with indifference at home, the companies were weak in morale, strength, armament, and training. With no effective military force available, the defence of the Pacific Coast rested with such British naval vessels as were present at the Esqui malt naval base. Here, too, the situation was not always satisfactory. The Pacific Squadron was responsible for the protection of British inter ests in a sea area covering many thousand square miles, and the troubled waters off South America frequently denuded the British Columbia coast of all but one or two gun-vessels. Indeed, such was the situation when, a few months after its confederation with Canada, an incident occurred which was to emphasize the defenceless state of British Colum bia and which, ultimately, was to hasten the establishment of the first Canadian militia forces in the Province. On December 31, 1871, the Lieutenant-Governor of British Colum bia, Joseph W. Trutch, received an anonymous letter which read as follows: — Victoria, B.C. To His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor ... 29th December, 1871 Sir: There are now in town a Company of Fenians who hold regular meetings and are well drilled. Take a warning—they are now in part of the Dominion and will have revenge yet from the Canadians. Several of the Government Rifles and Bayonets are in their hands, also some of the ammunition for Long Enfleld Rifles. This, Sir, is a warning. You may treat it as you think, but it is true nevertheless. [SignedI “From a Loyal Subject in Victoria “ (2) In March, 1875, when the Provincial Government handed over its obsolete military stores to the Department of Militia and Defence, 496 Brunswick Short rifles and 289 Enfleld Long rifles were included in the transfer. These weapons were far inferior to the breech-loading Snider-Enfleld rifles provided the Canadian militia in 1867. Public Archives of Canada, Papers of the Deputy Minister of Militia and Defence, Letters Received, 1875, No. 01424. (Hereafter this source will be cited as D.M. Papers.) (3) Ibid., No. 6278. This docket contains all the correspondence between Trutch and the Secretary of State for the Provinces, Joseph Howe, regarding the Fenian scare in Victoria, together with enclosures sent to Howe relating to Trutch’s correspondence with Captain Cator and others. 1954 THE EARLY MILITIA IN BRITISH COLUMBIA 3 Upon receipt of this warning, and after a hurried meeting with his Executive Council, the Lieutenant-Governor took immediate steps to forestall any Fenian raid from within or without. On New Year’s Day he sent a message to Captain R. P. Cator, R.N., then Senior Naval Officer at Esquimalt, advising him of the warning note he had received. In this message he stated he did not seriously apprehend any such attack to be impending, but, he added: — In view of the events which happened in 1870 in the Province of Quebec and still more recently in the Province of “Manitoba” and the known character and aims of the Fenian organization, I think it incumbent to take such steps as are in our power to prevent the perpetration of robbery and outrage in our neigh borhood.4 Under the circumstances, therefore, Trutch requested Cator to sta tion the gun-vessel H.M.S. Boxer5 in Victoria Harbour and to take any further steps he thought advisable after consulting with the Attorney General, Honourable J. F. McCreight, the bearer of the message. Captain Cator’s action was prompt. The Boxer was immediately sent to the harbour, but, after further consultation, a more elaborate scheme of defence was worked out. H.M.S. Sparrowhawk6 was directed to lay off the harbour-mouth to prevent the entry or exit of all boats and vessels to and from the harbour until satisfied they were engaged in lawful business. It would also render assistance should there be any attack on Victoria. The Sparrowhawk was also to keep a lookout for a signal made by those on shore should the Fenians attack from an unex pected quarter. In such a case, the Victoria Police were to fire a series of rockets from the Government Buildings. On seeing this signal, the Sparrowhawk would fire three guns in succession. This would both answer the signal on shore and at the same time alert the ships in Esquimalt. On hearing the signal guns H.M.S. Boxer was to get up steam immediately and call alongside the Scout7 and Sparrowhawk for the purpose of collecting a party of fifty Royal Marines. These men, under the command of Lieutenant Hume, R.M.L.I., would be rushed (4) Loc. cit. (5) H.M.S. Boxer, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander F. W. Egerton, was a composite-built screw gun-vessel mounting four guns. (6) H.M.S. Sparrowhawk, commanded by Commander H. W. Mist, was a somewhat heavier and more powerful gun-vessel than the Boxer but carried the same number of guns. (7) H.M.S. Scout, commanded by Captain R. P. Cator, was a screw-propelled corvette carrying seventeen guns. Its displacement (2,187 tons) and power (1,327 horse-power) were respectively more than triple and double that of the gun-vessels.