From the east coast of the US the journey to the Californian gold fields was long and arduous whether undertaken by land or a combination of land and sea. ‘The Challenge’, the largest merchant ship at the time, was built in 1851. It was a clipper…
This is a letter sent by Arthur Sleigh to the secretary of state for the colonies proposing the creation of a post office mail route to be set up in British Columbia, and requesting funding for it. He proposes a system based on ponies and horses to…
This is an image of a large column of wagons and livestock being transported 15 miles from Yale, Vancouver. In the 1860’s the transportation of trade goods was evolving, incorporating large groups of wagons, animals and labourers to move the goods…
This source is a journal/diary which has been published into a book focusing on the voyages of F.D Bridges and her husband who were both anglo-canadian elites. It provides the reader with greatly detailed insights about the areas and geographical…
Documents recording the arriving steamships and passengers into the ports of Victoria and Vancouver in January 1925. Recorded for the purposes of controlling the arrival of potential migrants to Canada. The documents offer significant detail on both…
This is a 4 page copy of ‘The Polynesian’ which was issued on ships of the Matson Navigation Company and the Oceanic Steamship Company. This company is said to have introduced mass tourism in Hawaii, sailing from ports in San Francisco, Los Angeles,…
The book details the life of a gold rush miner as he travelled through various regions in British Columbia search of gold. The context surrounding his travels through Montreal, San Francisco and other cities, is at a time where the gold rush was in…
Due to British Columbia agreeing to build transport links as per the agreement to join the Canadian confederation, this book of papers contain the context surrounding the “pacific scandal”. A scandal which saw a bribery of the first government of…