The History of British Columbia

The history of British Columbia begins with the First Nations peoples who have lived and flourished here for thousands of years.

Native art, culture, languages, festivals and history are an important part of B.C.’s cultural make-up. Everywhere you travel in B.C., you will see Aboriginal names for towns, cities, rivers, lakes, mountains and fjords. Some of these names go back many thousands of years.

British, Spanish, Russian and American explorers began to visit the B.C. area in the 1750s. Some of these explorers established fur trading posts from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. Vancouver Island was colonized by the British in 1849. Soon after, the Gold Rush attracted tens of thousands of people to the interior of B.C.

B.C. was a British Colony until 1871, when it joined Canada. In 1885, the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed, opening the country from east to west. It increased trade and the movement of people and resources from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.

Read more:

• First Nations Peoples

Related Resources:

• For more information on the history of British Columbia, visit the HelloBC website.