Islands History
Adventurers from around the world attracted to the Gulf Islands
Historic Ruckle Park farmhouse.
While Captain George Vancouver made his first Gulf Islands sightings in 1792, the area was already home to several First Nations people, who lived a semi-nomadic existence living off the bounty provided by the sea and lands.
More and more you’ll hear the Gulf Islands region referred to as the “Salish Sea,” in recognition of its original inhabitants.
Captain Vancouver claimed the islands for the British Crown, and referred to them as being located in a “gulf.” It is pretty apparent to anyone looking at a modern map of the area that the Gulf Islands are not in a gulf. Nevertheless, the name stuck.
In the same year, Spanish and British cartographic expeditions also explored the area intent on finding a passage to the northwest Atlantic.
As marine traffic between Victoria and the Fraser River area of the Mainland increased, it became clear that a new map of the Strait of Georgia was needed. In 1858-59, another British cartographic expedition, on the HMS Plumper, was dispatched and more accurate maps were produced.
By now, pioneers had begun establishing settlements on the Gulf Islands. American blacks and Portuguese arrived in 1859 and carved out homesteads in fertile valleys on the north end of Salt Spring. Settlers from other parts of the world, such as Europe and Japan, soon followed, and established farms and small industries such as fish salteries and produce farms.
During that time, Victoria was the main port of entry to the West Coast. In 1858, when prospectors all over the world heard the cry of “gold” in the Fraser River area, they sailed first to Victoria and then crossed the Strait of Georgia to the mainland. Many of these prospectors rowed boats across the strait, and Miners Bay on Mayne Island became an important and very busy resting point en route. The village boomed with activity and the island quickly became the commercial and social hub for all of the Gulf Islands. In fact, for years afterwards, the postmasters from Galiano and Pender islands had to row to Mayne Island to collect the mail.
The 1858-59 mapping expedition of the HMS Plumper resulted in the naming of many of the islands, mountains, points and passes. The expedition was dispatched to clear up some mapping problems that had become apparent as marine traffic between Victoria and the mainland increased. Local residents named the waterway between Galiano and Mayne Island “Plumper Pass” after the ship. However, Captain Richards officially named the waterway “Active Pass,” not because of the turbulence of the water, but after the US Active, the first steamship to navigate the pass in 1855. Now the name “Plumper” is used to identify the waterway between Saturna and Pender islands.
Spanish explorer Dionisio Galiano named, obviously, Galiano Island, and now the marine park at the north end of the island has been given his first name, Dionisio Point Marine Park.
Saturna Island was named after the Spanish ship Saturnina, captained by Jose Maria Narvaez, who left his name on a Saturna Island bay.
Gabriola Island also bears evidence of Spanish exploration from the late 18th century, with the Malaspina Galleries and Descanso Bay being two examples. Gabriola is believed to be the outcome of the Spanish word for seagull — “gaviota.”
Books describing the islands’ natural and human histories have been published about all of the major Gulf Islands and are available at retail outlets on the islands.