| James Douglas: Father of British Columbia Contributor(s): Ferguson, Julie H. (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 1554884098 ISBN-13: 9781554884094 Publisher: Dundurn Group OUR PRICE: $17.99 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 2009 Annotation: The illegitimate son of a Scottish plantation owner and a mixed-race woman, James Douglas was born in Guyana in 1803. After schooling in Scotland, he joined the fur trade as a lowly clerk. He rose to be governor of the Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia and even received a knighthood from Queen Victoria. Douglas's life story weaves through the heart of Canadian and Pacific Northwest history, when British Columbia was a wild land containing a few hundred settlers and 30,000 First Nations peoples. He established Victoria and then secured the vast region for British interests, preventing land grabs by the Russian Empire to the north and the expansionist Americans to the south. Autocratic and often accused of favouritism, Douglas retired in 1863. He died in 1877. When Vancouver did not exist and Victoria was a muddy village, Douglas's vision and drive laid the foundation for Canada's westernmost province.' |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Political - Biography & Autobiography | Historical - Biography & Autobiography | Adventurers & Explorers |
| Dewey: 971.102 |
| Series: Quest Library (Dundurn Press) |
| Physical Information: 0.6" H x 5.5" W x 8.4" (0.75 lbs) 240 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Canadian |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: James Douglas's story is one of high adventure in pre-Confederation Canada. It weaves through the heart of Canadian and Pacific Northwest history when British Columbia was a wild land, Vancouver didn't exist, and Victoria was a muddy village. Part black and illegitimate, Douglas was born in British Guiana (now Guyana) in 1803 to a Scottish plantation owner and a mixed-race woman. After schooling in Scotland, the fifteen-year-old Douglas sailed to Canada in 1819 to join the fur trade. With roads non-existent, he travelled thousands of miles each year, using the rivers and lakes as his highways. He paddled canoes, drove dogsleds, and snowshoed to his destinations. Douglas became a hard-nosed fur trader, married a part-Cree wife, and nearly provoked a war between Britain and the United States over the San Juan Islands on the West Coast. When he was in his prime, he established Victoria and secrured the western region of British North America from the Russian Empire and the expansionist Americans. Eventually, Douglas became the controversial governor of the Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia and oversaw the frenzied Fraser and Cariboo gold rushes. |
Contributor Bio(s): Ferguson, Julie H.: - Julie H. Ferguson, a successful author and speaker, has been writing about the Canadian submarine service since 1984. Julie's submarine articles have appeared in Legion magazine, Sea Power, USNI Proceedings, and elsewhere; her second submarine book, Deeply Canadian: New Submarines for a New Millennium, was published in 2000. |