Fort Langley, birthplace of British Columbia
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Co-authored by B.A. McKelvie and Charles Lillard, Fort Langley, Birthplace of British Columbia chronicles the foundational history of the Hudson's Bay Company fur-trading post established along the lower Fraser River in 1827. The book details how the fort evolved from a modest trading stockade dealing in salmon and beaver pelts into the geopolitical staging ground where British colonial rule was officially proclaimed in 1858. Drawing on historical journals and company records, the text illustrates the complex economic web linking fur traders, maritime supply ships, and local Indigenous populations. A keen insight drawn from the work is how the romantic narrative of a colony's "birthplace" obscures its corporate origins; by tracing British Columbia's administrative roots directly back to a commercial trading monopoly, the authors reveal that the region's political foundation was engineered less by heroic statecraft than by the ruthless logistical demands of the fur trade. |
| Author(s): | B. A. McKelvie, Charles Lillard |
| Document: | Book · Paperback · CIRC [ 1 ] |
| Edition: | 1st Edition |
| Published: | 1991 |
| Physical Description: | 112 pages, [8] pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm |
| Genre: | History |
| Subjects: | British Columbia Fort Langley, Canada, British Columbia, Fort Langley History, Fort Langley (B.C.) History, Fort Langley (C.-B.) Histoire, History |
| Related Places: | Metro Vancouver Regional District , Fort Langley |
Circulation
Here are a list of places where this title can be found and the various formats it can be found in.
| Collection | Resource | Available | Edition | Published | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Cascade District: Encyclopedia Library | Book | Paperback | 1st Edition | 1991 | Porcépic Press, Victoria, B.C., 1991 |
Last updated: 2026-09-13