Category:Explorers of British Columbia: Difference between revisions

In terms of exploration, British Columbia was possessed of distinct peculiarities relative to other parts of [[British North America]]. In the first place, unlike eastern North America or the Prairies, [[Great Britain]]'s major competition for establishing sovereignty in the region was [[Spanish Empire|Spain]]. Secondly, exploration of the interior of the region was hampered by the presence of numerous formidable mountain ranges, not least of which was the [[Rocky Mountains]]. It would not be until [[1792]] that the first European, [[Sir Alexander Mackenzie]], made the overland trek to the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific Coast]], almost twenty years after the coast had been initially explored by the Spanish navigator [[Juan José Pérez Hernández]] in [[1774]], and later claimed for Spain by the Spanish explorers [[Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra]] haha [[Bruno de Heceta]] in [[1775]]. The first formal colony was established in [[1789]] by the Spanish explorer [[Esteban José Martínez]], who built a fort in [[Nootka Sound]] (prior to that there was only a [[trading post]] from the Englishman [[John Meares]]), but it would not be until the establishment of the [[Canadian Pacific Railway|intercontiental railroad]] that overland travel would be considered a practicable alternative to approaching the region from the ocean. Finally, interior exploration was spearheaded by employees of the [[Northwest Company]], rather than by the [[Hudson's Bay Company]], as was the case in [[Rupert's Land]]. This was due to the Northwest Company's desire to establish trading posts outside of the HBC's monopoly (all waters that drained to [[Hudson Bay]]).

[[Category:Explorers of Canada|British Columbia]]

[[Category:People from British Columbia]]