History of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The city has a population of about 1,000 people

VANCOUVER or QUADRA AND VANCOUVER, an island off the W. coast of the Dominion of Canada, province of British Columbia. Lat. 48° 19' to 50 53 N.. Ion. 123° 1 7 to 128 28' W. Length from N.W. to S E. 278 miles; breadth varying from 50 to 65 miles. Total area 15,037 square miles (about half the size of Ireland). On the E. and N.E. it is separated from British Columbia by the Gulf of Georgia and Queen Charlotte's Sound, and on the S. from that of the United States by the Strait of San Juan-de-Fuca; on the N. and W. it lies open to the North Pacific This Island was discovered by Juan de Fuca, a Greek, in 1592. Captain Cook coasted along the western shore in 1778, and supposed it to form part of the mainland. The first British settlement was made at Nootka Sound in 1778, by some London merchants. Spain, however, bid claim to the west coast of America, south of 60°, and her cruisers seized the British trading vessels. To resent this a large fleet was assembled at Spithead but war was avoided ...