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[edit] Early historyArchaeological evidence suggests there was an active Coast Salish fishing settlement on the shores of the Courtenay River Estuary for at least 4,000 years. Due to its gentle climate, fertile soil and abundant sea life, the Coast Salish residents called the area kw'umuxws (Li'kwala for plentiful), which was eventually anglicized to Komoux and then to Comox. At the time of first contact with Europeans, the Pentlatch Nation, who spoke the Island Comox dialect of the Comox Coast Salish language, occupied the shores of present-day Comox Bay.[1] (The last speaker of the Island Comox dialect died in 1995.) Another Island Comox speaking Nation, the K'ómoks, occupied settlements further north along the east coast of Vancouver Island, in the area of present-day Campbell River, including Quadra Island and several other Gulf islands.
By the 19th century, the K'ómoks had been driven out of their lands near Campbell River by the Lekwiltok, a particularly fierce group of Kwakwaka'wakw.[1] The K'ómoks migrated south to the shores of the Courtenay River estuary, where they allied with the resident Pentlatch against their common enemy.[2] In 1862, a major smallpox epidemic swept across Vancouver Island, killing an estimated 30% of First Nations people. A census of First Nations in the Comox Valley taken in 1876 revealed that the local First Nations population had dwindled to only 88 K'ómoks and 21 Pentlatch.[3] European settlers began to arrive in the area in 1872, and by 1876, the K'ómoks and Pentledge had been moved onto two reservations: Comox Indian Reserve No. 1 adjacent to the village of Comox, and Pentledge Indian Reserve No. 2 at the confluence of the Puntledge and Tsolum rivers adjacent to the village of Courtenay.[3] [edit] Early European explorersIn 1579, Francis Drake, on his circumnavigation of the globe in the Golden Hind, found a good port somewhere along the northwest coast of North America and stayed for several months while restocking supplies and trading with the inhabitants of the area. He named the region Nova Albion, Latin for "New Britain". Drake's detailed logs — and the exact location of Nova Albion — were later lost in a 17th-century fire, but some historians believe Drake made a landing in the Courtenay River estuary. In 1791, a Spanish expedition led by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores produced a crude chart of the Strait of Georgia and possibly visited Comox Bay. Captain George Vancouver arrived the following year, tasked by the British government with charting the northwest coast of North America. Vancouver, in concert with the Spanish expedition, entered the Courtenay River estuary between the present-day locations of Courtenay and Comox and charted the shoreline of the estuary. [edit] Early settlersBy the middle of the 19th century, European and American settlements had sprung up in the Vancouver area and on southern Vancouver Island. In 1837, the Hudson Bay Company steamship Beaver began to search the south and east coasts of Vancouver Island for suitable locations for new trading posts, and subsequently set up a post overlooking the Courtenay River estuary, calling it "Komoux". , commanded by Captain Courtenay, was a frequent visitor to the area. In 1848, the river flowing through the Koumax valley was informally named the Courtenay River by the sailors of HMS Constance after their captain. In 1857, Captain George Richards of was tasked with undertaking a complete survey of the coastline of Vancouver Island, and was given authority to name local landmarks. When he arrived in the area, he confirmed the name of the river as the Courtenay.[3] In 1853 Sir James Douglas, governor of Vancouver Island, took a journey up the coast of Vancouver Island aboard SS Beaver, and recognized the area's agricultural potential. In 1861, Lieutenant Richard Mayne of the Royal Navy visited the area and wrote of the rich agricultural prospects of the area, saying it had taken him a day and a half to walk over the land "through which a plough might be driven from end to end".[1] That same year Governor Douglas issued a land and settlement proclamation for the Koumox Valley, intending to divert new settlers away from the Victoria area as well as from the newly discovered Cariboo gold fields. He offered land in the valley for $1 per acre and free transportation to the area.[1]
In 1888 Robert Dunsmuir established a mine in nearby Union, later renamed Cumberland, which brought an influx of settlers, and Chinese and Japanese immigrants. McPhee and Pidcock recognized the economic potential of a townsite on the western bank of the river, which would be closer to the mines. They hired a surveyor, George Drabble, to survey and subdivide their land into town lots, which they quickly sold to businessmen and homeowners. The townsite on the much drier west side of the river, called for a time "New Courtenay", quickly developed. Many of the stores and businesses centred on what was originally called Union Street (now 5th Street), which ascended from McPhee's bridge.[4] [edit] Early 20th centuryThe Comox Co-operative Creamery opened in 1901, encouraging the development of dairy farms in the fertile valley.[6] Courtenay had no connecting roads to the rest of the Island; news and mail were provided by packet steamers. But in 1905, Joseph McPhee brought telephone service to his store, providing the isolated community with immediate contact to the outside world.[6] A connecting road to Nanaimo and Victoria was finally built in 1910, and the E&N Railway arrived in 1914, bringing an end to the packet steamer era.[6]
On 12 July 1915, a large fire ripped through 5th Street destroying much of the south side of the downtown. After much of the street was rebuilt, another fire hit the south side of 5th Street, again destroying many of the stores.[7] In both cases, due to the lack of a water system, the citizens were only able to fight the fires with a bucket brigade. Joseph McPhee led the call for a water system, which was installed by October 1921.[4] In 1921, a new chapter of the Native Sons of Canada was formed in Courtenay, with Joseph McPhee as president. They decided to build a hall, and a large log structure was completed in 1928, the largest freespan log building in Canada.[4] In 1923, a steel bridge at the 5th Street river crossing replaced McPhee's fifty-year-old wooden structure. The town's population experienced steady growth in the years between the First and Second World Wars, increasing from 600 people in 1914 to 1700 in 1941.[6] By 1951, the population had grown to 2500, and Courtenay was designated a city in 1953. In 1960, the 5th Street bridge built in 1923 was replaced with the current steel structure. Concrete sidewalks and a sewer system were installed in 1962. In 1975, the construction of Driftwood Mall and the opening of a second river crossing, the 17th Street lift bridge, refocused the business district from 5th Street to Cliffe Avenue.[6] [edit] Earthquake of 1946On 14 June 1946, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck just west of Courtenay, with the epicentre located at Forbidden Plateau. The earthquake was felt as far north as Prince Rupert and as far south as Portland, Oregon. Many of the town's chimneys were destroyed, and there was significant damage to the post office and what is now Courtenay Elementary School. This was the largest earthquake to hit Vancouver Island, and the largest onshore earthquake in Canada on record. There were only two reported deaths: one Seattle man died of a heart attack and another drowned when his boat capsized due to a resulting wave. |