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James Douglas, shown ca. 1861, was governor of the colony of Vancouver Island from 1851 to 1864, and governor of the mainland colony of British Columbia from 1858 to 1864. Image A-01227 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum.
Miners pan for gold near Yale in the 1870s. Though the Fraser River gold rush was long over, some men still tried their luck in the waters. Image A-01958 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum.
Roadbuilding was a leading priority of James Douglas, who knew that British Columbia’s many natural resources would remain inaccessible, and thus unprofitable to Great Britain, without “a great system of roads” to connect the many remote communities of the colony. Image D-08062 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum.
Appointed governor of the mainland colony of British Columbia in 1864, Frederick Seymour was named governor of the merged colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island in 1866. He was photographed visiting the Heron mining claim in the Cariboo near Barkerville the following year. Seymour is at far right. Image F-08565 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum.
Bishop George Hills, shown here ca. 1860, came to Victoria in January 1860 as the first Anglican bishop of British Columbia. He remained in that position until 1892. Image G-05683 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum.
A severe shortage of white women in British Columbia meant that partnering with an Indigenous woman was the only option for most miners, like these photographed at the Mucho Oro claim at Stouts Gulch ca. 1868. Image A-00613 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum.
Comatatqua Joseph (at right in front row), daughter of Chief Tsil.Husalst, married Edmund Shepherd (second from left in front row), originally from New Brunswick, in the early 1860s. Among their children were (back row, left to right) Agnes, Frederick, William, and Cecelia; (front row) Julia and Adelaide. Edmund earned his living through gold mining, working on the Fraser River steamships, and working for the Hudson’s Bay Company. He stayed in British Columbia, and the descendants of Edmund and Comatatqua still live in the province. Photo courtesy of Donna Sweet.
Securing pensions for British Columbia’s many civil servants , including members of the Legislative Assembly, pictured ca. 1870, was one of the preconditions of Confederation. From left to right on porch: W.A. Franklin, house messenger; Henry Holbrook; Wymond Ogilvy Hamley; Edward Graham Alston; Philip J. Hankin; Montague William Tyrwhitt-Drake; Joseph M. Trutch (sitting on porch at top of steps); Thomas L. Wood; Henry Maynard Ball; Edgar Dewdney; Arthur Thomas Bushby. From left to right in foreground: Amor de Cosmos; Henry Pering Pellew Crease; D.B. King (seated on steps, with dog); Thomas B. Humphreys; John Robson. Image C-06178 courtesy of the Royal BC Museum.

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British Columbia in the Balance

1846–1871

Jean Barman

Esteemed historian Jean Barman brings new insights on the seemingly disparate events that converged to lay the foundation of the present-day province.

By examining newly accessible private correspondence exchanged with the Colonial Office in London, Barman pieces together the chain of events that caused the distant colony of British Columbia to join the Canadian Confederation as opposed to the very real possibility of becoming one or more American states.

Following the division of the Pacific Northwest between Britain and the United States in 1846, it took British Columbia just a quarter of a century to be transformed from a largely Indigenous territory in 1871, into a province of the recently formed Canada Confederation. In this detailed exploration of colonial politics, including fur trader and politician James Douglas’s governance and the critical role played by the many unions between white settlers and and Indigenous women, Barman expertly weaves together seemingly disparate events that converged to lay the foundations of today’s Canadian province.

British Columbia in the Balance is available in hardcover from your favourite bookstore or directly from Harbour Publishing.

ISBN 13: 9781550179880
70 maps and other illustrations
6 × 9 – 320 pp
CAD$36.95 • USD$36.95

An ebook edition is also available from Amazon, Kobo, Apple iBooks and other ebook retailers.

Preamble: Sensing the Past

For as long as I can remember, I have viewed British Columbia as a kind of promised land. Growing up in northwest Minnesota a few miles south of the Canadian border, I would, while waiting in the car...

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