Editing Victoria, British Columbia (section)

==History==
[[File:Wawadit'la(Mungo Martin House) a Kwakwaka'wakw big house.jpg|thumb|''Wawadit'la'', a [[Kwakwakaʼwakw]] "big house", with a totem pole in [[Thunderbird Park (Victoria, British Columbia)|Thunderbird Park]]|306x306px]]

Prior to the arrival of European navigators in the late 1700s, the Greater Victoria area was home to several communities of [[Coast Salish peoples]], including the [[Lekwungen|Lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen)]] and [[Saanich people|W̱SÁNEĆ (Saanich)]] peoples. 

===Early European exploration (1770–1871)===
The Spanish and British took up the exploration of the northwest coast, beginning with the visits of [[Juan José Pérez Hernández|Juan Pérez]] in 1774, and of [[James Cook]] in 1778. Although the Victoria area of the Strait of Juan de Fuca was not explored until 1790, Spanish sailors visited [[Esquimalt Harbour]] (just west of Victoria proper) in 1790, 1791, and 1792.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

In 1841, [[James Douglas (governor)|James Douglas]] was charged with the duty of setting up a trading post on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. Upon the recommendation by [[George Simpson (administrator)|George Simpson]] a new more northerly post should be built in case [[Fort Vancouver]] fell into American hands (see [[Oregon boundary dispute]]). Douglas founded [[Fort Victoria (British Columbia)|Fort Victoria]] on the site of present-day Victoria in anticipation of the outcome of the [[Oregon Treaty]] in 1846, extending the [[British North America]]/United States border along the 49th parallel from the [[Rocky Mountains|Rockies]] to the [[Strait of Georgia]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Milestones: 1830–1860 - Office of the Historian |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/oregon-territory |access-date=2022-05-24 |website=history.state.gov}}</ref>
[[File:(1862) VICTORIA FROM JAMES' BAY LOOKING UP GOVERNMENT STREET.jpg|thumb|left|View of Victoria from [[James Bay, Greater Victoria|James Bay]] in 1862. The city was incorporated that year as a result of the [[Fraser Canyon Gold Rush]].]]
Erected in 1843 as a [[Hudson's Bay Company]] trading post on a site originally called [[wikt:Camosun|Camosack]] meaning "rush of water".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ahead of #AllIn2019: A history of the area around Victoria |url=https://communityfoundations.ca/ahead-of-allin2019-understanding-the-area |access-date=2022-05-24 |website=Community Foundations of Canada |language=en-US}}</ref> Known briefly as "Fort Albert", the settlement was renamed Fort Victoria in November 1843, in honour of [[Queen Victoria]].<ref>W. Kaye Lamb, "The Founding of Fort Victoria," B.C Historical Quarterly, Vol. VII (April 1943), p. 88</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.city.victoria.bc.ca/visitors/about_hist.shtml|title=City of Victoria – History|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060225041959/http://www.city.victoria.bc.ca/visitors/about_hist.shtml|archive-date=25 February 2006|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The Songhees established a village across the harbour from the fort. The Songhees' village was later moved north of [[Esquimalt]] in 1911.The crown colony was established in 1849. Between 1850–1854, a series of treaty agreements known as the Douglas Treaties were made with indigenous communities to purchase certain plots of land in exchange for goods.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/pubdocs/bcdocs/406899/history_douglas.pdf|title=Douglas Treaties: 1850–1854|date=2006-11-28|website=Government of British Columbia – Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation|access-date=2018-08-18}}</ref> These agreements contributed to a town being laid out on the site and made the capital of the colony, though controversy has followed about the ethical negotiation and upholding of rights by the colonial government.<ref>Watts, R., 'Tsawout file claim to James Island; Assertion based on 1852 treaty signed by James Douglas', ''[[Times-Colonist]]'' (Victoria, B.C), 26 Jan 2018</ref> The superintendent of the fort, [[Chief Factor]] [[James Douglas (governor)|James Douglas]], was made the second governor of the Vancouver Island Colony ([[Richard Blanshard]] was first governor, [[Arthur Edward Kennedy]] was third and last governor), and would be the leading figure in the early development of the city until his retirement in 1864.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

When news of [[Fraser Canyon Gold Rush|the discovery of gold]] on the British Columbia mainland reached [[San Francisco]] in 1858, Victoria became the port, supply base, and outfitting centre for miners on their way to the [[Fraser Canyon]] gold fields, mushrooming from a population of 300 to over 5,000 within a few days. Victoria was incorporated as a city in 1862.<ref>{{cite web |author=Bernard von Schulmann |url=http://victoriavision.blogspot.com/p/act-incorporating-city-of-victoria.html |title=A copy of the act incorporating the City |publisher=Victoriavision.blogspot.com |date=30 September 2013 |access-date=2013-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529052419/http://victoriavision.blogspot.com/p/act-incorporating-city-of-victoria.html |archive-date=29 May 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1862 Victoria was the epicentre of the [[1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic]] which devastated [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]], killing about two-thirds of all natives in British Columbia. In 1865, the North Pacific home of the [[Royal Navy]] was established in [[Esquimalt, British Columbia|Esquimalt]] and today is Canada's [[CFB Esquimalt|Pacific coast naval base]]. In 1866 when the island was politically united with the mainland, Victoria was designated the capital of [[Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871)|the new united colony]] instead of [[New Westminster]] – an unpopular move on the Mainland – and became the provincial capital when British Columbia joined the [[Canadian Confederation]] in 1871.

===Modern history (1871–present)===
[[File:Personnel of the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve outside the British Columbia Legislature.jpg|thumb|left|[[Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve]] members stand outside the [[British Columbia Parliament Buildings]] in 1914.]]
[[File:Bird’s-eye view of Victoria, British Columbia, 1889 - Vue à vol d’oiseau de Victoria (Colombie-Britannique), 1889 (38868364955).jpg|thumb|left|Bird's-eye view of Victoria in 1889. After the completion of the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] in 1886, Victoria lost its position as the commercial centre of the province to [[Vancouver]].]]
In the latter half of the 19th century, the Port of Victoria became one of North America's largest importers of [[opium]], serving the opium trade from Hong Kong and distribution into North America. Opium trade was legal and unregulated until 1865, when the legislature issued licences and levied duties on its import and sale. The opium trade was banned in 1908.<ref>{{cite news |title=House Passes Anti-opium Bill |url=https://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist19080714uvic/19080714 |access-date=19 May 2019 |publisher=Daily Colonist |date=14 July 1908}}</ref>

In 1886, with the completion of the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] terminus on [[Burrard Inlet]], Victoria's position as the commercial centre of British Columbia was irrevocably lost to the city of [[Vancouver]]. The city subsequently began cultivating an image of genteel civility within its natural setting, aided by the impressions of visitors such as [[Rudyard Kipling]], the opening of the popular [[Butchart Gardens]] in 1904 and the construction of the [[The Empress (hotel)|Empress Hotel]] by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1908. [[Robert Dunsmuir]], a leading industrialist whose interests included coal mines and a railway on Vancouver Island, constructed [[Craigdarroch Castle]] in the [[Rockland, Greater Victoria|Rockland]] area, near the [[Government House (British Columbia)|official residence]] of the [[Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia|province's Lieutenant Governor]]. His son, [[James Dunsmuir]], became [[Premier of British Columbia|Premier]] and subsequently Lieutenant Governor of the province and built his own grand residence at [[Hatley Park]] (used for several decades as [[Royal Roads Military College]], now civilian [[Royal Roads University]]) in the present City of [[Colwood, British Columbia|Colwood]].{{fact|date=October 2024}}

A real-estate and development boom ended just before [[World War I]], leaving Victoria with a large stock of [[Edwardian architecture|Edwardian]] public, commercial and residential buildings that have greatly contributed to the city's character. With the economic crash and an abundance of unmarried men, Victoria became an excellent location for military recruiting. Two militia infantry battalions, the [[88th Victoria Fusiliers]] and the 50th Gordon Highlanders, formed in the immediate pre-war period. Victoria was the home of [[Sir Arthur Currie]]. He had been a high-school teacher and real-estate agent prior to the war and was the Commanding Officer of the Gordon Highlanders in the summer of 1914. Before the end of the war he commanded the Canadian Corps.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.acitygoestowar.ca|title= Home|work= acitygoestowar.ca|access-date= 20 August 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220162929/http://acitygoestowar.ca/|archive-date= 20 December 2018|url-status= dead}}</ref> A number of municipalities surrounding Victoria were incorporated during this period, including the Township of Esquimalt, the District of Oak Bay, and several municipalities on the [[Saanich Peninsula]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher = University of Victoria|url = http://www.acitygoestowar.ca|title = Home|access-date = 20 August 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181220162929/http://acitygoestowar.ca/|archive-date = 20 December 2018|url-status = dead}}</ref>

Water in Greater Victoria had a reputation for excellent purity, and for several decades in the 20th century there was effective resistance to [[water chlorination|chlorination]]. However, drinking water has been chlorinated since March 1944.<ref>https://www.newspapers.com/image/506169130/?terms=chlorination&match=1 Victoria Daily Times, 5 May 1944, page 1</ref>

Since [[World War II]] the Victoria area has seen relatively steady growth, becoming home to two major universities. Since the 1980s the western suburbs have been incorporated as new municipalities, such as Colwood and [[Langford, British Columbia|Langford]], which are known collectively as the [[Western Communities]].

[[Greater Victoria]] periodically experiences calls for the [[amalgamation (politics)|amalgamation]] of the thirteen [[municipal government]]s within the [[Capital Regional District]].<ref name="Hansard">{{cite web |title=Hansard – Tuesday, February 19, 1974 – Afternoon Sitting. |url=http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/30th4th/30p_04s_740219p.htm#00305 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513182634/http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/30th4th/30p_04s_740219p.htm#00305 |archive-date=13 May 2007 |access-date=2008-01-11 |publisher=Queen's Printer |location=Victoria, B.C., Canada}}</ref> The opponents of amalgamation state that separate governance affords residents a greater deal of local autonomy.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cleverley |first=Bill |date=30 March 2016 |title=Amalgamation costs 'a lot more' than most expect: Think-tank |url=https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/amalgamation-costs-a-lot-more-than-most-expect-think-tank-1.2219825 |website=[[Times Colonist]]}}</ref> The proponents of amalgamation argue it would reduce duplication of services,<ref>{{cite web |last=Knox |first=Jack |date=16 November 2014 |title=So Greater Victoria is in favour of amalgamation – kinda |url=http://www.amalgamationyes.ca/so-greater-victoria-is-in-favour-of-amalgamation---kinda.html |access-date=3 January 2020 |archive-date=3 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103025651/http://www.amalgamationyes.ca/so-greater-victoria-is-in-favour-of-amalgamation---kinda.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> while allowing for more efficient use of resources and the ability to better handle broad, regional issues and long-term planning.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kushner |first1=Joseph |last2=Siegel |first2=David |title=Effect of Municipal Amalgamations in Ontario on Political Representation and Accessibility. |journal=Canadian Journal of Political Science |date=December 2003 |volume=36 |issue=5 |pages=1035–1051 |doi=10.1017/S0008423903778950 |s2cid=154273644 }}</ref>