Editing George Vancouver (section)

==Legacy==

===Navigation===
[[File:George Vancouver statue.jpg|right|thumb|A [[Statue of George Vancouver (Vancouver)|statue of George Vancouver]] in front of [[Vancouver City Hall]]]]
Vancouver determined that the [[Northwest Passage]] did not exist at the latitudes that had long been suggested. His charts of the North American northwest coast were so extremely accurate that they served as the key reference for coastal navigation for generations. Robin Fisher, the academic vice-president of [[Mount Royal University]] in Calgary and author of two books on Vancouver, states:
{{Blockquote|He put the northwest coast on the map...He drew up a map of the north-west coast that was accurate to the 9th degree, to the point it was still being used into the modern day as a navigational aid. That's unusual for a map from that early a time.<ref name=pynn530>Pynn, Larry (30 May 2007) "Charting the Coast," ''The [[Vancouver Sun]]'', p.B3</ref>}}

However, Vancouver failed to discover two of the largest and most important rivers on the [[West Coast of the United States|Pacific coast]], the [[Fraser River]] and the [[Columbia River]]. He also missed the [[Skeena River]] near Prince Rupert in northern British Columbia. Vancouver did eventually learn of the Columbia River before he finished his survey—from [[Robert Gray (sea-captain)|Robert Gray]], captain of the American merchant ship that conducted the first [[Robert Gray's Columbia River expedition|Euroamerican sailing of the Columbia River]] on 11 May 1792, after first sighting it on an earlier voyage in 1788. However, neither the Columbia River nor the Fraser River were included on any of Vancouver's charts.

Stephen R. Bown noted in ''Mercator's World'' magazine's November/December 1999 issue that:

{{Blockquote|How Vancouver could have missed these rivers while accurately charting hundreds of comparatively insignificant inlets, islands, and streams is hard to fathom. What is certain is that his failure to spot the Columbia had great implications for the future political development of the Pacific Northwest....<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=Stephen R. |year=1999 |title=In the Most Faithful Manner |journal=Mercator's World |volume=4 |issue=6 |url=//mercatorsworld.com/article.php3?i=67 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030619143254/http://mercatorsworld.com/article.php3?i=67 |archive-date=19 June 2003 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite bcgnis|id=24320 |title=Vancouver}}</ref>}}

While it is difficult to comprehend how Vancouver missed the Fraser River, much of this river's delta was subject to flooding and summer [[freshet]] which prevented the captain from spotting any of its great channels as he sailed the entire shoreline from [[Point Roberts, Washington]], to [[West Point Grey|Point Grey]] in 1792.<ref name=Hume>Hume, Stephen (17 November 2007) "The Birth of Modern British Columbia Part 7", ''The Vancouver Sun'', p. D9</ref> The [[Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest]], with the 1791 [[Francisco de Eliza]] expedition preceding Vancouver by a year, had also missed the Fraser River although they knew from its muddy plume that there was a major river located nearby.<ref name=Hume/>

===Indigenous peoples===
Vancouver generally established a rapport with both Indigenous peoples and European trappers. Historical records show Vancouver enjoyed good relations with native leaders both in Hawaii – with King [[Kamehameha I]] as well as the Pacific Northwest and California.<ref name=Pynn529>Pynn, Larry "Peaceful Encounters" (29 May 2007), ''The [[Vancouver Sun]]'', p. B3</ref> Vancouver's journals exhibit a high degree of sensitivity to the indigenous populations he encountered. He wrote of meeting the [[Chumash people]],<ref name="nps.gov"/> and of his exploration of a small island on the Californian coast on which an important burial site was marked by a sepulchre of "peculiar character" lined with boards and fragments of military instruments lying near a square box covered with mats.<ref name=Pynn529/> Vancouver states:

{{blockquote|This we naturally conjectured contained the remains of some person of consequence, and it much excited the curiosity of some of our party; but as further examination could not possibly have served any useful purpose, and might have given umbrage and pain to the friends of the deceased, should it be their custom to visit the repositories of their dead, I did not think it right that it should be disturbed.<ref name=Pynn529/> }}

Vancouver also displayed contempt in his journals towards unscrupulous western traders who provided guns to natives, writing:

{{blockquote|I am extremely concerned to be compelled to state here, that many of the traders from the civilised world have not only pursued a line of conduct, diametrically opposite to the true principles of justice in their commercial dealings, but have fomented discords, and stirred up contentions, between the different tribes, in order to increase the demand for these destructive engines... They have been likewise eager to instruct the natives in the use of European arms of all descriptions; and have shewn by their own example, that they consider gain as the only object of pursuit; and whether this be acquired by fair and honourable means, or otherwise, so long as the advantage is secured, the manner how it is obtained seems to have been, with too many of them, but a very secondary consideration.<ref name=Pynn529/>}}

Robin Fisher notes that Vancouver's "relationships with aboriginal groups were generally peaceful; indeed, his detailed survey would not have been possible if they had been hostile."<ref name=Pynn529/> While there were hostile incidents at the end of Vancouver's last season – the most serious of which involved a clash with the [[Tlingit|Tlingit people]] at [[Behm Canal]] in southeast Alaska in 1794 – these were the exceptions to Vancouver's exploration of the US and Canadian Northwest coast.<ref name=Pynn529/>

Despite a long history of warfare between Britain and Spain, Vancouver maintained excellent relations with his Spanish counterparts and even fêted a Spanish sea captain aboard his ship {{HMS|Discovery|1789|2}} during his 1792 trip to the Vancouver region.<ref name=pynn530/>

===Namesakes===

====Ship and cadet units====
* [[HMCS Vancouver (FFH 331)|HMCS ''Vancouver'']] Halifax-class frigate of the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] (Named for the city, which is named for the man.)  
*TS Vancouver, [[Australian Navy Cadets]]
* 47 RCSCC CAPTAIN VANCOUVER, [[Royal Canadian Sea Cadets]] [http://www.47rcscc.com/home/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121219182037/http://www.47rcscc.com/home/ |date=19 December 2012 }}

====Places====
Many places around the world have been named after George Vancouver, including:

=====Australia=====
* [[Vancouver Peninsula, Western Australia|Vancouver Peninsula]], Cape Vancouver and Vancouver Breakers in [[King George Sound]], Western Australia

=====Canada=====
* [[Mount Vancouver]], in Yukon and neighbouring Alaska, eighth highest mountain in Canada
* [[Vancouver]], British Columbia, a major city on the mainland in southwestern British Columbia, the province's largest city
** [[Vancouver Maritime Museum]]
* [[Vancouver Bay, British Columbia]], in Jervis Inlet, East of Powell River, named after Vancouver when Capt. [[George Henry Richards|George H. Richards]] resurveyed the area in 1860.
* [[Vancouver Island]], in British Columbia off the southwest coast of the mainland. North America's largest Pacific Island and location of the provincial capital at [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]] on its southern tip.
*[[Vancouver River]], a river flowing into the [[Jervis Inlet]] on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia.

=====New Zealand=====
* [[Mount Vancouver (New Zealand)|Mount Vancouver]], the sixth highest mountain in New Zealand.
* Vancouver Arm of [[Breaksea Sound]], Fiordland, South Island

=====United Kingdom=====
* Vancouver Road in [[Ham, London]], near Petersham, his place of burial

=====United States=====
* [[Vancouver, Washington]], a city in southwest Washington across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon
** [[Fort Vancouver]], a Hudson's Bay Company trading post established in 1825

====Memorials====
[[File:George Vancouver Statue Kings Lynn.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Statue of George Vancouver in [[King's Lynn]], his birthplace in England]]
* Statues of Vancouver are located in his birthplace of [[King's Lynn]], in front of [[Vancouver City Hall]], and on top of the dome of the [[British Columbia Parliament Buildings]].
* The Vancouver Quarter Shopping Centre bears his name in King's Lynn.
* [[Canada Post]] issued a pair of 14-cent stamps to mark the 200th anniversary of Captain Cook's arrival at Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island on 26 April 1978. George Vancouver was a crewman on this voyage.
* ''[[Gate to the Northwest Passage]]'', a commemorative statue by Vancouver artist Alan Chung Hung was commissioned by [[Parks Canada]] and installed at the mouth of [[False Creek]] in [[Vanier Park]] near the [[Vancouver Maritime Museum]] in 1980.
* [[Canada Post]] issued a 37-cent stamp inscribed ''Vancouver Explores the Coast'' on 17 March 1988. It was one of a set of four stamps issued to honour ''Exploration of Canada – Recognizers''.
* The ''George Vancouver [[Rose]]'', named in his honour and hybridised by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
* [[First Capital Connect]] named [[British Rail Class 365|Class 365]] unit 365514 ''Captain George Vancouver'', operating on the route between [[King's Lynn railway station|King's Lynn]] and [[London King's Cross railway station|London]].
* [[Virgin CrossCountry]] named [[British Rail Class 221|Class 221]] unit 221129 ''George Vancouver'' in 2003, it was denamed on transfer to [[Arriva CrossCountry]] in 2007.
<!--  Commented out: [[File:Gv-fdc-20070622.jpg|thumb|right|300px|2007 first day cover: George Vancouver's 250th birthday|{{FFDC|1=Gv-fdc-20070622.jpg|log=2009 June 11|date=May 2012}}]] -->
* A [[Captain Vancouver Landing Site on Maui|commemorative monument]] is located on the beach in North Kihei, Maui, Hawaii, commemorating George Vancouver's contribution of coffee and root vegetables to the islands of Hawaii, inscribed by Pierre Elliot Trudeau 2 December 1967.
* [[Statue of George Vancouver (Vancouver, Washington)|Statue of George Vancouver]] (2000), Vancouver, Washington

Many collections were made on the voyage: one was donated by [[Archibald Menzies]] to the [[British Museum]] 1796; another made by surgeon George Goodman Hewett (1765–1834) was donated by [[Augustus Wollaston Franks]] to the British Museum in 1891. An account of these has been published.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = King | first1 = J. C. H. | year = 1994 | title = Vancouver's Ethnography: A Preliminary Description of Five Inventories from the Voyage of 1791–95 | journal =  J Hist Collections  | volume = 6 | issue = 1 | pages = 35–38 | doi = 10.1093/jhc/6.1.35 }}</ref>

===250th birthday commemorations===
[[File:Gate-to-the-Northwest-Passage.jpg|thumb|''[[Gate to the Northwest Passage]]'' (1980) by Vancouver artist Alan Chung Hung, commemorating the entrance of Captain Vancouver into [[Burrard Inlet]].]] [[Canada Post]] issued a $1.55 postage stamp to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Vancouver's birth, on 22 June 2007. The stamp has an embossed image of Vancouver seen from behind as he gazes forward towards a mountainous coastline. This may be the first Canadian stamp not to show the subject's face.<ref>Pynn, Larry (24 May 2007) [http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=9a727afd-5ae5-4ffe-98ff-65f52dcea471&k=40125 Mystery man: The Canada Post stamp honouring Captain George Vancouver has created a buzz with collectors] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071210032624/http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=9a727afd-5ae5-4ffe-98ff-65f52dcea471&k=40125 |date=10 December 2007 }}, ''Vancouver Sun''</ref>

The City of [[Vancouver]] in Canada organised a celebration to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Vancouver's birth, in June 2007 at the [[Vancouver Maritime Museum]].<ref name=pynn623>Pynn, Larry (23 June 2007) "Native elder embraces captain's legacy", ''The Vancouver Sun'', p. B9</ref> The one-hour festivities included the presentation of a massive 63 by 114 centimetre [[carrot cake]], the firing of a gun salute by the [[Royal Canadian Artillery]]'s 15th Field Regiment and a performance by the Vancouver Firefighter's Band.<ref name=pynn623/>
Vancouver's then-mayor, [[Sam Sullivan]], officially declared 22 June 2007 to be "George Day".<ref name=pynn623/>

The [[Musqueam]] (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) Elder sɁəyeɬəq ([[Larry Grant (elder)|Larry Grant]]) attended the festivities and acknowledged that some of his people might disapprove of his presence, but also noted:

{{blockquote|Many people don't feel aboriginal people should be celebrating this occasion...I believe it has helped the world and that's part of who we are. That's the legacy of our people. We're generous to a fault. The legacy is strong and a good one, in the sense that without the first nations working with the colonials, it [B.C.] wouldn't have been part of Canada to begin with and Britain would be the poorer for it.<ref name=pynn623/>}}