Editing Victoria, British Columbia (section)

===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.