BC Forest Discovery Centre, Duncan
Spars cut for Capt. Cook’s ships in 1778; logs skidded by oxen in 1860; whistles blown on “steam-pots” and “lodes” in 1900; countless products made by complex machines; all recall the continued growth of the industry. Today, scientific forestry ensures, for centuries to come, the lusty cry of “Timber-r” echoing in our forests.
The First Nations inhabitants of the northwest coast possessed a way of life almost entirely dependent on the forest and fishing. Except for the fish taken from the sea, almost everything they ate, wore, used, lived in and traveled in, came from the forest. The European people were hardly less dependent on wood. In re-fitting their ships with Iocal timber, the members of Captain Cook's expedition were probably the first Europeans to make use of the materials of the BC forests.
The fur traders who followed found it profitable to cut spars and stow them wherever they could find space among their cargoes of furs. Spars from BC forests were found to be longer, stronger and straighter than the ones used by the British Navy. They were sold to other parts of Europe and China as well.
The modern forest industry began in 1848 when the Hudson's Bay Company constructed the first sawmill in BC at the head of Esquimalt Harbour. It was located beside what was then called Rowe Stream, but which is now known as Mill Sream. This water powered mill suffered from mecahnical problems, shortage of water, too much water when the stream flooded and injuries to workers, but during its ten-year operation supplied lumber to Victoria, Fort Langley and San Francisco. A second mill was set up at Sooke in 1850, which later became the first mill to convert from water to steam power.
