Where did Simon Fraser and his companions sleep in the night of 1 July 1808? Fraser refers to a "native village" and a good number of inhabitants. The records don't give definitive information where that village could have been but it is placed somewhere between Mission and Barnston Island.
A few years ago, Nick Doe, using Simon Fraser's latitudes and tidal observations, established convincingly that the "native village" would be at Hammond or very close by. Perhaps on the south shore, but definitely not furher up the river. (BC Historical News, Vol. 33 No. 2, Spring 2000 and personal communications).
Archaelogical evidence has shown that there was once an extensive village site at Hammmond.
Supporting evidence to Doe's claim is the fact that the villages from Hatzic to Port Haney had been depopulated by the smallpox epidemic of 1782. No large settlements could be expected on that stretch of river.
No comments:
Post a Comment