The Private Journal of Captain G.H. Richards

Captain Richards's journal is an account of three survey seasons on Vancouver Island aboard two British Navy ships, the HMS Plumper and the HMS Hecate. Between 1860 and 1862 Richards and his dedicated crew surveyed and charted the entire coastline of Vancouver Island, creating baseline information for the nautical charts we use today. This monumental task, faithfully and often humorously recorded, also includes a lively description of California on the eve of the American Civil War as Richards sits in dry dock following the near wreck of the Hecate. Part of the private collection of a direct descendant of Captain Richards, the journal is a little known and untapped resource. Extensively annotated and supplemented with excerpts from the journals of Second Master John Gowlland, the journal provides a unique and personal view of the aboriginal, colonial, nautical and natural history of Vancouver Island. Richards is revealed as a man of immense energy and diplomacy; the descriptions of the First Nations he encounters are remarkably unbiased for the time and his keen observations are a portal into the social and political life of Vancouver Island during these formative years of the colony. The journal will appeal to historians, anthropologists, sailors, meteorologists and the general reading public alike.

Introduction; Into The Mountains: Blackfoot Crossing to Canmore; A Keystone Species?: The Role of Mountain Peoples in the Historic Ecosystem; Birthplace of Parks: Banff Environs; "If We Can't Export the Scenery...": Railways and Park Establishment; The California-Banff Beeline: Banff to Windermere; "Dividends in Gold & Dividends in Human Units": Government and Private Enterprise Develop the Parks; Heart of the Rockies: Lake Louise, Red Deer Valley, Yoho, and the Icefields; Unimpaired For Future Generations: Balancing Park Use and Preservation; The Northwest Passage by Land: Jasper to Edmonton; Synthesis: The Processes of Landscape Change; Index.