By the 1840s, it became necessary for the Hudson's Bay Company to re-establish its base on the Pacific Coast because the Americans claimed the Oregon Territory. Thus, in 1843, Chief Factor James Douglas selected a spot on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, which he described as "a perfect Eden," for the new post of Fort Victoria. This engraving from the Illustrated London News of August 26, 1848 shows the historic Beaver, the first steamboat on the Pacific Coast, in the foreground, The insert in the upper left is of one of the original bastions built in 1843: it was mounted with "Blunderbusses, muskets &c."
Courtesy: Public Archives of Canada and Hudson's Bay Company
