Victoria Voltigeurs
Background information, that's often forgotten, along with the stories of forming, norming, disbanding and the legacy.
The "father" of British Columbia, Sir James Douglas, was a man of colour, with a white father and black mother. Scottish paternal lineage, and African maternal roots, Douglas was born in present day Guyana.
Afro News states, "his colour was very much an integral part of who he was and many of his decisions were influenced by that fact. Any individual who has shared the Black experience will know that Sir James was always aware of his mother’s contribution to his being...James Douglas’ racial makeup could have landed him into slavery if he had ventured into the slave states of the United States."
Amelia, Sir James Douglas's wife, was also of mixed ancestry, Métis, from the Red River area. Amelia Connolly, was the daughter of the Chief Factor of Stuart Lake. William Connolly was born in Lachine, near Montreal, in 1786, to Irish parents. Her mother, à la façon du pays, a Cree woman, known as Suzanne “Pas de nom.” Amelia grew up in a Red River Métis settlement, prior to her marriage to James Douglas.
August 1851, Douglas was informed he had been appointed to be the Governor of Vancouver Island, and that he was only responsible to the Crown now, and the Hudson Bay Company had no control over him.
Douglas feared that Americans would annex were present day British Columbia now resides. He was concerned they would form a government and would be very difficult to dislodge.
During this period of time the gold rush brought the pandemics; the colonial state of Canada and the United States created their colonial border; and British Columbia was created on the unceded and unsurrendered ancestral homelands of the sovereign Indigenous Countries.
Blanchard, Douglas's superior, insisted on bringing the military into the area, to protect against the local Indigenous peoples. Douglas was strongly opposed this stating there was no such threat by the the Indigenous peoples.
Hudson Bay Company records: 1847 - "Chief Trader Roderick Finlayson had about 30 men working for him; they would finish building a sawmill at Millstream that year. Courtenay noted his 'agreeably surprised discovery that the Songhees were not so thievish as represented, scarcely a single instance of dishonesty occur but they will not do you a hand's turn, or give you a drink of water without a payment." (page 34)
Concerned about the threat of annex by the Americans, Douglas recommended a Métis police militia, made up of retired HBC employees. Sir James Douglas hand picked the Victoria Voltigeurs. The black man, with an Indigenous wife was very aware of what was happening to Indigenous and African peoples at the hands of the Americans south of the medicine line. Its was the gold rush and the Americans were moving up the west coast, committing horrific acts against Indigenous and black peoples.
"More than a decade before the establishment of the African Rifles, after James Polk was elected U.S. president in 1845 on a “54/40 or Fight” platform - pledging to push American sovereignty as far north as the Alaska panhandle - Douglas mobilized a force of Metis fighters, the Victoria Voltigeurs..." (the British Columbia that might of been)
"At Camson, he (Douglas) addressed the Songhees Indians, telling them that a trading post would be built; they gave their approval and volunteered to assist with the work." (HBC p. xix)
For more information see the "Resource & Quotes" section:
Black History Month - Afro News February 3, 2021
Louis Riel Institute - Amelia Connolly (Douglas). (1812-1890)
HBC
The British Columbia that might of been - August 3, 2020
Note: In the primary sources the spelling is often done differently, then present day. Out of respect for the primary sources, I have used the original spelling when using quotes. Metis during this era were often refereed to as Canadian and Canadien. See Resources & Quotes section. In the HBC records the local First Nations lands were refereed to as their Countries.
Douglas was charged with establishing a settlement on Vancouver Island. In doing this he wanted citizens of good character, from diverse backgrounds, and not just those of British ancestry.
Hudson Bay Company (HBC) employees were required to retire in Montreal, and not at the HBC fort area, were they had lived, often for many years. Typically they married into the local First Nations, and had Indigenous families. Many HBC retirees were First Nation, Métis, or if from non-Indigenous ancestry, had Indigenous spouses and families. Instead of following the typical retirement process Douglas went against the grain, choosing to hand pick HBC employees to retire from the HBC, join the newly forming Victoria Voltigeurs, police militia, to relocate to the land of the lək̓ʷəŋən People, known today as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations.
When it came to land allocation, Douglas sought permission from the Songhees for 20 acres of land to be granted to each of the three members of the Victoria Voltigeurs: Nicholas Auger, Jean Baptiste Jollibois, and John Lemon.
The Victoria Voltigeurs lived in a village up Colquitz Creek near its junction with Swan Creek. The location can be seen on the 1854 Pemberton map at the location of the name Jollibios." (p.15/supplement doc)
"...the Natives continue quiet and well disposed, being at all times willing to assist in the labours of the Establishment, and in protecting the farm and running stock against the distant and barbarous tribes inhabiting the Country to the Northward and Westward. The Sangies who are encamped within range of the Bastions and the Establishment, and lately gave a convincing and useful proof of their attachment by taking up arms against a body of Cap Flattery Indians, who threatened to attack the Post..." (HBC p.16)
Douglas worked diligently to maintain a respectful relationship with the Songhees people, recognizing that he was a guest in their Country. He took care to educate newly arriving white settlers on the importance of treating the Songhees with respect and understanding. Sir James Douglas's efforts to bridge cultures and foster mutual respect remain a notable part of his legacy, although he was not a perfect man, and made mistakes. Early in Douglas's career, his wife Amelia, had to beg for his life, making restitution with gifts at a Carrier Chief, after in haste he had killed a man who had murdered two HBC employees.
Local host First Nations played a crucial role in building Victoria and other forts. They worked and lived together with settlers, First Nations from other Nations and Metis, fostering a peaceful coexistence. Many individual First Nations, from a variety of different Nations, resided and worked at Fort Victoria. The local host First Nations provided a variety of foods to those living at the Fort.
Waves of diseases were brought to Turtle Island, North America, with the European colonizers. The Songhees faced significant challenges due to these diseases. Many members were killed, making them vulnerable to attacks from northern First Nations. Historically, the raids from the northern First Nations resulted in their men being killed, and their women and children being taken.
"From Fort Simpson the disease spread to the neighbouring tribes, causing 'an amount of destitution, wretchedness and morality perfectly heart rendering; and all together has no parallel in other countries where the appliances of relief exist abundantly, and the other hand of charity is ever open to distress. Food and medicine were dispensed, but the interior villages. Like the Cayuse Indians of the lower Columbia valley, the Fort Simpson Indians blamed the introduction of the disease on the whites, and threatened to attack the fort. The officers of the Hudson Bay Company, with their long experience in dealing with the natives, were to quieten them." (HBC p.xxvii )
There were Songhees, 'whose lands we occupy', encamped near the fort and some Sandwich Islanders but two thirds of the people at the establishment who were 'chiefly Hawaiians' fell ill during the dreadful measles epidemic of 1848." (HBC xxi)
"The presence in the colony of retired Company personnel was desired largely because of the need to maintain friendly intercourse with large Indian population of Vancouver Island which numbered more than ten thousand. ...Douglas wrote, to bring natives around Fort Victoria to a state of harmonious relations with Europeans, and he did not want inexperienced settlers destroying the friendship now formed with the 'children of the forest'. " (HBC p. lv)
"At Fort Victoria the Songhees had attached themselves to the establishment from the beginning..." ( HBC p. lvii )
"No one in the Hudson Bay Company from the governor and committee down to the clerks wanted outside interference with the Indians. The Governor and Committee felt that the 'Daedalus' had caused a very inconvenient with the Indians. Simpson wrote that there was no indication that the Indians on Vancouver Island or on the route to New Caledonia were hostile: he thought the seaman had been victims of their own folly and recklessness." (HBC p.lxxvii )
"The “Pig War” of 1859 was a confrontation between the United States and Great Britain over the location of the international border in the San Juan Islands. The conflict began when an American settler killed a pig owned by an employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company; it quickly grew to involve British warships and hundreds of troops on both sides." - The Pig War
