Home

Whonnock Before 1885

First Nations people were here, it seems, forever before the first non-natives came.

The flood of whites claiming land to settle started with the Fraser Valley gold rush of 1858. To assure that sufficient lands would be put aside for the Natives, Governor Douglas ordered that ample reserves be layed out.

Originally the Whonnock Reserve would have covered 2,000 acres, but in the end only 92 acres were granted. In 1881, 16 families and some 50 people lived on the Reserve.

 

The sketch shows the approximate boundaries of the 2,000 acres “Douglas” Reserve and the present Reserve, arked I.R.

In 1885, Lot 433 was granted to Robert Robert-son, and, a few years later, an additional 180 acres, Lot 434, were granted to his son.

  


Metal crosses (at left) from the 1890s remind us of the Whonnocks who lived and died on the Reserve. 

Robert Robertson from the Shetlands worked as a labourer for the Hudsons Bay Company in New Caledonia for seven years, before settling in Whonnock in 1860 with his wife Tselatsete-nate from Nicomen Island.