Social Media Marketing for Water Mitigation Firms in Hazel Dell by Water Mitigation AI

urgent water mitigation marketing

Social media marketing for water mitigation firms in Hazel Dell? SEO Strategies by Water Mitigation AI That Drive More Restoration Leads . Now, that's something you don't hear about every day! But hey, in today's digital age, even the most niche industries need a strong online presence. Water Mitigation AI, a company making waves in this field, understands the importance of social media marketing for businesses that, quite literally, deal with waves and floods.


Water mitigation firms, by their nature, aren't exactly the first thing people think of when scrolling through their social media feeds. urgent water mitigation marketing But that doesn't mean they can't (or shouldn't) have a captivating online presence. With the right strategy, these firms can reach potential customers who may not even know they need their services-until a crisis strikes.


First off, let's talk about content. Water Mitigation AI advises firms to create engaging and informative content that educates the public about the importance of water mitigation. This might include tips on preventing water damage, behind-the-scenes looks at mitigation processes, or even testimonials from satisfied customers. People love a good story, don't they? And who knew that water mitigation could be so... fascinating?


Next, there's the issue of engagement. Social media isn't just a one-way street. It's about building relationships, and that means engaging with followers. Responding to comments, answering questions, and even participating in local online discussions can do wonders for a firm's reputation. Plus, it shows that the company genuinely cares about its community-not just its bottom line.


Now, some might think, “Why bother with social media? Isn't word of mouth enough?” Well, in today's interconnected world, ignoring social media is like ignoring a flood warning. You just don't do it! Social media offers an unparalleled opportunity to reach a wide audience quickly and effectively.

Social Media Marketing for Water Mitigation Firms in Hazel Dell by Water Mitigation AI - urgent water mitigation marketing

  1. Customer intent
  2. Clark County water mitigation marketing
  3. 10. NLP Entities
Localized AI SEO for water mitigation near NE 136th Ave And with tools like targeted advertising, firms can focus their efforts on specific demographics, ensuring they're reaching the people who are most likely to need their services.


However, it's not just about pushing out content. It's about listening, too. Through social media, water mitigation firms can gain insights into what their customers are concerned about. Are there particular areas in Hazel Dell that are more prone to flooding? Are there misconceptions about the mitigation process? By paying attention to these conversations, companies can tailor their services and messaging to better meet the needs of the community.


Of course, no marketing strategy is without its hurdles. Some challenges, like navigating the ever-changing algorithms of platforms or dealing with negative feedback, are just part of the game. But with a thoughtful approach and a bit of patience, these obstacles can be overcome.


In conclusion, social media marketing isn't just an add-on for water mitigation firms in Hazel Dell-it's an essential part of their strategy. By engaging with the community, sharing valuable content, and listening to their audience, these firms can not only improve their visibility but also build trust and credibility. And in the world of water mitigation, that's worth its weight in gold.

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Listed in order going downstream:

See also

[edit]

 

Search engine marketing (SEM) is a form of Internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) primarily through paid advertising.[1] SEM may incorporate search engine optimization (SEO), which adjusts or rewrites website content and site architecture to achieve a higher ranking in search engine results pages to enhance pay-per-click (PPC) listings and increase the call to action (CTA) on the website.[2]

Market

[edit]

In 2007, U.S. advertisers spent US $24.6 billion on search engine marketing.[3] In Q2 2015, Google (73.7%) and the Yahoo/Bing (26.3%) partnership accounted for almost 100% of U.S. search engine spend.[4] As of 2006, SEM was growing much faster than traditional advertising and even other channels of online marketing.[5] Managing search campaigns is either done directly with the SEM vendor or through an SEM tool provider. It may also be self-serve or through an advertising agency.

Search engine marketing is also a method of business analytics, which is mainly aimed at providing useful information for organizations to find business opportunities and generate profits. SEM can help organizations optimize their marketing and gather more audience and create more customers.[6]

Google's market dominance

[edit]

As of October 2016, Google leads the global search engine market with a market share of 89.3%. Bing comes second with a market share of 4.36%, Yahoo comes third with a market share of 3.3%, and Chinese search engine Baidu is fourth globally with a share of about 0.68%.[7]

In August 2024, Google's search engine was declared by a court to be a monopoly over the market.[8] During the trial, the US Department of Justice argued "Google hasn’t just illegally cornered the market in search — it’s squeezed online publishers and advertisers with a “trifecta” of monopolies that have harmed virtually the entire World Wide Web"[9]

History

[edit]

As the number of sites on the Web increased in the mid-to-late 1990s, search engines started appearing to help people find information quickly. Search engines developed business models to finance their services, such as pay per click programs offered by Open Text[10] in 1996 and then Goto.com[11] in 1998. Goto.com later changed its name[12] to Overture in 2001, was purchased by Yahoo! in 2003, and now offers paid search opportunities for advertisers through Yahoo! Search Marketing. Google also began to offer advertisements on search results pages in 2000 through the Google AdWords program. By 2007, pay-per-click programs proved to be primary moneymakers[13] for search engines. In a market dominated by Google, in 2009 Yahoo! and Microsoft announced the intention to forge an alliance. The Yahoo! & Microsoft Search Alliance eventually received approval from regulators in the US and Europe in February 2010.[14]

Search engine optimization consultants expanded their offerings to help businesses learn about and use the advertising opportunities offered by search engines, and new agencies focusing primarily upon marketing and advertising through search engines emerged. The term "search engine marketing" was popularized by Danny Sullivan in 2001[15] to cover the spectrum of activities involved in performing SEO, managing paid listings at the search engines, submitting sites to directories, and developing online marketing strategies for businesses, organizations, and individuals.

Methods and metrics

[edit]

Search engine marketing uses at least five methods and metrics to optimize websites.[16]

  1. Keyword research and analysis involve three "steps": ensuring the site can be indexed in the search engines, finding the most relevant and popular keywords for the site and its products, and using those keywords on the site in a way that will generate and convert traffic. A follow-on effect of keyword analysis and research is the search perception impact. Search perception impact describes the identified impact of a brand's search results on consumer perception, including title and meta tags, site indexing, and keyword focus. As online searching is often the first step for potential consumers/customers, the search perception impact shapes the brand impression for each individual.
  2. Website saturation and popularity, or how much presence a website has on search engines, can be analyzed through the number of pages of the site that are indexed by search engines (saturation) and how many backlinks the site has (popularity). It requires pages to contain keywords people are looking for and ensure that they rank high enough in search engine rankings. Most search engines include some form of link popularity in their ranking algorithms. The following are major tools measuring various aspects of saturation and link popularity: Link Popularity, Top 10 Google Analysis, and Marketleap's Link Popularity and Search Engine Saturation.
  3. Back end tools, including Web analytic tools and HTML validators, provide data on a website and its visitors and allow the success of a website to be measured. They range from simple traffic counters to tools that work with log files and to more sophisticated tools that are based on page tagging (putting JavaScript or an image on a page to track actions). These tools can deliver conversion-related information. Validators check the invisible parts of websites, highlighting potential problems and many usability issues and ensuring websites meet W3C code standards. Try to use more than one HTML validator or spider simulator because each one tests, highlights, and reports on slightly different aspects of your website.
  4. Whois tools reveal the owners of various websites and can provide valuable information relating to copyright and trademark issues.
  5. Google Mobile-Friendly Website Checker: This test will analyze a URL and report if the page has a mobile-friendly design.[17]

Search engine marketing is a way to create and edit a website so that search engines rank it higher than other pages. It should be also focused on keyword marketing or pay-per-click advertising (PPC). The technology enables advertisers to bid on specific keywords or phrases and ensures ads appear with the results of search engines.

With the development of this system, the price is growing under a high level of competition. Many advertisers prefer to expand their activities, including increasing search engines and adding more keywords. The more advertisers are willing to pay for clicks, the higher the ranking for advertising, which leads to higher traffic.[18] PPC comes at a cost. The higher position is likely to cost $5 for a given keyword, and $4.50 for a third location. A third advertiser earns 10% less than the top advertiser while reducing traffic by 50%.[18]

Investors must consider their return on investment when engaging in PPC campaigns. Buying traffic via PPC will deliver a positive ROI when the total cost-per-click for a single conversion remains below the profit margin. That way the amount of money spent to generate revenue is below the actual revenue generated.

There are many reasons explaining why advertisers choose the SEM strategy. First, creating a SEM account is easy and can build traffic quickly based on the degree of competition. The shopper who uses the search engine to find information tends to trust and focus on the links showed in the results pages. However, a large number of online sellers do not buy search engine optimization to obtain higher ranking lists of search results but prefer paid links. A growing number of online publishers are allowing search engines such as Google to crawl content on their pages and place relevant ads on it.[19] From an online seller's point of view, this is an extension of the payment settlement and an additional incentive to invest in paid advertising projects. Therefore, it is virtually impossible for advertisers with limited budgets to maintain the highest rankings in the increasingly competitive search market.

Google's search engine marketing is one of the western world's marketing leaders, while its search engine marketing is its biggest source of profit.[20] Google's search engine providers are clearly ahead of the Yahoo and Bing network. The display of unknown search results is free, while advertisers are willing to pay for each click of the ad in the sponsored search results.

[edit]

Paid inclusion involves a search engine company charging fees for the inclusion of a website in their results pages. Also known as sponsored listings, paid inclusion products are provided by most search engine companies either in the main results area or as a separately identified advertising area.

The fee structure is both a filter against superfluous submissions and a revenue generator. Typically, the fee covers an annual subscription for one webpage, which will automatically be catalogued on a regular basis. However, some companies are experimenting with non-subscription based fee structures where purchased listings are displayed permanently. A per-click fee may also apply. Each search engine is different. Some sites allow only paid inclusion, although these have had little success. More frequently, many search engines, like Yahoo!,[21] mix paid inclusion (per-page and per-click fee) with results from web crawling. Others, like Google (and as of 2006, Ask.com[22][23]), do not let webmasters pay to be in their search engine listing (advertisements are shown separately and labeled as such).

Some detractors of paid inclusion allege that it causes searches to return results based more on the economic standing of the interests of a web site, and less on the relevancy of that site to end-users.

Often the line between pay per click advertising and paid inclusion is debatable. Some have lobbied for any paid listings to be labeled as an advertisement, while defenders insist they are not actually ads since the webmasters do not control the content of the listing, its ranking, or even whether it is shown to any users. Another advantage of paid inclusion is that it allows site owners to specify particular schedules for crawling pages. In the general case, one has no control as to when their page will be crawled or added to a search engine index. Paid inclusion proves to be particularly useful for cases where pages are dynamically generated and frequently modified.

Paid inclusion is a search engine marketing method in itself, but also a tool of search engine optimization since experts and firms can test out different approaches to improving ranking and see the results often within a couple of days, instead of waiting weeks or months. Knowledge gained this way can be used to optimize other web pages, without paying the search engine company.

Comparison with SEO

[edit]

SEM is the wider discipline that incorporates SEO. SEM includes both paid search results (using tools like Google AdWords or Bing Ads, formerly known as Microsoft adCenter) and organic search results (SEO). SEM uses paid advertising with AdWords or Bing Ads, pay per click (particularly beneficial for local providers as it enables potential consumers to contact a company directly with one click), article submissions, advertising and making sure SEO has been done. A keyword analysis is performed for both SEO and SEM, but not necessarily at the same time. SEM and SEO both need to be monitored and updated frequently to reflect evolving best practices.

In some contexts, the term SEM is used exclusively to mean pay per click advertising,[2] particularly in the commercial advertising and marketing communities which have a vested interest in this narrow definition. Such usage excludes the wider search marketing community that is engaged in other forms of SEM such as search engine optimization and search retargeting.

Creating the link between SEO and PPC represents an integral part of the SEM concept. Sometimes, especially when separate teams work on SEO and PPC and the efforts are not synced, positive results of aligning their strategies can be lost. The aim of both SEO and PPC is maximizing the visibility in search and thus, their actions to achieve it should be centrally coordinated. Both teams can benefit from setting shared goals and combined metrics, evaluating data together to determine future strategy or discuss which of the tools works better to get the traffic for selected keywords in the national and local search results. Thanks to this, the search visibility can be increased along with optimizing both conversions and costs.[24]

Another part of SEM is social media marketing (SMM). SMM is a type of marketing that involves exploiting social media to influence consumers that one company’s products and/or services are valuable.[25] Some of the latest theoretical advances include search engine marketing management (SEMM). SEMM relates to activities including SEO but focuses on return on investment (ROI) management instead of relevant traffic building (as is the case of mainstream SEO). SEMM also integrates organic SEO, trying to achieve top ranking without using paid means to achieve it, and pay per click SEO. For example, some of the attention is placed on the web page layout design and how content and information is displayed to the website visitor. SEO & SEM are two pillars of one marketing job and they both run side by side to produce much better results than focusing on only one pillar.

Ethical questions

[edit]

Paid search advertising has not been without controversy and the issue of how search engines present advertising on their search result pages has been the target of a series of studies and reports[26][27][28] by Consumer Reports WebWatch. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also issued a letter[29] in 2002 about the importance of disclosure of paid advertising on search engines, in response to a complaint from Commercial Alert, a consumer advocacy group with ties to Ralph Nader.

Another ethical controversy associated with search marketing has been the issue of trademark infringement. The debate as to whether third parties should have the right to bid on their competitors' brand names has been underway for years. In 2009 Google changed their policy, which formerly prohibited these tactics, allowing 3rd parties to bid on branded terms as long as their landing page in fact provides information on the trademarked term.[30] Though the policy has been changed this continues to be a source of heated debate.[31]

On April 24, 2012, many started to see that Google has started to penalize companies that are buying links for the purpose of passing off the rank. The Google Update was called Penguin. Since then, there have been several different Penguin/Panda updates rolled out by Google. SEM has, however, nothing to do with link buying and focuses on organic SEO and PPC management. As of October 20, 2014, Google had released three official revisions of their Penguin Update.

In 2013, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held in Lens.com, Inc. v. 1-800 Contacts, Inc. that online contact lens seller Lens.com did not commit trademark infringement when it purchased search advertisements using competitor 1-800 Contacts' federally registered 1800 CONTACTS trademark as a keyword. In August 2016, the Federal Trade Commission filed an administrative complaint against 1-800 Contacts alleging, among other things, that its trademark enforcement practices in the search engine marketing space have unreasonably restrained competition in violation of the FTC Act. 1-800 Contacts has denied all wrongdoing and appeared before an FTC administrative law judge in April 2017.[32]

Examples

[edit]

Google Ads is recognized as a web-based advertising utensil since it adopts keywords that can deliver adverts explicitly to web users looking for information in respect to a certain product or service. It is flexible and provides customizable options like Ad Extensions, access to non-search sites, leveraging the display network to help increase brand awareness. The project hinges on cost per click (CPC) pricing where the maximum cost per day for the campaign can be chosen, thus the payment of the service only applies if the advert has been clicked. SEM companies have embarked on Google Ads projects as a way to publicize their SEM and SEO services. One of the most successful approaches to the strategy of this project was to focus on making sure that PPC advertising funds were prudently invested. Moreover, SEM companies have described Google Ads as a practical tool for increasing a consumer’s investment earnings on Internet advertising. The use of conversion tracking and Google Analytics tools was deemed to be practical for presenting to clients the performance of their canvas from click to conversion. Google Ads project has enabled SEM companies to train their clients on the utensil and delivers better performance to the canvass. The assistance of Google Ads canvass could contribute to the growth of web traffic for a number of its consumer’s websites, by as much as 250% in only nine months.[33]

Another way search engine marketing is managed is by contextual advertising. Here marketers place ads on other sites or portals that carry information relevant to their products so that the ads jump into the circle of vision of browsers who are seeking information from those sites. A successful SEM plan is the approach to capture the relationships amongst information searchers, businesses, and search engines. Search engines were not important to some industries in the past, but over the past years the use of search engines for accessing information has become vital to increase business opportunities.[34] The use of SEM strategic tools for businesses such as tourism can attract potential consumers to view their products, but it could also pose various challenges.[35] These challenges could be the competition that companies face amongst their industry and other sources of information that could draw the attention of online consumers.[34] To assist the combat of challenges, the main objective for businesses applying SEM is to improve and maintain their ranking as high as possible on SERPs so that they can gain visibility. Therefore, search engines are adjusting and developing algorithms and the shifting criteria by which web pages are ranked sequentially to combat against search engine misuse and spamming, and to supply the most relevant information to searchers.[34] This could enhance the relationship amongst information searchers, businesses, and search engines by understanding the strategies of marketing to attract business.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The State of Search Engine Marketing 2006". Search Engine Land. February 8, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-02-10. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
  2. ^ a b "Does SEM = SEO + CPC Still Add Up?". searchengineland.com. 2010-03-04. Retrieved 2010-03-05.
  3. ^ "IAB: Search Was 50% Of US Digital Ad Spend In 2014, Desktop Still Bigger Than Mobile". searchengineland.com. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  4. ^ "CMO by Adobe |" (PDF). www.cmo.com. Retrieved 2025-01-11.
  5. ^ Elliott, Stuart (March 14, 2006). "More Agencies Investing in Marketing With a Click". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
  6. ^ Rialp, Alex; Rialp, Josep (2006), International Marketing Research: Opportunities and Challenges in the 21st Century, Advances in International Marketing, vol. 17, Bingley: Emerald (MCB UP ), pp. 1–13, doi:10.1016/s1474-7979(06)17019-2, ISBN 0-7623-1369-2
  7. ^ "Top 5 Desktop Tables and Console Search Engine Market Share". statcounter.com. October 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  8. ^ "A court says Google is a monopolist. Now what?". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
  9. ^ Fung, Brian (2024-09-09). "Google's search business was declared to be a monopoly. Now its ad business is on trial". CNN. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
  10. ^ "Engine sells results, draws fire". news.cnet.com. June 21, 1996. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  11. ^ "GoTo Sells Positions". searchenginewatch.com. March 3, 1998. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  12. ^ "GoTo gambles with new name". news.cnet.com. September 10, 2001. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  13. ^ Jansen, B. J. (May 2007). "The Comparative Effectiveness of Sponsored and Nonsponsored Links for Web E-commerce Queries" (PDF). ACM Transactions on the Web. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-30. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  14. ^ "Microsoft-Yahoo Deal Gets Green Light". informationweek.com. February 18, 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  15. ^ "Does SEM = SEO + CPC Still Add Up?". search engine land.com. March 4, 2010. Retrieved 2013-10-06.
  16. ^ King, Andrew B. (2008). Website Optimization. "O'Reilly Media, Inc.". ISBN 978-0-596-51508-9.
  17. ^ "Mobile-Friendly Test - Google Search Console". www.google.com. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  18. ^ a b Boughton, S. B. (2005). Search engine marketing. Perspectives in business, 20(4), 195-202.
  19. ^ Sen, R. (2005). Optimal search engine marketing strategy. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 10(1), 9-25.
  20. ^ Skiera, B., Eckert, J., & Hinz, O. (2010). An analysis of the importance of the long tail in search engine marketing. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 9(6), 488-494.
  21. ^ Zawodny, Jeremy (2004-03-01). "Defending Paid Inclusions".
  22. ^ Ulbrich, Chris (2004-07-06). "Paid Inclusion Losing Charm?". Wired News.
  23. ^ "FAQ #18: How do I register my site/URL with Ask so that it will be indexed?". Ask.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-07. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
  24. ^ Julian Connors (2016-10-06). "PPC + SEO = match made in marketing heaven". Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  25. ^ Susan Ward (2011). "Social Media Marketing". About.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-25. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  26. ^ "False Oracles: Consumer Reaction to Learning the Truth About How Search Engines Work (Abstract)". consumerwebwatch.org. June 30, 2003. Archived from the original on December 10, 2005. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  27. ^ "Searching for Disclosure: How Search Engines Alert Consumers to the Presence of Advertising in Search Results". consumerwebwatch.org. November 8, 2004. Archived from the original on December 26, 2005. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  28. ^ "Still in Search of Disclosure: Re-evaluating How Search Engines Explain the Presence of Advertising in Search Results". consumerwebwatch.org. June 9, 2005. Archived from the original on November 24, 2005. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  29. ^ "Re: Complaint Requesting Investigation of Various Internet Search Engine Companies for Paid Placement or (Pay per click)". ftc.gov. June 22, 2002. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  30. ^ "Update to U.S. ad text trademark policy". adwords.blogspot.com. May 14, 2009. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  31. ^ Rosso, Mark; Jansen, Bernard (Jim) (August 2010), "Brand Names as Keywords in Sponsored Search Advertising", Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 27 (1): 81–98, doi:10.17705/1CAIS.02706
  32. ^ David O. Klein & Joshua R. Wueller, Trademark Enforcement and Internet Search Advertising: A Regulatory Risk for Brand Owners, IP Litigator, Nov./Dec. 2016.
  33. ^ Google Inc (2007). "Google Adwords Case Study" (PDF). AccuraCast. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 January 2017. Retrieved 2011-03-30. cite web: |author= has generic name (help)
  34. ^ a b c Zheng Xiang; Bing Pan; Rob Law & Daniel R. Fesenmaier (June 7, 2010). "Assessing the Visibility of Destination Marketing Organizations in Google: A Case Study of Convention and Visitor Bureau Websites in the United States" (PDF). Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  35. ^ Bing Pan, Zheng Xiang, Rob Law and Daniel R. Fesenmaier (June 7, 2010). "The Dynamics of Search Engine Marketing for Tourist Destinations". Journal of Travel Research. 50 (4): 365–377. doi:10.1177/0047287510369558. S2CID 14193592.cite journal: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

 

Map showing the location of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Map showing the location of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
 
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Illustration of Fort Vancouver and its environs in 1855
Map showing the location of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Map showing the location of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
 

LocationVancouver, Washington and Oregon City, Oregon, USANearest cityVancouver, Washington, and
Oregon City, OregonCoordinates 45°37′31″N 122°39′29″W / 45.6253950°N 122.6581525°W / 45.6253950; -122.6581525[1]Area207 acres (84 ha)[2]EstablishedJune 19, 1948 (national monument)
June 30, 1961 (national historic site)Visitors710,439 (in 2011)[3]Governing bodyNational Park ServiceWebsiteFort Vancouver National Historic Site

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in the states of Washington and Oregon. The National Historic Site consists of two units, one located on the site of Fort Vancouver in modern-day Vancouver, Washington; the other being the former residence of John McLoughlin in Oregon City, Oregon. The two sites were separately given national historic designation in the 1940s.[4] The Fort Vancouver unit was designated a National Historic Site in 1961, and was combined with the McLoughlin House into a unit in 2003.

Visitor Center

[edit]

The visitor center at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site was originally built in 1966 as a part of the National Park Service's Mission 66 Program. Today, the visitor center is co-operated by both the National Park Service and the United States Forest Service. Recent renovations to the visitor center (2015) transformed the historic building as an information center for both Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.[5] The visitor center features rotating archaeological exhibits from the national historic site and art exhibits from local native artists.[6] The building also has a theater that shows 2 films from the National Park Service and the United States Forest Service: Oregon Experience: Fort Vancouver (25 mins), and Mount St. Helens - Eruption of Life (17 mins).

HBC Fort Vancouver site

[edit]

The main unit of the site, containing Fort Vancouver, is located in Vancouver, Washington, just north of Portland, Oregon. Fort Vancouver was an important Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fur trading post that was established in 1824. Operations until 1845 were overseen by Chief Factor John McLoughlin. It was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's fur trade activity on the Pacific coast and its influence stretched from the Rocky Mountains in the east, to Alaska in the north, Alta California in the south, and to the Kingdom of Hawaii in the Pacific. Ratified in 1846, the Treaty of Oregon was signed by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United States, thereby ending the decades long Oregon boundary dispute. The treaty permitted the Hudson's Bay Company to continue to operate at Fort Vancouver, which was now within the Oregon Territory. On June 14, 1860, Fort Vancouver was abandoned by the Hudson's Bay Company in favor of their stations in British Columbia, such as Fort Victoria.

 
Vancouver National Historic Reserve Historic District
 
Pearson Hangar at Vancouver National Historic Reserve.
Location Roughly bounded by an alley N of Officers' Row, East Reserve St., Columbia River, and I-5, Vancouver, Washington
Built 1824
Architect Hudson's Bay Co.; et al.
Architectural style Late Victorian, Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals
NRHP reference No. 06001216
Added to NRHP January 5, 2007[7]

In 1849, the United States Army constructed the Vancouver Barracks adjacent to the British trading post; and took over the facility when it was abandoned. A fire destroyed the Hudson's Bay Company fort in 1866, but the Army facility continued in operation in various forms until the present. Fort Vancouver was separated from the Army's barracks and became a national monument in 1948. Congress expanded the protected area in 1966 and re-designated the site as a National Historic Site. For some years after its addition to the National Park System, the National Park Service was reluctant to begin reconstruction of the fort walls or buildings, preferring to manage it as an archaeological site as provided by its standing policies. However, in 1965, with the urging of the local community, Congress directed reconstruction to begin. All fort structures seen today are modern replicas, albeit carefully placed on the original locations.[8]

In response to concerns about the designation of reconstructed structures, the Park Service designated the Vancouver National Historic Reserve Historic District to encompass reconstructed buildings as well as historic Army and Mission 66-era Park Service structures.[9]

McLoughlin House site

[edit]
The McLoughlin House
The Barclay House
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is located in Oregon City OR
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
 
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is located in Oregon
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
 
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is located in the United States
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
 
 
McLoughlin House National Historic Site
 
 
Location McLoughlin Park, between 7th and 8th Sts., Oregon City, Oregon
Coordinates   45°21′26″N 122°36′21″W / 45.35722°N 122.60583°W / 45.35722; -122.60583
Area 0.6 acres (0.24 ha)
Built 1845
NRHP reference No. 66000637[10]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP October 15, 1966
Designated NHS 1941

The McLoughlin House unit consists of the homes of McLoughlin and Dr. Forbes Barclay, an explorer and associate of McLoughlin's; the two homes are known respectively as the McLoughlin House and the Barclay House. They are located adjacent to each other on a bluff overlooking the Willamette River in Oregon City, Oregon, on a plot of land set aside for public use by McLoughlin in the 1840s.[11]

In 1846, McLoughlin left the employ of Hudson's Bay Company, and purchased from the company a land claim located on the Willamette River in Oregon City. McLoughlin constructed the house there, and lived there until his death in 1857.[12] The house, a two-style colonial mansion, is typical of East Coast residences from the time.[13]

After McLoughlin's death in 1857, his widow lived there until she died three years later; their heirs sold the house in 1867. The home soon became a bordello known as the Phoenix Hotel. In 1908, the paper mill that owned the property wished to expand and the house was threatened with demolition, but preservationists saved it the next year, raising over $1,000 and overcoming a referendum.[14] In 1910 the house was moved from the riverfront to its current location on a bluff overlooking downtown Oregon City. It sat there for twenty-five years, until being restored in 1935–1936 under the auspices of the Civil Works Administration, and opened as a museum.[13]

The Barclay House was built in 1849 by Portland carpenter and pioneer John L. Morrison, and occupied by Dr. Barclay and his family. Barclay died in 1874; the house remained in the family's possession until 1930 when it was moved from the waterfront to its present location, next to the McLoughlin House. Today, the Barclay House contains museum offices and a gift shop.[15]

The McLoughlin House became a National Historic Site in 1941, and both homes were added to the National Park System in 2003, becoming part of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.[12][16] The McLoughlin House unit lies on the Oregon National Historic Trail, a part of the National Trails System. The graves of McLoughlin and his wife are on the premises.[17] The house contains both original and period furnishings.

Pearson Air Museum

[edit]

Opened in a historic hangar in 1996, the Pearson Air Museum and The Jack Murdock Aviation Center showcases aviation history in the Vancouver area, and specifically Pearson Airfield. Today, the Pearson Air museum displays a number of aircraft, including a De Havilland DH-4 Liberty[18] that has been restored to represent an aircraft from the US Army Air Corps 321st Observation Squadron that was stationed at Pearson Airfield in the 1930s. In June 2018, National Park Service Volunteers completed work on a replica of Silas Christofferson's Curtis Pusher from scratch. The original plane was flown from the roof of the Multnomah Hotel in Portland, OR to the location of the modern day Pearson airfield. The replica is currently being exhibited at the Pearson Air Museum. Exhibits at the museum also feature the US Army Spruce Production Division,[19] and the first transpolar flight which landed in 1937 on Pearson Field from Moscow, Russia. Models of the Russian Tupolev ANT-25 that made the first transpolar flight are on display at the museum. The museum also houses a Fleet Model 2 which was flown by Leah Hing, the first Chinese American woman to earn a pilot's license.[20][21]

An earth-covered pedestrian land bridge was built over the Lewis and Clark Highway, as part of the Confluence Project, in 2007. It connects the site with the Columbia River.[22]

Vancouver Barracks

[edit]

Parts of the Vancouver Barracks were transferred to the National Park Service in 2012 when the US Army Reserve officially closed the post after its continuous occupation since 1849. The buildings are typically closed to the public, but there are outdoor exhibits.[23]

Since the Post to Park transfer to the National Park Service in 2012, the NPS has been restoring and renovating the barracks buildings to be used as mixed-use structures. Future tenants of these buildings are expected to be other governmental agencies, community groups, and private businesses. The area is expected to feature a community center, office buildings, restaurants, and retail in addition to a future museum space for the Vancouver Barracks operated by the National Park Service. In 2016, the Gifford Pinchot National Forest moved its headquarters and administration operations to one of the renovated double infantry barracks buildings in the Vancouver Barracks.[24] The United States Forest Service co-operates the visitor center on Fort Vancouver National Historic Site along with the National Park Service.[5]

Recreation

[edit]

A cross country running course is located at the site. The USA Cross Country Championships have been held at this site.[25]

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Fort Vancouver National Historical Site". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ "Listing of acreage – December 31, 2011" (XLSX). Land Resource Division, National Park Service. (National Park Service Acreage Reports)
  3. ^ "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service.
  4. ^ "Fort Vancouver: Cultural Landscape Report". National Park Service. Archived from the original on October 26, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
  5. ^ a b "Gifford Pinchot National Forest Headquarters and Visitor Services Moving to Fort Vancouver NHS in March - Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Fort Vancouver Visitor Center to Re-Open - Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  7. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  8. ^ "Fort Vancouver National Historic Site: Draft General Management Plan". National Park Service. October 2002. Archived from the original on August 24, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-28..
  9. ^ "HBCo. Blacksmith Shop". List of Classified Structures. National Park Service. 2008-11-18. Archived from the original on 2011-05-21. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  10. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  11. ^ "McLoughlin House". End of the Oregon Trail.
  12. ^ a b "The McLoughlin Memorial Association". Retrieved 2007-10-26.
  13. ^ a b Engeman, Richard (2005). "Residence of Dr. John McLoughlin, Oregon City". Oregon History Project. Oregon Historical Society. Archived from the original on February 19, 2013.
  14. ^ Holman, Frederick V. (1909). "Dedication of the McLoughlin Home". Oregon Historical Quarterly. 10.
  15. ^ "Barclay House". The McLoughlin Memorial Association. Archived from the original on 2009-02-17. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
  16. ^ PL 108–63, July 29, 2003, 117 Stat. 872, accessed at "U.S. Code Collection". Cornell University Law School, Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  17. ^ "Fort Vancouver National Historic Site - McLoughlin House". National Park Service. Archived from the original on October 12, 2006. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
  18. ^ "The DH-4 Liberty Plane at War and in Peace (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  19. ^ "The Spruce Production Division (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  20. ^ "Leah Hing (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
  21. ^ "Pearson Field and Pearson Air Museum - Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  22. ^ Raymond, Camela (November 2007). "The Shape of Memory". Portland Monthly.
  23. ^ "Vancouver Barracks - Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  24. ^ "Historic Vancouver Barracks Building 987 Undergoes Rehabilitation (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  25. ^ "Fort Vancouver National Historic Site". visitvancouverusa.com. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
[edit]

 

 

George Vancouver
A portrait from the late 18th century by an unknown artist, believed to depict George Vancouver
Born (1757-06-22)22 June 1757
King's Lynn, Norfolk
Died 10 May 1798(1798-05-10) (aged 40)
Petersham, Surrey
Allegiance Great Britain
Branch Royal Navy
Rank Captain
Commands HMS Discovery
Signature

Captain George Vancouver (/vænˈkvər/; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what became the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California. The expedition also explored the Hawaiian Islands and the southwest coast of Australia.

Various places named for Vancouver include Vancouver Island; the city of Vancouver in British Columbia; Vancouver River on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia; Vancouver, Washington, in the United States; Mount Vancouver on the Canadian–US border between Yukon and Alaska; and New Zealand's fourth-highest mountain, also Mount Vancouver.[1]

Early life

[edit]

Vancouver was born on 22 June 1757 in the seaport town of King's Lynn in Norfolk, England. He was the sixth and youngest child of John Jasper Vancouver, a Dutch-born deputy collector of customs, and Bridget Berners. The surname Vancouver comes from Coevorden, Drenthe province, Netherlands (Koevern in Dutch Low Saxon).[citation needed]

Career

[edit]

Royal Navy

[edit]

In 1771, at age 13, Vancouver entered the Royal Navy as a "young gentleman", a future candidate for midshipman.[2] He was nominally classified as an able seaman (AB), but sailed as one of the midshipmen[3] aboard HMS Resolution, on James Cook's second voyage (1772–1775) searching for Terra Australis. He also sailed with Cook's third voyage (1776–1780), this time aboard Resolution's companion ship, HMS Discovery (1774), and was present during the first European sighting and exploration of the Hawaiian Islands.[4]

Upon his return to Britain in October 1780, Vancouver was commissioned as a lieutenant and posted aboard the sloop HMS Martin, initially on escort and patrol duty in the English Channel and North Sea. He accompanied the ship when it left Plymouth on 11 February 1782 for the West Indies. On 7 May 1782 he was appointed fourth lieutenant of the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Fame, which was at the time part of the British West Indies Fleet and assigned to patrolling the French-held Leeward Islands. Vancouver subsequently saw action at the Battle of the Saintes (April 1782), wherein he distinguished himself. Vancouver returned to England in June 1783.[5]

Spanish Empire-sponsored voyages

[edit]

In the late 1780s, the Spanish Empire commissioned an expedition to the Pacific Northwest. In 1789, the Nootka Crisis developed, and Spain and Britain came close to war over ownership of Nootka Sound on contemporary Vancouver Island, and – of greater importance – over the right to colonise and settle the Pacific Northwest coast. Henry Roberts had recently taken command of the survey ship HMS Discovery (a new vessel named in honour of the ship on Cook's voyage[6][7]) with the prospect of another round-the-world voyage, and Roberts selected Vancouver as his first lieutenant, but they both were then posted to other warships due to the crisis. Vancouver went with Joseph Whidbey to the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Courageux. When the first Nootka Convention ended the crisis in 1790, Vancouver was given command of Discovery to take possession of Nootka Sound and to survey the coasts.[8][9]

Explorations

[edit]
Life-sized gilded statue of George Vancouver on the British Columbia Legislative Buildings in Victoria, British Columbia

Vancouver Expedition

[edit]

Departing England with two ships, HMS Discovery and HMS Chatham, on 1 April 1791, Vancouver commanded an expedition charged with exploring the Pacific region. In its first year the expedition travelled to Cape Town, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, and Hawaii (then known as the Sandwich Islands), collecting botanical samples and surveying coastlines along the way. He formally claimed at Possession Point, King George Sound Western Australia, which became the town of Albany, Western Australia, for the British. Proceeding to North America, Vancouver followed the coasts of modern-day Oregon and Washington northward. In April 1792 he encountered American Captain Robert Gray off the coast of Oregon just prior to Gray's sailing up the Columbia River.

Vancouver entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca, between Vancouver Island and the modern Washington state mainland, on 29 April 1792. His orders included a survey of every inlet and outlet on the west coast of the mainland, all the way north to Alaska. Most of this work was in small craft propelled by both sail and oar; manoeuvring larger sail-powered vessels in uncharted waters was generally impractical and dangerous.

Vancouver named many features for his officers, friends, associates, and his ship Discovery, including:

After a Spanish expedition in 1791, Vancouver was the second European to enter Burrard Inlet on 13 June 1792, naming it for his friend Sir Harry Burrard. It is the modern-day main harbour area of the City of Vancouver beyond Stanley Park. He surveyed Howe Sound and Jervis Inlet over the next nine days.[11] Then, on his 35th birthday on 22 June 1792, he returned to Point Grey, the present-day location of the University of British Columbia. Here he unexpectedly met a Spanish expedition led by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores. Vancouver was "mortified" (his word) to learn they already had a crude chart of the Strait of Georgia based on the 1791 exploratory voyage of José María Narváez the year before, under command of Francisco de Eliza. For three weeks they cooperatively explored the Georgia Strait and the Discovery Islands area before sailing separately towards Nootka Sound.

After the summer surveying season ended, in August 1792, Vancouver went to Nootka, then the region's most important harbour, on contemporary Vancouver Island. Here he was to receive any British buildings and lands returned by the Spanish from claims by Francisco de Eliza for the Spanish crown. The Spanish commander, Juan Francisco Bodega y Quadra, was very cordial and he and Vancouver exchanged the maps they had made, but no agreement was reached; they decided to await further instructions. At this time, they decided to name the large island on which Nootka was proven to be located as Quadra and Vancouver Island. Years later, as Spanish influence declined, the name was shortened to simply Vancouver Island.[12]

The Discovery ran aground in early August 1792 on hidden rocks in Queen Charlotte Strait in the Pacific Ocean, near Fife Sound.

While at Nootka Sound Vancouver acquired Robert Gray's chart of the lower Columbia River. Gray had entered the river during the summer before sailing to Nootka Sound for repairs. Vancouver realised the importance of verifying Gray's information and conducting a more thorough survey. In October 1792, he sent Lieutenant William Robert Broughton with several boats up the Columbia River. Broughton got as far as the Columbia River Gorge, sighting and naming Mount Hood.[13]

Vancouver sailed south along the coast of Spanish Alta California, entered San Francisco Bay, later visiting Monterey; in both places, he was warmly received by the Spanish.[14] Later he visited Chumash villages at Point Conception and near Mission San Buenaventura.[15] Vancouver spent the winter in continuing exploration of the Sandwich Islands, the contemporary name of the islands of Hawaii.

Further explorations

[edit]

The next year, 1793, he returned to British Columbia and proceeded further north, unknowingly missing the overland explorer Alexander Mackenzie by only 48 days. He got to 56°30'N, having explored north from Point Menzies in Burke Channel to the northwest coast of Prince of Wales Island. He sailed around the latter island, as well as circumnavigating Revillagigedo Island and charting parts of the coasts of Mitkof, Zarembo, Etolin, Wrangell, Kuiu and Kupreanof Islands.[16] With worsening weather, he sailed south to Alta California, hoping to find Bodega y Quadra and fulfil his territorial mission, but the Spaniard was not there. The Spanish governor refused to let a foreign official into the interior. Vancouver noted that the region's "only defenses against foreign attack are a few poor cannons".[14] He again spent the winter in the Sandwich Islands.

In 1794, he first went to Cook Inlet, the northernmost point of his exploration, and from there followed the coast south. Boat parties charted the east coasts of Chichagof and Baranof Islands, circumnavigated Admiralty Island, explored to the head of Lynn Canal, and charted the rest of Kuiu Island and nearly all of Kupreanof Island.[16] He then set sail for Great Britain by way of Cape Horn, returning in September 1795, thus completing a circumnavigation of South America.

Later life

[edit]
In The Caneing in Conduit Street (1796), James Gillray caricatured Thomas Pitt's street corner assault on Vancouver back in London

Impressed by the view from Richmond Hill, Vancouver retired to Petersham, then in Surrey and part of modern London.[17]

Vancouver faced difficulties when he returned home to England. The accomplished and politically well-connected naturalist Archibald Menzies complained that his servant had been pressed into service during a shipboard emergency; sailing master Joseph Whidbey had a competing claim for pay as expedition astronomer; and Thomas Pitt, 2nd Baron Camelford, whom Vancouver had disciplined for numerous infractions and eventually sent home in disgrace, proceeded to harass him publicly and privately.

Pitt's allies, including his cousin, Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, attacked Vancouver in the press. Thomas Pitt took a more direct approach; on 29 August 1796 he sent Vancouver a letter heaping many insults on the head of his former captain, and challenging him to a duel. Vancouver gravely replied that he was unable "in a private capacity to answer for his public conduct in his official duty", and offered instead to submit to formal examination by flag officers. Pitt chose instead to stalk Vancouver, ultimately assaulting him on a London street corner. The terms of their subsequent legal dispute required both parties to keep the peace, but nothing stopped Vancouver's civilian brother Charles from interposing and giving Pitt blow after blow until onlookers restrained the attacker. Charges and counter-charges flew in the press, with the wealthy Camelford faction having the greater firepower until Vancouver, ailing from his long naval service, died.

Death

[edit]
Vancouver's grave in St Peter’s Church, Petersham

Vancouver, at one time amongst Britain's greatest explorers and navigators, died in obscurity on 10 May 1798 at the age of 40, less than three years after completing his voyages and expeditions.[18] No official cause of death was stated, as the medical records pertaining to Vancouver were destroyed; one doctor named John Naish claimed Vancouver died from kidney failure, while others believed it was a hyperthyroid condition.[19]

Vancouver's grave is in the churchyard of St Peter's Church, Petersham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. The Hudson's Bay Company placed a memorial plaque in the church in 1841.[20] His grave in Portland stone, renovated in the 1960s, is now Grade II listed in view of its historical associations.[20][21]

Legacy

[edit]
[edit]
A statue of George Vancouver in front of Vancouver City Hall

Vancouver determined that the Northwest Passage did not exist at the latitudes that had long been suggested. His charts of the North American northwest coast were so extremely accurate that they served as the key reference for coastal navigation for generations. Robin Fisher, the academic vice-president of Mount Royal University in Calgary and author of two books on Vancouver, states:

He put the northwest coast on the map...He drew up a map of the north-west coast that was accurate to the 9th degree, to the point it was still being used into the modern day as a navigational aid. That's unusual for a map from that early a time.[22]

However, Vancouver failed to discover two of the largest and most important rivers on the Pacific coast, the Fraser River and the Columbia River. He also missed the Skeena River near Prince Rupert in northern British Columbia. Vancouver did eventually learn of the Columbia River before he finished his survey—from Robert Gray, captain of the American merchant ship that conducted the first Euroamerican sailing of the Columbia River on 11 May 1792, after first sighting it on an earlier voyage in 1788. However, neither the Columbia River nor the Fraser River were included on any of Vancouver's charts.

Stephen R. Bown noted in Mercator's World magazine's November/December 1999 issue that:

How Vancouver could have missed these rivers while accurately charting hundreds of comparatively insignificant inlets, islands, and streams is hard to fathom. What is certain is that his failure to spot the Columbia had great implications for the future political development of the Pacific Northwest....[23][24]

While it is difficult to comprehend how Vancouver missed the Fraser River, much of this river's delta was subject to flooding and summer freshet which prevented the captain from spotting any of its great channels as he sailed the entire shoreline from Point Roberts, Washington, to Point Grey in 1792.[25] The Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest, with the 1791 Francisco de Eliza expedition preceding Vancouver by a year, had also missed the Fraser River although they knew from its muddy plume that there was a major river located nearby.[25]

Indigenous peoples

[edit]

Vancouver generally established a rapport with both indigenous peoples and European trappers. Historical records show that Vancouver enjoyed good relations with native leaders—in Hawaii with King Kamehameha I, as well as in the Pacific Northwest and California.[26] Vancouver's journals exhibit a high degree of sensitivity to the indigenous populations he encountered. He wrote of meeting the Chumash people,[15] and of his exploration of a small island on the Californian coast on which an important burial site was marked by a sepulchre of "peculiar character" lined with boards and fragments of military instruments lying near a square box covered with mats.[26] Vancouver states:

This we naturally conjectured contained the remains of some person of consequence, and it much excited the curiosity of some of our party; but as further examination could not possibly have served any useful purpose, and might have given umbrage and pain to the friends of the deceased, should it be their custom to visit the repositories of their dead, I did not think it right that it should be disturbed.[26]

Vancouver also displayed contempt in his journals towards unscrupulous western traders who provided guns to natives, writing:

I am extremely concerned to be compelled to state here, that many of the traders from the civilised world have not only pursued a line of conduct, diametrically opposite to the true principles of justice in their commercial dealings, but have fomented discords, and stirred up contentions, between the different tribes, in order to increase the demand for these destructive engines... They have been likewise eager to instruct the natives in the use of European arms of all descriptions; and have shewn by their own example, that they consider gain as the only object of pursuit; and whether this be acquired by fair and honourable means, or otherwise, so long as the advantage is secured, the manner how it is obtained seems to have been, with too many of them, but a very secondary consideration.[26]

Robin Fisher notes that Vancouver's "relationships with aboriginal groups were generally peaceful; indeed, his detailed survey would not have been possible if they had been hostile."[26] While there were hostile incidents at the end of Vancouver's last season—the most serious of which involved a clash with the Tlingit people at Behm Canal in southeast Alaska in 1794—these were the exceptions in Vancouver's exploration of the US and Canadian Northwest coast.[26]

Despite a long history of warfare between Britain and Spain, Vancouver maintained excellent relations with his Spanish counterparts and even fêted a Spanish sea captain aboard his ship Discovery during his 1792 trip to the Vancouver region.[22]

Namesakes

[edit]

Ship and cadet units

[edit]

Places

[edit]

Many places around the world have been named after George Vancouver, including:

Australia
[edit]
Canada
[edit]
New Zealand
[edit]
United Kingdom
[edit]
  • Vancouver Road in Ham, London, near Petersham, his place of burial
United States
[edit]
  • Vancouver, Washington, a city in southwest Washington across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon
    • Fort Vancouver, a Hudson's Bay Company trading post established in 1825

Memorials

[edit]
Statue of George Vancouver in King's Lynn, his birthplace in England

Many collections were made on the voyage: one was donated by Archibald Menzies to the British Museum 1796; another made by surgeon George Goodman Hewett (1765–1834) was donated by Augustus Wollaston Franks to the British Museum in 1891. An account of these has been published.[27]

250th birthday commemorations

[edit]
Gate to the Northwest Passage (1980) by Vancouver artist Alan Chung Hung, commemorating the entrance of Captain Vancouver into Burrard Inlet.

Canada Post issued a $1.55 postage stamp to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Vancouver's birth, on 22 June 2007. The stamp has an embossed image of Vancouver seen from behind as he gazes forward towards a mountainous coastline. This may be the first Canadian stamp not to show the subject's face.[28]

The City of Vancouver in Canada organised a celebration to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Vancouver's birth, in June 2007 at the Vancouver Maritime Museum.[29] The one-hour festivities included the presentation of a massive 63 by 114 centimetre carrot cake, the firing of a gun salute by the Royal Canadian Artillery's 15th Field Regiment and a performance by the Vancouver Firefighter's Band.[29] Vancouver's then-mayor, Sam Sullivan, officially declared 22 June 2007 to be "George Day".[29]

The Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) Elder sɁəyeɬəq (Larry Grant) attended the festivities and acknowledged that some of his people might disapprove of his presence, but also noted:

Many people don't feel aboriginal people should be celebrating this occasion...I believe it has helped the world and that's part of who we are. That's the legacy of our people. We're generous to a fault. The legacy is strong and a good one, in the sense that without the first nations working with the colonials, it [B.C.] wouldn't have been part of Canada to begin with and Britain would be the poorer for it.[29]

Origins of the family name

[edit]

There has been some debate about the origins of the Vancouver name. It is now commonly accepted that the name Vancouver derives from the expression van Coevorden, meaning "(originating) from Coevorden", a city in the northeast of the Netherlands. This city is apparently named after the "Coeverden" family of the 13th–15th century.[30]

In the 16th century, a number of businessmen from the Coevorden area (and the rest of the Netherlands) moved to England. Some of them were known as Van Coeverden. Others adopted the surname Oxford, as in oxen fording (a river), which is approximately the English translation of Coevorden. However, it is not the exact name of the noble family mentioned in the history books that claim Vancouver's noble lineage: that name was Coeverden not Coevorden.

In the 1970s, Adrien Mansvelt, a former consul-general of the Netherlands based in Vancouver, published a collation of information in both historical and genealogical journals and in the Vancouver Sun newspaper.[31][32][33] Mansvelt's theory was later presented by the city during the Expo 86 World's Fair, as historical fact. The information was then used by historian W. Kaye Lamb in his book A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World, 1791–1795 (1984).[34]

W. Kaye Lamb, in summarising Mansvelt's 1973 research, observes evidence of close family ties between the Vancouver family of Britain and the Van Coeverden family of the Netherlands as well as George Vancouver's own words from his diaries in referring to his Dutch ancestry:

As the name Vancouver suggests, the Vancouvers were of Dutch origin. They were descended from the titled van Coeverden family, one of the oldest in the Netherlands. By the twelfth century, and for many years thereafter, their castle at Coevorden, in the Province of Drenthe, was an important fortress on the eastern frontier. George Vancouver was aware of this. In July 1794, he named the Lynn Canal "after the place of my nativity" and Point Couverden (which he spelt incorrectly) "after the seat of my ancestors". Vancouver's great grandfather, Reint Wolter van Couverden, was probably the first of the line to establish an English connection. While serving as a squire at one of the German courts he met Johanna (Jane) Lilingston, an English girl who was one of the ladies in waiting. They were married in 1699. Their son, Lucas Hendrik van Couverden, married Vancouver's grandmother, Sarah. In his later years he probably anglicized his name and spent most of his time in England. By the eighteenth century, the estates of the van Couverdens were mostly in the Province of Overijssel, and some of the family were living in Vollenhove, on the Zuider Zee. The English and Dutch branches kept in touch, and in 1798 (the date of Vancouver's death) George Vancouver's brother Charles would marry a kinswoman, Louise Josephine van Couverden, of Vollenhove. Both were great-grandchildren of Reint Wolter van Couverden."[35]

In 2006 John Robson, a librarian at the University of Waikato, conducted his own research into George Vancouver's ancestry, which he published in an article in the British Columbia History journal.[36] Robson theorises that Vancouver's forebears may have been Flemish rather than Dutch; he believes that Vancouver is descended from the Vangover family of Ipswich in Suffolk and Colchester in Essex. Those towns had a significant Flemish population in the 16th and 17th centuries.[37]

George Vancouver named the south point of what is now Couverden Island, Alaska, Point Couverden during his exploration of the North American Pacific coast, in honour of his family's hometown of Coevorden.[38] It is located at the western point of entry to Lynn Canal in southeastern Alaska.[39]

Works by George Vancouver

[edit]
1798 engraving of New Eddystone Rock in Alaska, in George Vancouver's report to King George III. It is made of basalt.

The Admiralty instructed Vancouver to publish a narrative of his voyage which he started to write in early 1796 in Petersham. At the time of his death the manuscript covered the period up to mid-1795. The work, A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and Round the World, was completed by his brother John and published in three volumes in the autumn of 1798.[40] A second edition was published in 1801 in six volumes.[19][41]

A modern annotated edition (1984) by W. Kaye Lamb was renamed The Voyage of George Vancouver 1791–1795, and published in four volumes by the Hakluyt Society of London, England.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Reed, A. W. (2010). Peter Dowling (ed.). Place Names of New Zealand. Rosedale, North Shore: Raupo. p. 430. ISBN 9780143204107.
  2. ^ Landauer, Lyndall Baker (2013). "George Vancouver". In Magill, Frank N. (ed.). Dictionary of World Biography: The 17th and 18th Centuries. Vol. 4. London: Routledge. p. 1355. ISBN 978-1135924140.
  3. ^ Robson, John (2014). "George Vancouver (1757–1798) Part 1: Introduction and early career". Cook's Log. 37 (1): 28. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021 – via Captain Cook Society.
  4. ^ "Chart of the NW Coast of America and Part of the NE of Asia with the Track of his Majesty's Sloops 'Resolution' and 'Discovery' from May to October 1778". World Digital Library. 1778. Archived from the original on 5 June 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  5. ^ Sue Bigelow (20 June 2013). "Captain George Vancouver: original documents". City of Vancouver Archives. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Vancouver's Voyage of Discovery". Royal Geographical Society of South Australia. Retrieved 2 June 2025. Vancouver's voyage left Falmouth, England on 1 April 1791 in the new sloop Discovery (named after Cook's ship)
  7. ^ Landauer, Lyndall Baker (2022). "George Vancouver". EBSCO. Retrieved 2 June 2025. His ship was the Discovery, a newly built namesake of Cook's ship.
  8. ^ King, Robert J. (2010). "George Vancouver and the contemplated settlement at Nootka Sound". The Great Circle. 32 (1): 6–34.
  9. ^ Allen, Richard Edward (1982). A Pictorial History of Vancouver, Book 1. Josten's Publications.
  10. ^ Wing, Robert; Newell, Gordon (1979). Peter Puget: Lieutenant on the Vancouver Expedition, fighting British naval officer, the man for whom Puget Sound was named. Gray Beard Publishing. ISBN 0-933686-00-5.
  11. ^ Little, Gary. George Vancouver (1757–2007). 250th Birth Anniversary, Survey of the Southwest Coast of BC, June 1792 Archived 9 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ The Voyage of George Vancouver 1791–1795, Volume 1. W. Kaye Lamb (ed.). Hakluyt Society. 1984. ISBN 978-0-904180-17-6. p. 247
  13. ^ Etulain, Richard W. (2004). Western Lives: A Biographical History Of The American West. UNM Press. pp. 97–101. ISBN 978-0-8263-3472-5. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  14. ^ a b Rolle, Andrew (1987). California: A History (4th ed.). Arlington Heights, IL: Harlan Davidson. pp. 78–79. ISBN 0-88295-839-9. OCLC 13333829. Archived from the original on 20 February 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  15. ^ a b McLendon, Sally and Johnson, John R. (1999). Cultural Affiliation and Lineal Descent of Chumash Peoples in the Channel Islands and the Santa Monica Mountains Archived 31 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History pp. 139–40 (98–99) Accessed 18 June 2010
  16. ^ a b Vancouver, George; Vancouver, John (1801). A voyage of discovery to the North Pacific ocean, and round the world. London: J. Stockdale. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  17. ^ "Three Intrepid Explorers, Discovery Richmond". Archived from the original on 28 February 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  18. ^ Cave, Edward ("Sylvanus Urban") (1798). "Obituary of Remarkable Persons with Biographical Anecdotes". The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle. Vol. 68. London: John Nichols. p. 447.
  19. ^ a b "George Vancouver (1757–1798) part five: after the voyage". The Captain Cook Society. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  20. ^ a b Boyes, Valerie; Wintersinger, Natascha (2014). Encountering the Unchartered and Back – three explorers: Ball, Vancouver and Burton. Museum of Richmond. pp. 9–10.
  21. ^ Historic England. "Tomb of Captain George Vancouver in the Churchyard of St Peter's Church (1380182)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  22. ^ a b Pynn, Larry (30 May 2007) "Charting the Coast," The Vancouver Sun, p.B3
  23. ^ Brown, Stephen R. (1999). "In the Most Faithful Manner". Mercator's World. 4 (6). Archived from the original on 19 June 2003.
  24. ^ "Vancouver". BC Geographical Names.
  25. ^ a b Hume, Stephen (17 November 2007) "The Birth of Modern British Columbia Part 7", The Vancouver Sun, p. D9
  26. ^ a b c d e f Pynn, Larry "Peaceful Encounters" (29 May 2007), The Vancouver Sun, p. B3
  27. ^ King, J. C. H. (1994). "Vancouver's Ethnography: A Preliminary Description of Five Inventories from the Voyage of 1791–95". J Hist Collections. 6 (1): 35–38. doi:10.1093/jhc/6.1.35.
  28. ^ Pynn, Larry (24 May 2007) Mystery man: The Canada Post stamp honouring Captain George Vancouver has created a buzz with collectors Archived 10 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Vancouver Sun
  29. ^ a b c d Pynn, Larry (23 June 2007) "Native elder embraces captain's legacy", The Vancouver Sun, p. B9
  30. ^ G.H. Anderson (1923). Vancouver and his Great Voyage – The Story of a Norfolk Sailor. King's Lynn: Thew & Son – via State Library of Victoria.
  31. ^ Mansvelt, Adrien (February 1975) "The Vancouver – Van Coeverden Controversy". The British Columbia Genealogist Vol 4 No. 1,2,3
  32. ^ Mansvelt, Adrien (February 1973). "Vancouver: A lost branch of the van Coeverden Family" (PDF). BC Historical News. 6 (2). British Columbia Historical Association: 20–23. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  33. ^ Mansvelt, Adrien (1 September 1973) "Solving the Captain Vancouver mystery" and "The Original Vancouver in Old Holland", The Vancouver Sun
  34. ^ Lamb, W. Kaye A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World, 1791–1795 Archived 31 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine. London, Printed for G.G. and J. Robinson
  35. ^ The Voyage of George Vancouver 1791–1795, Volume 1. W. Kaye Lamb (ed.). Hakluyt Society. 1984. ISBN 978-0-904180-17-6. p. 3
  36. ^ Robson, John (2006). "Origins of the Vancouver Name" (PDF). British Columbia History. 39 (4). British Columbia Historical Federation: 23–24. ISSN 1710-7881. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  37. ^ Baecklandt, David, "Was George Vancouver Flemish?", The Brussels Journal, 21 February 2010.
  38. ^ History of Metropolitan Vancouver Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine; chuckdavis.ca
  39. ^ Couverden Island Archived 3 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine. dnr.state.ak.us
  40. ^ "Review of new books". The Scots Magazine. 1 September 1799. pp. 33–38 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  41. ^ "Vancouver's voyage round the world". London Courier and Evening Gazette. 7 November 1801. p. 1 – via British Newspaper Archive.

Further reading

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  • Godwin, George. "Captain George Vancouver, 1757–1798." History Today (Sep 1957) 7#9 pp 605–609.
  • Bown, Stephen R. Madness, Betrayal and the Lash: The Epic Voyage of Captain George Vancouver (Douglas & McIntyre 2008).
  • Godwin, George. Vancouver A Life: 1757–1798 (D. Appleton and Company, 1931).
  • The Life and Voyages of Captain George Vancouver by Bern Anderson. Published by University of Washington Press, 1966.
  • Captain Vancouver: A Portrait of His Life by Alison Gifford. Published by St. James Press, 1986.
  • Journal of the Voyages of the H.M.S. Discovery and Chatham by Thomas Manby. Published by Ye Galleon Press, 1988.
  • Vancouver's Voyage: Charting the Northwest Coast, 1791–1795 by Robin Fisher and Gary Fiegehen. Published by Douglas & McIntyre, 1992.
  • On Stormy Seas, The Triumphs and Torments of Captain George Vancouver by B. Guild Gillespie. Published by Horsdal & Schubart, 1992.
  • Captain Vancouver: North-West Navigator by E.C. Coleman. Published by Tempus, 2007.
  • Sailing with Vancouver: A Modern Sea Dog, Antique Charts and a Voyage Through Time by Sam McKinney. Published by Touchwood Editions, 2004.
  • The Early Exploration of Inland Washington Waters: Journals and Logs from Six Expeditions, 1786–1792 edited by Richard W. Blumenthal. Published by McFarland & Company, 2004.
  • A Discovery Journal: George Vancouver's First Survey Season – 1792 by John E. Roberts. Published by Trafford Publishing, 2005.
  • With Vancouver in Inland Washington Waters: Journals of 12 Crewmen April–June 1792 edited by Richard W. Blumenthal. Published by McFarland & Company, 2007.
  • Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Vancouver, George" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 883.
  • Laughton, John Knox (1899). "Vancouver, George" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 58. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  • David, Andrew C. F. "Vancouver, George (1757–1798)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28062. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
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