Shifting Boundaries and Designations
The boundaries of the department were vague, and changed over time. For all practical purposes, New Caledonia extended as far as the economic relationships enjoyed by its designated trading posts, which greatly expanded over the years. Originally, the eastern boundary was considered to be the Rocky Mountains, the northern boundary the Finlay River, and the southern boundary the Cariboo or the Thompson River drainage. The region south of the Thompson River and north of the then Mexico border, the 42nd parallel north, was designated as the Columbia District. The Columbia Department was governed first from Fort Astoria, then from Fort Vancouver (present day Vancouver, Washington). Westward migration of American settlers by the Oregon trail led to the Oregon boundary dispute. The signing of the Oregon Treaty in 1846 ended disputed joint occupation of areas west of the Rocky Mountains pursuant to the Treaty of 1818. The southern boundary of the district was shifted to the 49th parallel, and administration shifted to Fort Victoria. Nonetheless, in popular parlance, the entire British-held mainland north of the US boundary and west of the Rockies was known as New Caledonia.
In 1849, Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia were designated a crown colony in their own right, the Colony of Vancouver Island.
Read more about this topic: New Caledonia (Canada)
Famous quotes containing the words shifting and/or boundaries:
“What do we want with this vast and worthless area, of this region of savages and wild beasts, of deserts, of shifting sands and whirlwinds, of dust, of cactus and prairie dogs; to what use could we ever hope to put these great deserts, or those endless mountain ranges, impenetrable and covered to their very base with eternal snow? What can we ever hope to do with the western coast, a coast of 3,000 miles, rockbound, cheerless, uninviting and not a harbor in it?”
—For the State of Kansas, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Not too many years ago, a child’s experience was limited by how far he or she could ride a bicycle or by the physical boundaries that parents set. Today ... the real boundaries of a child’s life are set more by the number of available cable channels and videotapes, by the simulated reality of videogames, by the number of megabytes of memory in the home computer. Now kids can go anywhere, as long as they stay inside the electronic bubble.”
—Richard Louv (20th century)