Savary Island - History

History

Sometime after the end of the glaciers, first nations peoples arrived in the region. Archaeological evidence documents the occupation by Coast Salish peoples in this area of the Strait of Georgia for 4,000 years. They gave the island the name "Áyhus", meaning 'double-headed serpent'. The island was within the territory of the Tla'amin (Sliammon) first nation. Shell middens (including a midden near Indian Springs), a former camp or village site by a small bay, a signal site atop the high south-southwesterly crest of the island, and ancestral remains reflect life in the pre-contact era.

It is possible that European ships were in the vicinity of the island in the mid-18th century. Tla'amin (Sliammon) first nation oral history records the destruction and sinking of a “trading” ship (well known for pirating) in their traditional territory in that period. In 1791 José María Narváez commanded a small schooner, the Santa Saturnina, on an expedition to chart the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Strait of Georgia. He reached Jervis Inlet and was able to determine that Texada Island was in fact an island. In the distance to the north he saw a couple points of higher land, one probably Cape Mudge on Quadra Island, and another to the east, of unclear identity. In June 1792 the Spanish ships Sutil and Mexicana, under Galiano, and the British ships Discovery and Chatham, under Vancouver sailed by the island on their way to Desolation Sound. On or about June 25, 1792, Vancouver gave the name "Savary's Island". In early July a boat survey team led by Peter Puget and Joseph Whidbey charted Savary Island and spent at least one night on shore, meeting a group of indigenous people at island's eastern end. Puget did not refer to the island as Savary, instead simply calling it "Indian Island".

Permanent European settlement on the island did not begin until well into the 19th century. In the 1870s the government subdivided the island into lots for homesteading.

Jack Green, the first non-aboriginal permanent resident, was an early settler who built a cabin and store in or about 1886. Green Point (now known as Mace Point) was named for him. In or about 1893 Green and his friend and business partner, Taylor, were murdered on Savary, during a store robbery. Strangely, the events of the robbery and murder mirror the robbery by the Flying Dutchman in Union Bay. Green's murderer, Hugh Lynn of the Lynn Valley clan, was eventually captured in a muli-thousand mile, multinational chase and sent to the gallows.

By the turn of the 20th century, CPR coastal ships and Union Steamships called in, popularizing the place. Savary has always been a popular island for clamming and swimming owing to the sandy beaches.

A government wharf was built near Green Point, close to Dinner Rock and Lund. In 1910 Savary Island was subdivided into over 1400 lots. Savary subsequently became a favourite summer cabin location. Further subdivision resulted in a total of over 1700 (mostly 50 foot) lots on Savary. Roads were built and cabins established.

The first hotel seems to have been "The Savary", built in 1914, near the Government Wharf. This hotel remained in operation until 1932 when it was destroyed in a fire. At the other end of the island, the Ashworth family built the Royal Savary Hotel at Indian Point.

Gradually, private boats and water taxis from Lund provided the most common access to the island. The steamship services ended in the 1940s (Union Steamships) and 1950s (Gulf Steamship Line).

For a brief time an airstrip was operating on the island, but it was later closed due to safety concerns (two children were killed while riding on ATVs). The main air access to Savary has been by seaplane and boats that come from Lund, a nearby town. In the summers, many island commuters from away come and go on seaplanes, especially on Friday and Sunday evening flights.

Over the years there have been several shipwrecks (including the Union Steamship Steamer Capilano in 1915) and aircraft crashes (including a small single engine crash in Seaweed Bay in the 1960s). The incidents include: An RCAF Hurricane fighter that crashed off Savary in 1943; lone survivor (12 year old Fred Ilott) of the PowRivCo Tug Teeshoe sinking who washed up on Savary in the 1950s (Teeshoe: A Powell River Story by Filmmaker Jan Padgett); a Cessna on the airstrip; two fishboats, one in the Gulf and one in Malaspina Strait, each with loss of life; and a Gulf ship that sank on Dinner Rock in 1947. There have also been swimming and pleasure boating incidents over the years.

In the 1960s human remains were found on Savary and these were transferred to the Laboratory of Archaeology at UBC. Ultimately, these ancestral remains were returned by UBC to the Tla'amin (Sliammon) first nation in a repatriation ceremony for burial at Sliammon in June 2006.

In 1982 the Royal Savary Hotel was demolished and, for many, this was the end of an era. Since then several B&Bs have opened on the island.