stanley park night

Squamish inhabitants of the Stanley park were the first people encountered by Captain George Vancouver when he explored the area in 1792. In his A Voyage of Discovery, Vancouver describes the area as �an island � with a smaller island [Deadman's Island] lying before it,� indicating that it was originally surrounded by water, at least at high tide. �Here we were met by about fifty Indians, in their canoes," he continued, "who conducted themselves with the greatest decorum and civility,� and who presented the visitors with cooked fish. No other contact was recorded for decades, until around the time of the Crimean War when British admirals arranged with Squamish Chief Joe Capilano that in the case of an invasion, the British would defend the south shore of Burrard Inlet and the Squamish would defend the north. According to Capilano�s daughter, the British gave him and his men 60 muskets. Although the attack anticipated by the British never came, the guns were used by the Squamish to repel an attack by an indigenous raid from the north. Stanley Park was not attacked but this was the beginning of it being considered a strategic military location by the British.