Plans are coming together to commemorate the James McMillan Expedition of 1824.
The Surrey Historical Society (SHS) will recognize the historic event on Sept. 21 at Elgin Heritage Park.
The expedition set out 200 years ago from Fort George (in present-day Oregon) on Nov. 18 and travelled north through Puget Sound, finally reaching Semiahmoo Bay on December 11, 1824. McMillan and his party of 40 travelled on Columbia boats with the tasks of mapping the area, surveying the mouth of the Fraser River, and looking for a good site where a future fort could be built.
The SHS promises an “an event-packed day” to commemorate the expedition’s 200th anniversary.
“We’re hoping, if we can arrange to get a replica (Columbia) boat built, to have people start down at the river and have them carry the boat up to the field,” said Evelyn Wedley, SHS president. “We’ll have an encampment there and we’ll have some speakers and other events.”
Wedley also hopes to partner with the Semiahmoo and Kwantlen First Nations to take part in the event.
“The First Nations really helped the expedition,” Wedley noted. “They guided them up through the Nicomeckl River.”
She said the SHS still needs to secure some funding for the event to go ahead, but she is hopeful.
“While things are moving forward, money is still an issue,” Wedley explained. “We didn’t get our cultural grant from the city, so we are going on a search to find more funding.”
Wedley said next up, the SHS will apply for a Heritage B.C. grant.
Even though all the i’s and t’s for the event haven’t been dotted or crossed yet, tentative plans for the day include a storyboard unveiling, a tie in with the Harvest Festival, and a commemoration event running about an hour and a half.
At 10 a.m. a new commemorative storyboard at will be unveiled at Crescent Beach. This will be near where the Nicomeckl River empties into Mud Bay.
SEE ALSO: Surrey Historical Society to commemorate 1824 James McMillan Expedition
The commemoration will then tie in with the annual Harvest Festival being held from 12 - 4 p.m. that day at Historic Stewart Farmhouse, Totest Aleng Indigenous Learning House, and the rest of Elgin Heritage Park. There will be food, entertainment, vendors, displays, demonstrations, and games. The Reenactors, Surrey’s historical reenactment troupe, will also be a part of the event.
Commemoration of the McMillan Expedition itself will take place from 4 - 5:30 p.m. (after the Harvest Festival ends) in the fields near the Nicomekl River. The SHS will set up a mock encampment and they’ll have several artifacts on hand, all loaned by Fort Langley National Heritage Site.
“Fort Langley has offered us a lot of the supplies that we’d need to set up an encampment,” Wedley explained.
1824 Expedition
According to surreyhistory.ca, the James McMillan Expedition was a surveying trip that sought to find a suitable site for a new Hudson Bay Company fort.
In the winter of 1824, James McMillan headed up a survey party from Fort George (present-day Astoria, Oregon). When the group reached Semiahmoo Bay, they had to change their plans to sail around Point Roberts and up the Fraser.
“The weather was growing cold, the wind was blowing, and ahead of them was the wide open stretch of water and the rounding of Point Roberts. They decided to wait for the weather to clear and camped near the present site of White Rock.”
Two days later, on Dec. 13, the expedition headed up the Nicomekl River. They had to portage over to the Salmon River before reaching the Fraser. The expedition sailed up the Fraser and went as far as Hatzic Slough before returning to Fort George.
Visit surreyhistory.ca for more info.
Also, trace of the 1824 expedition from Fort George to the Fraser River, based on the Journal of John Work, in this Google interactive map created by René Digard.
AGM
The Surrey Historical Society’s AGM will be held April 20 at the Surrey Archives at 10 a.m. For more info, email Ellen Edwards at ellenonpine@shaw.ca.
The Surrey Archives is located in Cloverdale at 17671 56th Avenue.
Elgin Heritage Park is located at 13723 Crescent Road.