Town of Comox History

When the first settlers arrived on the Grappler in 1862 they found a protected harbour with abundant marine life, fertile land, fresh water and a vast timber resource. Earlier that year a deadly small pox epidemic swept northward, decimating a third of the First Nations people on Vancouver Island. The Town of Comox is built on a former Komoucs Village site – all that remains today are deep middens, evidence of millennia of years of habitation.

The first settlers settled on open land and cut logs for shelters, cleared land and planted crops. They had no horses or wagons and few supplies.

Comox Marina Nautical History

Comox Harbour has provided shelter for maritime cultures for millenniums. Archaeological evidence suggests that the harbour’s abundant resources were shared among many First Nations villages. Extensive fishing weirs cover the estuary and Comox Bay, and in 2004 the Comox Bay was declared an archaeological site.

Trade among the First People was expanded to include Russian and European traders during the fur trade period. It is probable that Sir Francis Drake visited this region on his 1579 buccaneering expeditions. In 1778, Captain Cook circumnavigated Vancouver Island aboard the HMS Resolution. In the following decades transient British and Spanish vessels worked their way northward, exploring, charting, trading and claiming land.

Governor James Douglas visited the Comox area aboard the Beaver in 1853 and recognized the region’s agricultural potential. In 1862, settlers arrived in Augusta Bay (Comox Bay) aboard the Grapple.

History text supplied courtesy Comox Archives & Museum. For more history of Comox, visit www.comoxmuseum.ca