Old Bella Bella, also known as Old Towns or Qlts, was the name for the

Heiltsuk The Heiltsuk or Haíɫzaqv , sometimes historically referred to as ''Bella Bella'', are an Indigenous people of the Central Coast region in British Columbia, centred on the island community of Bella Bella. The government of the Heiltsuk people ...

village that grew up around the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

's historic

Fort McLoughlin Fort McLoughlin was a fur trading post established in 1833 by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) on Campbell Island in present-day British Columbia, Canada. At the time the Hudson's Bay Company performed quasi-governmental duties on behalf of the Br ...

, at McLoughlin Bay on Campbell Island. The village relocated to the present site of Bella Bella, British Columbia by 1903. Today the Heiltsuk control the site, which houses a

BC Ferries British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, publicly owned Canadian company. BC Ferries provides all major passenger and vehicle ferry ...

terminal, fish plant, and two houses, as well as archaeological remains of the old village. Located on Campbell Island opposite the modern town now carrying the name

Shearwater Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prions, and the shearwa ...

, the village grew and the Hudson's Bay Company closed the fort and replaced their operations with steam-ships.

William Fraser Tolmie William Fraser Tolmie ( "Dr. Tolmie") (February 3, 1812 – December 8, 1886) was a surgeon, fur trader, scientist, and politician. He was born in Inverness, Scotland, in 1812, and by 1833 moved to the Pacific Northwest in the service of ...

a Scottish doctor and

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

r employed by the Hudson's Bay Company left a record of some of his time at the fort and observed the development of the Heiltsuk village there. Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) (Native American)

Heiltsuk (Bella Bella) (Native American)

Early history

The Heiltsuk village of Old Bella Bella (then simply Bella Bella) grew up adjacent to

, the Hudson's Bay Company trading fort at McLoughlin Bay. The fur trade employee, and later politician

worked at Fort McLoughlin and wrote about his experiences in his book ''Physician and Fur Trader'', providing interesting insights to the history. The Fort closed in 1843. One report says that the Heiltsuk burned the abandoned fort for the iron; A few years after the fort was abandoned, the Hudson's Bay Company had a change of mind and opened a store on the site of the former fort. They operated the store until deciding to lease it out, which they did in May 1883. The community grew from the original group that had first built next to the fort. The Heiltsuk population was ravaged by the

1862 Pacific Northwest smallpox epidemic Year 186 ( CLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Glabrio (or, less frequently, year 939 ''Ab urbe con ...

. During the late 1800s other Heiltsuk leaders brought their people together at Old Bella Bella;

1880-1900

The village changed significantly during the latter part of the 1800s, with European influence driving some of the change. A missionary account of the village in 1898 describes it; Several traditional bighouses also existed in the village. A set of house posts was collected from one of these houses and is now located in the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

. By 1897 the Heiltsuk had decided to relocate the community. The community continued to grow and a store was built in the community. - which also included a post office which used the name "Bella Bella" from 1930 to 1991 until changed to Old Bella Bella when the newer settlement across the strait was renamed Bella Bella after being Waglisla from 1974 to 1993. When the store at McLoughlin Bay closed, the postal service, along with the name "Bella Bella" was transferred, first to a cannery, then to

Shearwater, British Columbia Shearwater is a community in coastal British Columbia. It is located three miles from Old Bella Bella on Denny Island. It is in the territory of the Heiltsuk Nation. History Shearwater was originally built as an antisubmarine bomber reconnaissa ...

. The name "Old Bella Bella" is sometimes applied to both the original village at McLoughlin Bay, to the old post office in the "BC Packers Cannery" (now closed) on Lama Pass, and to Shearwater. For many years Shearwater used the name "Bella Bella" until it was recently transferred to the Heiltsuk village of Bella Bella (also known as Waglisla). The name "Bella Bella" was initially applied to the Heiltsuk village located at McLoughlin Bay but when the store (and associated post office) closed the name was transferred to Denny Island, first at the cannery, then to Shearwater on

Denny Island Denny Island ( cy, Ynys Denny; ) is a small uninhabited rocky island of , with scrub vegetation, in the Severn Estuary. Its rocky southern foreshore marks the boundary between England and Wales. Above high water mark, the island is reckoned adm ...

, British Columbia, which is now known as Shearwater, was known as Bella Bella Airbase from 1948 to 1952 and though renamed to Shearwater, the Bella Bella post office stayed at that locationBC Names/GeoBC entry "Shearwater (locality)"
/ref> Today the town "Bella Bella" refers to " New Bella Bella". The post office "Bella Bella" has now been returned to Campbell Island and the Heiltsuk village. There are a number of resorts and hotels that are located on Denny Island such as the Shearwater Resort, the

Denny Island B&B Denny or Dennie may refer to: People *Denny (given name), a list of people named Denny or Dennie *Denny (surname), a list of people surnamed Denny or Dennie *Denny (hybrid hominin) Places *Denny, California, a ghost town *Denny, Falkirk, a town i ...

and the

Whiskey Cove B&B Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ca ...

. Most of Bella Bella's residents live on Campbell Island (New Bella Bella) but some employees of the Shearwater Resort still live on Denny Island.

Old Bella Bella today

The site now contains a fish processing plant and

terminal - McLoughlin Bay, which includes a 'roll-on-roll-off' ramp allowing vehicles access. In addition are several houses, a paved road connecting to the village of

Bella Bella, British Columbia Bella Bella, also known as Waglisla, is the home of the Heiltsuk and is an unincorporated community and Indian reserve community located within Bella Bella Indian Reserve No. 1 on the east coast of Campbell Island in the Central Coast region ...

References

{{coord, 52, 09, 43, N, 128, 08, 42, W, region:CA, display=title Populated places in the Central Coast Regional District

Early history

1880-1900

Old Bella Bella today

See also

References