The Deserters Group is a small group of islands in the

Queen Charlotte Strait , image = Canadian pilot, near Port Hardy BC.jpg , alt = , caption = A pilot boat plies Queen Charlotte Strait near Port Hardy , image_bathymetry = Locmap-QCS-Hecate-Dixon.png , alt_bathymetry = ...

region of the

Central Coast of British Columbia , settlement_type = Region of British Columbia , image_skyline = , nickname = "The Coast" , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = British ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, located off the northeast coast of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...

to the north of

Port Hardy Port Hardy is a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada located on the north-east end of Vancouver Island. Port Hardy has a population of 4,132 as of the last census (2016). It is the gateway to Cape Scott Provincial Park, the North Co ...

Deserters Island Deserters Island is an island in the Deserters Group archipelago in the Queen Charlotte Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Mahpahkum Indian Reserve No. 4 is located on the northwest end of the island. The name refers ...

is one of the islands in the group, another is Wishart Island.

Name origin

The name refers to a group of eight men who had been crew on the ''Norman Morrison, a

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 ...

vessel, who deserted the vessel while it was moored in Suquash Harbour, upon hearing news of gold in the

Cariboo The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia, Canada, centered on a plateau stretching from Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the caribou that were once abundant in the region. The Cariboo was the ...

. Two stories relate their demise at the hands of local natives, one saying that the natives had mis-interpreted the ship's captain's offer to pay money per head, which was taken literally and so the men were killed rather than taken captive and returned to the ship. Another says that HBC representatives at

Fort Rupert Fort Rupert is the site of a former Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fort on the east coast near the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The unincorporated community on Beaver Harbour is about by road southeast of Port Hardy. Coal & fo ...

had instigated the murders by offering a dead-or-alive reward, though Governor Blanshard in his report to London about the incident said the incident was "baseless". The deserters include a James Wishart, whom

Wishart Island Qaiqsuarjuk ( Inuktitut syllabics: ''ᖃᐃᖅᓱᐊᕐᔪᒃ'') formerly Wishart Island is an uninhabited island located in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is a Baffin Island offshore island in Hudson Strait, and a member of the ...

and the Wishart Peninsula are named for, and A. Willoughby, for whom Willoughby Rock, which is off the north side of the Deserters Group, is named for.BC Names/GeoBC entry "Deserters Island"
/ref>

References

Islands of British Columbia Central Coast of British Columbia {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub

Name origin

See also

References