Siwash Rock is a sea stack on the western shoreline of Stanley Park on Burrard Inlet, between English Bay to the south and the entrance to Vancouver Harbour to the north, about 3 miles (5 km) north-west of downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. The formation is about 50 feet (15 m) tall and was formed around 32 million years ago as a volcanic dyke that intruded into the sedimentary rock underlying most of the area. The softer sedimentary rock gradually eroded, leaving the basalt column. The legendary rock is also known by the historical Squamish name Skalsh or Slhx̱í7lsh. The Squamish name refers to the story of a man transformed by X̱aays; the complete story is related in the “Legends of Vancouver“. Siwash Rock stands as a monument to “clean fatherhood”, symbolizing one who kept his own life clean so that cleanliness might be the heritage of generations to come. A plaque near the rock states that it is “Skalsh the unselfish” who was transformed by “Q’uas the transformer” as a reward for unselfishness.

The Squamish people are a distinct group within the larger Coast Salish cultural-linguistic group. Before contact with Europeans, the Squamish population may have numbered several thousand. Howe Sound was the demographic center of Squamish society, but they had several seasonal villages in Burrard Inlet, particularly on the North Shore, in Stanley Park and False Creek. The Squamish visited Burrard Inlet primarily in spring and early summer to hunt, fish and trade with other aboriginal communities. First contact with Europeans probably occurred in 1792, when ships under the command of Captain George Vancouver encountered several dozen canoes of aboriginal people in Burrard Inlet. By the mid-19th century the Squamish numbered between 300 and 600.

Siwash Rock Battery was established in 1914 as a temporary defense installation. The battery included two 4-inch naval guns to protect the entrance to Vancouver Harbour. During the second world war a concrete searchlight shelter was built into the cliff face behind Siwash Rock. The shelter was one of ten built to illuminate enemy ships. These shelters were each fitted with a remotely operated 60-inch (152 cm) searchlight of 800 million-candlepower, along with a generator. The concrete searchlight shelter remains, and the top now serves as the base of an observation deck overlooking Siwash Rock. Read more here and here. Explore more of Siwash Rock and Stanley Park here: