Beaver Point is a prominent headland in Ruckle Provincial Park on the southeastern shore of Salt Spring Island in the Southern Gulf Islands, about 8 miles (13 km) north-northeast of Sidney and 4 miles (6 km) east of Fulford Harbour, British Columbia. The point is located at the northwestern end of Swanson Channel and was named in 1859 after the Hudson’s Bay Company paddle steamer Beaver. At the time, the vessel was leased to the British Admiralty and commanded by Captain George H. Richards, followed by Captain Daniel Pender, who conducted hydrographic surveys of the British Columbia coast. Ruckle Provincial Park is named after Henry Ruckle, who immigrated from Ireland and homesteaded there in 1872. He married Ella Anna Christensen, and their family farmed the Salt Spring property for more than a century before donating the land to BC Parks in 1972. Beaver Point is composed of sedimentary rock from the Nanaimo Group of the Wrangellia terrane, which is named after the Wrangell Mountains in Alaska. The terrane is an accretionary wedge added to the North American continental margin in the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous period. It extends along the coast from south-central Alaska to British Columbia. This terrane comprises Devonian volcanic arc and sedimentary rocks, Permian sedimentary rocks, Late Triassic basalt and carbonate rocks, and Early Jurassic volcanic arc rocks. These formations reflect a history of arc volcanism, ocean plateau formation, and marine carbonate deposition. The Nanaimo Group, formed during the Late Cretaceous, consists of eleven sandstone formations. At Beaver Point, the bedrock primarily consists of fine-grained sandstone from the Comox Formation. Inland from the coast, the bedrock is covered by thick layers of unconsolidated glacial till.

For millennia, First Nations people used this area to gather shellfish and harvest camas. The Cowichan people called the island Chu’an and believed that the rounded summit on the southern end, with few trees and shrubs and an elevation of 1,971 feet (601 meters), was a resting place of Swa’quawa, the Thunderbird. According to legend, Swa’quawa paused here in his flight from the ocean to his home among the inland mountains. The island is part of the traditional territory of the Saanich, Cowichan, and Chemainus First Nations, with aboriginal use dating back at least 5,000 years. Major settlements included HwnJ’nuts, now Fulford Harbour; Shiyahwt, present-day Ganges; StsBth, Long Harbour; and Puqdnup, Hudson Point. A significant epidemic in the 1780s and subsequent warfare with northern peoples shifted populations to villages on Vancouver Island, Kuper Island, and Valdes Island. Some people remained at the present-day Tsawout Indian Reserve on Fulford Harbour until the 1920s, making it the longest continuously occupied place on the island. A map created for Governor James Douglas during a canoe voyage in 1852 labeled the island as “Chuan.” Joseph D. Pemberton, the colonial surveyor from 1851 to 1864, mentioned the island several times as “Tuan or Salt Spring Island.” The altered spelling of the first name likely resulted from the difficulty of accurately reproducing the Coast Salish sound. In 1859, Captain George H. Richards, who conducted coastal surveys from 1857 to 1863, changed the island’s name to “Admiral Island.” Despite this, “Saltspring” became the popular name, and in 1906, it superseded “Admiral” as the official designation.

In the aftermath of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, many immigrants from Britain, America, France, Germany, and Australia lingered in Victoria, hoping to acquire land and become self-sufficient residents of the colony. Some chose Salt Spring Island, even though it was isolated from civilization by the Salish Sea, geographically rugged, and covered with large Douglas firs that had to be cleared for farming. Additionally, no treaties had been signed with the indigenous peoples, who used the island as a hunting and fishing reserve and considered it theirs. About half of the first settlers were African Americans from San Francisco, who arrived in Victoria in 1858 seeking equal rights. Before steamer service began in 1889, Salt Spring Islanders rowed to Vancouver Island for supplies. Henry Ruckle built a wharf at a sheltered cove north of Beaver Point to provide local settlers with easier access to Vancouver Island. By 1900, there were six scheduled sailings per week from the Beaver Point Wharf, including two for mail deliveries. The government purchased the wharf in 1904 for $400 and rebuilt it in 1910 and 1925. From 1915 to the 1950s, the wharf housed a general store, post office, and the residence of Mr. and Mrs. William Patterson. When the ferry service moved to Fulford Harbour, the Pattersons relocated their business, and the wharf was dismantled in 1960. Today, Ruckle Provincial Park is one of the largest provincial parks in the Gulf Islands. It protects a mosaic of wetlands, Garry oak trees, flowering meadows, old forests, and 4 miles (6.4 km) of shoreline habitats. Read more here and here. Explore more of Beaver Point and Salt Spring Island here: