<P> In 1841 James Douglas was charged with the duty of setting up a trading post on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, upon the recommendation by George Simpson a new more northerly post be built in case Fort Vancouver fell into American hands (see Oregon boundary dispute). Douglas founded Fort Victoria on the site of present - day Victoria in anticipation of the outcome of the Oregon Treaty in 1846, extending the British North America / United States border along the 49th parallel from the Rockies to the Strait of Georgia . </P> <P> Erected in 1843 as a Hudson's Bay Company trading post on a site originally called Camosun (the native word was "camosack", meaning "rush of water") known briefly as "Fort Albert", the settlement was renamed Fort Victoria in November 1843, in honour of Queen Victoria . The Songhees established a village across the harbour from the fort . The Songhees' village was later moved north of Esquimalt. The crown colony was established in 1849 . Between the years 1850 - 1854 a series of treaty agreements known as the Douglas Treaties were made with indigenous communities to purchase certain plots of land in exchange for goods . These agreements contributed to a town being laid out on the site and made the capital of the colony, though controversy has followed about the ethical negotiation and upholding of rights by the colonial government . The superintendent of the fort, Chief Factor James Douglas was made the second governor of the Vancouver Island Colony (Richard Blanshard was first governor, Arthur Edward Kennedy was third and last governor), and would be the leading figure in the early development of the city until his retirement in 1864 . </P> <P> When news of the discovery of gold on the British Columbia mainland reached San Francisco in 1858, Victoria became the port, supply base, and outfitting centre for miners on their way to the Fraser Canyon gold fields, mushrooming from a population of 300 to over 5000 within a few days . Victoria was incorporated as a city in 1862 . In 1865, the North Pacific home of the Royal Navy was established in Esquimalt and today is Canada's Pacific coast naval base . In 1866 when the island was politically united with the mainland, Victoria was designated the capital of the new united colony instead of New Westminster--an unpopular move on the Mainland--and became the provincial capital when British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation in 1871 . </P> <P> In the latter half of the 19th century, the Port of Victoria became one of North America's largest importers of opium, serving the opium trade from Hong Kong and distribution into North America . Opium trade was legal and unregulated until 1865, then the legislature issued licences and levied duties on its import and sale . The opium trade was banned in 1908 . </P>

When did victoria became the capital of bc