Bowen Island

Indigenous peoples

The name for Bowen Island is Nex̱wlélex̱m in the Squamish language of the Squamish people.^[5] The Squamish peoples used and occupied the area around Howe Sound including Bowen Island.^[6] Areas such as Snug Cove and a few other parts of the island were used as campsites for hunting and gathering trips.

Historically they would use the warmer spring and summer months to travel to resource gathering sites and move from their permanent winter villages. The strip of land between Bowen and Finisterre Islands has a name that translates to "Fast Drumming Ground". The tide rushing in and out is reminiscent of the sound of drums beating quickly. The name "Kwém̓shem" is used for Hood Point.^[5] Bowen is still used by people from Squamish and Musqueam for deer hunting. Into the 20th century Bowen Island was actively used by Squamish people for deer and duck hunting, fishing and, later, wage jobs. In conversations with Vancouver archivist Major Matthews in the 1950s, August Jack Khatsahlano recalls knowing several Squamish who worked for whalers on the island at the turn of the 20th century. In a conversation with City of Vancouver archivist JA Matthews, Khatsahlano himself recalls deer hunting on Bowen, saying that at one time he took the biggest deer in British Columbia from the island, weighing in at 195 pounds.

Post-colonization

When Spanish explorers arrived on the west coast of Canada, they named many of the features of what is now the Strait of Georgia. Bowen Island was called Isla de Apodaca (after the Mexican town of Apodaca, in north-east Nuevo León province - itself named after a benevolent bishop, Salvador de Apodaca y Loreto) by the Spanish Captain José María Narváez in July, 1791.^[7] In 1860 Cpt. George Henry Richards renamed the island after Rear Admiral James Bowen master of HMS Queen Charlotte.^[8]:58

In 1871 homesteaders began to build houses and started a brickworks, which supplied bricks to the expanding city of Vancouver. Over the years, local industry has included an explosives factory, logging, mining, and milling, although there is no heavy industry on the island at present.

20th century

In the first half of the 20th century, life on Bowen was dominated by a resort operated by the Terminal Steamship Company (1900 - 1920) and the Union Steamship Company (1920 - 1962). These companies provided steamer service to Vancouver, and the Horseshoe Bay - Bowen Island Ferry began in 1921. When the Union Steamship resort closed in the 1960s the island returned to a quiet period of slow growth. In the 1940s and 1950s, the artists' colony called Lieben^[9] was a retreat for many famous Canadian authors, artists, and intellectuals including Earle Birney, Alice Munro, Dorothy Livesay, Margaret Laurence, A.J.M. Smith, Jack Shadbolt, Eric Nicol and Malcolm Lowry, who finished his last book, October Ferry to Gabriola, there. In the 1980s, real estate pressures in Vancouver accelerated growth on Bowen and currently the local economy is largely dependent on commuters who work on the mainland in Greater Vancouver. Prior to becoming a municipality, Bowen Island was part of the Sunshine Coast Regional District, made up of small communities and municipalities. However, in the 1980s the island transferred to the Greater Vancouver Regional District after a campaign organized by developers and realtors. A campaign to make the island an autonomous municipality was successful after two referendum attempts.

In 1999 the Bowen Island Municipality was incorporated, becoming the second "island municipality" in BC. The first was Saltspring Island which was incorporated in 1873 and dissolved by the BC legislature 10 years later.

Marine

Queen of Capilano Ferry Approaching Snug Cove, Bowen Island, British Columbia

Bowen Island is served by three scheduled water-transportation operators:

• BC Ferries, a de facto Provincial Crown corporation, serves the island with the Queen of Capilano car ferry, which travels between Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver and Snug Cove on Bowen Island.
• English Bay Launch runs a passenger-only water taxi weekday commuter service between Snug Cove and Vancouver's Coal Harbour, and on summer weekends runs a tourist service between Snug Cove and Vancouver's Granville Island.
• Cormorant Marine^[10] runs a passenger-only water taxi service providing late-night sailings between the government docks in Horseshoe Bay and in Snug Cove. In addition, weekday commuter sailings are made between Snug Cove and Horseshoe Bay, to connect with the Bowen Express Bus from downtown Vancouver.^[11]

Land

Public roads are maintained by the Bowen Island Municipality. There are roadside walking trails in only a few places and the terrain is hilly and winding. Private vehicles are the primary form of transportation and hitchhiking is commonplace.

Bowen Island has a limited bus service (ending at 7 p.m.) of two TransLink routes:^[12]

• Route 280 Bluewater/Snug Cove
• Route 281 Eagle Cliff/Snug Cove