Aboriginal people have lived in the Vancouver area since at lease 2,500 BC, and maybe even further back.  They migrated down from what’s now Alaska after crossing the Bering Land Bridge, and where Vancouver’s only residents until the 1790s, when Spanish and British explorers made contact along the coast.  There were no real permanent settlements until the gold rushes of the 1850s and 1860s brought thousands of hopefuls up from California.  McLeery’s Farm was the first European settlement, and sawmills became the first economic engine of the town other than mining.

Most important to the cities growth and position today as an industrial center of Canada was the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which brought the first transcontinental train to the city in 1886, the year the City of Vancouver was incorporated.  The city’s population broke 100,000 in the beginning of the 19^th century, which also saw the establishment of the University of British Columbia.

Vancouver has had a long history of progressive movements, from labor-rights protests to universal suffrage and women’s rights.  The city elected the first female representative to a provincial government in 1918.  World War II brought a powerful economic boost the area, and forced a transition from a resources-based economy to a manufacturing one, as the area geared up to produce ships and planes for the war effort.

The 1960s saw Vancouver become a center of progressive action, especially on the campuses of the universities in the area.  Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver in 1971, and the city maintains a progressive and free-spirited vibe.