In 1877, HMS Daring was despatch to survey the coast of British Columbia, with particular attention given to the Skeena River area as a potential port terminus for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Upon completion of the survey, Captain Hamner submitted the results to Rear Admiral Algernon Frederick Rous de Horsey, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Station at HM Naval Base Esquimalt, near the end of November 1877.

Rear Admiral Algernon Frederick Rous de Horse subsequently forwarded the survey information to the Province of British Columbia, the Dominion of Canada, and the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office for incorporation into official navigation charts, which would provide updated chart and placename information.

During the late 19th century, Texada Island was thriving. In July 1878, Geo A. Walkem, the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for the Province of British Columbia, requested surveyor R. C. Cridge to conduct a survey of District Lot 450 as well as other District Lots within the vicinity. Cridge completed the survey, submitted it, and registered it on August 10, 1878. The Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for the Province of British Columbia then incorporated the plan into the Provincial Lands Map.

All surveys, recorded on the Clothed Survey Map 2T2 for the New Westminster District, were published in early 1878, not long after the HMS Daring submitted all related information to the local area. This map contains numerous surveyed parcels, including District Lot 450. A detailed view of this section of Map 2T2 shows multiple adjoining lots, all surveyed by R. C. Cridge. District Lot 450, Group 1, is clearly delineated, and the map distinctly records the geographic names Powell Lake and Teeshqout Creek for the first time in historical records.

On August 10, 1878, the Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works published a notice in the British Columbia Gazette offering District Lot 450 for sale. This advertisement ran from August 1878 through to October 19, 1878, inviting the public to purchase the land.

On October 8, 1878, Robert Patterson Rithet made a full instalment payment for District Lot 450, Group 1, comprising 2,775 acres, as surveyed by R. C. Cridge. Rithet subsequently commissioned his own survey of District Lot 450, submitted for approval, published, and recorded. On October 24, 1878, R. P. Rithet was formally granted District Lot 450 under Registry No. 1906 of the Province of British Columbia.

In 1878, the lands surrounding Lot 450, including the river and lake, were known to the Tla’amin people as tiskʷət and were considered part of the Tla’amin Nation territory, not as Powell Lake or Teeshqout Creek. Surveyors had a guide for Indigenous place names. Since there was no written language, the guidelines were to spell the place name as close as possible to how it sounded. tiskʷət to the Dominion Surveyors sounded like teeshqout, so that is how the name appeared on the 1878 2T2 Map.

For generations, these lands supported villages, seasonal fishing, and cedar harvesting, playing a central role in governance, culture, and law. However, 1878 marked a significant turning point. Colonial and Provincial authorities and private interests increasingly sought control over this timber-rich area. R.P. Rithet had held extensive timber leases since 1874, covering much of Tla’amin’s traditional territory however his timber license ended in 1877 but with the purchase of Lot 450, it included the timber the lands surrounding Lot 450, but not the water rights.

Oral stories tell of repeated petitions by Tla’amin leaders for formal recognition of their village and access to resources, and government officials prioritized commercial claims over Indigenous occupancy by issuing the sale of Lot 450 to a private settler, which occurred without Tla’amin consent.

Officials, including Superintendent Israel Powell, have postponed reserve surveys because of personal disputes involving Malcolm Sprout. Additionally, the Province of British Columbia’s sale of Lot 450 has disregarded a longstanding occupation of the land and consultations regarding the setting of reserves. Logging activities and land clearing near tiskʷət have disrupted traditional fishing areas and village sites. Government records indicate that while Tla’amin stewardship continued on the ground, colonial legal mechanisms facilitated the alienation of Tla’amin’s traditional territory.

The events of 1878 set a precedent for the dispossession of the Crown’s Land, leaving the Tla’amin Nation to continue to fight and dispute battles for recognition and the protection of our lands and villages, while RP Rithet moves into District Lot 450 with the Moodyville Sawmill Company, which starts to cut the ancient timber and ships it out, leaving the land forever.