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AVESTVANCOUVER MEMORIES page 4 Naavy Jack T h o m a s - Who Was He? Naavyjack Thomas can be said to be tlie first European resident of West Vancouver. was this man's journey? as the Kelly is still in Barkerville. 1866 Yic What piano, 1830-1837 Born in Wales during tlie reign of William IV As a young man, he left for North America after a quarrel with his mother. Route unknown, perhaps with the Royal Navy. According to his daughter, Christine, in conversation with Capt. Gates in 1938, he had worked in many locations before arriving in Burrard Inlet. He was described as being about 5 ft. 9 in, 160-170 lbs., heavy built, square shouldered, dark curly hair, mustache, very temperate and kind to his family. He apparently came from a good family who repeatedly asked him to return to England. 1860 This is the first reference to his presence in B.C. The Cariboo gold rush, in 1858, required immense amounts of freight to supply the goldfields. "Naavy Jack" was said to be operating a boat from the end of the wagon road at Soda Creek to Quesnel. 1863 Capt. TJ. Jackman, bartender at the Sunnyside Hotel, Gastown, stated that "Naavy" Jack had packed on his back a piano from Quesnel to Barkerville, charging S200 - a pound!. Barkerville Museum files imply that he was one of a party of five men who picked up the piano for Mary Nathan's Saloon. The instrument, known today contracted to deUver 175 pounds of beef over 35 miles of mountains in Shuswap country. He also acquired a 5 ton sloop and began an active unscheduled ferry service on Burrard Inlet. Activity on the Inlet had begun only three years earlier with the building of the Pioneer Sawmill on the North Shore. A trail had been cut from New Westminster to New Brighton and Hastings MiU was under construction. His ferry service, perhaps thefirston the Inlet, operated until Gapt. VanBramer arrived with his small steamer Sea Foam to begin a scheduled service. 1867 When the Sea Foam displaced his ferry operation, Thomas began hauling cleanriver-washedgravel from the mouth of the Gapilano to the towns developing around the shores of the Inlet. This fine grade of sand-gravel mix, the major component of concrete, carries his name to this day in Vsuicouver's building trade. The Gapilano was not the controlled steam we know today. Its delta was nearly a ^ " The West Vancouverferry, M. V. Sea Foam carrying passengers in English Bay with the shore of Ambleside in the distance (191?). Note the passengers seated on the deck. ·iiiuiniicrl III! piifte