Colonial Despatches

From what can be deduced from the limited information available, Point Aitch Bee Cee is located on the southern bank of the southern main delta of the Fraser River, in the present-day municipality of Delta. This map does indeed depict the feature of H.B.C Tree, beside what appears to be a sketched pine tree to indicate the same.1

In this despatch, Douglas mentions a Point Aitch Bee Cee, which is presumed to be a phonetic spelling of the point known as “H.B.C. Tree” mentioned in this despatch, which notes that the feature draws its name from the first explorers of the River having marked a tree with those letters.

• 1. Papers Relative to the Affairs of British Columbia, Part II (London: George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1859) 95.