pases

This week’s Pioneer Por-
trait concerns one of wealthi-
est men from Vancouver Is-
land during the 1860s and
70s, a man who was de-
scribed as a “Gentleman in
occupation,” and who held
large tracks of land in Victo-
ria and Saanich Peninsula
Districts. An enterprising
business man and ship
owner, he loved to farm, and

was one of the first orchardist

“in the Greater Victoria area.
His name was Captain
- Thomas Pritchard.

Brad Morrison

orn in 1803, at the
parish of | Aber-
a6” gavenny, Mon-
_mouthshire, Wales, Thomas
Pritchard began his adven-
turous and eventful life. Lit-
tle is known concerning his
earlier years, and the first
reference concerning him is
that he emigrated to the
United States before 1832.
By 1832, he was residing
in Illinois, and is said to
have participated in the in-
famous Black Hawk War.

“This war came about as the .
result of White movement °
toward the west, forcing the.

native people to poorer land.

lomas

“Few tribes went will-
ingly, and from April to Au-
gust 1832 an armed band of
Sauk and Fox under Chief
Black Hawk sought to reoc-
cupy the lands they had
held in the Illinois and Wis-
consin Territory,” states Dr.
Melvin I. Urofsky, Professor
of Constitutional History, at
Virginia Commonwealth
University.

“The natives faced famine
and hostile Sioux to the
west, and wanted nothing
more than a place with de-
cent land in which to plant
their corn. The Illinois mili-
tia chased them into Wis-

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‘itchard: pioneer and

consin. and massacred
women and children as the
tribe attempted to escape
across the Mississippi River.

Finally Black Hawk had no |

choice but to surrender, and
in his speech he detailed the
history of lies and betrayal
the white men had perpetu-
ated on Native Americans.”

Three- years. later, ‘in
1835, Pritchard settled at.
‘Fort. Wayne, Indiana
where he remained for a
number of years, eventually
leaving at a time when a

dreadful cholera epidemic

broke out.’
He abandoned all his pos-
session, house, furniture,

and Jand. The land is. -
recorded to have been ~
~- wortha small fortune at the
time; and was worth more .

than $3:million’by 1883.
-. Heis also recorded as re-.

_ siding in New York. and
- Chicago. While in Chicago,
he “engaged in the business

of a general trader and _ac-
; cumulated a large amount.

~of money.” ©
During. his ‘Tesidence i in”
the area, Pritchard is stated -

to have lent a _considerabl

amount of money to the gov-

ae i
Eigse MIRE TCL ok |

repaid i in full, although he

regular basis until the time”
“of his death.”
Leaving Chicago i in 1 1849,
- about the time of the Cali-
fornia Gold Rush, Pritchard
“. travelled across the: Rocky.
Mountains to Oregon, and
settled where. Portland ” is.
“now situated.

ender car

ae “must have. enjoyed his visit

Wednesday, February 10, 1999

adventurer

just beginning to be settled
by whites, and the Oregon
Crisis was only concluded a
few years earlier, declaring
the area as U. S. Territory.
Here he purchased large
tracts of property and started
a mercantile business.

It was not long before he
had become the owner of
several ships which plied
the waters of the Columbia
River. Whether Pritchard
himself was the master of
any of these vessels, is not
-known, yet the title of Cap-
tain was not long after at-
tached to his name.

Captain Pritchard was
well known in the Portland —
area for his fine orchards.

- He is said to have planted
“no less than five orchards —

ernment, which: was never “

and eaten of the fruit of
them all.” :

“His first visit to Victoria.
“was’.in 1858, during the
Fraser River gold excite-
‘ment. It was at this time that
he began'to employ at least
one of his steamers in the
area,’ taking.’ prospective
‘miners to and from the dig:
‘gings’on the Fraser. He .

- CONTINUED ON PAG

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