Bones Bay
Bones Bay is a bay and former locality on the north side of West Cracroft Island in the Johnstone Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, on Clio Channel.[1][2]
From 1952 through to 1963, it was recorded a steamer landing on the Union Steamships schedule as a "summer call by request, served by Frank Waterhouse & Co. when freight is offering", and was reached via Minstrel Island. BC Pilot, a guide to the region's waters, in its Vol. 1, 1965 edition, said of it "...a former fishing settlement with a cannery which has become inoperative. From June to September approximately, there is a fish scow moored at the site, where gas can be obtained in limited quantities...". A 1967 report from the forest ranger at Alert Bay said there was a cannery in operation here, but by 1987 there was no permanent settlement. The name and status of locality was rescinded in 1988.[3]
Name origin
The name Bones Bay is believed to have derived from a visit by a boat, believed to be HMS Amethyst, carrying Lord Dufferin, then Governor-General of Canada, and his wife which carried the viceregal couple on a voyage up the coast to Metlakatla in 1876. According to one of the crew, a Patrick Riley, the Amethyst's crew performed regularly as a troupe of "minstrels", white people made up in blackface, who provided entertainment for shipmates and visitors, and the name likely commemorates a performance in these waters. Minstrel Island and nearby Sambo Point nearby are related names.[4]
Another version of the name comes from the founder of the Bones Bay Cannery, Jack Dorman, who is the namesake of nearby Dorman Island.[5]
See also
- List of settlements in British Columbia