Lecture: Exploring Spain’s Legacy in the Salish Sea

Santa Saturnina in Boundary Pass by Gordon Miller.

Event type: In-person
Timing: The lecture starts at 7:00 pm. Doors open at 6:30 pm.
Location: Rotary Gallery of the Courtenay and District Museum
Speakers: Local popular historian Kim Davies
Tickets: $5 for Historical Society members; $6 for general public. Advance tickets recommended. Tickets can be purchased over the phone by calling 250-334-0686 ext 2.

A short discussion illustrated by the work of three well known maritime artists and an exquisite new model of the Spanish schooner, Santa Saturnina.

The threat of “foreign” invasion into “their” seas in the wake of the tumultuous fur trade prompted Spain to explore in Northwest Pacific waters, at the farthest reaches of their American empire, from 1774 until 1796. As UBC professor Tomas Bartroli noted, it was a brief presence, abandoned after 1795 with the conclusion of the Nootka Convention agreements.

The Euro-American incursion into Pacific Northwest waters collided with the millennia-old cultures of Indigenous peoples. The dimensions of this cultural conflict remain a matter of ongoing concern, and the need for reconciliation is widely acknowledged.

Even so, the remarkable feats of shipbuilding, navigation, and seamanship undertaken by early explorers warrant recognition. Following the departure of the Spaniards from the region, their explorations have gone largely unsung. Few people today know the stories behind the many Spanish place names still found along coastal features.

Local popular historian Kim Davies has put together a collection of paintings by Mark Myers, Gordon Miller and Steve Mayo illustrating key events in this history. Comox master model builder Bruce Ellis has produced an exquisite model of one of the little ships that carried out these early Euro American explorations of our waters.

Join us for an evening presentation and discussion.

Speaker Kim Davies third from left with artist friends (left to right) Steve Mayo, Mrs. Myers, and Mark Myers.

Kim Davies has a BA in English Literature from University of British Columbia. After more studies at Simon Fraser University, he began professional editing in his career with Canadian Pacific Airlines in their advertising department.

Sailing competitively and a passion for history have always been of high interest to him. After retiring, he has been able to pursue Pacific Northwest coastal history full time and meet with historians and artists on various maritime history projects.

He has coordinated and assisted in several projects and publications by academic historians and artists and has worked with Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, British Columbia. Interest and research into Pacific exploration by the Polynesian peoples led him to more editing for the journal of the San Diego Maritime Museum.

Current editing projects include working with Air Commodore, Ret., Dr. Mark Lax, on a history of helicopters in the Royal Australian Air Force. Kim is also leading a project with author Professor Barry Gough and artist Steve Mayo, to publish a presentation of the paintings of maritime artists Steve Mayo, Mark Myers and Gordon Miller, artists whose work on the historic vessels in Pacific Northwest waters is unparalleled.

Kim Davies resides on the shore of the Sunshine Coast north of Vancouver, British Columbia.