Smuggler’s Cove, BC
Smuggler’s Cove is a picturesque anchorage located on Vancouver Island’s southeastern shore, not far from world-famous Butchart Gardens. The scenic cove, which today attracts hikers, kayakers, and nature lovers, was once the venue for a dark page in Canadian history.
Completion of the Trans-Canada Railroad coincided with Canadian Confederation, and the end of the American Civil War. During that time period, a great many Chinese labourers became unemployed, as railroad construction jobs dried up. The fledgling Canadian government didn’t have a plan for the migrant workers and the Chinese were left to their own devices to find employment. A rogue ex-Confederate soldier seized upon their plight by establishing an opium and human smuggling enterprise on Vancouver Island.
Larry Kelly, later known as The King of the Smugglers, began illegally transporting Chinese labourers to the US mainland where jobs were more plentiful, for the price of $100 per person. Kelly procured a small boat, which he anchored at the remote Cove, and began ferrying illegal migrants to the coast of the State of Washington.
The Katy Thomas, a sloop once owned by Larry Kelly.
The Canadian government turned a blind eye to the enterprise, happy to be rid of hapless workers, but US Customs officials were not pleased with the activity. US authorities sent boat patrols to thwart the illegal migration. When smugglers were caught, Customs officers had the power to imprison, or impose heavy fines.
Larry Kelly wanted none of that. The King of Smugglers insisted that every customer he ferried across the channel be chained to a chunk of pig iron. If pursued, Kelly would throw the Chinese overboard attached to the heavy iron counterweight, thereby destroying…
… the evidence.
Smuggler’s Cove, in less barbaric times.
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