Maple Bay Village to Imadene Cove
Octopus Point (continued), Burgoyne Bay North to Grave Point
Captain Richards named this point Burial Point and the point at the north end of Sansum Narrows Grave Point in his 1858 survey but his second chart published in 1861 incorrectly identified both points as Grave Point. This was corrected on subsequent Admiralty Charts. Canadian Hydrographic Charts have shown this as Octopus Point since 1926 and in 1946 this became the point’s official name. A local convention wins in Ottawa!
Until a few years ago Octopus Point belonged to the Newman family. Their abandoned home and boathouse still stand on the property. Lauri and Rosa Mae Newman brought their nine children here about 1948. The Newman’s fished the Narrows in a fleet of boats hand built at the point. A Newman tradition was that all the boats have varnished wheelhouses. Curly Newman still sails these waters in his boat Northern Challenge.
(Sources: BC Geographic Names database
Peter Rusland “The Point of it All” (interview with Curly Newman) Cowichan News Leader November 15, 2000 p.3.)
Burgoyne Bay (48° 48' 00" N - 123° 32' 00" W) sits below Baynes Peak. It was named in 1859 by Captain Richards after Commander Hugh Talbot Burgoyne VC who was an officer aboard HMS Ganges under the command of Captain Fulford. He was awarded the VC for gallant action during the Crimean War. According to the Canadian Geographical Names Database, he and most of the crew of 500 died when their ship “Captain” turned upside down and foundered off Cape Finisterre. A Post Office was once located at Burgoyne Bay from 1880 to 1900. In the 1990s, attempts by Texada Logging to harvest timber in Burgoyne Bay created quite an uproar on Saltspring. Now, the shores of Burgoyne are protected by the Mount Maxwell Ecological Reserve. It is 4 miles across Saltspring from Burgoyne to Fulford and the wind which often blows out of this bay has traveled across the island through the low-lying Fulford-Burgoyne Valley.
Mount Maxwell (48° 48' 00" N - 123° 31' 00" W) was named Baynes Mountain by Captain Richard in 1859 after Rear Admiral Baynes who was commander of the Pacific Fleet from 1857 to 1860 but local residents called it Mount Maxwell after John Maxwell who farmed in the area in the late 1800s. Mount Maxwell was adopted as the official name in 1911 “as an entrenched local name”. According to the BC Geographic Names database, through correspondence with authorities on Saltspring Island, agreement was reached in 1939 to call the highest point Baynes Peak and the mountain top park Mount Maxwell Park.
Erskine Point (48° 51' 00" N - 123° 34' 00" W) and Mount Erskine (48° 51' 00" N - 123° 33' 00" W) across from Grave Point form the Saltspring Island entry into the north narrows. No information was found on the origin of the name Erskine.
Booth Bay (48° 52' 00" N - 123° 34' 00" W) on Saltspring was originally labelled as Vesuvius Bay on the 1859 British Admiralty Chart but in 1911 the Admiralty Charts adopted the present name. Booth Bay was named after Eric Booth, one of the original settlers on Saltspring Island and Reeve of the township. Booth Bay is only a mile from Ganges and at one time there was talk of building a canal across the island.
Grave Point (48° 51' 00" N - 123° 35' 00" W) was named by Captain Richards in 1858. See Octopus Point. As this does not seem to be a particularly threatening piece of rock, it may have been named for someone in the Pacific Fleet or there may well have been a grave at this site as Octopus Point was originally named Burial Point.
Arbutus Point (48° 49' 00" N - 123° 35' 00" W) was, you guessed it, named by Captain Richards in 1859.