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British Columbia Tourism Region : Vancouver, Coast, & Mountains
- Kitsilano - Derived from the name of a Squamish Indian who came from a village on the Squamish River (near its confluence with Cheakamus River) and settled in Stanley Park, just east of Prospect Point, about 1860.
- When the CPR was opening up land around 1905 and wanted a name for the new subdivision, Professor Charles Hill-Tout suggested modifying this Squamish Indian's name so that it corresponded to Capilano across the inlet.
- Before this renaming, the Kitsilano area was known as Greer's Beach, after Samuel Greer, a redoubtable Irishman who settled here with his family in 1884.
- Greer claimed to have bought the land from two Indians and sold lots for $80 each. The CPR replied with advertisements in the Vancouver press warning the public against buying from Greer.
- Amid all the excitement, he shot and wounded a deputy sheriff. Sir Matthew Begbie, the province's chief justice, when subsequently dealing with Sam's claims, described him as a liar and a forger and sent him to jail.
- From its beginning Kitsilano has been anti-Establishment.
- With permission from G.P.V and Helen B. Akrigg 1997 British Columbia Place Names. UBC Press.
Address of this page: http://bc.ruralroutes.com/Kitsilano