British Columbia, first sighted by Juan Perez Hernandez in 1774 was one of the last regions of North America ot be claimed.  Hernandez claimed it for Spain.  Four years later, Captain James Cook took his ships into Nootka Sound.  In the following years the British developed trading ties with the native peoples.  By 1789 Spain and Britain were disputing ownership of the west coast of North America.  The British claim was strengthened by the careful three year mapping of the coast from Oregon to Alaska by Captain George Vancouver. 

The US and Britain squabbled over the region and in 1846 the Oregon treaty settled the matter, establishing the boundary between the US and the British Colony (at that time British North America) at 49ºN lattitude, except for Vancouver Island.  The Colony, with Fort Victoria as it's first city grew and James Douglas, an official of the Hudson's Bay Company became the first Governor in 1851.

Small fur-trading settlements grew quietly until the discovery of gold in 1858.  In order to establish government and maintain law and order, the British created a new colony at New Westminster in that same year.  When the boom ended in 1866, the two colonies were combined with Victoria being declared the capital in 1868.  In 1871, after being promised a railroad connecting the colony with the rest of the country, the colony joined with the Confederation of Canada, established in 1867. 

Entrepreneurs came to BC around the turn of the century to exploit the vast resources, salmon and forestry being just two.  Mining has had an erratic history in the region but is still a large contributor to the economy.  By the time the 1950's rolled around, transportation managed to integrate the resource based economies with the cities.  The economy there is still rather resource based, with tourism and a small movie industry dubbed "Hollywood North".

Six Flags have flown over the area known as Texas since the exploration of the region by Cortez in 1519.  It was first claimed by Spain, then France.  Spain reclaimed it but when Mexico became independent, Texas was part of Mexico.  Texas gained it's independence from Mexico in 1836 after the battle of the Alamo and the Mexican defeat at San Jacinto.  Texas retained independence for nine years until annexed by the US in 1845. 

Texas ceded from the Union with the confederate states six years later in 1861, against the wishes of Governor Sam Houston.  When asked to take an oath of allegiance to the new Confederate government, he refused and was replaced.  The civil was raged for fours years, ending in 1865, with the surrender of the Confederate states. 

Texas was left in chaos, with yellow fever raging in Galveston, at that time one of the largest cities in the State.  Galveston was further devastated by a Hurricane in 1900 which killed 6000 and is still considered to be the worst natural disaster in US history.  This allowed Houston to come to the forefront -- as the people of Galveston rebuilt and strengthened their city, Houston emerged as a major shipping point.

The most important event in modern Texas history was the discovery of oil and subsequent global dependence on it.  In 1901 the Spindeltop gusher in Beaumont struck oil under such pressure that it blew out the drilling apparatus and spouted oil over the countryside for 6 days before it was capped.  With this discovery and the growing demand for petroleum (which had recently been proven to be cheaper and more efficient than coal) Texas was set.  The Spndletop gusher made headlines around the nation and thereafter cotton became the number two industry in Texas.  Houston boasts a thriving aerospace industry and is home to the Johnson Space Center, where astronauts train.