Being so close to the delta of the Fraser River Surrey has long been a thriving place of many forms of life. The Coast Salish are believed to have been the first known people to have lived in the area, at least four centuries ago or more. Many believe they came in migrations from the Okanagan area & they may have met other aboriginal people who were already in the Surrey area. They may have come along the fiords & other water ways along the coast. How long these water people were here is not known for sure. Recent archeological digs in Mission suggest a much earlier time.
In what is now the Greater Vancouver area they found a land of plenty. Rich with salmon, berries, birds & game the Salish found a much milder climate than is found in the interior. To these people, Salmon was the centre of their lives. It was more than just their bread. The Salish believed the Salmon were not fish at all but mystical people in disguise. They reverred the salmon & regarded the first spring runs with great ceremony.
Cedar was also important. The Salish made their dug-out canoes from it as well as baskets for berry picking & world-famous totem poles. Their life & world was a simple one. Close to nature & altering it very little.
European exploration & settlement began in Surrey in the nineteenth century. Just North of Surrey on the Fraser river the Hudson's Bay Company established Fort Langley around 1826. It is now a federal park & heritage site. So began an era of development, technology, agriculture & population growth for Surrey which is still continuing today.
The origin of the naming of Surrey is whimsical. When residents were deciding what to call the fledgling municipality one among them happened to look over the Fraser to New Westminster. He was H.J. Brewer from England & he recalled another river view across the Thames to old Westminster in England. As Surrey, England & Westminster are divided by the Thames the idea of SURREY seemed a natural choice & his suggestion was accepted!
The three phrases that sum up pioneer life are: hard work & long hours, hard work & long hours & hard work & long hours. Sod-busters or trail-blazers, these pioneer people could only dream of many things we take for granted now. There were no roads, no bridges, no communities. Just nature wild & free. For a dollar an acre pre-emptors could attempt to make a living at farming or deal in furs. In the 1800's there was also a gold rush along the Fraser River but it was brief & there were many disappointments.
But because of an unbreakable spirit they endured. Slowly Surrey's landscape began to change. Strategically located Surrey began to know much trade & industry. Logging became prominent. Vast forests with huge trees began to give way to fields of grain, corn & other produce. Apple & lilac trees were now growing on many a homestead from the old country.
The sea & the Fraser were both allies to commerce as well as foes. Even though fishing, boat-building & sea-trade were obvious industries in a way these waters betrayed progress more than once. As with Pitt Meadows & Richmond the land was low-lying & spring freshets, melting snow & the strength of tides were always challenges for the early settlers of Surrey.
In 1912 many dykes were completed after disastrous results from earlier projects. However, the famous flood of 1948 wiped out many gains previously made. Even today, with pump stations & a vast network of rock-reinforced dykes, flooding is still a concern in the Fraser Valley & the dyke system is closely monitored.