I was reading about the Franco-Columbian population (the French speaking inhabitants of British Columbia) and it said, prior to the 1858 gold rush, French was the lingua franca for the fur trade and they remained the majority until said gold rush. So the question is, how can British Columbia remain a French speaking community? (In the majority that is).
How can Franco-Columbians remain the majority in British Columbia?
- Thread starter Enigmajones
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The European population on the eve of the gold rush was around 5,000; loads came and left with the gold rush and by Confederation in 1871 the European population was about 36,000.
Some percentage of the increase can be French Canadians from Quebec etc, but really you need a base population that's significantly larger and more French before the gold rush....
One scenario I picture is that in 1791 when Upper Canada and Lower Canada are split, the area that's now part of Northern Ontario remains administered by Lower Canada (after all they were the more established population).
This means the what became Northern Ontario OTL becomes "Nouvelle-Quebec" and there is greater French Canadian population in western Canada; most of the Francophones in BC before the gold rush came overland from Winnipeg; many were Métis.
I'm still not sure that gets you enough in numbers, however.
It would probably have to be French colonization, and before the 1790s when Spain and Britain made claims in the area. A French colony in the PNW would be unlikely to survive the Napoleonic wars; by 1815 its British...who let the area largely develop on it's own without major migrations because of the value of the furs in the region; the gold rush brings in the people but the French have been settled for nearly 100 years...
Maybe a French Vancouver Island is your best bet.