Captain Walter Colquhoun Grant (1822-1861) was Vancouver Island’s first independent settler and occupied land in Sooke on what is now Muir Farm (next to John Muir Elementary). This is where Grant first introduced invasive Scotch Broom into our ecosystem – a plant that is toxic to livestock, crowds out local species, and increases the intensity of wildfires. Coming from Scotland originally, Grant was homesick, and the yellow shrub reminded him of home.
This was just one of many judgement errors by Grant, a man who began his colonization of Sooke by shooting a cow from his ship, believing it to be a buffalo. Indeed, his reputation in his own time wasn’t great; he was referred to by fellow colonist James Douglas as “an unfortunate man who has been an absolute plague to me since he came to the Island”. He was employed as a colonial surveyor but had no surveying skills and left without having surveyed anything.
Heralded as bringing the game of cricket to Vancouver Island and still referenced in the Sooke coat of arms (https://sooke.ca/city-hall/local-government/coat-of-arms/), Grant has a road named after him in Sooke and the Grant cairn with commemorative bronze plaque sits at Maple Avenue.
Captain Grant left Sooke after 2 years to go find gold in Oregon and then died of dysentery in India at the age of 39.
To make paper from broom
1. Collect and cut broom leaves and stalks (remove flowers, these can be used to make ink later); avoid thick wood stalks as these will break your blender later (ask me how I know!)
2. Make a mould and deckle for papermaking – basically two small picture frames, one with mesh: good instructions can be found here: https://paperslurry.com/blog/2014/08/01/make-mould
3. Boil the leaves in a pot of water to which you have added 1 tablespoon of soda ash (available at the co-op in the laundry detergent section) – simmer for 3 hours
4. Place in a colander and rinse – blend to a pulp in blender or food processor
5. Fill a container with water and add your pulp – container must be large enough to scoop up your pulp with your homemade mould and deckle
6. Pull and couch the paper: pull means to scoop the pulp into your frame to make a sheet, and couching refers to then putting this wet sheet onto a fabric surface and pressing to dry. Details of what this looks like can be found here: https://paperslurry.com/blog/2014/05/19/how-to-make-handmade-paper-from-recycled-materials
