Sam Greer's Eviction from Kits Beach

On an early morning in September 1891, Sam Greer was here, leaning against the back door of his beachfront shack, a gun drawn. He was surrounded by Deputy Sheriff Tom Armstrong, three provincial police, and some heavies hired by the Canadian Pacific Railway, or CPR. They were here to evict Greer and his family after seven years of legal battles.

Greer had bought nearly 200 acres of this prime beachfront property on Burrard Inlet in 1884, and he and his wife had built their home here. When Armstrong shouted for him to open the door, Greer told him to get away. The front door was barred, and his wife and daughters were safely inside. Francis Carter-Cotton, owner of the Vancouver Daily World, was with the posse and later wrote about what happened.

When Armstrong repeated his demand, Greer shoved his rifle through the back door and started firing. Carter-Cotton reported that about half a dozen bullets hit Armstrong’s left cheek, and one went through his clothes, burying itself in his chest over his heart. The police and railroad men retreated, but they would return. This incident was the climax of a struggle between families like the Greers and the CPR, which eventually led to what is now Kitsilano Beach.

For over 130 years, real estate has been Vancouver’s biggest industry, and the CPR was a major player. As the railroad moved west, it gained immense power and demanded large areas of free land from both the Crown and private landowners. The land grant around Burrard Inlet was the largest in Canada, including much of modern-day Coal Harbour and the downtown side of False Creek. The CPR had already shaped much of Vancouver, from the location of the downtown core to the creation of Stanley Park, and even the city's name.

The CPR also worked to acquire waterfront property along the south side of False Creek, which included the Greers’ land and the nearby Squamish village of Snauq. Snauq was the ancestral home of the Khatsahlano family, designated as "Indian Reserve No. 6" in 1869 and expanded to 80 acres by 1877. The Khatsahlanos were high-ranking within the Coast Salish, with their family inhabiting the area for at least three generations. They had already been displaced from another ancestral home when Stanley Park was created, and August Jack Khatsalano’s father’s body and a midden of ancestors were moved or used to pave a road. The CPR had earmarked Greer’s land as a beach resort, and the fight was already in the Supreme Court.