Ladysmith, British Columbia from the mine at Extension, nearer Nanaimo. Dunsmuir, owner of coal mines in the Nanaimo area, needed a location to house the families of his miners. He chose to build the community at what was then known as Oyster Harbour, some 20 miles (32 km) south of his Extension mines. Many buildings were moved from Extension and Wellington by rail and by oxen. In 1900, Dunsmuir renamed the town in honour of the British lifting the siege of Ladysmith in South Africa (28 February 1900) during the Second Boer War. (The original town of Ladysmith in turn took its name
Naval and Military Order of the Spanish War Naval and Military Order of the Spanish War The Naval and Military Order of the Spanish War was a short lived military society formed by American officers who had served during the Spanish–American War. The Naval and Military Order of the Spanish War (NMOSW) was founded on February 2, 1899 in New York City by Lieutenant Walter J. Sears, USN. There were 98 charter members. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, then Governor of New York, was elected as the Order's first president. By 1908 the Order had over 1,200 members and was active in the era prior to World War I. It