 Steve Dames, a displaced seaman from Riga, Latvia, and Joe Perry of Cape Verde became familiar with Irvines Landing, and purchased it in 1898.Perry's father-in-law, Joseph Gonsalves of Madeira Island, later moved up from Brockton Point (now Stanley Park in Vancouver).Under the name Gonsalves and Dames General Traders, they expanded their holdings and built the Irvines Landing Hotel and Store.