Dean Channel

Last updated February 02, 2022 • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Dean Channel^[1] is the upper end of one of the longest inlets of the British Columbia Coast,^[2]105 km (65.2 mi) from its head at the mouth of the Kimsquit River. The Dean River, one of the main rivers of the Coast Mountains, enters Dean Channel about 9.5 km (5.9 mi) below the head of the inlet, at the community of Kimsquit.

History

Dean Channel was named by Captain Vancouver in 1793 after Rev. James King, Dean of Raphoe, Ireland. The channel was surveyed by Captain Richards in 1861 of HMS Hecate.^[3]^: 133 It is located within the Central Coast region.

Branches

Ending at the mouth of Cousins Inlet, which is the harbour for the abandoned town of Ocean Falls, the fjord's name changes to Fisher Channel down the west side of King Island. Below Fisher Channel's 40 km (25 mi) length the fjord merges with Burke Channel, which is a 70 km (43 mi) arm of the Dean/Fisher Channel on the east side of King Island, the name of the fjord changes to Fitz Hugh Sound, which is considerably wider than the upper part of the fjord at about 10 km (6.2 mi) in width and is itself about 60 km (37 mi) in length. Fitz Hugh Sound passes on the inside of Calvert Island and opens onto Queen Charlotte Sound just northwest of the opening of Queen Charlotte Strait.

Opening onto Fitz Hugh Sound in its lower reaches near Queen Charlotte Sound is Rivers Inlet, home of the Wuikinuxv (Owekeeno) First Nations. The total length of the fjord from the head of Dean Channel to the mouth of Fitz Hugh Sound is about 170 km (110 mi) rivalling Hardangerfjord in Norway for length. If the additional lengths of South Bentinck Arm (45 km, 28 mi) and North Bentinck Arm (30 km, 19 mi), plus Burke Channel and its shorter companion, Labouchere Channel (15 km, 9.3 mi), and an arm of Burke named Kwatna Inlet (25 km, 16 mi) were factored in, total length of the fjord complex's waterways is 335 km (208 mi) - longer than Sognefjord's 203 km (126 mi) and rivalling Greenland's Scoresby Sound's 350 km (220 mi).

North Bentinck Arm

A side-inlet of Burke Channel, North Bentinck Arm, is noteworthy as the place where the overland expedition by fur trade explorer Alexander Mackenzie reached the sea, on July 20, 1793. Wanting to see the open ocean, Mackenzie and four Nuxalk people went by canoe the next day to Dean Channel. Mackenzie did not reach the open ocean, stopping at the ruins of an old Heiltsuk village on the north side of Dean Channel. There he wrote his name on a rock, which today is part of Sir Alexander Mackenzie Provincial Park.^[4] Mackenzie did not know that he arrived just a few weeks after Captain George Vancouver visited Dean Channel and North Bentinck Arm.

The town of Bella Coola is at the head of North Bentinck Arm; Bella Coola is an English adaptation of the Heiltsuk name for the Nuxalk (whose name in their own language means the Bella Coola River and its valley). Bella Coola is the only community on the coast between Vancouver and Kitimat, to have road access to the rest of the province, via British Columbia Highway 20 to Williams Lake via the Chilcotin region.

Related Research Articles

Sir Alexander Mackenzie was a Scottish explorer known for accomplishing the first east to west crossing of America north of Mexico in 1793, which preceded the more famous Lewis and Clark Expedition by 12 years. The Mackenzie River is named after him.

Rivers Inlet is a fjord in the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, its entrance off Fitz Hugh Sound, about 125 km (78 mi) southwest of the community of Bella Coola and about 65 km (40 mi) north of the northern tip of Vancouver Island and the western entrance of the Queen Charlotte Strait.

Bella Coola is a community in the Bella Coola Valley, in British Columbia, Canada. Bella Coola usually refers to the entire valley, encompassing the settlements of Bella Coola proper, Lower Bella Coola, Hagensborg, Salloompt, Nusatsum, Firvale, and Stuie. It is also the location of the head offices of the Central Coast Regional District.

The Bella Coola River is a major river on the Pacific slope of the Coast Mountains in southern British Columbia. The town of Bella Coola is at its mouth on North Bentinck Arm. Bella Coola Indian Reserve No. 1 the location of the main community today of the surviving population of the Nuxalk who gathered there after depredations by smallpox and colonialization.

North Bentinck Arm is a short inlet about 17 km (11 mi) in length in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is an arm of Burke Channel and is linked via that waterway and Labouchere Channel to Dean Channel, which is one of the largest inlets of the BC Coast.

The Alexander MacKenzie Heritage Trail is a 420 km (260 mi) long historical overland route between Quesnel and Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada. Of the many grease trails connecting the Coast with the Interior, it is the most notable and often is referred to as the Grease Trail.

King Island is an island on the Coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located south of Dean Channel and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Bella Bella. A number of other islands separate King Island from the open sea of Queen Charlotte Sound.

The WuikinuxvIPA: [ʔuwik'inuxʷ],, also rendered Oweekano (Pre-1976); Oowekeeno (1976-2003) (variation: Oweekeno, Owekano, Oweekayno, Wuikenukv, Wikeno, Owikeno, Awikenox, and also known as the Rivers Inlet people, are an Indigenous First Nations people of the Central Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, located around Rivers Inlet and Owikeno Lake, to the north of Queen Charlotte Strait. The Wuikinuxv people and their neighbours the Heiltsuk and Haisla peoples were in the past sometimes known incorrectly as the "Northern Kwakiutl".

Calvert Island is an island on the coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located east of Queen Charlotte Sound in the Central Coast region, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of the town of Port Hardy, which is at the north end of Vancouver Island.

South Bentinck Arm is a 40 km (25 mi) long side-inlet of Dean Channel in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. At the north end of the arm it meets the North Bentinck Arm and then the Dean Channel before flowing into the Burke Channel.

Tallheo is the location of a former village of the Nuxalk known as Talyu, and is a former cannery town near Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada, on North Bentinck Arm. Tallheo is also the name of the dialect of the Nuxalk language spoken by the Talhyumc, the particular subgroup of the Nuxalk who live there.

Fort McLoughlin was a fur trading post established in 1833 by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) on Campbell Island in present-day British Columbia, Canada. At the time the Hudson's Bay Company performed quasi-governmental duties on behalf of the British Empire as well as undertaking trade for profit. The site is believed to have been at McLoughlin Bay on the northeast side of Campbell Island and is associated with the relocation of the Heiltsuk community of Bella Bella from its former location on islets near Denny Island. The McLoughlin name, which is that of John McLoughlin, regional head of company operations at that time, is also found in a lake and a creek entering that bay, and was conferred on these locations after the fort had closed.

Fitz Hugh Sound, sometimes spelled Fitzhugh Sound, is a sound on the British Columbia Coast of Canada, located between Calvert Island and the mainland.

The Nuxalk people, also referred to as the Bella Coola, Bellacoola or Bilchula, are an Indigenous First Nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast, centred in the area in and around Bella Coola, British Columbia. Their language is also called Nuxalk. Their on-reserve tribal government is the Nuxalk Nation.

The Bella Coola Valley is a relatively small but distinct region located in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada, comprising the valley of the Bella Coola River and its tributaries. The region is served by BC Hwy 20, which runs from Williams Lake to the town of Bella Coola at the head of North Bentinck Arm, from where there is seasonal ferry service to Vancouver Island and Prince Rupert.

Noohalk Mountain 2099 m is a mountain in the northernmost Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the south side of the Bella Coola Valley between Hagensborg and Bella Coola.

Tallheo Hot Springs is a hot spring located on the west shore of South Bentinck Arm, an inlet on the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, located southwest of the community of Bella Coola. The hot springs, which are known as Ix7piixm in the Nuxalk language, are located opposite Bensins Island, the only island in South Bentinck Arm.

Koeye River is a river in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It originates in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains, and flows about 35 km (22 mi) west to Fitz Hugh Sound, south of Bella Bella. The river's watershed is about 18,000 ha.

References

↑ "Dean Channel". Geographical Names Data Base . Natural Resources Canada . Retrieved 2020-06-16.
↑ "Dean Channel". BC Geographical Names .
↑ Walbran, Captain John T. (1971), British Columbia Place Names, Their Origin and History (Facsimile reprint of 1909 ed.), Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, ISBN 0-88894-143-9, archived from the original on 2016-03-03, retrieved 2008-07-13
↑ Hayes, Derek (2009). First Crossing: Alexander Mackenzie, His Expedition Across North America, and the Opening of the Continent. D&M Publishers Incorporated. pp. 211–224. ISBN 978-1-926706-59-7.

Coordinates: 52°28′44″N127°14′22″W / 52.47889°N 127.23944°W / 52.47889; -127.23944 (Dean Channel)

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[1] "Dean Channel". Geographical Names Data Base . Natural Resources Canada . Retrieved 2020-06-16.

[2] "Dean Channel". BC Geographical Names .

[3] Walbran, Captain John T. (1971), British Columbia Place Names, Their Origin and History (Facsimile reprint of 1909 ed.), Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, ISBN 0-88894-143-9, archived from the original on 2016-03-03, retrieved 2008-07-13

[Hayes2009-4] Hayes, Derek (2009). First Crossing: Alexander Mackenzie, His Expedition Across North America, and the Opening of the Continent. D&M Publishers Incorporated. pp. 211–224. ISBN 978-1-926706-59-7.

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