Thompson Plateau

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Thompson Plateau
Plateau
Thompson Plateau, near the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory.jpg
Thompson Plateau, near the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory
South BC-NW USA-relief ThompsonPlateau.png
Location map of the Thompson Plateau; dotted line is boundary of the Bonaparte Plateau.
Coordinates: 50°15′00″N120°30′00″W / 50.25000°N 120.50000°W / 50.25000; -120.50000 [1]
Part of Interior Plateau
Age Mesozoic
Geology Flood basalt

The Thompson Plateau forms the southern portion of the Interior Plateau of British Columbia, Canada, lying to the west of Okanagan Lake, south of the Thompson River and east of (although never adjoining it) the Fraser River. At its most southern point the plateau is squeezed by the mountainous terrain of the Cascade Range abutting closer to the Okanagan Valley. Its southwestern edge abuts the Canadian Cascades portion of that extensive range, more or less following the line of the Similkameen River, its tributary the Tulameen River, and a series of passes from the area of Tulameen, British Columbia to the confluence of the Thompson River with the Nicoamen River, a few kilometres (miles) east of Lytton, British Columbia, which is in the Fraser Canyon. Its northeastern edge runs approximately from the city of Vernon, British Columbia through the valley of Monte Creek to the junction of the same name just east of the city of Kamloops. Northeast of that line is the Shuswap Highland. [1]

Contents

Some definitions[ which? ] include the Bonaparte Plateau to the north, which lies in the angle of the Thompson and Bonaparte Rivers, and south of the uppermost reaches of that river and a small tributary of the North Thompson, Lemieux Creek.

The dominant landscape of the Thompson Plateau is a high, almost plains-like rangeland fairly heavily forested with subalpine forest and tamarack swamp where there exists a significant cattle ranching industry, but plunging steeply to the valleys of the Thompson and Okanagan on its outer perimeter which feature more semi-arid landscapes that include rattlesnakes, a ground-creeping variety of prickly pear cactus, sagebrush, and tumbleweed, in addition to fruit growing operations that often rely on irrigation. In its core is the broad and open rangeland of the Nicola Valley, at the focus of which is the town of Merritt, British Columbia. Towards its southern edges, the plateau is fairly mountainous and includes the ski area at Apex (west of Penticton), as well as the small but rugged Kruger Range which runs south from there to the confluence of the Similkameen and Okanagan Rivers.

History

The Thompson Plateau contains Nicola Athapaskan, Nlaka'pamux and Syilx settlements. The Nlaka'pamux peoples of the plateau were known as Cawa'xamux or Tcawa'xamux [2]

Nlaka'pamux settlements include: [3]

Syilx settlements include: [3]

Geology

The rocks underlying the Thompson Plateau originated in the Pacific and were appended to the North American Plate in the Mesozoic. These rocks were pervasively intruded by magmas now forming granitic rocks. These upland surfaces are now bordered by prominent valleys over 1000 metres (3000') deep. This peneplain was overlain by thin sheets of plateau basalts formed from the Chilcotin Group lavas that flowed ten to fifteen million years ago. [4]

The area was occupied by Pleistocene glaciation, and a thick mantle of glacial drift covers bedrock over a large part of it. The Pleistocene ended with a gradual stagnation and a wasting of the ice in place. As a consequence, on many slopes a series of channels was formed at successive levels as ice surfaces wasted. [5]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Okanagan</span> Region of British Columbia, Canada

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Okanogan (US) or Okanagan (Canada) may refer to:

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Nicola, also Nkwala or N'kwala, was an important First Nations political figure in the fur trade era of the British Columbia Interior as well as into the colonial period (1858–1871). He was grand chief of the Okanagan people and chief of the Nicola Valley peoples, an alliance of Nlaka'pamux and Okanagans and the surviving Nicola Athapaskans, and also of the Kamloops Band of the Shuswap people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicola River</span> River in British Columbia, Canada

The Nicola River, originally French Rivière de Nicholas or Rivière de Nicolas, adapted to Nicolas River, Nicola's River in English, is one of the major tributaries of the Thompson River in the Canadian province of British Columbia, entering the latter at the town of Spences Bridge. It is named for Nicola (Hwistesmexteqen) the most famous chief of the joint community of Nlaka'pamux and Okanagan bands, founded by his father and today known as the Nicolas,, as well as its basin, which is known as the Nicola Country. It drains most of the northern Thompson Plateau, beginning near the very eastern edge of the plateau only 30 kilometres (19 mi) northwest of Kelowna, and flows from there more or less westward to feed Douglas Lake and Nicola Lake, with about 15 kilometres (9 mi) of the river's length between those two lakes. Nicola Lake at 20 kilometres (12 mi) long is the largest in the basin; the Nicola River enters at 3/4 way of its length up from its outlet, 10 kilometres (6 mi) downstream from which is Nicola Valley centre and Coquihalla Highway city of Merritt. From there the river flows 60 kilometres (37 mi) northwest to the Thompson, and is followed on that route by British Columbia Highway 8 and a spur line of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

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The British Columbia Interior, popularly referred to as the BC Interior or simply the Interior, is a geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. While the exact boundaries are variously defined, the British Columbia Interior is generally defined to include the 14 regional districts that do not have coastline along the Pacific Ocean or Salish Sea, and are not part of the Lower Mainland. Other boundaries may exclude parts of or even entire regional districts, or expand the definition to include the regional districts of Fraser Valley, Squamish–Lillooet, and Kitimat–Stikine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syilx</span> First Nations and Native American people

The syilx people, also known as the Okanagan, Suknaqinx, orOkinagan people, are a First Nations and Native American people whose traditional territory spans the Canada–US boundary in Washington state and unceded British Columbia in the Okanagan Country region. They are part of the Interior Salish ethnological and linguistic grouping. The Okanagan are closely related to the Spokan, Sinixt, Nez Perce, Pend Oreille, Secwepemc and Nlaka'pamux peoples of the same Northwest Plateau region.

The Okanagan Nation Alliance is a First Nations Tribal Council in the Canadian province of British Columbia, spanning the Nicola, Okanagan and Similkameen Districts of the Canadian province of British Columbia and also the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington state of the United States of America. Their territory covers roughly 69,000 km2 in the Canadian Province of British Columbia and also some area of Washington state in the United States of America. The diverse landscape covers deserts, lakes, forests, and grasslands.

The Nicola Athapaskans, also known as the Nicola people or Stuwix, were an Athabascan people who migrated into the Nicola Country of what is now the Southern Interior of British Columbia from the north a few centuries ago but were slowly reduced in number by constant raiding from peoples from outside the valley, with the survivors, the last of whom lived near Nicola Lake, assimilated to the Scw'exmx-Syilx Nicola people by the end of the 19th century. The term Nicola for them is a misnomer, though a common one used by ethnologists and linguists - it commemorates a famous Okanagan chief who once held sway over the valley and its peoples as well as over the Kamloops Shuswap).

The Similkameen Country, also referred to as the Similkameen Valley or Similkameen District, but generally referred to simply as The Similkameen or more archaically, Similkameen, is a region roughly coinciding with the basin of the river of the same name in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. The term "Similkameen District" also refers to the Similkameen Mining District, a defunct government administrative district, which geographically encompasses the same area, and in more casual terms may also refer to the Similkameen electoral district, which was combined with the Grand Forks-Greenwood riding by the time of the 1966 election. The Similkameen Country has deep historical connections to the Boundary Country and the two are sometimes considered one region, partly as a result of the name of the electoral district. It is also sometimes classed as being part of the Okanagan region, which results from shared regional district and other administrative boundaries and names. The term "Similkameen District" may also historically refer to the Similkameen Division Yale Land District, which also includes Osoyoos and the Boundary Country to Osoyoos' east.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thompson Country</span>

Thompson Country, also referred to as The Thompson and sometimes as the Thompson Valley and historically known as the Couteau Country or Couteau District, is a historic geographic region of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, more or less defined by the basin of the Thompson River. This is a tributary of the Fraser; the major city in the area is Kamloops.

The Nicola Country, also known as the Nicola Valley and often referred to simply as The Nicola, and originally Nicolas' Country or Nicholas' Country, adapted to Nicola's Country and simplified since, is a region in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is the main subregion of the larger Thompson Country and is often referred to separately, or in combination forms, notably the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. The combination Nicola-Similkameen is also common.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Teit</span>

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The Tulameen River is a tributary of the Similkameen River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Tulameen River is part of the Columbia River drainage basin, being a tributary of the Similkameen River, which flows into the Okanagan River, which flows into the Columbia River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nlaka'pamux</span> Ethnic group of British Columbia

The Nlakaʼpamux or Nlakapamuk, also previously known as the Thompson, Thompson River Salish, Thompson Salish, Thompson River Indians or Thompson River people, and historically as the Klackarpun, Haukamaugh, Knife Indians, and Couteau Indians, are an Indigenous First Nations people of the Interior Salish language group in southern British Columbia. Their traditional territory includes parts of the North Cascades region of Washington.

References

  1. 1 2 "Thompson Plateau". BC Geographical Names .
  2. ↑ James Alexander Teit (1975). "Introduction, Historical and Geographical". In Franz Boas (ed.). The Jesup North Pacific Expedition: Volume 4 - The Thomson Indians of British Columbia. AMS PRESS INC. pp. 166–181. ISBN   0-404-58115-3.
  3. 1 2 James Alexander Teit (1975). "Introduction, Historical and Geographical". In Franz Boas (ed.). The Jesup North Pacific Expedition: Volume 4 - The Thomson Indians of British Columbia. AMS PRESS INC. p. 174. ISBN   0-404-58115-3.
  4. ↑ John D. Greenough, Murray A. Roed, ed. (2004). Okanagan Geology. Kelowna Geology Committee. pp. 24–25. ISBN   0-9699795-2-5.
  5. ↑ Stuart S. Holland (1976). Landforms of British Columbia, Bulletin 48 (PDF) (Report). Province of British Columbia. pp. 71–72. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
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