Homathko River

Last updated
Homathko River
HomathkoRiver.jpg
Early morning on the Homathko
Canada British Columbia relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Mouth of Homathko River
EtymologyFrom a Mainland Comox word meaning "swift water" [1]
Native name
Location
Country Canada
Province British Columbia
Physical characteristics
SourceUnnamed lake [1]
 • location Coast Mountains
 • coordinates 51°42′39″N124°36′15″W / 51.71083°N 124.60417°W / 51.71083; -124.60417 [1]
 • elevation2,126 m (6,975 ft) [2]
Mouth Pacific Ocean
 • location
 Bute Inlet, Coast Mountains
 • coordinates
 50°55′52″N124°51′37″W / 50.93111°N 124.86028°W / 50.93111; -124.86028 Coordinates: 50°55′52″N124°51′37″W / 50.93111°N 124.86028°W / 50.93111; -124.86028 [1]
 • elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Length144 km (89 mi)
Basin size5,680 km2 (2,190 sq mi) [3]
Discharge 
 • location mouth [3]
 • average269 m3/s (9,500 cu ft/s) [3]
 • minimum30.0 m3/s (1,060 cu ft/s)
 • maximum3,140 m3/s (111,000 cu ft/s)

The Homathko River is one of the major rivers of the southern Coast Mountains of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is one of the few rivers that penetrates the range from the interior Chilcotin Country to the coastal inlets of the Pacific Ocean. The Homathko River reaches the sea at the head of Bute Inlet, just west of the mouth of the Southgate River.

Contents

The Homathko River Valley is one of the most difficult to navigate. The frigid waters make crossing impossible and the valley itself is lined with devil's club. It is also home to many grizzly bears.

Geography

The mountains flanking the Homathko River are the highest in the Coast Mountains, and include Mount Waddington west of the river in the Waddington Range and Mount Queen Bess east of the river, adjacent to the Homathko Icefield. Also flanking the Homathko River on the west are the Niut Range, which is in the angle of the Homathko and its main west fork, Mosley Creek, and the Whitemantle Range, which is to the south of the Waddington Range massif, forming the mountainous ridge dividing Bute and Knight Inlets. The Pantheon Range lies west of Mosley Creek and the Niut Range and adjoins the Waddington Range immediately on the north.

The Homathko's drainage basin is 5,680 square kilometres (2,190 sq mi) in size. [1]

Course

The Homathko begins at an unnamed lake in the northern part of the Niut Range. It flows northeast to the Chilcotin Plateau, skirting it briefly near Tatla Lake, then turns south to Tatlayoko Lake, which is just west of Chilko Lake, part of the Chilcotin River basin.

From there the Homathko River flows south and west, piercing the Pacific Ranges. It is joined by numerous tributaries, including the north-flowing Nostetuko and the Stonsayako Rivers. Downriver, the Homathko is joined by Mosley Creek, which flows south from the Pantheon Range.

As the river cuts through the Waddington Range it flows through Waddington Canyon. It empties into Waddington Harbour, the head of Bute Inlet.

Several Homalco (or Homalko) Indian reserves are located at the river's mouth. [4]

History

Bute Inlet and the lower reaches of its major rivers, such as the Homathko and Southgate, were and are home to the Xwe’malhkwu, or Homalco First Nation people. The Xwe’malhkwu are part of the K'omoks, or Comox people, and speak a dialect of the Mainland Comox language, part of the Coast Salish branch of the Salishan language family. [5] Colonial influence eroded Xwe’malhkwu culture in the late 19th century. Indian Residential schools further destroyed traditional Xwe’malhkwu culture and language. [5]

The upper part of the Homathko River basin was home to the Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) people. Although there was occasional trade between the Tsilhqot'in and Xwe’malhkwu, generally the two peoples were antagonistic and sometimes violent. [6]

The Xwe’malhkwu and Tsilhqot'in never ceded their lands. Both are currently in the process of treaty negotiations with British Columbia and Canada. Both claim aboriginal title to parts of the Homathko River's watershed. [7] [8] [9]

In 1861 Alfred Waddington of Victoria sent surveyors to the Homathko River and Bute Inlet, seeking to build Waddington's Road, to compete with the proposed Cariboo Road. Both roads were a reaction to the Cariboo Gold Rush and intended to provide access to the remote Cariboo region. [10] In 1864, just below the confluence of Mosley Creek and the Homathko River, a conflict between Waddington's survey party and a group of Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) resulted in the death of fourteen members of the surveying party. [11]

This was the opening round of the Chilcotin War of 1864. [12] The land-surveyed townsite of Port Waddington on today's maps is a relic of those times. The townsite had been surveyed as part of roadbuilder Alfred Waddington's obligations in having the licence to build the road, as well as profit from the sale of lots (and some lots were sold, but the townsite never came to anything).

In 1871 the Crown Colony of British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation with certain conditions, one of which was the construction of a transcontinental railroad to link the seaboard of British Columbia with the rest of Canada. The Canadian Pacific Railway began to survey the several proposed routes. One such route crossed the Chilcotin Plateau then followed the Homathko River to Bute Inlet and continued across Sonora Island and Quadra Island (then thought to be a single island known as Valdes Island) to reach Vancouver Island via Seymour Narrows. This route would then follow the eastern coast of Vancouver Island to terminate near Victoria. [13]

After years of political wrangling Burrard Inlet was chosen for the railway's terminus-port city, thereby creating the City of Vancouver. The proposed Homathko River route was abandoned.

In 1890 a new surveying expedition set out to explore the Homathko River route to the Chilcotin Plateau. Despite memory of the Chilcotin War and fear of the Tsilhqot'in, and although the terrain was challenging in places, the party reached Tatla Lake in the Chilcotin Country without undue incident. [14]

Wildlife

The Homathko River is a major producer of Chum and Pink salmon. Other fish include Coho and Chinook salmon, Rainbow and Steelhead trout, Cutthroat trout, Bull trout, and Dolly Varden trout. [15]

In 2008 nine Grizzly Bear Wildlife Habitat Areas were designated in the Homathko watershed. [15]

Hydroelectric proposals

There have been various plans to develop the Homathko and its neighbouring rivers for hydroelectric power. The Homathko alone has immense hydroelectric potential. Full build-out as first conceived would divert the Taseko Lakes and Chilko Lake into the Homathko system via Tatlayoko Lake. A series of dams on the Homathko and its tributaries, using the extra power of the water from the Chilcotin's tributaries, would have generated some of the most power per project in British Columbia.

The creation of Tsʼilʔos Provincial Park (the 'ʔ' represents a glottal stop) and Big Creek Provincial Park have shelved the grand plan, as Chilko and Taseko Lakes are protected and cannot be diverted (also for salmon fishery reasons). But the dams proposed for the Homathko Canyon are still on the books and are effectively on sale by the export subsidiary of BC Hydro, Powerex. If ever built, the largest dam and powerhouse will stand at a point in Waddington Canyon that is marked on the map as "Murderer's Bar"—no less than the spot on which the Chilcotin War began.

Protected areas

Protected areas within the Homathko River's watershed include Homathko Estuary Provincial Park and Homathko River-Tatlayoko Protected Area.

Tributaries

This is an incomplete list of tributaries listed in upstream order.

See also

Related Research Articles

Mount Waddington Mountain in British Columbia, Canada

Mount Waddington, once known as Mystery Mountain, is the highest peak in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. Although it is lower than Mount Fairweather and Mount Quincy Adams, which straddle the United States border between Alaska and British Columbia, Mount Waddington is the highest peak that lies entirely within British Columbia. It and the subrange which surround it, known as the Waddington Range, stand at the heart of the Pacific Ranges, a remote and extremely rugged set of mountains and river valleys.

Chilcotin River River in southern British Columbia, Canada

The Chilcotin River /tʃɪlˈkoʊtɪn/ located in Southern British Columbia, Canada is a 241 km (150 mi) long tributary of the Fraser River. The name Chilcotin comes from Tŝilhqot’in, meaning "ochre river people," where ochre refers to the mineral used by Tŝilhqot’in Nation and other Indigenous communities as a base for paint or dye. The Chilcotin River, Chilko River and Lake, and Taseko River and Lake make up the Chilcotin River watershed. This 19,200 km2 (7,400 sq mi) watershed drains the Chilcotin Plateau which reaches north to south from the Nechako Plateau to Bridge River county and east to west from Fraser River to the Coast Mountains. It is also one of twelve watersheds that make up the Fraser River Basin. Made up of seven major tributaries, Chilcotin River starts northeast of Itcha Mountain, flowing southeast until it joins the Fraser River south of Williams Lake, 22 km (14 mi) upstream from Gang Ranch.

Tŝilhqox Biny Lake in British Columbia, Canada

Tŝilhqox Biny, known as Chilko Lake, is a 180 km2 lake in west-central British Columbia, at the head of the Chilko River on the Chilcotin Plateau. The lake is about 65 km long, with a southwest arm 10 km long. It is one of the largest lakes by volume in the province because of its great depth, and the largest above 1,000 m in elevation. It and Harrison Lake are the largest lakes in the southern Coast Mountains.

Pacific Ranges

The Pacific Ranges are the southernmost subdivision of the Coast Mountains portion of the Pacific Cordillera. Located entirely within British Columbia, Canada, they run northwest from the lower stretches of the Fraser River to Bella Coola and Burke Channel, north of which are the Kitimat Ranges. The Coast Mountains lie between the Interior Plateau and the Coast of British Columbia.

Chilcotin Ranges

The Chilcotin Ranges are a subdivision of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains. They lie on the inland lea of the Pacific Ranges, abutting the Interior Plateau of British Columbia. Their northwestern end is near the head of the Klinaklini River and their southeast end is the Fraser River just north of Lillooet; their northern flank is the edge of the Plateau while their southern is the north bank of the Bridge River. In some reckonings they do not go all the way to the Fraser but end at the Yalakom River, which is the North Fork of the Bridge.

The Pantheon Range is a subrange of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia. It is located between the edge of the Chilcotin Plateau at Tatla Lake on its northeast and the Klinaklini River on its west, with a southeastern boundary along Mosley Creek, a major tributary of the Homathko River. The range is 5550 km2 in area and extremely rugged, with many sharp, glaciated peaks.

Waddington Range

The Waddington Range is a subrange of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is only about 4,000 km² in area, relatively small in area within the expanse of the range, but it is the highest area of the Pacific Ranges and of the Coast Mountains, being crowned by its namesake Mount Waddington 4,019 m (13,186 ft). The Waddington Range is also extremely rugged and more a complex of peaks than a single icefield, in contrast to the other huge icefield-massifs of the southern Coast Mountains, which are not so peak-studded and tend to have more contiguous icemasses.

Niut Range

The Niut Range is 3600 km2 in area. It is a subrange of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, although in some classifications it is considered part of the Chilcotin Ranges. The Niut is located in the angle of the Homathko River and its main west fork, Mosley Creek. It is isolated, island-like, by those rivers from its neighbour ranges, as both streams have their source on the Chilcotin Plateau in behind the range. Razorback Mountain is its highest peak.

Mount Tatlow Mountain in British Columbia, Canada

Tŝ’ilʔoŝ, also known as Mount Tatlow, is one of the principal summits of the Chilcotin Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains of southern British Columbia. Standing on an isolated ridge between the lower end of Chilko Lake and the Taseko Lakes, it is 3,063 m (10,049 ft) in elevation.

Mount Tiedemann 3838m, prominence 848m, is one of the principal summits of the Pacific Ranges subdivision of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia. It is located 3 km (1.9 mi) northeast of Mount Waddington in the Waddington Range massif between the Homathko and Klinaklini Rivers.

Bute Inlet

Bute Inlet is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast. It is 80 km (50 mi) long from the estuaries of the Homathko and Southgate Rivers at the head of the inlet, to the mouth, where it is nearly blocked by Stuart Island, and it averages about 4 km (2.5 mi) in width. Bute Inlet is in a spectacular wilderness setting and is one of the most scenic waterways in the world. In the upper reaches of the inlet mountains rise 2,700 m (9,000 ft) feet above sea level. Bute Inlet is a spectacular wilderness that is visited by very few people. In more recent years tourists are travelling from around the world to view grizzly bears in a natural setting and explore the wilderness of Bute Inlet.

Chilcotin War

The Chilcotin War, the Chilcotin Uprising or the Bute Inlet Massacre was a confrontation in 1864 between members of the Tsilhqot'in (Chilcotin) people in British Columbia and white road construction workers. Fourteen men employed by Alfred Waddington in the building of a road from Bute Inlet were killed, as well as a number of men with a pack-train near Anahim Lake and a settler at Puntzi Lake.

The Lillooet Icecap, also called the Lillooet Icefield or the Lillooet Crown, is a large icefield in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is about 90 km (56 mi) northwest of the towns of Pemberton and Whistler, and about 175 km (109 mi) north of Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lillooet Icecap is one of the largest of several large icefields in the Pacific Ranges which are the largest temperate-latitude glacial fields in the world. At its maximum extent including its glacial tongues it measures 30 km (19 mi) east to west and 20 km (12 mi) north to south; its central icefield area is approximately 15 km (9 mi) in diameter.

Alfred Waddington Canadian politician

Alfred Penderell Waddington, during his later years, was actively involved in the Colony of Vancouver Island in what later became the province of British Columbia, Canada.

Homathko Icefield

The Homathko Icefield is an icefield in British Columbia, Canada. Officially named the Homathko Snowfield from 1950 until the current name was adopted in 1976, it is one of the largest icefields in the southern half of the Coast Mountains, with an area of over 2,000 km2 (770 sq mi). It is located between Chilko Lake and the Homathko River, and lies across the Great Canyon of that river to the east of the Waddington Range. Although adjacent to Mount Queen Bess, the Homathko Icefield is largely an expanse of ice, about 30 km (19 mi) across, ringed by relatively minor peaks and distinguished, relative to the other Coast Mountains icefields, by lack of any major ones. The Lillooet Icecap and the Compton Névé, both similar in size to the Homathko Icefield but much more peak-studded, lie to the Homathko Icefield's southeast across the Southgate River which bends around the icefield-massif's southern flank to reach the head of Bute Inlet adjacent to the mouth of the Homathko River. The icefield is essentially one large ice-girt montane plateau between these two rivers.

Waddington Canyon is a canyon on the Homathko River in the heart of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada, located below the confluence of Mosley Creek.

Great Canyon is the official name of a stretch of the Homathko River as it pierces the heart of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains between the Chilcotin District of the British Columbia Interior and the Central Coast region at Bute Inlet. Also known unofficially as the Grand Canyon of the Homathko, it is located above the confluence of Mosley Creek. The canyon is the largest on the Homathko and lies on the west side of the Waddington Range massif containing Mount Waddington, the range's highest, and like other parts of the Homathko has been proposed as the site of dams in a region-wide hydroelectric development involving the Homathko, Southgate, Chilko and Taseko Rivers.

Tatlayoko Lake

Tatlayoko Lake is a lake on the Homathko River in the western Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located on a north-south axis just upstream of the entrance of the series of canyons of the Homathko, including the Great Canyon of the Homathko, on its route to the sea at the head of Bute Inlet. The community of Tatlayoko Lake, British Columbia is located at its northern end.

Waddington Harbour is a harbour at the head of Bute Inlet in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. Also issuing into the head of Bute Inlet and Waddington Harbour, just east of the mouth of the Homathko, is the Teaquahan River. Issuing directly into the inlet a few miles south on the harbour's southeast is the Southgate River, one of the major rivers of the central Pacific Ranges, which begins on the west side of the Lillooet Icecap. Its lower valley adjacent to the inlet's shores is called Pigeon Valley.

Mosely Creek is a large creek in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada, flowing southwest to join the Homathko River in its canyon downstream from Tatlayoko Lake, and a short distance above Murderers Bar at 51°16′00″N124°54′00″W, which is the site of the opening events of the Chilcotin War of 1864.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Homathko River". BC Geographical Names .
  2. ↑ Elevation derived from ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model, using GeoLocator, and BCGNIS coordinates.
  3. 1 2 3 "Historical Hydrometric Data Search". Water Survey of Canada. Archived from the original on 16 December 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016. Search for Station 08GD004 Homathko River at the mouth
  4. ↑ "Canadian 1:50K topographic maps" (map). TopoQuest.com. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Homalco History" . Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  6. ↑ "Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia" (PDF). British Columbia Supreme Court. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  7. ↑ "LANDS - Rights & Title". Tsilhqot'in National Government. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "First Nations Negotiations; Tsilhqot'in National Government". British Columbia. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  9. ↑ "First Nations Negotiations; Homalco (Xwemalhkwu) Indian Band". British Columbia. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  10. ↑ Mole, Rich (2011). The Chilcotin War: A Tale of Death and Reprisal. Heritage House. pp. 7–8. ISBN   978-1-926936-30-7 . Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  11. ↑ Harvey, R. G. (2011). Carving the Western Path: By River, Rail, and Road Through B.C.'s Southern Mountains. Heritage House. pp. 211–212. ISBN   978-1-927051-11-5 . Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  12. ↑ Mole, Rich (2011). The Chilcotin War: A Tale of Death and Reprisal. Heritage House. pp. 30–32. ISBN   978-1-926936-30-7 . Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  13. ↑ Layland, Michael (2013). The Land of Heart's Delight: Early Maps and Charts of Vancouver Island. TouchWood Editions. pp. 161–162. ISBN   978-1-77151-015-8 . Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  14. ↑ Bonner, Veera; Sisters, Witte; Bliss, Irene E.; Hazel Henry Litterick (1995). Chilcotin: Preserving Pioneer Memories. Heritage House Publishing Co. pp. 24–27. ISBN   978-1-895811-34-6 . Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  15. 1 2 "Homathko River". Sunshine Coast Conservation Association. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
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