Bear Lake, formerly known as Fort Connelly or Fort Connolly, or Connolly's Lake, is an unincorporated settlement located on the northeast side of the lake of the same name

Bear Lake (Bear River)

Bear Lake is a large lake in the northwestern Omineca Country of the North-Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located north of Babine and Takla Lakes. Unlike those two lakes, which are part of the Fraser River drainage, Bear Lake is tributary to the Skeena River via the Bear River,...

, which lies to the north of Babine Lake

Babine Lake

Babine Lake is the longest natural lake in British Columbia, Canada.Babine Lake is located northeast of the town of Burns Lake in central British Columbia, some west northwest of the city of Prince George. It is long, wide, and has a net area of and a total area of...

 and Takla Lake

Takla Lake

Takla Lake is the fifth largest natural lake in British Columbia, Canada. It is a deep fjord-like lake with the Swannell Ranges to the east, the Driftwood River flowing into it from the north, and the Middle River draining it. It is the terminus of the early Stuart-Takla sockeye salmon run, and...

 in the northwestern end of the Omineca Country

Omineca Country

The Omineca Country, also called the Omineca District or the Omineca, is a historical geographic region of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, roughly defined by the basin of the Omineca River but including areas to the south which allowed access to the region during the Omineca Gold Rush of...

 in the North-Central Interior of British Columbia

British Columbia Interior

The British Columbia Interior or BC Interior or Interior of British Columbia, usually referred to only as the Interior, is one of the three main regions of the Canadian province of British Columbia, the other two being the Lower Mainland, which comprises the overlapping areas of Greater Vancouver...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. At the same location is Bear Lake Indian Reserve No. 4.

History

Fort Connelly, also spelled Fort Connolly was founded in 1826 by James Douglas

James Douglas (Governor)

Sir James Douglas KCB was a company fur-trader and a British colonial governor on Vancouver Island in northwestern North America, particularly in what is now British Columbia. Douglas worked for the North West Company, and later for the Hudson's Bay Company becoming a high-ranking company officer...

 as a fur trade

Fur trade

The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...

 post in the New Caledonia fur district

New Caledonia (Canada)

New Caledonia was the name given to a district of the Hudson's Bay Company that comprised the territory largely coterminous with the present-day province of British Columbia, Canada. Though not a British colony, New Caledonia was part of the British claim to North America. Its administrative...

 of the Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

, and was named by him in honour of his father-in-law, William Connelly. Along with the posts of Fort Babine and Fort Chilcotin

Fort Chilcotin

Fort Chilcotin was a short-lived trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company, located at the confluence of the Chilko and Chilcotin Rivers, British Columbia, Canada. It operated between the years 1836 and 1844...

, Fort Connelly was established in accordance with the HBC's decision to extend New Caledonia's trade northward and westward in an attempt to intercept or stem the slow of furs from the interior to the coast, where American maritime fur trade

Maritime Fur Trade

The Maritime Fur Trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain, and other Chinese...

rs bought them at high prices.

The Connelly Range

Connelly Range

The Connelly Range is a subrange of the Hogem Ranges of the Omineca Mountains, located between Bear Lake and the headwaters of the Omineca River in northern British Columbia, Canada. As the Omineca is in the Arctic Ocean drainage and Bear Lake that of the Pacific, the range is part of the...

in the same area was named for the fort, which may not have been at the location of the present-day settlement, but may have been either at the north end of the lake, or on an island in Tsaytut Bay. Nothing remains of the original fort, except its name which was applied to this settlement on April 23, 1940 as "Bear Lake (Fort Connelly)", a designation which lasted until Nuvember 2, 1964 when it was simplified to "Bear Lake (Settlement)"; it has since been further re-designated as "Bear Lake (Community)".