Bulkley River
Encyclopedia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
is a major tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Skeena River
Skeena River
The Skeena River is the second longest river entirely within British Columbia, Canada . The Skeena is an important transportation artery, particularly for the Tsimshian and the Gitxsan - whose names mean "inside the Skeena River" and "people of the Skeena River" respectively, and also during the...
. The Bulkley is 257 km long with a drainage basin covering 12,400 km².http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/learningresources/facts/rivers.html#pacific
Much of the Bulkey is paralleled by Highway 16. It flows west from Bulkley Lake past Perow and is joined near Houston
Houston, British Columbia
Houston is a forestry, mining and tourism town in the Bulkley Valley of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its urban population is approximately 3600 people, with approximately 2000 in the surrounding rural area. It is known as the "Steelhead Capital" and it has the world's largest...
by the Morice River
Morice River
The Morice River is the outflow of Morice Lake south west of Houston, British Columbia, Canada. Morice Lake and Morice River are named after Father Adrien-Gabriel Morice The Morice River is a small river when it leaves Morice Lake but it converges with the Thautil and Gosnell Rivers...
, its major tributary. The Bulkley continues north past Quick, Telkwa
Telkwa, British Columbia
Telkwa is a village located along British Columbia Highway 16, nearly 15 km southeast of the town of Smithers and 350 km west of the city of Prince George, in northwest British Columbia, Canada....
and Smithers
Smithers, British Columbia
Smithers is a town located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, approximately halfway between Prince George and Prince Rupert. Smithers is located in the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako....
. It then meets the Skeena River near Hazelton
Hazelton, British Columbia
Hazelton is a small town located at the junction of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in northern British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1866 and has a population of 293...
.
The river was originally called Wet'sinkwha by the Wet'suwet'en
Wet'suwet'en
Wet'suwet'en are a First Nations people who live on the Bulkley River and around Broman Lake and Francois Lake in the northwestern Central Interior of British Columbia...
people, the indigenous inhabitants of the Bulkley Valley. The name Bulkley was given for Colonel Charles Bulkley, the Engineer-in-charge of the survey team who, in 1866 explored the area in preparation for the failed Russian American Telegraph
Russian American Telegraph
The Russian–American Telegraph, also known as the Western Union Telegraph Expedition and the Collins Overland Telegraph, was a $3,000,000 undertaking by the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1865-1867, to lay an electric telegraph line from San Francisco, California to Moscow, Russia.The route was...
.
The Bulkley, a smaller stream running through Houston, and the Morice join just west of Houston. At the point of their joining they become the Bulkley, not the Morice despite the fact the Morice is larger. This was done by Poudrier, a government cartographer who, it is rumoured, never saw the region