Hobson Lake
Encyclopedia
Hobson Lake is the uppermost lake on the Clearwater River
in east-central British Columbia, Canada. Hobson Lake is one of the six major lakes in Wells Gray Provincial Park
.
Hobson Lake is bordered to the east by peaks of the Cariboo Mountains
which rise nearly 2000 m (6500 ft) above the lakeshore. Among these are Twin Spires and Mount Hugh Neave. The latter is the fourth highest mountain in Wells Gray Park at 2829 m (9,281 ft). Its name recognizes a mountaineer who climbed many peaks in northern Wells Gray Park during the 1960s and 1970s. Hugh Neave made the first ascent of Wells Gray Park's highest mountain, Garnet Peak
, in 1974; it is located due east of Hobson Lake's outlet. West of Hobson Lake is the Quesnel Highland which has no named mountains near the lake.
Thomas Drummond was the first prospector to investigate Hobson Creek, one of three streams which flows into the upper end of Hobson Lake. He wrote gloomily:
The Westenhiser Company acquired Drummond's Hobson Creek property soon after and, in the summer of 1914, employed a crew of men to improve the road between Quesnel Lake and Hobson Lake. In 1915, a small steamboat ferried mining equipment to the head of Hobson Lake from where a horse-team packed the supplies 2.5 km up the creek to the holdings. The workings consisted of tunnels to test the gravel deposits, flumes, dams and ditchlines, and small-scale attempts at hydraulics, but most of these efforts failed for lack of funds to properly test the gravel. The next owner was the New Cariboo Goldfields Company in 1920 which also found limited prospects on Hobson Creek.
Fred Wells staked some claims in 1923 at the head of a branch of Hobson Creek now called Fred Wells Creek, and was later named the Blue Ice Group. The name aptly described the site, located at an elevation of 2075 m (6,808 ft), just 60 m (200 ft) away from an active glacier. Although showings of gold and silver were of an economical quantity during the 1938 survey, the site was never fully developed, because of the unpredictable movements of the nearby glacier.
Clearwater River (British Columbia)
The Clearwater River is the largest tributary of the North Thompson River, joining it at the community of Clearwater, British Columbia. The Clearwater rises from glaciers in the Cariboo Mountains and flows in a mostly southerly direction for to the North Thompson. Its entire course, except the...
in east-central British Columbia, Canada. Hobson Lake is one of the six major lakes in Wells Gray Provincial Park
Wells Gray Provincial Park
Wells Gray Provincial Park is a large wilderness park located in east-central British Columbia, Canada. The park protects most of the southern, and highest, regions of the Cariboo Mountains and covers 5,250 square kilometres...
.
Hobson Lake is bordered to the east by peaks of the Cariboo Mountains
Cariboo Mountains
The Cariboo Mountains are the northernmost subrange of the Columbia Mountains, which run down into the Spokane, Washington area of the United States and include the Selkirks, Monashees and Purcells. The Cariboo Mountains are entirely within the province of British Columbia, Canada. The range is...
which rise nearly 2000 m (6500 ft) above the lakeshore. Among these are Twin Spires and Mount Hugh Neave. The latter is the fourth highest mountain in Wells Gray Park at 2829 m (9,281 ft). Its name recognizes a mountaineer who climbed many peaks in northern Wells Gray Park during the 1960s and 1970s. Hugh Neave made the first ascent of Wells Gray Park's highest mountain, Garnet Peak
Garnet Peak
Garnet Peak is a mountain in east-central British Columbia, Canada, located between Goat Creek and Azure Lake. Situated in the Cariboo Mountains of the Columbia Mountains, it is the highest mountain in Wells Gray Provincial Park with an elevation of...
, in 1974; it is located due east of Hobson Lake's outlet. West of Hobson Lake is the Quesnel Highland which has no named mountains near the lake.
History and naming
Hobson Lake is named for John B. Hobson, a man who did more than any other in British Columbia to demonstrate the value of hydraulic placer mining. With this technique, a bank of gold-bearing gravel was washed into sluices by a powerful jet of water where the gold separated from the gravel. Hobson was born in Ireland in 1844, moved to New York, and studied mining engineering and metallurgy in California. He came to Canada in 1892 at the invitation of the directors of the Canadian Pacific Railway to explore the extensive fields of gold-bearing gravel known to exist in the Cariboo District. He subsequently organized two companies, the Consolidated Cariboo Hydraulic Mining Company on the Quesnel River and the Horsefly Hydraulic Mining Company on the Horsefly River. These were the largest and most modern attempts at hydraulic mining so far known in British Columbia. Unfortunately, because of a lack of funding, neither development prospered.Thomas Drummond was the first prospector to investigate Hobson Creek, one of three streams which flows into the upper end of Hobson Lake. He wrote gloomily:
I built a flume 10 feet by 45 feet and 325 feet long, and put in a dam 10 feet high and 60 feet long, which carried the water of the stream and laid the bed bare. I spent between $4000 and $5000 and the returns were very disappointing on the whole, although I took out a little gold. It is a terrible country for boulders, both large and numerous, of glacial origin, which have simply filled the creek, making it practically impossible to work the bed of the stream or to prospect on the sides. Under such conditions as to remoteness and boulders the creek would have to be exceptionally rich, which it certainly is not, and even after the flume and dam were in it did not pay the expenses of mining.
The Westenhiser Company acquired Drummond's Hobson Creek property soon after and, in the summer of 1914, employed a crew of men to improve the road between Quesnel Lake and Hobson Lake. In 1915, a small steamboat ferried mining equipment to the head of Hobson Lake from where a horse-team packed the supplies 2.5 km up the creek to the holdings. The workings consisted of tunnels to test the gravel deposits, flumes, dams and ditchlines, and small-scale attempts at hydraulics, but most of these efforts failed for lack of funds to properly test the gravel. The next owner was the New Cariboo Goldfields Company in 1920 which also found limited prospects on Hobson Creek.
Fred Wells staked some claims in 1923 at the head of a branch of Hobson Creek now called Fred Wells Creek, and was later named the Blue Ice Group. The name aptly described the site, located at an elevation of 2075 m (6,808 ft), just 60 m (200 ft) away from an active glacier. Although showings of gold and silver were of an economical quantity during the 1938 survey, the site was never fully developed, because of the unpredictable movements of the nearby glacier.