Homathko River
Encyclopedia
The Homathko River is one of the major rivers of the southern Coast Mountains
of British Columbia
, and one of the few rivers that penetrates the range from the Chilcotin Plateau
to the coastal inlets, entering the sea at the head of Bute Inlet
adjacent to the mouth of the Southgate River
, just to its east.
The Homathko's drainage basin
is 5335 square kilometres (2,059.9 sq mi) in size.
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 Inlet
s. The Pantheon Range
lies west of Mosley Creek and the Niut Range
and adjoins the Waddington Range
immediately on the north.
The Homathko begins in the northern part of the Niut Range
, then descends to the Chilcotin Plateau
, skirting it briefly near Tatla Lake, then turns south to Tatlayoko Lake
and from there pierces the Pacific Ranges
en route to the sea at the head of Bute Inlet
.
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.
, the bullying of a party of Tsilhqot'in
First Nations
warriors hired to help build an enterprise known as Waddington's Road led to their massacre of the road company's workers and the opening of hostilities between a faction of the Chilcotin
people and the colonial government of British Columbia
.
This was the opening round of the Chilcotin War
of 1864. 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).
The route of the failed road contract was later considered for the mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway
, to connect to Vancouver Island
via Seymour Narrows
, connecting to Victoria
, but Burrard Inlet
was chosen for the railway's terminus-port city instead, thereby creating the City of Vancouver.
but plans to develop the Homathko and its neighbouring rivers for hydroelectric power. The Homathko alone has immense hydroelectric potential, but 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 Ts'il?os Provincial Park
(the '?' 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 the Homathko Canyon that is marked on the map as "Murderer's Bar" - no less than the spot on which the Chilcotin War
began.
Coast Mountains
The Coast Mountains are a major mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia. They are so-named because of their proximity to the sea coast, and are often...
of British Columbia
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...
, and one of the few rivers that penetrates the range from the Chilcotin Plateau
Chilcotin District
The Chilcotin District of British Columbia is usually known simply as "the Chilcotin", and also in speech commonly as "the Chilcotin Country" or simply Chilcotin. It is a plateau and mountain region in British Columbia on the inland lea of the Coast Mountains on the west side of the Fraser River....
to the coastal inlets, entering the sea at the head of Bute Inlet
Bute Inlet
Bute Inlet is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast. It is 80 km long from its head at the mouths of the Homathko and Southgate Rivers to the continental headlands at its mouth, where it is nearly blocked by Stuart Island, and it averages about 4 km in width...
adjacent to the mouth of the Southgate River
Southgate River
The Southgate River is a river in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada, entering the head of Bute Inlet, on that province's South Coast, just east of the mouth of the Homathko River at Waddington Harbour. The lower reaches of the river's course are flat-bottomed...
, just to its east.
The Homathko's drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
is 5335 square kilometres (2,059.9 sq mi) in size.
The mountains flanking the Homathko River are the highest in the Coast Mountains
Coast Mountains
The Coast Mountains are a major mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia. They are so-named because of their proximity to the sea coast, and are often...
, and include Mount Waddington
Mount Waddington
Mount Waddington, once known as Mystery Mountain, is the highest peak in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. Although Mount Fairweather and Mount Quincy Adams, which straddle the US border between Alaska and British Columbia are taller, Mount Waddington is the highest peak that lies...
west of the river in the Waddington Range
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 4000 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...
and Mount Queen Bess
Mount Queen Bess
Mount Queen Bess is one of the principal summits of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains of southern British Columbia. It stands west of Chilko Lake and to the south of Tatlayoko Lake, and crowns a peak-studded ridge to the north of the Homathko Icefield....
east of the river, adjacent to the Homathko Icefield
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...
. Also flanking the Homathko River on the west are the Niut Range
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 and is located in the angle of the Homathko River and its main west fork, Mosley...
, which is in the angle of the Homathko and its main west fork, Mosley Creek, and the Whitemantle Range
Whitemantle Range
The Whitemantle Range is a subrange of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia. Located between the heads of Bute Inlet on the east and Knight Inlet on the west, it is extremely rugged and glaciated...
, which is to the south of the Waddington Range
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 4000 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...
massif, forming the mountainous ridge dividing Bute
Bute Inlet
Bute Inlet is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast. It is 80 km long from its head at the mouths of the Homathko and Southgate Rivers to the continental headlands at its mouth, where it is nearly blocked by Stuart Island, and it averages about 4 km in width...
and Knight Inlet
Knight Inlet
Knight Inlet is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast, and the largest of the major inlets in the southern part of the Coast...
s. The Pantheon Range
Pantheon Range
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...
lies west of Mosley Creek and the Niut Range
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 and is located in the angle of the Homathko River and its main west fork, Mosley...
and adjoins the Waddington Range
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 4000 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...
immediately on the north.
The Homathko begins in the northern part of the Niut Range
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 and is located in the angle of the Homathko River and its main west fork, Mosley...
, then descends to the Chilcotin Plateau
Chilcotin District
The Chilcotin District of British Columbia is usually known simply as "the Chilcotin", and also in speech commonly as "the Chilcotin Country" or simply Chilcotin. It is a plateau and mountain region in British Columbia on the inland lea of the Coast Mountains on the west side of the Fraser River....
, skirting it briefly near Tatla Lake, then turns south to Tatlayoko Lake
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...
and from there pierces the Pacific Ranges
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, north of which are the Kitimat Ranges.The Pacific Ranges...
en route to the sea at the head of Bute Inlet
Bute Inlet
Bute Inlet is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast. It is 80 km long from its head at the mouths of the Homathko and Southgate Rivers to the continental headlands at its mouth, where it is nearly blocked by Stuart Island, and it averages about 4 km in width...
.
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
Devil's Club
Devil's Club is a large shrub primarily native to the cool moist forests of western North America, but also disjunct on islands in Lake Superior. It is noted for its large palmate leaves and erect, woody stems covered in brittle spines...
. It is also home to many grizzly bears.
History
Just below the confluence of Mosley Creek and the Homathko River, at the southern foot of the Niut RangeNiut 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 and is located in the angle of the Homathko River and its main west fork, Mosley...
, the bullying of a party of Tsilhqot'in
Tsilhqot'in
The Tsilhqot'in are a Northern Athabaskan First Nations people that live in British Columbia, Canada...
First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
warriors hired to help build an enterprise known as Waddington's Road led to their massacre of the road company's workers and the opening of hostilities between a faction of the Chilcotin
Tsilhqot'in
The Tsilhqot'in are a Northern Athabaskan First Nations people that live in British Columbia, Canada...
people and the colonial government of British Columbia
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...
.
This was the opening round of the Chilcotin War
Chilcotin War
The Chilcotin War, Chilcotin Uprising or Bute Inlet Massacre was a confrontation in 1864 between members of the Tsilhqot'in people in British Columbia and white road construction workers...
of 1864. 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
Alfred Waddington
Alfred Penderell Waddington was born in 1801 in the Brompton, Kensington, district of London, England. During his later years, Waddington was actively involved in the Colony of Vancouver Island in what later became the province of British Columbia, Canada....
'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).
The route of the failed road contract was later considered for the mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
, to connect to Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
via Seymour Narrows
Seymour Narrows
Seymour Narrows is a section of the Discovery Passage in British Columbia known for strong tidal currents. Discovery Passage lies between Vancouver Island at Menzies Bay, British Columbia and Quadra Island except at its northern end where the eastern shoreline is Sonora Island...
, connecting to Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, but Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet is a relatively shallow-sided coastal fjord in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Formed during the last Ice Age, it separates the City of Vancouver and the rest of the low-lying Burrard Peninsula from the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, home to the communities of West...
was chosen for the railway's terminus-port city instead, thereby creating the City of Vancouver.
Hydroelectric Proposals
Attention to the route's possibilities waned since being eyed by the CPRCanadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
but plans to develop the Homathko and its neighbouring rivers for hydroelectric power. The Homathko alone has immense hydroelectric potential, but full build-out as first conceived would divert the Taseko Lakes
Taseko Lakes
The Taseko Lakes are a pair of lakes, Upper Taseko Lake and Lower Taseko Lake, which are expansions of the upper Taseko River in the southern Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada...
and Chilko Lake
Chilko Lake
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...
into the Homathko system via Tatlayoko Lake
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...
. A series of dams on the Homathko and its tributaries, using the extra power of the water from the Chilcotin
Chilcotin River
The Chilcotin River is a long tributary of the Fraser River in southern British Columbia, Canada. It drains the Chilcotin Plateau, which lies between the Fraser River and the Coast Mountains...
's tributaries, would have generated some of the most power per project in British Columbia
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...
.
The creation of Ts'il?os Provincial Park
Ts'il?os Provincial Park
Ts'il?os Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. Ts'il?os is the official BC Parks designation for this provincial park, though sometimes it is written as "Ts'il-os", "Ts'yl-os", or "Tsylos"...
(the '?' represents a glottal stop
Glottal stop
The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
) and Big Creek Provincial Park
Big Creek Provincial Park
Big Creek Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada.It is adjoined on the south by the Spruce Lake Protected Area and on the west by Ts'il?os Provincial Park. Neighbouring on the east is the Churn Creek Protected Area.- References :...
have shelved the grand plan, as Chilko
Chilko Lake
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...
and Taseko Lakes
Taseko Lakes
The Taseko Lakes are a pair of lakes, Upper Taseko Lake and Lower Taseko Lake, which are expansions of the upper Taseko River in the southern Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada...
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
BC Hydro
The BC Hydro and Power Authority is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia generally known simply as BC Hydro. It is the main electric distributor, serving 1.8 million customers in most areas, with the exception of the Kootenay region, where FortisBC, a subsidiary of Fortis...
, Powerex. If ever built, the largest dam and powerhouse will stand at a point in the Homathko Canyon that is marked on the map as "Murderer's Bar" - no less than the spot on which the Chilcotin War
Chilcotin War
The Chilcotin War, Chilcotin Uprising or Bute Inlet Massacre was a confrontation in 1864 between members of the Tsilhqot'in people in British Columbia and white road construction workers...
began.
See also
- Homathko Estuary Provincial ParkHomathko Estuary Provincial ParkHomathko Estuary Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located at the head of Bute Inlet surrounding the mouth of the Homathko River in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains.-See also:*Great Canyon of the Homathko...
- Waddington CanyonWaddington CanyonWaddington 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 (Homathko River)Great Canyon (Homathko River)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 River-Tatlayoko Protected Area