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47-529: The Cariboo was the first region of the interior north of the lower Fraser River and its canyon to be settled by non-indigenous people, and played an important part in the early history of the colony and province. The boundaries of the Cariboo proper in its historical sense are debatable, but its original meaning was the region north of the forks of the Quesnel River and the low mountainous basins between

94-541: A Victoria newspaper. Despite the newspaper coverage, the trail saw little use until the height of the Omineca Gold Rush in 1871, when nearly 400 miners successfully petitioned the government to build a wagon road over the portage to facilitate travel to the goldfields. The contract for building the road was awarded to Gustavus Blin Wright , who widened the trail at a cost of $ 9,070. Peter Dunlevy, who operated

141-691: A navigable stream". His trip down the river convinced him that Fort Langley could not replace Fort Vancouver as the company's main depot on the Pacific coast. Much of British Columbia's history has been bound to the Fraser, partly because it was the essential route between the Interior and the Lower Coast after the loss of the lands south of the 49th Parallel with the Oregon Treaty of 1846. It

188-545: A portage in the vicinity. The Lheidli T'enneh called the trail "Lhedesti" meaning "the shortcut". In 1862, John Giscome and Harry McDame , approached the Lheidli T'enneh at Fort George regarding a suitable route to the Peace River Country , where the two men planned to prospect for gold. The next year, a guide from the tribe led them across the nine-mile-long portage and John Giscome later wrote an article for

235-598: A progressively deeper canyon between the Lillooet Ranges of the Coast Mountains on its west and the Cascade Range on its east. Hell's Gate , located immediately downstream of the town of Boston Bar , is a famous portion of the canyon where the walls narrow dramatically, forcing the entire volume of the river through a gap only 35 metres (115 feet) wide. An aerial tramway takes visitors out over

282-665: A regional position within the Canadian Heraldic Authority is named after the river. The Fraser River is known for the fishing of white sturgeon , all five species of Pacific salmon ( chinook , coho , chum , pink , sockeye ), as well as steelhead trout . The Fraser River is also the largest producer of salmon in Canada. A typical white sturgeon catch can average about 500 pounds (230 kg). A white sturgeon weighing an estimated 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) and measuring 3.76 metres (12 ft 4 in)

329-715: A short dam lifespan, but mostly because of strong opposition from fisheries and other environmental concerns. In 1858, the Fraser River and surrounding areas were occupied when the gold rush came to the Fraser Canyon and the Fraser River. It is also a popular fishing location for residents of the Lower Mainland. The delta of the river, especially in the Boundary Bay area, is an important stopover location for migrating shorebirds . The Fraser Herald ,

376-442: A significant spring freshet , primarily impacting regions around Prince George , Kamloops , Hope and Surrey . Due to record snowpacks on the mountains in the Fraser River catch basin which began melting, combined with heavy rainfall, water levels on the Fraser River rose in 2007 to a level not reached since 1972. Low-lying land in areas upriver such as Prince George suffered minor flooding. Evacuation alerts were given for

423-488: A store at Soda Creek and Fort George, opened a store at the south end on the river in 1873, naming the portage after John Giscome, his cook. Sandford Fleming ’s Canadian Pacific Railway survey investigated the portage as a railway route, and Charles Horetzky and Marcus Smith commented favourably upon its low altitude. Alfred Selwyn and George Dawson of the Geological Survey of Canada used and reported on

470-506: A wildfowl preserve, and Iona Island , the location of the main sewage plant for the City of Vancouver. After 100 kilometres (about 60 mi), the Fraser forms a delta where it empties into the Strait of Georgia between the mainland and Vancouver Island . The lands south of the City of Vancouver , including the cities of Richmond and Delta , sit on the flat flood plain . The islands of

517-530: Is now a museum town). The Cariboo goldfields are underpopulated today but were once the most settled and most significant of the regions of interior British Columbia. As settlement spread southwards of this area, flanking the route of the Cariboo Road and spreading out through the rolling plateaus and benchlands of the Cariboo Plateau and lands adjoining it along the Fraser and Thompson rivers,

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564-622: Is part of the Fraser Lowland and was formed also by sediment deposited from the Fraser, though most of the county is not in the Fraser drainage basin. Similar to the Columbia River Gorge east of Portland, Oregon , the Fraser exploits a topographic cleft between two mountain ranges separating a more continental climate (in this case, that of the British Columbia Interior ) from a milder climate near

611-427: Is part of the City of New Westminster. Also in the lowermost Fraser, among other smaller islands, is Annacis Island , an important industrial and port area, which lies to the southeast of the eastern end of Lulu Island. Other notable islands in the lower Fraser are Barnston Island , Matsqui Island , Nicomen Island and Sea Bird Island . Other islands lie on the outer side of the estuary, most notably Westham Island ,

658-644: Is the longest river within British Columbia , Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for 1,375 kilometres (854 mi), into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver . The river's annual discharge at its mouth is 112 cubic kilometres (27 cu mi) or 3,550 cubic metres per second (125,000 cu ft/s), and each year it discharges about 20 million tons of sediment into

705-553: The Dakelh language is Lhtakoh . The Tsilhqot'in name for the river, not dissimilar to the Dakelh name, is ʔElhdaqox , meaning Sturgeon ( ʔElhda-chugh ) River ( Yeqox ) . The Fraser drains a 220,000-square-kilometre (85,000 sq mi) area. Its source is a dripping spring at Fraser Pass in the Canadian Rocky Mountains near the border with Alberta . The river then flows north to

752-605: The Fraser River and Summit Lake , which connected with the river route to the Peace Country via Finlay Forks . BC Parks administers the Giscome Portage Trail . The Huble Homestead Historic Site , at the south end, is on the Fraser River, 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Prince George and 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) off Highway 97 . Simon Fraser ’s journals (1806) make the first reference to

799-576: The Fraser Valley , a lush lowland valley, and runs past Chilliwack and the confluence of the Harrison and Sumas Rivers , bending northwest at Abbotsford and Mission . The Fraser then flows past Maple Ridge , Pitt Meadows , Port Coquitlam , and north Surrey . It turns southwest again just east of New Westminster , where it splits into the North Arm, which is the southern boundary of

846-572: The Hudson's Bay Company 's main Pacific depot. Simpson had believed the Fraser River might be navigable throughout its length, even though Simon Fraser had described it as non-navigable. Simpson journeyed down the river and through the Fraser Canyon and afterwards wrote "I should consider the passage down, to be certain Death, in nine attempts out of Ten. I shall therefore no longer talk about it as

893-593: The Lower Mainland ( Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver ) occurred in 1894. With no protection against the rising waters of the Fraser River, Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver communities from Chilliwack downstream were inundated with water. In the 1894 floods, the water mark at Mission reached 7.85 metres (25.75 ft). After the 1894 flood, a dyking system was constructed throughout the Fraser Valley. The dyking and drainage projects greatly improved

940-543: The Mount Robson Provincial Park , to Steveston in Vancouver at the river mouth. With an average flow at the mouth of about 3,475 cubic metres per second (122,700 cu ft/s), the Fraser is the largest river by discharge flowing into the Pacific seaboard of Canada and the fifth largest in the country. The average flow is highly seasonal; summer discharge rates can be ten times larger than

987-589: The San Juan Islands , gaining strength over the open water of the Strait of Juan de Fuca . The estuary at the river's mouth is a site of hemispheric importance in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network . The Water Survey of Canada currently operates 17 gauge stations that measure discharge and water level along the majority of the mainstem from Red Pass just downstream of Moose Lake in

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1034-728: The Yellowhead Highway and west past Mount Robson to the Rocky Mountain Trench and the Robson Valley near Valemount . After running northwest past 54° north, it makes a sharp turn to the south at Giscome Portage , meeting the Nechako River at the city of Prince George , then continues south, progressively cutting deeper into the Fraser Plateau to form the Fraser Canyon from roughly

1081-515: The City of Vancouver , and the South Arm, which divides the City of Richmond from the City of Delta to the south. Richmond is on the largest island in the Fraser, Lulu Island and also on Sea Island , which is the location of Vancouver International Airport , where the Middle Arm branches off to the south from the North Arm. The far eastern end of Lulu Island is named Queensborough and

1128-568: The Giscome Portage. Huble pre-empted the land, and the men built cabins, a barn and a store. They also re-cut the trail, making it wide enough for a horse-drawn wagon. They transported their supplies from Fort George, on horseback in the summer or by dog team or snowshoes in the winter. After 1909, the area experienced new growth with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway 's plans to cross the province at Fort George and

1175-563: The South Fort George post office to collect their mail. Seebach and Huble advertised that all steamboats called at their Giscombe landing. In 1912, the partnership sold 4,500 acres to British Empire Land for subdivision. During 1914, Seebach (Seeback alternate spelling) and Huble (Hubble alternate spelling), and George McDowell, their agent, regularly advertised their weekly passenger and freight motorboat service, which travelled as far upriver as Mile 194 ( Upper Fraser ). In 1914,

1222-622: The arrival of the Chilco , one of twelve sternwheelers operating as far as Tête Jaune . The steamboats of the Upper Fraser River , which regularly stopped at the portage, purchased vegetables and meat. Huble, who conveyed goods to Summit Lake, also guided travellers through the Giscome Rapids. When the river was frozen in winter, the 27 settlers drew lots to determine who would walk the 41-mile trail from Giscombe landing to

1269-540: The coast. When an Arctic high-pressure area moves into the British Columbia Interior and a relatively low-pressure area builds over the general Puget Sound and Strait of Georgia region, the cold Arctic air accelerates southwest through the Fraser Canyon . These outflow winds can gust up to 97 to 129 kilometres per hour (60 to 80 mph) and have at times exceeded 160 kilometres per hour (100 mph). Such winds frequently reach Bellingham and

1316-643: The confluence of the Chilcotin River , near the city of Williams Lake , southwards. It is joined by the Bridge and Seton Rivers at the town of Lillooet , then by the Thompson River at Lytton , where it proceeds south until it is approximately 64 kilometres (40 mi) north of the 49th parallel , which is Canada's border with the United States . From Lytton southwards it runs through

1363-609: The delta include Iona Island, Sea Island, Lulu Island, Annacis Island, and a number of smaller islands. While the vast majority of the river's drainage basin lies within British Columbia, a small portion in the drainage basin lies across the international border in Washington in the United States, namely the upper reaches of the tributary Chilliwack and Sumas rivers. Most of lowland Whatcom County, Washington

1410-476: The first Europeans to find and enter it. The existence of the river, but not its location, had been deduced during the 1791 voyage of José María Narváez , under Francisco de Eliza . The upper reaches of the Fraser River were first explored by Sir Alexander Mackenzie in 1793, and fully traced by Simon Fraser in 1808, who confirmed that it was not connected with the Columbia River . The lower Fraser

1457-523: The flood problems, but over time, the dykes were allowed to fall into disrepair and became overgrown with brush and trees. With some dykes constructed of a wooden frame, they gave way in 1948 in several locations, marking the second disastrous flood. Flooding since 1948 has been minor in comparison. 1948 saw massive flooding in Chilliwack and other areas along the Fraser River. The high-water mark at Mission rose to 7.5 metres (24.7 ft). The peak flow

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1504-563: The flow during the winter. The Fraser's highest recorded flow, in June 1894, is estimated to have been 17,000 cubic metres per second (600,000 cu ft/s) at Hope . It was calculated using high-water marks near the hydrometric station at Hope and various statistical methods. In 1948 the Fraser River Board adopted the estimate for the 1894 flood. It remains the value specified by regulatory agencies for all flood control work on

1551-512: The low-lying areas not protected by dikes in the Lower Mainland . However, the water levels did not breach the dikes, and major flooding was averted. Major flooding occurred in November 2021 as part of the November 2021 Pacific Northwest floods . Tributaries are listed from the mouth of the Fraser and going up river. Giscome Portage The Giscome Portage was a portage between

1598-531: The meaning changed to include a wider area than just the goldfields. The grasslands of the Cariboo are home to the regionally endangered American badger ( Taxidea taxus jeffersonii ). As early as 1861, Governor Douglas used the name Cariboo to describe the area in dispatches to Britain. North Cariboo: Central Cariboo: South Cariboo: 52°00′N 122°00′W  /  52.000°N 122.000°W  / 52.000; -122.000 Fraser River The Fraser River ( / ˈ f r eɪ z ər / )

1645-697: The mouth of that river on the Fraser at the city of Quesnel and the northward end of the Cariboo Mountains, an area that is mostly in the Quesnel Highland and focused on several now-famous gold-bearing creeks near the head of the Willow River . The richest of them all, Williams Creek , is the location of Barkerville , which was both the capital of the Cariboo Gold Rush and of government officialdom for decades afterwards (it

1692-661: The ocean. The river is named after Simon Fraser , who led an expedition in 1808 on behalf of the North West Company from the site of present-day Prince George almost to the mouth of the river. The river's name in the Halqemeylem (Upriver Halkomelem) language is Sto:lo , often seen archaically as Staulo , and has been adopted by the Halkomelem-speaking peoples of the Lower Mainland as their collective name, Sto:lo . The river's name in

1739-483: The outbreak of World War I brought a dramatic decrease in business. During 1915, the steamer Quesnel connected downriver with Prince George. The post office operated November 1 to December 31, 1915 and the store closed in 1919. That year, the opening of the Prince George–Summit Lake wagon road superseded this route. Possibly triggered by falling business, 1920 advertisements promoted the upriver run to

1786-437: The poorly maintained dyke systems failed to contain the water. At the height of the 1948 flood, 200 square kilometres (50,000 acres) stood under water. Dykes broke at Agassiz, Chiliwack, Nicomen Island, Glen Valley and Matsqui. When the flood waters receded a month later, 16,000 people had been evacuated, with damages totaling $ 20 million, about $ 225 million in 2020 dollars. Major flooding occurred once again in 1972 due to

1833-458: The portage, with Dawson showing both the Salmon and Giscome Portages on his 1879 map. Dunlevy’s trading post closed about 1895 when Peace River freight generally travelled via the railhead at Edmonton . By this time, most of the miners had left for other gold strikes and the road fell into disrepair. In 1903, Ontarians Albert Huble and Edward Seebach established a trading post at the south end of

1880-476: The river was designated as a Canadian Heritage River for its natural and human heritage. It remains the longest river with that designation. The Fraser is heavily exploited by human activities, especially in its lower reaches. Its banks are rich farmland, its water is used by pulp mills , and a few dams on some tributaries provide hydroelectric power . The main flow of the Fraser has never been dammed partly because its high level of sediment flows would result in

1927-459: The river. Further studies and hydraulic models have estimated the maximum discharge of the Fraser River, at Hope during the 1894 flood, as within a range of about 16,000 to 18,000 cubic metres per second (570,000 to 640,000 cu ft/s). On June 14, 1792, the Spanish explorers Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés entered and anchored in the North Arm of the Fraser River, becoming

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1974-404: The river. Hells Gate is visible from Trans-Canada Highway 1 about 2 km (1.2 mi) south of the tramway. Simon Fraser was forced to portage the gorge on his trip through the canyon in June 1808. At Yale , at the head of navigation on the river, the canyon opens up and the river widens, though without much adjoining lowland until Hope , where the river then turns west and southwest into

2021-458: Was about 15,600 cubic meters per second. Cool temperatures in March, April, and early May had delayed the melting of the heavy snowpack that had accumulated over the winter season. Several days of hot weather and warm rains over the holiday weekend in late May hastened the thawing of the snowpack. Rivers and streams quickly swelled with spring runoff, reaching heights surpassed only in 1894. Finally,

2068-472: Was caught and released on the Fraser River in July 2012. In 2021, a white sturgeon was caught on the river weighing 890 pounds (400 kg), with a length of 352 cm (11.55 ft). It was estimated to be over 100 years old. The fish was tagged and released. The most significant Fraser river floods in recorded history occurred in 1894 and 1948. After European settlement, the first disastrous flood in

2115-595: Was revisited in 1824 when the Hudson's Bay Company sent a crew across Puget Sound from its Fort George southern post on the Columbia River . The expedition was led by James McMillan . The Fraser was reached via the Nicomekl River and the Salmon River reachable after a portage. Friendly tribes met earlier on by the Simon Fraser crew were reacquainted with. A trading post with agricultural potential

2162-496: Was the site of its first recorded settlements of Aboriginal people ( see Musqueam , Sto:lo , St'at'imc , Secwepemc and Nlaka'pamŭ ), the site of the first European-Indigenous mixed ancestry settlement in southern British-Columbia ( see Fort Langley ), the route of multitudes of prospectors during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush and the main vehicle of the province's early commerce and industry. In 1998,

2209-462: Was to be located. By 1827, a crew was sent back via the mouth of the Fraser to build and operate the original Fort Langley . McMillan also led the undertaking. The trading post original location would soon become the first ever mixed ancestry and agricultural settlement in southern British Columbia on the Fraser (Sto:lo) river. In 1828 George Simpson visited the river, mainly to examine Fort Langley and determine whether it would be suitable as

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