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87-611: The Douglas Ranges among the smallest and lowest of the major named subranges Coast Mountains, but in addition to being smallest and lowest they are also the southernmost part of the Coast Mountains and therefore also of the Pacific Ranges. The only thing more southerly than the Douglas Ranges, other than floodplain, is the unnamed hill-country that is most of Districts of Mission and part of Maple Ridge , from

174-542: A land promotion. The town's core commercial properties and residential streets were auctioned off through James Horne's auction, the "Great Land Sale" May 19, 1891, with buyers brought in via the CPR mainline from Vancouver as well as from Eastern Canada. Soon afterwards, Harry Brown French, an American from New York, came to the city and founded the Mission Regional Chamber of Commerce on June 19, 1893. It

261-419: A median age of 36.4, according to the 2001 Canadian census, The largest group is European Canadian , comprising approximately 74% of the population, but even within that Mission's ethnic makeup is very complex, with, in addition to British settlers, large numbers of Germans and Dutch, but also Finns, Norwegians and other Scandinavians, Italians, Hungarians, Poles, anglicized French-Canadians and others. There

348-612: A mix of sport offerings locally standard to any municipality in this region. One exception is the large outdoor trail network within the Tree Farm and Interpretive Forest. Mission is home to world-class mountain bike trails as well as plenty of backcountry hiking opportunities that lie within the District Limits. Mission is home to a Pacific Junior Hockey League team - the Mission CityOutlaws. Jessica Russell

435-698: A model for silvicultural management on a larger scale throughout British Columbia as well as provided a unique income source for the municipality. From 1967 through the 1970s, the Soap Box Derby shared the July 1 Dominion Day holiday with a large Loggers Sports event, one of the largest in British Columbia and important on the North American Loggers Sports Association circuit. In the 1960s and 1970s there

522-691: 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

609-665: 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)

696-615: A result Mission lost its "anchor", the main Eaton's department store in the Valley, and the town's Main Street businesses lost much of their business to the new shopping malls a few minutes away across the river. This process was accelerated with the opening of the new bridge in the mid-1970s. Despite a cohesive business community and new retail malls on the edges of the old core, Mission's retail community has never regained its former prominence in

783-401: A scandal involving one of the town's wealthiest families. Mission is noted as the home of a long-established professional dragstrip, Mission Raceway Park , which was moved in relatively recent times outside the dyking of the lower part of town to reduce noise in residential and commercial areas nearby. In 1972 a large tract of land in central Mission's Ferndale area, flat upland at the top of

870-715: 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 ,

957-442: 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

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1044-463: Is a city in the Lower Mainland of the province of British Columbia , Canada. It was originally incorporated as a district municipality in 1892, growing to include additional villages and rural areas over the years, adding the original Town of Mission City , long an independent core of the region, in 1969. It is bordered by the city of Abbotsford to the south and the city of Maple Ridge to

1131-538: Is a sizeable First Nations community, forming 8.6% of the population. The Peckquaylis Indian Reserve, which is the former St. Mary's Residential School and its grounds, is a centre for services and governments of the Sto:lo communities in the area to the east. The largest visible minority group in Mission are South Asians, primarily Indo-Canadians comprising 10.7% of the population. Mission's Indo-Canadian community

1218-484: Is an important measure of the Fraser's annual and sometimes dangerously large spring freshet . Mission City's original retail core was in the small area of lowland between the CPR mainline and the river. Following the great flood of 1894 a few years after the town's founding, the core was relocated just north of the rail line at the foot of the hillside rising above the rail junction. This small commercial strip, originally named Washington Avenue, later Main Street and since

1305-718: 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 a progressively deeper canyon between the Lillooet Ranges of the Coast Mountains on its west and

1392-463: Is named Queensborough and 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

1479-622: 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

1566-536: Is the dominant service centre for the north side of the Fraser between Maple Ridge and Agassiz - Kent . These communities include: The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City of Mission. Fraser River The Fraser River ( / ˈ f r eɪ z ər / ) is the longest river within British Columbia , Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in

1653-547: The Alouette River east across the upland to Hatzic Prairie. And in addition to being the most southerly and relatively lower than the rest of the Pacific Ranges, it is also among the wettest and, for being lowland country relative to the rest of its parent ranges, among the ruggedest. The southern abutment of the Douglas Ranges is over 1,500 m (5,000 ft) above the Fraser River between Dewdney and

1740-471: 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 the river. Hells Gate is visible from Trans-Canada Highway 1 about 2 km (1.2 mi) south of

1827-731: The Fraser Valley . Burgeoning " exurban " population growth connected with the rapid growth of the population of the Lower Mainland and encouraged by a new commuter rail line direct to downtown Vancouver, the West Coast Express , has reversed this trend. Outside of the core "urban" area, most of which had been the Town of Mission City, the former District of Mission was a collection of distinct rural communities, each with their own history and sometimes distinct ethnic flavour. Silverdale, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of Mission on

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1914-631: The Harrison River , which flows along the southeast flank of the range. East of the Douglas Ranges, across Harrison Lake, are the Lillooet Ranges , while to the west and northwest are the Garibaldi Ranges . Southeast across the Fraser River is the Canadian portion of the Cascade Range . Because of the warmer climate (relative to the rest, even, of the British Columbia coastal lowlands), there were forests of immense trees throughout

2001-572: 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

2088-785: The Lougheed Highway 7 . Mission is also accessible through commuter rail, the West Coast Express , which runs five trains in each direction a day, five days a week, between Vancouver and Mission City Station . Bus service in Mission is served by the Central Fraser Valley Transit System connecting with the City of Abbotsford , as well as TransLink with service to Coquitlam Central Station via route 701. Three days per week Via Rail 's The Canadian provides eastbound flag stop service from Mission Harbour railway station . Mission differs from some of

2175-530: 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

2262-543: 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

2349-686: 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 the Dakelh language is Lhtakoh . The Tsilhqot'in name for

2436-757: 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 the confluence of the Chilcotin River , near the city of Williams Lake , southwards. It

2523-569: 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 the ocean. The river is named after Simon Fraser , who led an expedition in 1808 on behalf of

2610-589: 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

2697-668: The Stave Valley , is largely rural and forested but its watercourse is home to what was the largest hydroelectric project in British Columbia until the Bridge River Power Project opened in 1961. It was built by the British Columbia Electric Railway (BCER) to provide power to the electric street railway and interurban system in Vancouver. The Stave Falls Power Co. operated a light-gauge railway for passenger and freight service up

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2784-475: The census metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Abbotsford - Mission CMA had a population of 195,726 living in 67,613 of its 70,648 total private dwellings, a change of 8.4% from its 2016 population of 180,518 . With a land area of 606.72 km (234.26 sq mi), it had a population density of 322.6/km (835.5/sq mi) in 2021. The community has a young population, with

2871-409: The 1980s called First Avenue, is only four or five blocks long and was one of the principal commercial centres of the Fraser Valley for many decades and had a lively retail trade and social life. Following the 1894 flood, abandoned buildings and lots in the old downtown were taken over by Chinese merchants and workers, creating a Chinatown which lasted until the 1920s. The western part of the district,

2958-529: The District Municipality before amalgamation and which still have some strong local identity. The following list is incomplete, due to the emergence of modern-era development neighbourhoods, but covers the historical localities (usually defined by a school and a store of the same name): Unincorporated communities and rural areas to the east of Mission are linked closely to Mission, partly because of School District No. 75 , but also because Mission

3045-467: The District of Mission and in the unincorporated areas to the east. Students from Deroche/Lake Errock, Dewdney, Nicomen Island, Hatzic Island and Hatzic Prairie/Durieu and McConnell Creek elementary schools attend post-secondary at Mission Secondary School. The Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique operates one Francophone school: école des Deux-rives primary school. Mission has

3132-418: The Douglas Ranges supplied mills around Harrison Bay and along the Fraser's waterfront from there to Ruskin and Whonnock, British Columbia . Douglas Ranges wood especially went to mills at Mission City , which was the capital of cedar shake production in the world for many years. Nearby Eddy Match Co., between Mission and Hatzic, was one of the two largest matchstick-making plant in the world; its only rival

3219-493: The Douglas Ranges, which were logged relatively early on in British Columbia's history. A network of logging railroads ran throughout the basin of the Chehalis River , which drains the core of the ranges to the southeast, meeting the Harrison River just south of Chehalis, British Columbia . In other areas east of Stave Lake and along the side of Harrison Lake , grades required roads instead of rail. Timber from

3306-631: The Maple Ridge boundary near the waterfront on the west side of the Stave, and halfway between the dam and the mills at Ruskin, was a large drive-in theatre for many years. It is now a large trailer park, and the most populated of Ruskin's neighbourhoods. The building of the Highway 1 freeway on the south side of the Fraser in the early 1960s brought huge population growth and large shopping malls to formerly rural Abbotsford, Matsqui, Sumas and Langley; as

3393-642: The Mission Judo Club; the Mission Buddhist Church; and a Japanese Language School. The ethnic Japanese people in Mission had 979.304 acres (396.310 ha) of land on 103 properties by 1930. During the pre- World War II era 30% of Mission's public school enrollment consisted of ethnic Japanese. The Nokai had 79 members in 1942. The World War II-era Japanese Canadian internment disrupted Mission's ethnic Japanese community as their properties were confiscated, and productivity decreased as

3480-593: The North Arm, which is the southern boundary of 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

3567-525: The Pacific Ocean. However, Mission has plentiful rainfall all year round, with a drying trend in the summer. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Mission had a population of 41,519 living in 14,098 of its 14,701 total private dwellings, a change of 7.7% from its 2016 population of 38,554. With a land area of 226.98 km (87.64 sq mi), it had a population density of 182.9/km (473.8/sq mi) in 2021. At

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3654-554: The United States was necessarily routed through Mission until the New Westminster Bridge at New Westminster was built in 1904. The rail bridge at Mission doubled duty as a one-way alternating vehicular bridge until 1973, when a long-promised new Mission Bridge was finally completed. The bridge's location is geographically important at the head of the tidal bore on the Fraser River, and its water level gauge

3741-461: The border with the larger municipality of Maple Ridge to the west. Over 40% of Mission is tree farm, making it one of two communities with municipal tree farms (the other being Revelstoke , with a much smaller and newer farm). Mission's tree farm celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008. It comprises much of the northern part of the district, including the area west of the Stave River, up to

3828-540: 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

3915-556: The core developed area of the city. Mission was once the heart of the berry industry in the Fraser Valley, with "Home of the Big Red Strawberry" as Mission's slogan in the 1930s and into the 1940s. The more southerly portion of the municipality is bounded on the west by the lower reaches of the Stave River , which consists mostly of the lakewaters of two hydroelectric reservoirs, Stave Lake and Hayward Lake . Although

4002-653: The district's northern boundary near the foot of Mount Robie Reid ; a small sliver of Mission District is at the head of Alouette Lake (normally thought of as being in Maple Ridge). The eastern boundary of the municipality roughly coincides with the division between the Mission upland and the alluvial floodplain of Hatzic Prairie, which resembles much of the rest of the Fraser Valley Lowland. The unincorporated communities from Hatzic eastwards through Dewdney and Nicomen Island to Deroche are part of

4089-604: The east bank of the lower Stave River, was homesteaded in the 1880s by Italian immigrants. Neighbouring Silverhill was founded by a Finnish Utopian sect who were superseded by Scandinavian and German settlers following a forest fire that virtually wiped out the Finns. Steelhead, in the northern part of the district, was originally a weekend retreat for some of Vancouver's press community. Other localities such as Ferndale, Cedar Valley and Hatzic were farming communities of mixed origin, with Europeans and anglicized French-Canadians alongside

4176-408: The estuary, most notably Westham Island , 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

4263-405: The farms were managed by their new non-Japanese. Many Japanese chose not to move back to Mission in the post-war era, even though they were permitted to come back in 1949. In 2006 there were 145 Japanese living in Mission, making up 4.1% of the city's visible minorities. According to the 2021 census , religious groups in Mission included: School District 75 Mission operates public schools in

4350-483: The finest rock in the province; their name for the area is "The Chehalis". The name Douglas Ranges dates to the gold rush of 1857-1860 , which used the Harrison River and Harrison Lake as part of a route to the Interior, the Douglas Road . They are not named directly for the colonial Governor, Sir James Douglas , but for the port and road that bore his name. Mission, British Columbia Mission

4437-476: 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

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4524-518: The flat flood plain . The islands of 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

4611-523: 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

4698-443: 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

4785-413: The lower canyon of the river to the dam at Stave Falls . During the construction of the Ruskin Dam (completed 1931) the railway was rebuilt at a higher elevation so as to skirt the new Hayward Lake reservoir. The rail line has long been discontinued, but the old grade and its trestles are now part of a recreation trail circling the reservoir. Flanking the outraces of the powerhouse at Stave Falls there

4872-444: The majority of the farms in the area. There are about 96 commercial and hobby farms in the area. Dairy is the chief agricultural enterprise; other income sources include poultry, hogs, beef and vegetables. Mission's largest employer is the local school district, School District #75, and its second largest employer is the District (i.e. the municipality) itself. Transportation infrastructure includes Abbotsford-Mission Highway 11 , and

4959-429: The manufacturing sector to expand beyond sawmilling and food processing. Forest and wood related industries dominate the manufacturing sector, with an emphasis on redcedar shake and shingle mills. Mission also holds the only municipal tree farm license in British Columbia. Agriculture is mostly restricted to a narrow belt along the Fraser River, and the unincorporated Dewdney-Deroche district east of Mission contains

5046-466: The ongoing clearing of vast forests of flooded-out trees from the inundated areas of Stave Lake , opening the lake to water recreation and public exploration. On March 29, 2021, the District of Mission was reclassified as a city. Historically, forestry , hydroelectricity and agriculture were Mission's chief resource sectors and provided the basis for varied related retail and service activities. In recent history, transportation improvements have enabled

5133-527: The other Fraser Valley communities because of its access to the Fraser River. The Fraser near Mission is for the most part undeveloped and unspoiled which makes Mission the launch point for many water based activities that happen year round. Boat tours run from Mission's docks on Harbour Avenue, which are also home to sport and commercial fishing vessels; the Fraser has famous salmon runs and population of green sturgeon . Mission has an oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfb ) due to its proximity to

5220-437: 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

5307-516: The rights to the Western Canada championships of the Soap Box Derby , which were held annually in a specially built facility until 1973; the Derby has been revived in the new millennium. Mission's other major industry was logging, and the town's several mills were noted for being the world's largest suppliers of red cedar shakes and shingles. The District of Mission has operated for many years its own tree farm , covering most of its northern and northwestern mountainous forests. This tree farm served as

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5394-476: 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

5481-411: 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 the Yellowhead Highway and west past Mount Robson to

5568-404: 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

5655-423: The seminary. The berry industry, formerly the district's largest and most important, formed the heart of the town's annual summer party, the Strawberry Festival. The Strawberry Festival began in 1946, when it was suggested by the Board of Trade. But with the impacts on this industry ( relocation of the Japanese during wartime and the devastating flood of 1948), the strawberry theme was abandoned. The town acquired

5742-424: The slope above downtown, was acquired by the federal government and developed into two large penal facilities. One is a minimum security facility, and the other is a medium security prison. The northern part of the district, and the wilds of the Stave River basin to the north of it, are home to a few wilderness work camps for young offenders and low-risk convicts; these camps have over recent decades participated in

5829-460: The social and commercial matrix centred on Mission but have never joined the municipality, as is also the case with areas north of Hatzic and Dewdney such as McConnell Creek and Durieu ; the local economy and societies are built on dairy, berry and corn farming as well as a large First Nations community at the Indian Reserves of the Leq' a: mel First Nation , formerly known as the Lakahahmen First Nation, on Nicomen Island and Deroche . Mission

5916-448: The total population as of the 2006 Canadian census . Mission's Japanese Canadian community began in 1904, when Kumekichi Fujino moved to the city. Many issei , or first generation immigrants, included prospective farmers and "picture brides", or women who communicated with suitors through the mail for the purpose of marriage. Organizations established in Mission included the Japanese Farmer's Association (Nokai), established in 1916;

6003-655: 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 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

6090-494: The usual English-Scottish Canadian mix typical of much of the Fraser Valley. Throughout the Mission area before World War II , there was a large Japanese-Canadian population involved in berry farming, logging and milling and in the fishery on the river. In 1954, Benedictine monks obtained land near Mission, where they set up their Westminster Abbey and Seminary of Christ the King. They have lived there ever since, running their own farm and teaching high school and college men at

6177-411: The vast majority of the population of Mission lives well to the east of the Stave, over 50% of the northern land area of the municipality is west and north of that river; its extreme northwest corner is on the far side of upper Alouette Lake . A small portion of the lower Stave still runs free in its last two miles before its confluence with the Fraser at Ruskin ; its last three-quarters of a mile forms

6264-600: The west. To the east are the unincorporated areas of Hatzic and Dewdney . It is situated on the north bank of the Fraser River , backing onto mountains and lakes overlooking the Central Fraser Valley 65 km (40 miles) southeast of Vancouver . Unlike the other Fraser Valley municipalities, Mission is mostly forested upland with only small floodplains lining the shore of the Fraser River. Some benches of farmland rise in succession northwards above

6351-410: Was a large cluster of productive mills on the waterfront in Mission, for many years world capital of red cedar shake production (the mill at Whonnock outproduced the largest of the Mission mills, but Mission's city of mills was the largest overall producer). Nearby Eddy Match Co., between Mission and Hatzic, was the largest matchstick-making plant in the world until it closed in the 1960s; its only rival

6438-415: Was a young Canadian girl who disappeared from a Vancouver suburb on the morning of May 4, 2000, and was found dead the next day after she was kidnapped and murdered by a 20 year old man whose name was David Trott as he ostensibly took her to school. She was found dead in an incinerated trailer near Mission, British Columbia . Mission's neighbourhoods include a number of rural localities which were part of

6525-458: 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,

6612-549: Was active since the early 1900s. An Indo-Canadian volleyball team, "Mission Sikhs", was active in the area. Naranjan Grewall became the first Indo-Canadian elected to public office when he took a position in Mission City's government. According to the 2021 Canadian census , the South Asian population in Mission stood at 4,330 persons, forming approximately 10.7% of the total population, up from 2,220 persons or 6.6% of

6699-421: 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

6786-597: Was chosen due to the site's proximity to the historic St. Mary's Mission of the Oblate order just east of town, which was founded in 1868 (now the Peckquaylis Indian Reserve ). At the time of founding, the swing-span Mission Railway Bridge opened in 1891 was the only crossing of the Fraser River in the Fraser Valley below the Alexandra Bridge , and all rail traffic between Vancouver and

6873-546: Was elected on October 15, 2022. The current mayor is Paul Horn. A notable past mayor is Pam Alexis who resigned as the mayor of Mission in November 2020 after winning a seat for the provincial riding of Abbotsford-Mission in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia . The Town of Mission City took its name from the local St. Mary's Mission and Residential School established earlier in 1861 and began as

6960-580: Was in Hull, Quebec . The Douglas Ranges are subjected to torrential and ongoing rain, and its valleys are deep and narrow and dank throughout the year. Given that environment, no wonder it is the highest-rated region for sasquatch sightings in the world, and the very word comes from the Chehalis people on its southeastern rim. The ridges and cliffs above the dark, steep valleys (mostly clearcut) are favourites of rock climbers and have supposedly some of

7047-553: Was in Hull, Quebec . Adjoining it was the Empress Foods Co. cannery, the survivor of the struggles of the berry industry in the Central Fraser Valley, and dating from the days of Mission's supremacy as strawberry capital of the valley before the 1948 Fraser River flood wiped it out. In more recent times one of these buildings was for a while converted into the province's largest marijuana grow-op , in

7134-468: Was incorporated in 1892 and is 225.78 km (87.17 sq mi) in size. In 1922 the District of Mission was partitioned by the creation of the Village of Mission, which later became the Village of Mission City, then the Town of Mission City, until amalgamated with the District by plebiscite in 1969. The City of Mission uses the current Council-Manager system of local government. The present Council,

7221-589: Was once a fairly large community (300 houses), which was served by the railway via connections to the CPR line at Ruskin , although the (then very rough) Dewdney Trunk Road used the dam to cross the Stave River . Population in the Stave Falls area is now away from the dams, west along the Dewdney Trunk towards Maple Ridge, in a rural farm-and-wilderness area south of Rolley Lake Provincial Park . Up against

7308-595: 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

7395-657: Was the first Board of Trade in B.C." Some of the early houses and commercial buildings were, in fact, specifically designed to be reminiscent of small towns in southern Ontario in order to encourage buyers. Hailed at the time as a new metropolis, the fledgling town's location at the junction of the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline with a northward extension of the Burlington Northern Railroad brought name suggestions that included East Vancouver and North Seattle. The name Mission City

7482-496: 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,

7569-462: 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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