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25-509: Below the 30 km (18.6 mi) length of Lillooet Lake , it resumes again just north of the native community and ghost town of Skookumchuck Hot Springs , which is known in the St'at'imcets language as Skatin . The lower stretch of the Lillooet River, from Lillooet Lake to Harrison Lake , is approximately 55 km (c. 34 mi) in length. Its main tributaries are Meager Creek ,

50-417: A grassy island 5 kilometres (3 mi) above Lillooet Lake , the residents numbered 50 men (plus women and children). The island lies in the vicinity of the later Owl Creek general community. In 1881, the government created a 2,000-hectare (5,000-acre) reserve at Mount Currie, upon which the people cultivated fine crops and orchards by the early 1900s. Fire destroyed the initial Catholic church building and

75-540: A new one was erected in 1896. The bell from a demolished Vancouver church was offered to the band, who transported this extremely heavy gift northward by cart and canoe. The bell hung in the Mount Currie church steeple from about 1905 until 1948, when the church burnt down and the bell tumbled. After spending 20 years in Whistler, the bell returned to now hang at the old village site in an open-air steeple, ringing on

100-649: A residential section for staff. The 1930s building became a kindergarten. The Lil'wat First Nation , who comprise most of the Mount Currie population, are of the Interior Salish people and form part of the Upper Lillooet language group of the St'at'imc Nation. Groups to the south form the Lower Lillooet part of the nation. In the early 1970s, the school transferred to indigenous control becoming

125-520: A short period to produce lumber for the hatchery buildings. The main building, which was 46 by 12 metres (150 by 40 ft), had a 25-million egg capacity. The nearby two-storey boarding house was 4.9 by 7.3 metres (16 by 24 ft). Trapping fences were installed in the Birkenhead River. Prior to closure in 1936, the hatchery provided various part-time local employment. In 1908, Samuel Spetch relocated his store/post office from Birken . He

150-458: A store in their home on the reserve, which continued until the early 1950s. In 1940, Bill Spetch sold the store to his brother Walter. Initially leased by Jack and Alice McKay, the couple purchased the business in 1943. Bill repurchased it in 1947. While Bill operated a logging partnership with George Walker, George McDonald ran the store. In 1955, Bill opened a dry goods store, which others ran for him. Called Penny's, then Mount Currie Dry Goods, this

175-651: Is the lakeshore itself. The eastern ramparts of the mountain ranges of Garibaldi Provincial Park overlook Lillooet Lake from the west, while to the east are the northern reaches of the Lillooet Ranges which lie between the Lillooet-Harrison drainage and the Fraser River . Lillooet Lake was part of the "Lakes Route" or Douglas Road , once if only briefly the principal route between the Coast and

200-612: The Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE) rail head passed in November 1914. The nearest train stations in 1922 were about 7.6 kilometres (4.7 mi) northeast at Spetch and 7.9 kilometres (4.9 mi) west at Pemberton. By 1947, the regular stops northeastward from Pemberton were 7.4 kilometres (4.6 mi) to Chilsampton, 1.0 kilometre (0.6 mi) to Creekside, 3.1 kilometres (1.9 mi) to Owl Creek, and 19.2 kilometres (11.9 mi) to Birken . By 1959,

225-960: The Ryan River , the Green River , and the Birkenhead River . Below Harrison Lake , the stream is renamed as the Harrison River , which enters the Fraser near the First Nations community of Chehalis . The lower Lillooet River and Lillooet Lake were part of a short-lived main route between the Coast and the Interior in the days of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush . See the Douglas Road . Until

250-609: The Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia . On BC Highway 99 , the locality is by road about 160 kilometres (99 mi) north of Vancouver , 39 kilometres (24 mi) northeast of Whistler , and 92 kilometres (57 mi) southwest of Lillooet . The Lillooet Tribal Council governs the First Nations portion. The relatively smaller freehold part is an unincorporated community. The latter business centre approximately encompasses an area where

275-630: The 1910s, the name Lillooet River also applied to what is now the Alouette River in Maple Ridge ; the neighbourhood that grew up on its south branch became known as South Lillooet, but to avoid confusion the new postmaster was requested to come up with a name, choosing Yennadon after his family manor on the Devonshire Moors. The river name was changed formally on March 31, 1915 with "Alouette" chosen because of its resemblance to

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300-590: The Correspondence Branch of the BC Department of Education in 1919. His children were the first three students. In 1929, A.William (Bill) Spetch took over his father's store at Owl Creek, which thrived from both the hatchery and valley customer base. By 1937, Bill had moved the store/post office to Creekside. Owl Creek now comprises scattered rural properties. Road and railway access has been similar to Pemberton . The northward advance of

325-537: The Creekwood station. Kiltz sold groceries, hardware, basic clothing, and some pharmaceuticals. In 1946, Gerry and Florence Cowell took over. In 1950, Hector and Adele Harwood converted the store to a restaurant. By 1937, A. William (Bill) Spetch, Samuel's son, moved the Owl Creek store/post office to Creekside to serve the indigenous village, but that post office soon closed. George and Adeline Williams already had

350-467: The Interior during the days of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush . Several steamers and innumerable smaller watercraft served the busy freight and passenger traffic in those days. The best-known and largest of these was the SS Prince of Wales , whose wreckage was visible on the shores of the lake near Mount Currie for many years. Mount Currie, British Columbia Mount Currie is a settlement in

375-630: The Macrea Road/Highway 99 intersection forms the southwest corner and the Pemberton Portage Road/Highway 99 intersection forms the northeast corner. The First Nations reserves straddle the Birkenhead River . The eastern portion of the reserves extends north to the same latitude as the Owl Creek community but is well back from the river at that point. In 1846, Alexander Caulfield Anderson visited Lillooet Village (not to be confused with later named Lillooet ). On

400-603: The Ts̓zil Community School but is now called the Xet̓ólacw Community School. The Lil'wat language and culture are an integral part of the curriculum. The Lil'wat also operate their own gas station and grocery store. The Stl’atl’imx Tribal Police are based at Mount Currie. The post office was called Creekside. The Creekside train station was about half a mile east of the Chilsampton one. In 1956,

425-560: The church on the reserve burned, the present St. Christopher's replaced it, being built on freehold land to serve all Catholics. Mount Currie held an annual parade and races in May. The rodeo appeared in the CBC documentary Pemberton Valley (1957). The Trap was a movie filmed at Birkenhead Lake and Mount Currie, using indigenous extras. The community hall opened in 1968. In 1905, a water-powered 10,000-kilogram (23,000 lb) sawmill came for

450-593: The flood. Lillooet Lake Lillooet Lake is a lake in British Columbia , Canada about 25 km in length and about 21 km (8.1 sq mi) in area. It is about 95 km downstream from the source of the Lillooet River , which resumes its course after leaving Little Lillooet Lake, aka Tenas Lake ( tenass in the Chinook Jargon means little ). Immediately adjacent to

475-661: The mouth of the upper Lillooet River is the mouth of the Birkenhead River and just upstream along the Lillooet is the confluence of the Green River, which begins at Green Lake in the resort area of Whistler . The community of Pemberton is about 12 km upstream from the head of Lillooet Lake, while the eastern edge of the Mount Currie Indian Reserve of the Lil'wat branch of the St'at'imc people

500-514: The passing of band members. By 1933, only 350 people resided on the reserve. The cemetery indicated that many never survived early childhood. The one-room school, which opened at Mount Currie in the 1930s, was called the Pemberton Indian Day School. The two Catholic sisters, who joined the two lay teachers in 1948, took full charge a year later. In 1958, a second building was erected, which housed grades 1–7 classrooms and

525-477: The post office name changed to Mount Currie as did the Chilsampton station. The new name derives from the mountain, which recognizes John Currie of Pemberton . Ts̓zil is the original name for the mountain. The meadows north of the settlement were among the first privately held land on the BC mainland. P. Smith and Co. received the first preemption . John Shaw received the second one. These two properties form part of

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550-409: The present Mount Currie reserve. John Charles McKay was the inaugural Creekwood postmaster 1938–1945. About 1923, Bill Kiltz (of Lillooet Lake Trading Co) built the first Creekside store, a log cabin structure opposite the present church. After being lost to fire, a new store was erected near the train station. Since the building was demolished during the 1950s school expansion, this would likely be

575-531: The sound of "Lillooet". The Lillooet River was dammed with breccia from a Plinian style eruption of the Mount Meager massif 2,400 years ago. The breccia damming the Lillooet River was not very strong, and the water soon eroded the breccia that was damming the river, forming Keyhole Falls . There was a massive flood when the water first broke through the breccia. The flood was big enough that small house sized blocks of breccia were carried away during

600-407: Was the first true clothing store in the area. Bill's wife Jean managed the business by the mid-1960s. Bill built a hardware store, to which the post office moved. Initially rented out, the enterprise was sold in 1957, as was the original grocery store. Down the road, Gerry Boulanger ran a taxi service to Pemberton and a small café. In the 1950s, Hector Harwood ran a small café by the railway. After

625-475: Was the inaugural Owl Creek postmaster 1908–1929. By 1918, his house was one of the few in the district with indoor plumbing. At the time, he also had a water-powered sawmill at Owl Creek and another mill at Spetch Siding. During the era, the continuous forest bordering the Pemberton Portage hosted several pole and tie manufacturers. Sam Spetch's petitioning was instrumental in the creation of

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