Boat Encampment is a
ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
in the
East Kootenay
The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada. In the 2016 census, the population was 60,439. Its area is . The regional district offices are in Cranbrook, the large ...
region of southeastern
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
, Canada. The locality was at the tip of the
Big Bend on the north shore of the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
. The general vicinity, on the former
Big Bend Highway, was by road about northwest of
Golden and north of
Revelstoke.
Precise location
The initial site was on a long woody point, but the appearance on maps has ranged from the west shore of the
Canoe River to the former highway bridge about southeast of the former mouth of the
Wood River.
The consensus places the initial location between the mouths of the Canoe and Wood rivers.
After the highway was opened, the bridge location assumed the name and was chosen for viewing purposes as the site for the 1953 cairn and plaque. A fishing lodge opened in the vicinity. In 1943, the area was designated a
National Historic Site of Canada
National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...
. In 1973, the historic marker was relocated when the enlarged
Kinbasket Lake
Kinbasket Lake (or Kinbasket Reservoir) is a reservoir on the Columbia River in southeast British Columbia, north of the city of Revelstoke and the town of Golden. The reservoir was created by the construction of the Mica Dam. The lake includes ...
formed the
Mica Dam
Mica Dam is a hydroelectric embankment dam spanning the Columbia River 135 kilometres north of Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada. It was built as one of three Canadian projects under the terms of the 1964 Columbia River Treaty and is operated b ...
reservoir. In 2000, a memorial plaque was placed at a visitor site on the south shore of the Columbia.
Early significance
When
David Thompson of the fur trading
North West Company
The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...
(NWC) attempted his usual westward crossing of the
Continental Divide
A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...
via the
Howse Pass
Howse Pass (el. ) is a pass through the Rocky Mountains in Canada.
The pass is located in Banff National Park, between Mount Conway and Howse Peak. From here waters flow east via Conway Creek, Howse River, North Saskatchewan River to Lake Wi ...
in September 1810, the hostile
Piegan Blackfeet
The Piegan (Blackfeet language, Blackfeet: ''Piikáni'') are an Algonquian languages, Algonquian-speaking people from the Plains Indians, North American Great Plains. They are the largest of three Blackfeet-speaking groups that make up the Bla ...
blocked his passage, forcing his party to divert northward to the uncharted
Athabasca Pass
Athabasca Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the Canadian Rockies on the border between Alberta and British Columbia. In fur trade days it connected Jasper House on the Athabasca River with Boat Encampment on the Columbia River.Whittaker, ...
. After a tortuous journey, the party reached the Boat Encampment site in January, 1811.
Four discontented members deserted. The remainder continued upstream on the Columbia, but further discontent prompted a return to Boat Encampment, where they built a cabin for the winter. During his stay, Thompson built a canoe, naming the adjacent waterway the Canoe River. They split cedar into thin boards because the preferred birch bark lacked thickness.
In the spring, they proceeded down the Columbia on their journey to the coast. Within a few years, Athabasca Pass became the accepted route for the fur brigades. In 1821, when the NWC merged into the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
(HBC), the latter adopted the route for the once or twice-annual
HBC "Express" linking the west with
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...
. By river, the distance to
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver was a 19th-century fur trading post built in the winter of 1824–1825. It was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department, located in the Pacific Northwest. Named for Captain George Vancouver, the fort was ...
was .
The Athabasca trail northeastward from Boat Encampment comprised
Wood River, Jeffrey Creek, Pacific Creek,
Committee's Punch Bowl,
Athabasca Pass
Athabasca Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass in the Canadian Rockies on the border between Alberta and British Columbia. In fur trade days it connected Jasper House on the Athabasca River with Boat Encampment on the Columbia River.Whittaker, ...
,
Whirlpool River
The Whirlpool River is a short river in Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada. It is an early tributary of the Athabasca River.
The Whirlpool is formed in Athabasca Pass, collecting meltwater from the Hooker Icefield and the Mount Brown Icefield. ...
,
Athabasca River
The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') in Alberta, Canada, originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is protected in nationa ...
,
Brûlé Lake
Brule, Brulé or Brûlé may refer to:
Native American
* Brulé, or Sicangu, a branch of the Lakota nation
* Brulé (band), a Native American World Beat
Places Canada
* Brule, Alberta, hamlet in Alberta
* Brule, Nova Scotia, a community in Nova ...
, and terminated at
Jasper House
Jasper House National Historic Site, in Jasper National Park, Alberta, is the second site of a trading post on the Athabasca River that functioned from 1813 to 1884 as a major staging and supply post for travel through the Canadian Rockies.
The ...
(first location). Gradually, the eastern terminus moved westward, having a final location in the vicinity of
Henry House. Cabins, stables and a boathouse existed at Boat Encampment. Each eastbound party would exchange boats for horses and snowshoes with each westbound one. However, the former would wait up to a month for the latter to arrive. On one occasion, having waited 39 days, the eastbound were about to return down the river, when word was received of the westbound imminent arrival. After 1849, the route and site were largely abandoned when the HBC switched to the
Tête Jaune Cache
Tête, head in French, may refer to :
* ''Tête'' (sculpture), a 1912 work of art by Amedeo Modigliani; one of the most expensive sculptures ever sold
* "Je danse dans ma tête", a 1991 song from the Dion chante Plamondon album by Céline Dion
* ...
route via the
Fraser River
The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...
.
From the late 1890s to early 1900s, the place was known as a mining camp north of Revelstoke.
Name origin
Earlier names were Canoe camp, Portage Point, Rocky Mountain Portage, and Mountain House.
The rename to Boat Encampment (often not capitalised and/or with the definite article) appears to have been adopted in the 1830s.
By 1900, the place was also known as Big Bend, but this term also had a wider application.
The pass was also called Rocky Mountain Portage, Columbia Pass, or Boat Encampment Pass.
Notable early visitors
1825: Governor
George Simpson.
1827, 1828: Francis Ermatinger.
1828:
David Douglas.
1838: Fathers
Blanchet and
Demers held the first
mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
on the mainland of what would become BC.
1845: Lieutenant
Henry Warre made sketches during his travels.
1846, 1847:
Paul Kane
Paul Kane (September 3, 1810 – February 20, 1871) was an Irish-born Canadian painter whose paintings and especially field sketches were known as one of the first visual documents of Western indigenous life.
A largely self-educated artist, P ...
also made sketches. Paintings later developed from his drawings exaggerated the landscape.
Ferry and bridge
At this point, the breadth of the Columbia was and the adjacent Canoe mouth was . About downstream were the dangerous
Dalles des Morts
Dalles des Morts, also known as Death Rapids in English, was a famously violent stretch of the Columbia River upstream from Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada, now submerged beneath the waters of Lake Revelstoke.
History
1817
The rapids acquir ...
rapids.
The ferry installed in 1900 no longer operated a few years later. A subsidized ferry was established in 1910 to connect the Big Bend with Tête Jaune via the Canoe River shore. The ferry, which could carry horses and wagons, existed at least until 1916.
The highway bridge was erected by 1936. Although completed in late 1939, the official opening ceremony for the highway was held at the Boat Encampment bridge in June 1940. By 1973, when the dam submerged the locality, the highway had fallen into general disuse. During 1970–71, an over-height loaded logging truck damaged the bridge bracing. Once repaired, warning portals were installed on the approaches.
Images
*Former highway bridge, Boat Encampment, 1959.
*Former general store/BA gas bar, Boat Encampment, 1959.
Footnotes
References
*
*
{{British Columbia parks
Ghost towns in British Columbia
Fur trade
Pre-Confederation British Columbia
Hudson's Bay Company
Columbia Country
National Historic Sites in British Columbia