McLeod Lake is an unincorporated community located on

Highway 97 Route 97, or Highway 97, may refer to: Australia - Olympic Dam Highway, South Australia Canada * British Columbia Highway 97 ** British Columbia Highway 97A ** British Columbia Highway 97B ** British Columbia Highway 97C ** British Columb ...

in northern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada, north of Prince George. It is notable for being the first continuously inhabited

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an settlement established west of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

in present-day Canada.

History

Originally named Trout Lake Fort, it was founded by the explorer and

North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...

trader Simon Fraser in 1805 and was for a while known as La Malice Fort, after an employee left in charge during Fraser's absence. It became known soon after as Fort McLeod during the tenure of

Archibald Norman McLeod Major The Hon. Archibald Norman McLeod (17 March 1772 – after 1837) J.P., was a partner of the North West Company and a political figure in Lower Canada. In 1805, he built Fort Dunvegan. He was a member of the Beaver Club and represented Mont ...

, who was in charge of the post for many years. The site of the fort was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...

in 1953. McLeod Lake Indian Reserve No. 1, which is adjacent to the non-native community, has a population of around 87, the main residents being an

Athabascan Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific Co ...

Sekani people known as "Tse'Khene" (the people of the rock, in reference to the Rocky Mountains). Having signed

Treaty 8 Treaty 8, which concluded with the June 21, 1899 signing by representatives of the Crown and various First Nations of the Lesser Slave Lake area, is the most comprehensive of the one of eleven Numbered Treaties. The agreement encompassed a la ...

in the year 2000,''McLeod Lake Indian Band Treaty No. 8 Adhesion and Settlement Agreement Documents'' BC Govt Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
/ref> the natives of the community are trying to direct themselves towards self-government and employment stability. The lake itself is . A point in the marshes on its southern shore of nearby Summit Lake marks the low point of the divide between the drainages of the Fraser and

Peace River The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in th ...

s, As such it is significant as the prominence col between all points south in the Rockies and beyond and their "parent" summits in northern BC and

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. Summit Lake col, at in elevation, is the low point on the mountain spine of the Americas that connects

Pico de Orizaba Pico de Orizaba, also known as Citlaltépetl (from Nahuatl = star, and = mountain), is an inactive stratovolcano, the highest mountain in Mexico and the third highest in North America, after Denali of Alaska in the United States and Mount Loga ...

() in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

with its next-higher " parent" peak,

Mount Logan Mount Logan () is the highest mountain in Canada and the second-highest peak in North America after Denali. The mountain was named after Sir William Edmond Logan, a Canadian geologist and founder of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). Mount ...

().

References

Bibliography

BCGNIS listing "Fort McLeod (fort)" - Rescinded

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcleod Lake, British Columbia Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Populated places in the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George Fur trade Hudson's Bay Company forts North West Company Heritage sites in British Columbia National Historic Sites in British Columbia Hudson's Bay Company trading posts

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links