Riske Creek, originally Chilcoten and also Chilcotin, is a

ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

ing and

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

community located on 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 ...

just southwest of the city of

Williams Lake, British Columbia Williams Lake is a city in the Central Interior of British Columbia, in the central part of a region known as the Cariboo. Williams Lake is one of the largest cites, by population of metropolitan area, in the Cariboo after neighbouring Quesnel ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is the location of the offices of the Toosey First Nation, a

band government In Canada, an Indian band (), First Nation band () or simply band, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the ''Indian Act'' (i.e. status Indians or First Nations). Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in ...

of Tsilhqot'in people in the vicinity, and also of two of the bridges crossing the Fraser. The older bridge, which is a suspension bridge similar to the bridges at Alexandra and Lillooet, was built c.1912 to bring cattle from ranches on the west side of the Fraser to the railways for export, the newer is a concrete-and-steel span built to improve access for logging trucks to the Chilcotin, which is the name of the region on the west side of the Fraser and is now the route of the Chilcotin Highway connecting Williams Lake to Bella Coola. In the spring of 1944, the Canadian Army established #4 Special Wireless Station presumably to intercept Japanese radio communications. However, the station closed in July of the same year without ever becoming operational.

Name origin

The name is an adaptation of that of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

immigrant and rancher, L.W. Riskie, who settled here sometime before 1872, and was the first postmaster as of 1886. The post office was then named "Chilcoten" and then renamed "Chilcotin" in 1911, with the current name being adopted in 1912.

References

{{reflist Populated places on the Fraser River Populated places in the Chilcotin Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Fraser Canyon

Name origin

See also

References