Rivers Inlet is a

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

in the Central Coast region of the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

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 ...

, its entrance off Fitz Hugh Sound, about southwest of the community of Bella Coola and about north of the northern tip of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

and the western entrance of the Queen Charlotte Strait. Rivers Inlet was a major fishing area with huge salmon runs. At one time it had the second largest sockeye salmon run only to the Fraser River. A total of 19 Canneries were built in the area starting late in the 1890's. Three canneries remained as they dotted the shorelines until their closure by consolidation through the monopoly of companies, and the consolidation around large centralized ice plants in the 1950s.

Name origin

Rivers Inlet was named by

George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

for George Pitt the 1st Baron Rivers (1721-1803). Two of his men,

Peter Puget Peter Puget (1765 – 31 October 1822) was an officer in the Royal Navy, best known for his exploration of Puget Sound, which is named for him. Midshipman Puget Puget's ancestors had fled France for Britain during Louis XIV's persecution of the ...

and

Joseph Whidbey Joseph Whidbey Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (1757 – 9 October 1833) was a member of the Royal Navy who served on the Vancouver Expedition 1791–95, and later achieved renown as a naval engineer. He is notable for having been the first Eu ...

, first charted it in 1792.

Geography

The inlet is about in length from its head at the community of Rivers Inlet, which was a logging and fishing town that was also the home of the Wuikinuxv and their government, the Wuikinuxv Nation, also known variously as the Owekeeno, Awikenox, Oowekeeno and also as the Rivers Inlet people. The main rivers feeding Rivers Inlet are the Kilbella River and its tributary, the Chuckwalla River, and the Wannock River, which feeds the head of Rivers Inlet and was fed by the fresh-water fjord Owikeno Lake, in length, and which was fed by the Tzeo, Sheemahant and Machmell Rivers. The Machmell, the largest, was fed from the northern flank of the

Ha-Iltzuk Icefield The Ha-Iltzuk Icefield is an icefield in the central Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. It is the largest icefield in the Coast Mountains south of the Alaska Panhandle, with an area of . It is located on the west ...

, one of the largest of the southern

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains () are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the British Columbia Coast, Coast of British Columbia sout ...

icecaps, and which was capped by the Silverthrone Caldera. About down the inlet, west from the town and the head of the inlet, is the mouth of a side-inlet from the north, Moses Inlet, which is fed by the Clyak River and which itself has a western side-inlet named Hardy Inlet, in length.

References

Fjords of British Columbia Central Coast of British Columbia Wuikinuxv Inlets of British Columbia {{canada-fjord-stub