Niut Range
Encyclopedia
The Niut Range is 3600 km² (c. 1390 sq mi) in area. It is a subrange of the Pacific Ranges
of the Coast Mountains
of British Columbia
, although in some classifications it is considered part of the Chilcotin Ranges
(which in some classifications are themselves part of the Pacific Ranges
). The Niut and is located in the angle of the Homathko River
and its main west fork, Mosley Creek. It is isolated, island-like, by those rivers from its neighbour ranges, as both streams have their source on the Chilcotin Plateau
in behind the range.
Northwest across Mosley Creek is the Pantheon Range
and due west is the Waddington Range
and south of that is the Whitemantle Range
; further northwest is the Klinaklini Icefield, beyond the river of the same name
. To the southeast across the great Grand Canyon of the Homathko
is the Homathko Icefield
, east of which beyond the area of Mount Queen Bess
is Tsy'los Provincial Park.
, at the southern foot of the Niut Range, the bullying of a party of Tsilhqot'in
First Nations
warriors hired to help build an enterprise known as Waddington's Road led to their massacre of the road company's workers and the opening of hostilities between a faction of the Chilcotin
people and the colonial government of British Columbia.
This was the opening round of the Chilcotin War
of 1864. The land-surveyed townsite of Port Waddington on today's maps is a relic of those times. the townsite had been surveyed as part of the roadbuilders Alfred Waddington
' obligations in having the licence in building the road, as well as profit from the sale of lots (and some lots were sold, but the townsite never came to anything).
The route of the failed road contract was later considered for the mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway
, to connect to Vancouver Island
via Seymour Narrows
to connect to Victoria
, but Burrard Inlet
was chosen for the railway's terminus-port city instead, thereby creating the City of Vancouver.
Attention to the route's possibilities waned since being eyed by the CPR
but plans to develop the Homathko
and its neighbouring rivers for hydroelectric power have been considered throughout the 20th Century by BC Hydro, the province's Crown-owned power monopoly. The Homathko
by itself has immense hydroelectric potential, but full build-out as first conceived would divert the Taseko Lakes
and Chilko Lake
into the Homathko system
via Tatlayoko Lake
. Other than those diversions, which would deplete the Chilcotin River
and its contribution to the Fraser
, a series of dams on the Homathko
and its tributaries would have generated some of the most power-per-project in British Columbia
using the extra power of the water from the Chilcotin
's tributaries,.
The creation of Ts'il?os Provincial Park
(the '?' represents a glottal stop
) and Big Creek Provincial Park
have shelved the grand plan, as Chilko
and Taseko Lakes
are protected and cannot be diverted (also for salmon fishery reasons. But the hydroelectric potential of the Homathko Canyon are still on the books and are to be developed as run-of-the-river project by Plutonic Power, a subsidiary of General Electric
.
Pacific Ranges
The Pacific Ranges are the southernmost subdivision of the Coast Mountains portion of the Pacific Cordillera. Located entirely within British Columbia, Canada, they run northwest from the lower stretches of the Fraser River to Bella Coola, north of which are the Kitimat Ranges.The Pacific Ranges...
of the Coast Mountains
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 Coast of British Columbia. They are so-named because of their proximity to the sea coast, and are often...
of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, although in some classifications it is considered part of the Chilcotin Ranges
Chilcotin Ranges
The Chilcotin Ranges are a subdivision of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains . They lie on the inland lea of the Pacific Ranges, abutting the Interior Plateau of British Columbia...
(which in some classifications are themselves part of the Pacific Ranges
Pacific Ranges
The Pacific Ranges are the southernmost subdivision of the Coast Mountains portion of the Pacific Cordillera. Located entirely within British Columbia, Canada, they run northwest from the lower stretches of the Fraser River to Bella Coola, north of which are the Kitimat Ranges.The Pacific Ranges...
). The Niut and is located in the angle of the Homathko River
Homathko River
The Homathko River is one of the major rivers of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, and one of the few rivers that penetrates the range from the Chilcotin Plateau to the coastal inlets, entering the sea at the head of Bute Inlet adjacent to the mouth of the Southgate River, just to...
and its main west fork, Mosley Creek. It is isolated, island-like, by those rivers from its neighbour ranges, as both streams have their source on the Chilcotin Plateau
Chilcotin Plateau
The Chilcotin Plateau is part of the Fraser Plateau, a major subdivision of the Interior Plateau of British Columbia. The Chilcotin Plateau is physically near-identical with the region of the same name, i.e...
in behind the range.
Northwest across Mosley Creek is the Pantheon Range
Pantheon Range
The Pantheon Range is a subrange of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia. It is located between the edge of the Chilcotin Plateau at Tatla Lake on its northeast and the Klinaklini River on its west, with a southeastern boundary along Mosley Creek, a major tributary of the...
and due west is the Waddington Range
Waddington Range
The Waddington Range is a subrange of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is only about 4000 km² in area, relatively small in area within the expanse of the range, but it is the highest area of the Pacific Ranges and of the Coast Mountains, being...
and south of that is the Whitemantle Range
Whitemantle Range
The Whitemantle Range is a subrange of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia. Located between the heads of Bute Inlet on the east and Knight Inlet on the west, it is extremely rugged and glaciated...
; further northwest is the Klinaklini Icefield, beyond the river of the same name
Klinaklini River
The Klinaklini River is one of the major rivers of the Pacific Ranges section of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia. It begins in the northern basins of the Pantheon Range to the north of Mount Waddington and briefly heads northeast onto the Chilcotin Plateau before bending around...
. To the southeast across the great Grand Canyon of the Homathko
Homathko River
The Homathko River is one of the major rivers of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, and one of the few rivers that penetrates the range from the Chilcotin Plateau to the coastal inlets, entering the sea at the head of Bute Inlet adjacent to the mouth of the Southgate River, just to...
is the Homathko Icefield
Homathko Icefield
The Homathko Icefield is an icefield in British Columbia, Canada. Officially named the Homathko Snowfield from 1950 until the current name was adopted in 1976, it is one of the largest icefields in the southern half of the Coast Mountains, with an area of over...
, east of which beyond the area of Mount Queen Bess
Mount Queen Bess
Mount Queen Bess is one of the principal summits of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains of southern British Columbia. It stands west of Chilko Lake and to the south of Tatlayoko Lake, and crowns a peak-studded ridge to the north of the Homathko Icefield....
is Tsy'los Provincial Park.
History
Just below the confluence of Mosley Creek and the Homathko RiverHomathko River
The Homathko River is one of the major rivers of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, and one of the few rivers that penetrates the range from the Chilcotin Plateau to the coastal inlets, entering the sea at the head of Bute Inlet adjacent to the mouth of the Southgate River, just to...
, at the southern foot of the Niut Range, the bullying of a party of Tsilhqot'in
Tsilhqot'in
The Tsilhqot'in are a Northern Athabaskan First Nations people that live in British Columbia, Canada...
First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
warriors hired to help build an enterprise known as Waddington's Road led to their massacre of the road company's workers and the opening of hostilities between a faction of the Chilcotin
Tsilhqot'in
The Tsilhqot'in are a Northern Athabaskan First Nations people that live in British Columbia, Canada...
people and the colonial government of British Columbia.
This was the opening round of the Chilcotin War
Chilcotin War
The Chilcotin War, Chilcotin Uprising or Bute Inlet Massacre was a confrontation in 1864 between members of the Tsilhqot'in people in British Columbia and white road construction workers...
of 1864. The land-surveyed townsite of Port Waddington on today's maps is a relic of those times. the townsite had been surveyed as part of the roadbuilders Alfred Waddington
Alfred Waddington
Alfred Penderell Waddington was born in 1801 in the Brompton, Kensington, district of London, England. During his later years, Waddington was actively involved in the Colony of Vancouver Island in what later became the province of British Columbia, Canada....
' obligations in having the licence in building the road, as well as profit from the sale of lots (and some lots were sold, but the townsite never came to anything).
The route of the failed road contract was later considered for the mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
, to connect to Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
via Seymour Narrows
Seymour Narrows
Seymour Narrows is a section of the Discovery Passage in British Columbia known for strong tidal currents. Discovery Passage lies between Vancouver Island at Menzies Bay, British Columbia and Quadra Island except at its northern end where the eastern shoreline is Sonora Island...
to connect to Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, but Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet
Burrard Inlet is a relatively shallow-sided coastal fjord in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Formed during the last Ice Age, it separates the City of Vancouver and the rest of the low-lying Burrard Peninsula from the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, home to the communities of West...
was chosen for the railway's terminus-port city instead, thereby creating the City of Vancouver.
Attention to the route's possibilities waned since being eyed by the CPR
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
but plans to develop the Homathko
Homathko River
The Homathko River is one of the major rivers of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, and one of the few rivers that penetrates the range from the Chilcotin Plateau to the coastal inlets, entering the sea at the head of Bute Inlet adjacent to the mouth of the Southgate River, just to...
and its neighbouring rivers for hydroelectric power have been considered throughout the 20th Century by BC Hydro, the province's Crown-owned power monopoly. The Homathko
Homathko River
The Homathko River is one of the major rivers of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, and one of the few rivers that penetrates the range from the Chilcotin Plateau to the coastal inlets, entering the sea at the head of Bute Inlet adjacent to the mouth of the Southgate River, just to...
by itself has immense hydroelectric potential, but full build-out as first conceived would divert the Taseko Lakes
Taseko Lakes
The Taseko Lakes are a pair of lakes, Upper Taseko Lake and Lower Taseko Lake, which are expansions of the upper Taseko River in the southern Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada...
and Chilko Lake
Chilko Lake
Chilko Lake is a 180 km² lake in west-central British Columbia, at the head of the Chilko River on the Chilcotin Plateau. The lake is about 65 km long, with a southwest arm 10 km long. It is one of the largest lakes by volume in the province because of its great depth, and the...
into the Homathko system
Homathko River
The Homathko River is one of the major rivers of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, and one of the few rivers that penetrates the range from the Chilcotin Plateau to the coastal inlets, entering the sea at the head of Bute Inlet adjacent to the mouth of the Southgate River, just to...
via Tatlayoko Lake
Tatlayoko Lake
Tatlayoko Lake is a lake on the Homathko River in the western Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located on a north-south axis just upstream of the entrance of the series of canyons of the Homathko, including the Great Canyon of the Homathko, on its route to the...
. Other than those diversions, which would deplete the Chilcotin River
Chilcotin River
The Chilcotin River is a long tributary of the Fraser River in southern British Columbia, Canada. It drains the Chilcotin Plateau, which lies between the Fraser River and the Coast Mountains...
and its contribution to the Fraser
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
, a series of dams on the Homathko
Homathko River
The Homathko River is one of the major rivers of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia, and one of the few rivers that penetrates the range from the Chilcotin Plateau to the coastal inlets, entering the sea at the head of Bute Inlet adjacent to the mouth of the Southgate River, just to...
and its tributaries would have generated some of the most power-per-project in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
using the extra power of the water from the Chilcotin
Chilcotin River
The Chilcotin River is a long tributary of the Fraser River in southern British Columbia, Canada. It drains the Chilcotin Plateau, which lies between the Fraser River and the Coast Mountains...
's tributaries,.
The creation of Ts'il?os Provincial Park
Ts'il?os Provincial Park
Ts'il?os Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. Ts'il?os is the official BC Parks designation for this provincial park, though sometimes it is written as "Ts'il-os", "Ts'yl-os", or "Tsylos"...
(the '?' represents a glottal stop
Glottal stop
The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English, the feature is represented, for example, by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those using a preservative pronunciation of...
) and Big Creek Provincial Park
Big Creek Provincial Park
Big Creek Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada.It is adjoined on the south by the Spruce Lake Protected Area and on the west by Ts'il?os Provincial Park. Neighbouring on the east is the Churn Creek Protected Area.- References :...
have shelved the grand plan, as Chilko
Chilko Lake
Chilko Lake is a 180 km² lake in west-central British Columbia, at the head of the Chilko River on the Chilcotin Plateau. The lake is about 65 km long, with a southwest arm 10 km long. It is one of the largest lakes by volume in the province because of its great depth, and the...
and Taseko Lakes
Taseko Lakes
The Taseko Lakes are a pair of lakes, Upper Taseko Lake and Lower Taseko Lake, which are expansions of the upper Taseko River in the southern Chilcotin District of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada...
are protected and cannot be diverted (also for salmon fishery reasons. But the hydroelectric potential of the Homathko Canyon are still on the books and are to be developed as run-of-the-river project by Plutonic Power, a subsidiary of General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
.