Skookumchuck, British Columbia
Encyclopedia
Skookumchuck is a Canadian town in the East Kootenay region of the province of British Columbia
, along British Columbia highway 93
/95
at the junction of the Kootenay
and Lussier River
s.
. The area features fishing, canoeing, hiking, and hot springs.
and refers to the large rapids in this area on the Kootenay River
. Skookumchuck
means "strong water", meaning effectively "big rapids" or "heavy current" in the Chinook jargon
, and in ordinary use it is a generic name for any rapids, especially the great saltwater rapids at the mouths of the coastal inlets.
In common use, referring to Skookumchuck as a placename, may refer to two other specific locations 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...
, along British Columbia highway 93
British Columbia provincial highway 93
Highway 93 , is a north-south route through the southeastern part of the province. Like Highway 95, Highway 93 takes its number from a U.S. Highway that it connects with at the Canada-U.S. boundary...
/95
British Columbia provincial highway 95
Highway 95 in British Columbia, the Columbia Highway, is a north-south highway in the southeastern corner of the province, opened in 1957. The highway connects with U.S. Highway 95, from which the highway takes its number, at the Canada-U.S...
at the junction of the Kootenay
Kootenay River
The Kootenay is a major river in southeastern British Columbia, Canada and the northern part of the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean...
and Lussier River
Lussier River
The Lussier River is a tributary of the Kootenay River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is part of the Columbia River basin, as the Kootenay River is a tributary of the Columbia River.-Course:...
s.
Industry
Located nearby is Tembec's Skookumchuck Pulp Mill which produces NBSKNBSK
NBSK is an acronym for Northern bleached softwood kraft, the paper industry's benchmark grade of pulp. Market NBSK is produced mainly in Canada and the Nordic countries. Some NBSK is also produced in north-western USA and in Russia. NBSK futures are traded on the Chicago Mercantile...
. The area features fishing, canoeing, hiking, and hot springs.
Name origin
The name of the town of Skookumchuck dates from the time of fur trade explorer David ThompsonDavid Thompson (explorer)
David Thompson was an English-Canadian fur trader, surveyor, and map-maker, known to some native peoples as "Koo-Koo-Sint" or "the Stargazer"...
and refers to the large rapids in this area on the Kootenay River
Kootenay River
The Kootenay is a major river in southeastern British Columbia, Canada and the northern part of the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean...
. Skookumchuck
Skookumchuck
Skookumchuck is a word in the Chinook Jargon that is in common use in British Columbia English and occurs in Pacific Northwest English. Skookum means "strong" or "powerful", and "chuck" means water, so skookumchuck means "rapids" or "whitewater"...
means "strong water", meaning effectively "big rapids" or "heavy current" in the Chinook jargon
Chinook Jargon
Chinook Jargon originated as a pidgin trade language of the Pacific Northwest, and spread during the 19th century from the lower Columbia River, first to other areas in modern Oregon and Washington, then British Columbia and as far as Alaska, sometimes taking on characteristics of a creole language...
, and in ordinary use it is a generic name for any rapids, especially the great saltwater rapids at the mouths of the coastal inlets.
In common use, referring to Skookumchuck as a placename, may refer to two other specific locations in British Columbia:
- The unrelated marine tidal rapids at Skookumchuck NarrowsSkookumchuck NarrowsSkookumchuck Narrows forms the entrance of Sechelt Inlet on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast in Canada. Before broadening into Sechelt Inlet, all of its tidal flow together with that of Salmon Inlet and Narrows Inlet must pass through Sechelt Rapids. At peak flows, whitecaps and whirlpools form at...
— the Skookumchuck, as it is the largest and most powerful of the British Columbia CoastBritish Columbia CoastThe British Columbia Coast or BC Coast is Canada's western continental coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The usage is synonymous with the term West Coast of Canada....
's saltwater rapids — are several hundred kilometres west on the province's Sunshine CoastSunshine Coast, British ColumbiaThe Sunshine Coast is a region of the southern mainland coast of British Columbia, on the eastern shore of the Strait of Georgia, and just northwest of Greater Vancouver...
, where the narrow mouth of Sechelt InletSechelt InletSechelt Inlet is one of the principal inlets of the British Columbia Coast and the third of such inlets north from the 49th parallel north, the first of which is Burrard Inlet, Vancouver's harbour. The inlet is significant in that it almost makes an island of what is instead the Sechelt Peninsula,...
spills out that fjord's contents into Jervis InletJervis InletJervis Inlet is a principal inlet of the British Columbia Coast, about northwest of Vancouver.-Geography:It stretches from its head at the mouth of the short Skwakwa River to its opening into the Strait of Georgia near Texada Island...
. - The native community and historic Catholic mission ghost town of Skookumchuck Hot Springs, also known as SkatinSkatin First NationThe Skatin First Nations, aka the Skatin Nations, are a band government of the In-SHUCK-ch Nation, a small group of the larger St'at'imc people who are also referred to as Lower Stl'atl'imx. Skatin, the St'at'imcets version of the Chinook Jargon Skookumchuck, is located 4 km south of historic St...
in the St'at'imcets (Lillooet) language, lies on the Lillooet RiverLillooet RiverThe Lillooet River is a major river of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia. It begins at Silt Lake, on the southern edge of the Lillooet Crown Icecap about 80 kilometres northwest of Pemberton and about 85 kilometres northwest of Whistler...
south of PembertonPemberton, British ColumbiaPemberton is a village north of Whistler in the Pemberton Valley of British Columbia in Canada, with a population of 2,192. Until the 1960s the village could be accessed only by train but that changed when Highway 99 was built through Whistler and Pemberton.-Climate:The climate of Pemberton is...
, about 20 miles nearly due east of the resort of WhistlerWhistler, British ColumbiaWhistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada, approximately north of Vancouver...
on the inland side of the Garibaldi RangesGaribaldi RangesThe Garibaldi Ranges are the next-to-southwesternmost subdivision of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains; only the North Shore Mountains are farther south. They lie between the valley formed by the pass between the Cheakamus River and Green River on the west and the valley of the Lillooet...
.