Soda Creek
Encyclopedia
Soda Creek is a rural subdivision 38 km north of Williams Lake
Williams Lake, British Columbia
Williams Lake, is a city in the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the central part of a region known as the Cariboo, it is the largest urban centre between Kamloops and Prince George, with a population of 11,150 in city limits....
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...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Located on the east bank of the Fraser River
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...
, Soda Creek was originally the home of the Xat'sull First Nation
Soda Creek/Deep Creek Band
The Soda Creek/Deep Creek Band is a First Nations government of the Secwepemc Nation, located in the Cariboo region of the Central Interior region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was created when the government of the then-Colony of British Columbia established an Indian Reserve...
. Soda Creek Indian Reserve No. 1 is located on the left (E) bank of the Fraser River, one mile south of the Soda Creek BCR (CN) station, 431.10 ha. 52°19′00"N 122°16′00"W
Xat'sull (icon) means "on the cliff where the bubbling water comes out".
European settlement began in the 1860s with the onset of the Cariboo Gold Rush
Cariboo Gold Rush
The Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Although the first gold discovery was made in 1859 at Horsefly Creek, followed by more strikes at Keithley Creek and Antler Horns lake in 1860, the actual rush did not begin until 1861, when these discoveries were...
and the building of the Old Cariboo Road
Old Cariboo Road
The Old Cariboo Road is a reference to the original wagon road to the Cariboo gold fields in what is now the Canadian province of British Columbia...
.
History
Lillooet, British Columbia
Lillooet is a community on the Fraser River in western Canada, about up the British Columbia Railway line from Vancouver. Situated at an intersection of deep gorges in the lee of the Coast Mountains, it has a dry climate- of precipitation is recorded annually at the town's weather station,...
to Alexandria
Alexandria, British Columbia
Alexandria or Fort Alexandria is a National Historic Site of Canada on the Fraser River in British Columbia, and was the end of the Old Cariboo Road and the Cariboo Wagon Road...
, beginning in 1859 and completed to Soda Creek in 1863. The roadbuilder for that section was Gustavus Blin Wright
Gustavus Blin Wright
Gustavus Blin Wright was a pioneer roadbuilder and entrepreneur in British Columbia, Canada. His biggest achievement was building the Old Cariboo Road to the Cariboo gold fields, from Lillooet to Fort Alexandria, but he was also a partner in a freighting firm that operated on the Douglas Road, he...
.
While Wright was overseeing the construction of the road he was also arranging with his associates for the building of a sternwheeler steamer that could take travelers to Quesnellemouthe, (later shortened to Quesnel
Quesnel, British Columbia
-Demographics:Quesnel had a population of 9,326 people in 2006, which was a decrease of 7.1% from the 2001 census count. The median household income in 2005 for Quesnel was $54,044, which is slightly above the British Columbia provincial average of $52,709....
) where they could then travel east to Barkerville.
The Fraser River was not considered navigable by sternwheeler north of Yale
Yale, British Columbia
Yale is an unincorporated town in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was founded in 1848 by the Hudson's Bay Company as Fort Yale by Ovid Allard, the appointed manager of the new post, who named it after his superior, James Murray Yale, then Chief Factor of the Columbia District...
due to many hazardous rapids and canyons. However, from Soda Creek to Quesnel, the Fraser was relatively free of obstructions, therefore Soda Creek was the logical terminus for sternwheelers on the upper Fraser River.
The Enterprise
Enterprise (1862)
The Enterprise was a passenger and freight sternwheeler that was built for service on the Soda Creek to Quesnel route on the upper Fraser River in British Columbia. It was built at Four Mile Creek near Alexandria by pioneer shipbuilder James Trahey of Victoria for Gustavus Blin-Wright and Captain...
was launched in the spring of 1863 and most of the travelers on their way to the goldfields, by foot, horseback, or wagon, took the Enterprise as the wagon road would not be not completed to Quesnel until 1865.
Robert McLeese
Robert McLeese was an Irish-born hotel keeper, store owner, owner of a sternwheel river boat and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Cariboo in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1882 to 1888.He was born near Coleraine, the son of John McLeese and Jennie McArthur,...
, Joseph T.Senay, Robert A. Collins, Peter Dunlevy, Henry Yeates, and George Hendricks, were some, who built hotels, stores, blacksmith shops and saloons on the site.
In 1869 Wright added a second sternwheeler to the route, the Victoria
Victoria (sternwheeler)
The Victoria sternwheeler was a passenger and freight steamer that was built for service on the Soda Creek to Quesnel route on the upper Fraser River in British Columbia....
. Both sternwheelers worked on the route until 1871, when the Enterprise was taken up north to Takla Landing to deliver supplies and miners to the Omineca Gold Rush
Omineca Gold Rush
The Omineca Gold Rush was a gold rush in British Columbia, Canada in the Omineca region of the Northern Interior of the province. Gold was first discovered there in 1861, but the rush didn't begin until late in 1869 with the discovery at Vital Creek....
.
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historical Canadian railway.A wholly owned subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway , the GTPR was constructed by GTR using loans provided by the Government of Canada. The company was formed in 1903 with a mandate to build west from Winnipeg, Manitoba to the...
.
The second boom
Cariboo Gold Rush
The Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Although the first gold discovery was made in 1859 at Horsefly Creek, followed by more strikes at Keithley Creek and Antler Horns lake in 1860, the actual rush did not begin until 1861, when these discoveries were...
in the early 1860s, Soda Creek enjoyed a second boom which started in 1909, when it was announced that the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historical Canadian railway.A wholly owned subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway , the GTPR was constructed by GTR using loans provided by the Government of Canada. The company was formed in 1903 with a mandate to build west from Winnipeg, Manitoba to the...
's route would go through Fort George
Prince George, British Columbia
Prince George, with a population of 71,030 , is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, and is known as "BC's Northern Capital"...
from eastern Canada.
Again the town's prosperity was due to being the natural sternwheeler terminus on the Fraser River as sternwheelers were necessary to take settlers and supplies safely and comfortably upriver to Fort George.
The Fort George Lumber and Navigation Company of South Fort George
South Fort George
South Fort George is a suburb of Prince George, British Columbia, Canada.Before the arrival of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1914, the Prince George area was known as Fort George and was a Lheidli T'enneh village and Hudson's Bay Company store....
built two sternwheelers at Soda Creek, both in the winter of 1909/10, the Chilcotin
Chilcotin (sternwheeler)
The Chilcotin sternwheeler was built for the Soda Creek to Fort George route of the upper Fraser River. She was built by shipbuilder Donald McPhee for the Fort George Lumber and Navigation Company, which was a partnership held by Nick Clarke and Russell Peden of the South Fort George town-site of...
and the Fort Fraser
Fort Fraser (sternwheeler)
The Fort Fraser was a small sternwheeler owned by the Fort George Lumber and Transportation Company a partnership originally held by Nick Clarke and Russell Peden from the Fort George town-site of South Fort George...
which were used along with the Chilco, Charlotte
Charlotte (sternwheeler)
The Charlotte sternwheeler was built in 1896 by Alexander Watson for the Northern British Columbia Navigation Company. The partners of the NBCNC were Stephen Tingley, Senator James Reid and John Irving...
and Quesnel
Quesnel (sternwheeler)
The Quesnel sternwheeler was first launched in May 1909 at Quesnel, British Columbia to serve the Soda Creek to Fort George route of the upper Fraser River....
to deliver passengers and supplies to the new communities in Fort George.
Barnard's Express
Barnard's Express, later known as the British Columbia Express Company or BX, was a pioneer transportation company that served the Cariboo and Fraser Fort George regions in British Columbia, Canada from 1861 until 1921....
had been servicing the area since the Cariboo Gold Rush and they held the government mail contract, so the company's owner, Charles Vance Millar
Charles Vance Millar
Charles Vance Millar was a Canadian lawyer and financier. However, he is now best known for his penchant for practical jokes and his unusual will which reflected that sense of humor.-Early years:...
, decided to expand the company's route to Fort George by adding sternwheelers and automobiles to their fleet of stagecoaches.
The BC Express Company built a company office and construction site at Soda Creek and in the winter of 1909/10 they built the BX
BX (sternwheeler)
The BX sternwheeler was the first of two river steamers built for service on the upper Fraser River by the BC Express Company during the busy era of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway construction....
and then the BC Express
BC Express (sternwheeler)
The BC Express was a stern wheel paddle steamer that operated on the Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada, from 1912 to 1919. The BC Express was built for the BC Express Company by Alexander Watson Jr to work on the upper Fraser River between Tête Jaune Cache and Fort George during the busy...
in the winter of 1911/12.
Winton Motor Carriage Company
The Winton Motor Carriage Company was a pioneer United States automobile manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio. Winton was one of the first American companies to sell a motor car.-1896:...
Sixes, purchased in 1910 from a car manufacturer in Seattle.
During the years of rail construction, Soda Creek prospered as a major stopping place on the Cariboo Road as travelers and supplies came up from Ashcroft
Ashcroft
Ashcroft is a surname.Ashcroft may also refer to:*Ashcroft, Gloucestershire, England, which is the namesake of:**Ashcroft, British Columbia, a village in Canada*Ashcroft, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia...
on stagecoaches or in automobiles and were transferred onto the sternwheelers to go further north.
However by 1914, with the completion of the Grand Trunk Pacific and the commencement of the Great War, which put a halt to the construction of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, Soda Creek, once again, sank into oblivion.
Modern day
Today Soda Creek is a rural subdivision owned mostly by residents who work in Williams Lake or nearby McLeese Lake.Nearby attractions
Just north of Soda Creek is Xat'sull, a replica of a SecwepemcSecwepemc
The Secwepemc , known in English as the Shuswap people, are a First Nations people residing in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Their traditional territory ranges from the eastern Chilcotin Plateau and the Cariboo Plateau southeast through the Thompson Country to Kamloops and the Shuswap...
(Shuswap) First Nations village that is open for visitors during the summer.