Tyaughton Creek
Encyclopedia
Tyaughton Creek, formerly gazetted as the Tyaughton River, also historically known as Tyoax Creek, is a 50 kilometre tributary of British Columbia
's Bridge River
, flowing generally southeast to enter the main flow of that river about mid-way along the length of Carpenter Lake, a reservoir formed by Terzaghi Dam
of the Bridge River Power Project
.
, at the divide between the basins of the Bridge River and that of Big Creek, which is a tributary of the Chilcotin River
. Its upper course flows east, then turns south and then southeast, entering a progressively deeper canyon until just northeast of Tyaughton Lake
, which is connected to it be s short creek, and then turns east-southeast between Pearson Ridge (SW) and Marshall Ridge
(NE) in a continuation of its canyon until it emerges as a side-inlet of Carpenter Lake which was formed by the creation of Carpenter Lake. That inlet is bridged at the mouth of that inlet by BC Highway 40, also known as the Lillooet
-Gold Bridge
Road or the Carpenter Lake Road. Before the lake's creation its outlet was at the lower side of the road, and it was bridged by the predecessor route, then known as the Bridge River Road.
. The protected area has seen various park proposal names, including the Charlie Cunningham Wilderness and the Spruce Lake-Eldorado Mountain park, and most recently as the "South Chilcotin Provincial Park" but this status was downgraded from park to protected area in 2006.
word for "jumping fish", and has also appeared on the map in the form Tyoax or Tyax, the latter being the simplified form used by the Tyax Mountain Lake Resort, a five-star resort on Tyaughton Lake, which is tributary to the creek. The name appears to have been conferred by Chief Hunter Jack
, chief of the Lakes Lillooet (a subdivision of the St'at'imc
, today's Nequatque and Seton Lake First Nation
s) during the later 19th Century and a legendary hunting guide who held claim to the title of Hyas Tyee (king) of the Bridge River Country.
Hunter Jack's gold wealth was also legendary and is believed to be based on a mysterious placer
find, believed to be somewhere in the uppermost reaches of Tyaughton Creek (he is known to have chased off parties of Italian and Chinese miners who were getting too close). His adoption of a Chilcotin name for a lake in his territory conforms to other Chilcotin names in use in St'at'imc
territory, notably that of the adjacent Shulaps Range
(just east of Tyaughton Creek) and the Yalakom River
, just east of that range, and also Noaxe Lake, high on the side of the Shulaps Range above the Tyaughton basin.
Hunter Jack was one of the few Lillooet natives who spoke Chilcotin, and is said to have learned it in order to end a bloody war which had raged over the rich hunting and food-gathering grounds of the area of the upper Bridge River, including the basin of Tyauughton Creek. The end of the war is said to have come about at a place now called Graveyard Valley, which lies over a narrow defile
from the head of Relay Creek, Tyaughton's northernmost tributary, which is in the upper basin of Big Creek, a tributary of the Chilcotin River
.
The polychromatic mineralization of the Tyaughton basin's geology caught the eye of early explorers, but despite extensive exploration no viable mines have ever operated in its boundaries. In the 1930s, times when the Bridge River Country was as much known for big-game hunting as for gold mining, Charlie Cunningham
, a guide and multi-faceted entrepreneur in the goldfield hub of Gold Bridge
first promoted the idea of protecting the region north of Gun Creek and west of Tyaughton and south of Relay, as a wildlife preserve and scenic wilderness treasure, and in the process became a pioneering wildlife cinematographer. In the years since the region has been a hot-point in the mining industry's complaints about protectionist restrictions, and mining interests have been the primary factor in blocking full park status for the area. Although some of the area has been established as a provincial protected area
and the adjacent basins to the north and northwest are now provincial park, controversy over its eventual boundaries continues.
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...
's Bridge River
Bridge River
The Bridge River is, or was, a major tributary of British Columbia's Fraser River, entering that stream about six miles upstream from the town of Lillooet.-Name:Its name in the Lillooet language is Xwisten , sometimes spelled Nxwisten or Nxo-isten)...
, flowing generally southeast to enter the main flow of that river about mid-way along the length of Carpenter Lake, a reservoir formed by Terzaghi Dam
Terzaghi Dam
Terzaghi Dam, located about 100 km NE of the resort of Whistler, British Columbia in western Canada, is the key diversion dam in the Bridge River Power Project. It forms the project's largest reservoir, Carpenter Lake west of Lillooet...
of the Bridge River Power Project
Bridge River Power Project
The Bridge River Power Project is a hydroelectric power development in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located in the Lillooet Country between Whistler and Lillooet...
.
Course
The creek begins at Tyoax PassTyoax Pass
Tyoax Pass is a mountain pass in the Chilcotin Ranges of the Pacific Ranges, the southernmost main subdivision of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada...
, at the divide between the basins of the Bridge River and that of Big Creek, which is a tributary of 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...
. Its upper course flows east, then turns south and then southeast, entering a progressively deeper canyon until just northeast of Tyaughton Lake
Tyaughton Lake
Tyaughton Lake, also known as Tyoax Lake or Tyax Lake, is a lake in the Bridge River Country of the West-Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located to the north of Carpenter Lake, a reservoir along the Bridge River formed by Terzaghi Dam of the Bridge River Power Project...
, which is connected to it be s short creek, and then turns east-southeast between Pearson Ridge (SW) and Marshall Ridge
Marshall Ridge
Marshall Ridge is a ridge to the east of Blue Glacier on Scott Coast, Victoria Land, running east-west and rising to about 1,175 m between Garwood Valley and Marshall Valley. The feature was almost surely observed in 1903 by the Koettlitz Glacier party led by Lieutenant A.B. Armitage of Discovery...
(NE) in a continuation of its canyon until it emerges as a side-inlet of Carpenter Lake which was formed by the creation of Carpenter Lake. That inlet is bridged at the mouth of that inlet by BC Highway 40, also known as the Lillooet
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,...
-Gold Bridge
Gold Bridge, British Columbia
Gold Bridge is an unincorporated community in the Bridge River Country of British Columbia, Canada. Although numbering only around 250 inhabitants, Gold Bridge is the service and supply centre for the upper basin of the Bridge River Valley, which includes recreation-residential areas at the Gun...
Road or the Carpenter Lake Road. Before the lake's creation its outlet was at the lower side of the road, and it was bridged by the predecessor route, then known as the Bridge River Road.
Tributaries
Tyaughton Creek's main tributaries are Liza Creek, Eldorado Creek, Noaxe Creek, Mud Creek and Relay Creek. Tyaughton, Eldorado and Relay Creeks all have their sources at passes along the northwestern boundary of the area known as the Spruce Lake Protected AreaSpruce Lake Protected Area
The Spruce Lake Protected Area, was a 71,347-hectare Protected Area in the British Columbia provincial parks system 200 km north of Vancouver. The area had been the subject of an ongoing preservationist controversy since the 1930s. Formerly known variously as the Southern Chilcotin Mountains...
. The protected area has seen various park proposal names, including the Charlie Cunningham Wilderness and the Spruce Lake-Eldorado Mountain park, and most recently as the "South Chilcotin Provincial Park" but this status was downgraded from park to protected area in 2006.
History
The name Tyaughton is an adaptation of the ChilcotinChilcotin language
Chilcotin is a Northern Athabaskan language spoken in British Columbia by the Tsilhqot’in people....
word for "jumping fish", and has also appeared on the map in the form Tyoax or Tyax, the latter being the simplified form used by the Tyax Mountain Lake Resort, a five-star resort on Tyaughton Lake, which is tributary to the creek. The name appears to have been conferred by Chief Hunter Jack
Chief Hunter Jack
Chief Hunter Jack was a 19th C. chief of the Lakes Lillooet . His name in St'at'imcets, the Lillooet language, is cited in one source as Tash Poli....
, chief of the Lakes Lillooet (a subdivision of the St'at'imc
St'at'imc
The St'át'imc are an Interior Salish people located in the southern Coast Mountains and Fraser Canyon region of the Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia.St'át'imc culture displayed many features typical of Northwest Coast peoples: the...
, today's Nequatque and Seton Lake First Nation
Seton Lake First Nation
The Seton Lake First Nation, aka the Seton Lake Indian Band, is a First Nations government located in the Central Interior-Fraser Canyon region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is a member of the Lillooet Tribal Council, which is the largest grouping of band governments of the...
s) during the later 19th Century and a legendary hunting guide who held claim to the title of Hyas Tyee (king) of the Bridge River Country.
Hunter Jack's gold wealth was also legendary and is believed to be based on a mysterious placer
Placer mining
Placer mining is the mining of alluvial deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment....
find, believed to be somewhere in the uppermost reaches of Tyaughton Creek (he is known to have chased off parties of Italian and Chinese miners who were getting too close). His adoption of a Chilcotin name for a lake in his territory conforms to other Chilcotin names in use in St'at'imc
St'at'imc
The St'át'imc are an Interior Salish people located in the southern Coast Mountains and Fraser Canyon region of the Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia.St'át'imc culture displayed many features typical of Northwest Coast peoples: the...
territory, notably that of the adjacent Shulaps Range
Shulaps Range
The Shulaps Range is a subrange of the Chilcotin Ranges subset of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in southwest-central British Columbia. The range is 55 km NW–SE and 15 km SW–NE and 2,970 km² in area....
(just east of Tyaughton Creek) and the Yalakom River
Yalakom River
The Yalakom River is a tributary of the Bridge River, which is one of the principal tributaries of the Fraser River, entering it near the town of Lillooet, British Columbia. In frontier times it was also known as the North Fork of the Bridge River, and joins the Bridge River proper at Moha, a...
, just east of that range, and also Noaxe Lake, high on the side of the Shulaps Range above the Tyaughton basin.
Hunter Jack was one of the few Lillooet natives who spoke Chilcotin, and is said to have learned it in order to end a bloody war which had raged over the rich hunting and food-gathering grounds of the area of the upper Bridge River, including the basin of Tyauughton Creek. The end of the war is said to have come about at a place now called Graveyard Valley, which lies over a narrow defile
Defile (geography)
Defile is a geographic term for a narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills. It has its origins as a military description of a pass through which troops can march only in a narrow column or with a narrow front...
from the head of Relay Creek, Tyaughton's northernmost tributary, which is in the upper basin of Big Creek, a tributary of 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...
.
The polychromatic mineralization of the Tyaughton basin's geology caught the eye of early explorers, but despite extensive exploration no viable mines have ever operated in its boundaries. In the 1930s, times when the Bridge River Country was as much known for big-game hunting as for gold mining, Charlie Cunningham
Charlie Cunningham
Charlie Cunningham is a mountain biking pioneer from Fairfax, California.With schooling in mechanical/aeronautical engineering, he rode a modified skinny tire ten speed bicycle up and down Mt Tamalpais, valuing nimbleness and gear selection over the ungainly 1930s ballooners then in vogue...
, a guide and multi-faceted entrepreneur in the goldfield hub of Gold Bridge
Gold Bridge, British Columbia
Gold Bridge is an unincorporated community in the Bridge River Country of British Columbia, Canada. Although numbering only around 250 inhabitants, Gold Bridge is the service and supply centre for the upper basin of the Bridge River Valley, which includes recreation-residential areas at the Gun...
first promoted the idea of protecting the region north of Gun Creek and west of Tyaughton and south of Relay, as a wildlife preserve and scenic wilderness treasure, and in the process became a pioneering wildlife cinematographer. In the years since the region has been a hot-point in the mining industry's complaints about protectionist restrictions, and mining interests have been the primary factor in blocking full park status for the area. Although some of the area has been established as a provincial protected area
Spruce Lake Protected Area
The Spruce Lake Protected Area, was a 71,347-hectare Protected Area in the British Columbia provincial parks system 200 km north of Vancouver. The area had been the subject of an ongoing preservationist controversy since the 1930s. Formerly known variously as the Southern Chilcotin Mountains...
and the adjacent basins to the north and northwest are now provincial park, controversy over its eventual boundaries continues.