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Incomappleux River

Coordinates: 50°44′48″N 117°42′47″W / 50.74667°N 117.71306°W / 50.74667; -117.71306
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Incomappleux River
Incomappleux Inland Rainforest, BC, 2010
Incomappleux River is located in British Columbia
Incomappleux River
Location in British Columbia
Location
CountryCanada
ProvinceBritish Columbia
DistrictKootenay Land District
Physical characteristics
SourceIllecillewaet Neve
 • locationSelkirk Mountains
MouthColumbia River
 • location
Upper Arrow Lake
 • coordinates
50°44′48″N 117°42′47″W / 50.74667°N 117.71306°W / 50.74667; -117.71306[1]
Basin size1,020 km2 (390 sq mi)[2]
Discharge 
 • locationnear Beaton[2]
 • average55.8 m3/s (1,970 cu ft/s)[2]
 • minimum4.76 m3/s (168 cu ft/s)
 • maximum570 m3/s (20,000 cu ft/s)
Basin features
ProgressionIncomappleux Valley

The Incomappleux River is in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. Entering the Beaton Arm of Upper Arrow Lake, the river is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The upper reaches of the Incomappleux valley are home to some of the only inland temperate rainforest in the world.

First Nations

The name "Incomappleux" is derived from the Okanagan word nk'mapeleqs, meaning "point at end (of lake)". This refers to the northeastern tip of Upper Arrow Lake into which the river empties. The names of the creek and adjacent mountain are also derived from this word. A Sinixt village by this name formerly existed somewhere in the confluence area.[3]

European presence

In 1865, James Turnbull, surveyor and mapmaker, explored the Incomappleux Valley.[3] After the mid-1880s, visitors could enter the valley from the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) main line, moving southward through the Glacier National Park area into the valley and following the river to its mouth.[4] Europeans referred to the valley and river by various English spellings of the word, but Fish Creek/River was also common.[3] From the 1890s, mining claims staked upstream (removed from the mouth) were along Pool Creek at 10 kilometres (6 mi),[5] Sable Creek at 18 kilometres (11 mi), and Boyd Creek at 26 kilometres (16 mi). Although most claims were accessed from the south, the Dunvegan group, at the headwaters of the river,[6] was reached by a 16-kilometre (10 mi) trail from the CP station at Albert Canyon.[7]

Source

Formed in the Selkirk Mountains southeast of Glacier,[8] the Illecillewaet Glacier near Rogers Pass is the source of the Illecillewaet River on the northwestern slope. However, the Illecillewaet Neve, which feeds the glacier, primarily flows south into the Incomappleux River.[9]

Course

The Incomappleux is about 68 kilometres (42 mi) long,[8] with four large tributaries flowing 19 to 32 kilometres (12 to 20 mi).[6] Following a due south course, the swift, unnavigable river is 9 to 15 metres (30 to 50 ft) wide.[8] Around 61 metres (200 ft) high,[6] the narrow canyon, which is about 5 kilometres (3 mi) from the mouth, funnels the glacial waters. Above the canyon, the valley widens to as much as 2 kilometres (1 mi).[4]

Forestry

The valley is heavily timbered and unsuited to agriculture.[8] This inland temperate rainforest comprises a wide range of cottonwood and spruce. The accessible conifer-dominated forest has been largely harvested over the decades.[10] Active logging returned in the 1970s, but environmental protests have restricted harvesting since the early 2000s.[11] In 2022, a moratorium was placed upon logging for at least two years.[12]

Incomappleux Inland Rainforest, BC, 2010.










Ferries and bridges across the river

In 1892, a 76-metre (250 ft) bridge existed at the river mouth, and a 14-metre (46 ft) one 32 kilometres (20 mi) upstream near McDougal Creek.[13][14] After the one at the mouth connecting to Lardeau City was washed out, a temporary 5-by-12-metre (18 by 40 ft) cable ferry commenced in June 1893.[15][16] A replacement bridge destroyed by the 1894 flood[17] was in turn replaced.[18] A ferry being was built in summer 1896, but its placement is unclear.[19]

The lower bridge provided a connection in 1898,[20] when the wagon road up the west side of the river was completed as far as the Camborne ferry.[21] That year, a ferry was installed across the river at Boyd Creek, which could carry six loaded packhorses.[22][23]

In 1904, the wagon road was extended up the west side of the river from Camborne, and a bridge replaced the ferry at Boyd Creek.[24][25] At the 12-mile point, a wagon road bridge existed in the 1910s.[26] The only remaining bridge, which is 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) north of Camborne, has existed at least from the 1920s.

Maps

  • "Perry's mining map". wwwdavidrumsey.com. 1893.
  • "BC auto map". www.davidrumsey.com. 1925.

Discharge

Daily discharge tables 1914–1996 for the 1,020-square-kilometre (390 sq mi) basin.[27]

References

  1. ^ "Incomappleux River". BC Geographical Names.
  2. ^ a b c "Archived Hydrometric Data Search". Water Survey of Canada. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009. Retrieved October 19, 2008. Search for Station 08NE001 Incomappleux River near Beaton
  3. ^ a b c "Nelson Star". www.nelsonstar.com. 1 Dec 2013.
  4. ^ a b "Minister of Lands annual report, 1922". library.ubc.ca. p. 68 (K64).
  5. ^ "Revelstoke Herald". library.ubc.ca. 2 Mar 1898. p. 4.
  6. ^ a b c "Kootenay Mail". library.ubc.ca. 3 Aug 1895. p. 4.
  7. ^ "Minister of Mines annual report, 1917". library.ubc.ca. p. 197 (F182).
  8. ^ a b c d Dept of the Interior, BC Hydrographic Survey, 1914, p. RA2-PA466, at Google Books
  9. ^ "Illecillewaet Glacier Falls". www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com.
  10. ^ "Endangered Forests of the Inland Temperate Rainforest: An inventory of old-growth in Trout Lake and the Incomappleux" (PDF). www.sgrc.selkirk.ca. Feb 2006. p. 9.
  11. ^ "Valley Voice" (PDF). valleyvoice.ca. 14 Sep 2005. p. 1.
  12. ^ "Post Alley". www.postalley.org. 8 Nov 2022.
  13. ^ "Commissioner of Land and Works annual report, 1892". library.ubc.ca. pp. 87–88 (391–392).
  14. ^ "Revelstoke Herald". library.ubc.ca. 22 Sep 1897. p. 1.
  15. ^ "Kootenay Star". library.ubc.ca. 3 Jun 1893. p. 1.
  16. ^ "Kootenay Star". library.ubc.ca. 17 Jun 1893. p. 1.
  17. ^ "Kootenay Mail". library.ubc.ca. 23 Jun 1894. p. 3.
  18. ^ "Revelstoke Herald". library.ubc.ca. 29 Jun 1898. p. 1.
  19. ^ "Kootenay Mail". library.ubc.ca. 13 Jun 1896. p. 1.
  20. ^ "Commissioner of Land and Works annual report, 1898". library.ubc.ca. p. 97 (823).
  21. ^ Parent, Milton (1997). Silent Shores and Sunken Ships. Arrow Lakes Historical Society. p. 38. ISBN 0-9694236-2-4.
  22. ^ "Revelstoke Herald". library.ubc.ca. 20 Apr 1898. p. 4.
  23. ^ "Commissioner of Land and Works annual report, 1899". library.ubc.ca. p. 79 (357).
  24. ^ "Revelstoke Herald". library.ubc.ca. 21 Jan 1904. p. 1.
  25. ^ "Evening World". library.ubc.ca. 1 Mar 1904. p. 1.
  26. ^ "Minister of Mines annual report, 1914". library.ubc.ca. p. 275 (K245).
  27. ^ "Daily Discharge Data for Incomappleux River near Beaton". wateroffice.ec.gc.ca. 1914.
    to "Daily Discharge Data for Incomappleux River near Beaton". wateroffice.ec.gc.ca. 1996.
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