Stewart, British Columbia
Stewart is a small town, incorporated as a district municipality at the head of the Portland Canal in northwestern British Columbia, Canada.[1] In 2006, its population was about 496.
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[edit] History
The Nisga'a, who lived around the Nass River, called the head of Portland Canal Skam-A-Kounst, meaning "safe house" or "strong house", probably because it served them as a retreat from the harassment of the Haida and Tlingit from the outer coast.[1][2] They travelled in the area seasonally to pick berries and hunt birds. It and the rest of the Portland Canal had been the domain of the Tsetsaut people, also called the Skam-a-Kounst Indians, or Jits'aawit in Nisga'a, an Athapaskan people who became decimated by war and disease and were driven out of the Stewart area by either Haida or Nisga'a in 1856-57. The area around the Portland Canal was explored in 1896 by Captain D.D. Gaillard of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (after whom the Gaillard Cut in the Panama Canal was later named). Two years after Gaillard's visit, the first prospectors and settlers arrived. Among them was D. J. Raine, for whom a creek and a mountain in the area are named. The Stewart brothers arrived in 1902. In 1905, Robert M. Stewart, the first postmaster, named the town Stewart.
Gold and silver mining dominated the early economy. Nearby Hyder, Alaska, boomed with the discovery of rich silver veins in the upper Salmon River basin in 1917 and 1918. Hyder became an access and supply point for the mines, while Stewart served as the port for Canadian mining activity, which was centred on the town of Premier, which was accessed by a 14 miles (23 km) road from Hyder. Other mines in the area were the Jumbo, BC Silver, Red Cliff, and Porter-Idaho. More large camps were south of Stewart at Anyox and Maple Bay.
Stewart had a population of about 10,000 prior to World War I, which then declined to about 700 in 2000. As of 2005, its population had reduced to less than 500.
[edit] Location
Stewart is accessible by highway from the British Columbia highway system, via Highway 37A.
West of Stewart is Hyder, Alaska, which is only 3 kilometres (1.86 mi) from the town. East of the town is Meziadin Junction, which is 65 kilometres (40 mi) from the town. Also east is Kitwanga, British Columbia, which is located 221 kilometres (137 mi) from the town, and Dease Lake, British Columbia, which is located 398 kilometres (247 mi) north of Stewart.
[edit] Climate
Stewart has a coastal rainforest climate, with about 1,842.8 mm (72.6 in) per year of precipitation, much of it as snow, and an average yearly temperature of 6 °C (42.8 °F), according to Environment Canada.[3] Stewart is Canada's most northerly ice-free port.[citation needed]
| Climate data for Stewart | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 9.9 (49.8) |
11.3 (52.3) |
15.6 (60.1) |
23.4 (74.1) |
30.8 (87.4) |
31.9 (89.4) |
33 (91) |
32.7 (90.9) |
26.2 (79.2) |
19.6 (67.3) |
11.2 (52.2) |
9.4 (48.9) |
33 (91) |
| Average high °C (°F) | −1.1 (30.0) |
1.9 (35.4) |
5.7 (42.3) |
10.7 (51.3) |
15.5 (59.9) |
18.6 (65.5) |
19.8 (67.6) |
18.9 (66.0) |
14.7 (58.5) |
8.9 (48.0) |
2.7 (36.9) |
−0.5 (31.1) |
9.7 (49.5) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −6.2 (20.8) |
−4.5 (23.9) |
−1.9 (28.6) |
1.1 (34.0) |
5.3 (41.5) |
8.8 (47.8) |
10.3 (50.5) |
9.7 (49.5) |
7.3 (45.1) |
3.8 (38.8) |
−1.6 (29.1) |
−4.9 (23.2) |
2.3 (36.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −24.1 (−11.4) |
−22.4 (−8.3) |
−15.6 (3.9) |
−7.8 (18.0) |
−1.9 (28.6) |
0.7 (33.3) |
4.6 (40.3) |
2.8 (37.0) |
−1.2 (29.8) |
−12.2 (10.0) |
−24.8 (−12.6) |
−25.6 (−14.1) |
−25.6 (−14.1) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 218.7 (8.61) |
142.6 (5.614) |
111.9 (4.406) |
85.4 (3.362) |
73.2 (2.882) |
67 (2.64) |
69.6 (2.74) |
108.7 (4.28) |
200.9 (7.909) |
298.4 (11.748) |
234.1 (9.217) |
232.3 (9.146) |
1,842.8 (72.551) |
| Source: Environment Canada[3] | |||||||||||||
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 55°56′09″N 129°59′27″W / 55.93583°N 129.99083°W
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