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The mighty Fraser River flows through British Columbia, emptying into the Pacific Ocean near vancouver. The first person to travel down this river was a man by the Name of Simon Fraser. Simon Fraser was born on May 20th, 1776 and became an apprentice clerk in the North West Company of Montreal at the age of 15.
One year later he was sent to Athabasca to further his training and became a partner seven years later. Between the years of 1805-1808 the North West Company selected him to oversee the extension of company activities in the land west of the Rockies – the present day province of British Columbia. His mission was to cross this massive mountain range and establish fur trading relations with natives in the interior of the province. During these years he built For MacLeod in 1805, Fort St. James and Fort Fraser in 1806, and Fort George in 1807.
At this time the competition between the North West Company, the Hudson Bay Company, and The American fur traders was beginning to escalate. Finding a trade route to the pacific became a high priority for all three companies. Whoever found this route would then be able to take control of the western fur trade. Simon Fraser’s famous expedition came about because of this competition. The North West Company heard that some American Fur Traders were heading to the Pacific, so they gave Simon Fraser the mission of exploring a river they believed to be the Columbia to its mouth. They hoped to be the first ones to find this route.
On May 22nd of 1808 Simon Fraser began the expedition that made him famous. With a crew consisting of nineteen voyageurs, two Native guides, and his regular lieutenant John Stuart, and Jules Quesnell, Fraser entered the Nechako River at Fort St. James and headed downstream. They managed the first set of rapids easily and were then told by Natives that they wouldn’t get their canoes past “Hell’s Gate.” But Fraser didn’t want to quit where Mackenzie had, and continued passed Mackenzie’s marker, making it to a village where the modern-day Lytton stands. It was here that the Thompson River disgorged into the Fraser(believed to be the Columbia). The natives provided Fraser with cedar dugouts and him and his crew continued down river.
The flat valley river they were floating on soon became a series of deep gorges – swirling white water between high rock walls. Portages became impossible and the Northwester’s were forced to scramble as best they could with pack on their backs. The packs were eventually left behind and the crew carried only their guns. In the stones along the “Hell’s Gate” gorge, the expedition found a faint path were steps were carved into the rocks. There were also ladders made from poles and twigs tied with binds, hanging hundreds of feet above the crashing water. Natives at the top of these cliffs lowered poles so the travelers could grip them and be pulled to the top. The top of the cliffs were covered with many graves covered with small stones. The Natives negotiated the cliffs with great care and educated Fraser and his crew the best they could. Unlike later expeditions, Fraser’s passed without fatalities. Fraser and his entourage eventually arrived at present day Yale, and took the relatively easy descent to the present day town of Hope. They soon left behind the wild gorge and entered a wide lush valley where the river became flat. Fraser bargained with the local natives for dugouts and then led his expedition towards the sea. He arrived at the village of Musqueam, and after 520 miles and 36 days of travel he discovered the mouth of the Fraser River only to realize that it was not the river he had been searching for – the Columbia. Disappointed and defeated he and his crew returned to Montreal.
It wasn’t until a later expedition that the river was officially titled, “The Fraser River.” The explorer who named the river was David Thompson.
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