Monte Creek is a rural locality on the
South Thompson River
The South Thompson River is the southern branch of the Thompson River, the largest tributary of the Fraser River, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It originates at the outlet of Little Shuswap Lake at the town of Chase and flows appro ...
east of
Kamloops
Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, approximately
equidistant
A point is said to be equidistant from a set of objects if the distances between that point and each object in the set are equal.
In two-dimensional Euclidean geometry, the locus of points equidistant from two given (different) points is the ...
from Kamloops and the village of
Chase, British Columbia
Chase is a village located in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It has a population of 3,399, and its main industries are forestry and tourism. It is located at the outlet of Little Shuswap Lake, which is the source of the South Thomp ...
. It is a major highway junction where
British Columbia Highway 97
Highway 97 is a major highway in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the longest continuously numbered route in the province, running and is the only route that runs the entire north–south length of the British Columbia, connect ...
branches off from the
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...
south towards the
Okanagan
The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part ...
via
Falkland and
Westwold.
Monte Lake, a recreational community on the shores of the lake of the same name, is a few miles south of the junction.
History
Monte Creek was originally known as "Ducks" after the English settler who first ranched there, Jacob Ducks, who also was its first postmaster. The original name of the post office was "Duck and Pringles." In 1888, the Monte Creek Ranch was purchased by publisher
Hewitt Bostock
Hewitt Bostock, (May 31, 1864 – April 28, 1930) was a Canadian publisher, businessman and politician.
He was born in Walton Heath, Epsom, England and studied at Trinity College, Cambridge graduating with honours in mathematics. Bostock t ...
, who took up residence there with his family in 1894.
The name Monte has two possible origins. One is from the name of an early settler, Alphonse Matteo.
The other comes from the steep climb out of the South Thompson River valley to the route to the Okanagan region, which was referred to as "la monteé" by early explorers. "Monteé" appears on an 1858 map of region.
On September 4, 1904, Monte Creek - then still known as "Ducks" - was the site of the last train robbery by the "Gentleman Bandit"
Bill Miner
Ezra Allen Miner (c.1847 – September 2, 1913), more popularly known as Bill Miner, was an American bandit, originally from Bowling Green, Kentucky, who served several prison terms for stagecoach robbery. Known for his unusual politeness while ...
.
See also
*
List of historic ranches in British Columbia
*
Monte Creek Provincial Park
References
Thompson Country
Populated places in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District
Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia
Ranches in British Columbia
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