The Quesnel River is a major tributary of the
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...
in the
Cariboo
The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia, Canada, centered on a plateau stretching from Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the caribou that were once abundant in the region.
The Cariboo was the ...
District of central
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, ...
.
It begins at the outflow of
Quesnel Lake, at the town of
Likely and flows for about northwest to its confluence with the
Fraser at the city of
Quesnel Quesnel or Quesnell means "little oak" in the Picard dialect of French. It is used as a proper name and may refer to:
Places
* Le Quesnel, a commune the Somme department in France
* Quesnel, British Columbia, a city in British Columbia, Canada ...
.
History
Just downstream from the outlet of Quesnel Lake, at the confluence of the
Cariboo River
The Cariboo River is a tributary of the Quesnel River, one of the main tributaries of the Fraser River, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It flows through the Cariboo region of the British Columbia Interior, southeast of Prince George. ...
, is the historically important
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
of
Quesnel Forks
Quesnel Forks, historically Quesnelle Forks, also simply known as "The Forks" or grandly known as "Quesnel City" is a ghost town in the Cariboo region of British Columbia, Canada. It is located the junction of the Quesnel and Cariboo Rivers and ...
, "the Forks", which was a junction point of the Quesnel and Cariboo Rivers. Various trails and wagon roads leading to the
Cariboo goldfields lay across the low-hill range north of Quesnel Forks in the basin of the
Cottonwood River. Both the
Lillooet to
Fort Alexandria
Alexandria or Fort Alexandria is a National Historic Site of Canada on the Fraser River in British Columbia, and was the end of the Old Cariboo Road and the Cariboo Wagon Road. It is located on Highway 97, north of 100 Mile House and south of Qu ...
wagon road and the later
Cariboo Wagon Road came by Quesnel Forks but preferred to follow the valley of the Quesnel River to
Quesnel Quesnel or Quesnell means "little oak" in the Picard dialect of French. It is used as a proper name and may refer to:
Places
* Le Quesnel, a commune the Somme department in France
* Quesnel, British Columbia, a city in British Columbia, Canada ...
and then east from there to the gold towns of
Barkerville and
Wells
Wells most commonly refers to:
* Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England
* Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground
* Wells (name)
Wells may also refer to:
Places Canada
*Wells, British Columbia
England
* Wells ...
.
The river took its name from
Jules-Maurice Quesnel, who explored this region with
Simon Fraser in 1808.
Natural history
The Quesnel River supports a number of fish species, the most significant of which are
Sockeye salmon
The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a P ...
(''Oncorhynchus nerka''),
Rainbow trout
The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...
(''Oncorhynchus mykiss''),
Largescale sucker
The largescale sucker (''Catostomus macrocheilus'') is a species of sucker, a type of freshwater fish, found in western North America.
Description
It has a rounded snout with a downturned mouth on its underside (as opposed to a mouth at end of t ...
(''Catostomus macrocheilus''),
Longnose sucker
The longnose sucker (''Catostomus catostomus'') is a species of cypriniform freshwater fish in the family Catostomidae. It is native to North America from the northern United States to the top of the continent. It is also found in Russia in rive ...
(''Catostomus catostomus''), Redside shiner (''
Richardsonius balteatus
The redside shiner (''Richardsonius balteatus'') is a species of cyprinid fish found in the western United States and Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean ...
''),
Northern pikeminnow
The Northern pikeminnow, Columbia River dace or formerly Squawfish (''Ptychocheilus oregonensis'') is a large member of the minnow family, Leuciscidae. This predatory freshwater fish is native to northwestern North America, ranging from the Nass ...
(''Ptychocheilus oregonensis''), Peamouth chub (''
Mylocheilus caurinus
''Mylocheilus caurinus'', the peamouth, peamouth chub, redmouth sucker or northwestern dace, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish from the family Cyprinidae, the carps and minnows, that is found in western North America. It is the only spec ...
''), and
Lake chub
The lake chub (''Couesius plumbeus'') is a freshwater cyprinid fish found in Canada and in parts of the United States. Of all North American minnows, it is the one with the northernmost distribution. Its genus, ''Couesius'' is considered monoty ...
(''Couesius plumbeus'').
The
salmon run of sockeye salmon experienced a major recovery in the late 20th century, sometimes surpassing the
Adams River as the greatest sockeye producer in the Fraser basin.
However, the river, wildlife, and nearby water sources is threatened by 10 million cubic meters of contaminated mine waste that escaped in August 2014.
See also
*
List of tributaries of the Fraser River
*
Big Canyon
*
Little Canyon
*
List of British Columbia rivers
The following is a partial list of rivers of British Columbia, organized by watershed. Some large creeks are included either because of size or historical importance
(See Alphabetical List of British Columbia rivers ). Also included are lakes th ...
*
Mount Polley mine
The Mount Polley mine is a Canadian List of gold mines in Canada, gold and List of copper mines in Canada, copper mine located in British Columbia near the towns of Williams Lake, British Columbia, Williams Lake, and Likely, British Columbia, Like ...
References
{{British Columbia hydrography
History of British Columbia
Tributaries of the Fraser River
Rivers of the Cariboo
Cariboo Land District