Richter Pass is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

to the south of the summit of

British Columbia highway 3 British Columbia Highway 3, officially named the Crowsnest Highway, is an highway that traverses southern British Columbia, Canada. It runs from the Trans-Canada Highway ( Highway 1) at Hope to Crowsnest Pass at the Alberta border and for ...

(the Crowsnest Highway) between

Keremeos Keremeos () is a village in the British Columbia Interior, Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The name originated from the Similkameen dialect of the Okanagan language word "Keremeyeus" meaning "creek which cuts its way through the fl ...

(W) and

Osoyoos Osoyoos (, ) is the southernmost town in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia between Penticton and Omak. The town is north of the United States border with Washington state and is adjacent to the Osoyoos Indian reserve. The origin of the na ...

(E), linking the

Similkameen Valley Similkameen may refer to: * Similkameen Country or Similkameen District, or "the Similkameen", a historical georegion in British Columbia, Canada * Similkameen River, a river that runs through southern British Columbia, discharging into the Okanog ...

with the South Okanagan over the southernmost end of the Thompson Plateau. The pass is traversed by Old Richter Pass Road and is ~ in elevation though the name is generally used for the route of Highway 3 as well. The pass was named in association nearby Richter Mountain, which was named for

Francis Xavier Richter Franz Xavier Richter, commonly known as Frank Richter (1837 –1910), was a pioneer settler, miner and rancher in 19th century Washington and British Columbia. Biography Born in Friedland, Bohemia, then part of Austria-Hungary, Richter was t ...

, an early cattle rancher and orchardist in the area, who settled in the region during the days of the

Colony of British Columbia The Colony of British Columbia refers to one of two colonies of British North America, located on the Pacific coast of modern-day Canada: *Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) *Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871) See also *History of Br ...

., originally working for the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

post in Keremeos, taking care of their packhorses. His descendants still own the

Richter Ranch Richter may refer to: Science and technology * Richter magnitude scale, a scale measuring the strength of earthquakes, created by Charles Francis Richter * Richter tuning scale developed in 1825 to which harmonicas are usually tuned * Richter's ...

, which spans the mountain rangeland in this area.''Strangers Entertained'', BC Govt, 1971

References

Mountain passes of British Columbia Similkameen Country Geography of the Okanagan {{BritishColumbiaInterior-geo-stub