The Southgate River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

in the

Pacific Ranges , photo = Mount Garibaldi (50997016501).jpg , photo_size = 280px , photo_caption = Mount Garibaldi massif as seen from Squamish , map = , map_image = South BC-NW USA-relief PacificRanges.png , ...

of the Coast Mountains in

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 ...

, entering the head of

Bute Inlet , image = Bute Inlet.jpg , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Strathcona RD, British Co ...

, on that province's South Coast, just east of the mouth of the

Homathko River The Homathko River is one of the major rivers of the southern Coast Mountains of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is one of the few rivers that penetrates the range from the interior Chilcotin Country to the coastal inlets of the P ...

at Waddington Harbour. The lower reaches of the river's course are flat-bottomed and are named Pigeon Valley.

Name origin

Its namesake was Captain James Johnson Southgate, a retired ship-master, who came to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in 1859 via

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and launched a commission and general mercantile business, largely in connection with the

Pacific Station The Pacific Station was created in 1837 as one of the geographical military formations into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. The South America Station was split into the Pacific Station and the South East Coast of ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

Esquimalt The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to the west by Esquim ...

, operating as J.J. Southgate & Co. He sold the business and returned to England in 1865, but during his time in Victoria, he served as a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island The Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island, sometimes House of Assembly of Vancouver Island, was the colonial parliamentary body that was elected to represent voters in the Colony of Vancouver Island. It was created in 1856 after a series of ...

from 1860 to 1863, as the member for

Saltspring Island Salt Spring Island or Saltspring Island is one of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Canada, and Vancouver Island. The island was initially inhabited by various Salishan peoples before being settled b ...

. He died in London in 1894. The Southgate Group of islands are also named for him as is Southgate Island within that group. The Southgate Glacier at the river's head, and Southgate Peak, which stands above its mouth, were named in association with the river.

Hydrology

The river is approximately in length, beginning on the western flank of Good Hope Mountain, to the east of the

Homathko Icefield The Homathko Icefield is an icefield in British Columbia, Canada. Officially named the Homathko Snowfield from 1950 until the current name was adopted in 1976, it is one of the largest icefields in the southern half of the Coast Mountains, with an ...

, and then flows generally south-southwest for about before turning west-northwest toward the head of Bute Inlet. The

Bishop River The Bishop River is a river in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains, flowing west from the western edge of the Lillooet Icecap to join the Southgate River east of the Homathko Icefield. Bishop River Provincial Park surrounds the upper cou ...

enters it from the east after the first of its course and has its origin at Ring Pass, which lies between the Compton Neve to the west and the

Lillooet Icecap The Lillooet Icecap, also called the Lillooet Icefield or the Lillooet Crown, is a large icefield in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is about northwest of the towns of Pemberton and Whistl ...

to the east and forms the divide with the uppermost

Lillooet River The Lillooet River is a major river of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia. It begins at Silt Lake, on the southern edge of the Lillooet Crown Icecap about 80 kilometres northwest of Pemberton and about 85 kilometres northwest of W ...

. Other major tributaries include Boulanger Creek, Elliot Creek, Icewall Creek, and Malim Creek.

History

The indigenous Homalco people have inhabited the watershed of the Southgate River since time immemorial.

2020 Elliot Creek Megatsunami

On 28 November 2020, unseasonably heavy rainfall triggered a landslide of into a glacial lake at the head of Elliot Creek. The sudden displacement of water generated a high

megatsunami A megatsunami is a very large wave created by a large, sudden displacement of material into a body of water. Megatsunamis have quite different features from ordinary tsunamis. Ordinary tsunamis are caused by underwater tectonic activity (movemen ...

that cascaded down Elliot Creek and the Southgate River to the head of

Bute Inlet , image = Bute Inlet.jpg , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Strathcona RD, British Co ...

, covering a total distance of over . The event generated a

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

5.0 earthquake and destroyed over of salmon habitat along Elliot Creek.

References

Rivers of the Pacific Ranges South Coast of British Columbia {{BritishColumbia-river-stub

Name origin

Hydrology

History

2020 Elliot Creek Megatsunami

See also

References