The San Juan River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

that flows from east to west through southern

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

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 tota ...

. The river originates in the Seymour Range, flows westward through the San Juan Valley to Port San Juan at Port Renfrew.

History

Early Spanish expeditions

The First Nations of Vancouver Island have a legend of a Spanish trading schooner which arrived on the Island's southwestern coast in 1777. The Spanish anchored in the harbour and traded with the Nitinat Natives. The Spanish discovered gold in the San Juan River and tried to recover the gold. The Nitinat Natives slaughtered the Spanish expedition. Two Spanish women were taken as slaves. The women were later released to another Spanish expedition who discovered them. The later expedition inadvertently infected the Nitinat Natives with smallpox. There is some evidence to support this story. Spanish ships such as the Santiago investigated the west coast in the 1700s. There are also records of attacks on Spanish by First Nations. This is the first alleged discovery of gold in the San Juan River.

Foster's Lost Mine

In 1885 an American prospector named Foster found gold in the San Juan River. Foster returned in 1907 to find more gold. Every year Foster returned looking for the gold. He returned year after year because he couldn't find the original spot on the San Juan River. Foster died in 1917 in Salt Lake City. The people of Port Renfrew heard about Foster's search. Many people from Port Renfrew searched all over the San Juan River looking for Foster's old gold site. It was never discovered.

Course

The San Juan River's headwaters take drainage from the southern slopes of the Seymour Range. Its largest fork begins at a small unnamed pond in

Cowichan Valley Regional District The Cowichan Valley Regional District is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia is on the southern part of Vancouver Island, bordered by the Nanaimo and Alberni-Clayoquot Regional Districts to the north and northwest, ...

and forms the primary headstream. From here the San Juan River flows southwest into "Pete's Pond" before continuing its descent south. It then enters the Capital Regional District before pooling briefly in a large unnamed pond. The river then continues south before meeting its first named tributary, Clapp Creek. From here the river swings west-southwest, growing considerably in size as continues down the valley. The San Juan River then meets its first major tributary, Fleet River. From here the river winds through a canyon before it opens up into a broad valley. It meets the major tributaries of Lens Creek and Harris Creek before meeting an outlet stream of Fairy Lake. From here the San Juan River meanders considerably and breaks off into a pair of major branches, forming a large

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

. The smaller northern branch meanders west before sharing an outlet to Port San Juan with the Gordon River. The larger southern branch meanders southwest and empties into Port San Juan just north of Port Renfrew.

Estuary

The San Juan River Estuary Ecological Reserve was established on 30 April 1996 in order to conserve the alluvial forest communities of the lower San Juan River and protect the red-listed tooth-leaved monkeyflower, endemic to British Columbia. It is classified as a strict nature reserve ( IUCN Category Ia). The

is populated by a variety of trees, including

red alder ''Alnus rubra'', the red alder, is a deciduous broadleaf tree native to western North America (Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Montana). Description Red alder is the largest species of alder in North ...

, black cottonwood,

Sitka spruce ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to almost tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-larg ...

, and

western hemlock ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern Sonoma ...

. Shrubs present in the estuary include salmonberry, stink currant,

piggyback plant ''Tolmiea menziesii'' () is a species of flowering plant in the family Saxifragaceae. It is known by the common names youth on age, pick-a-back-plant, piggyback plant, and thousand mothers. It is a perennial plant native to the West Coast of Nort ...

s, lady fern, and

deer fern ''Struthiopteris spicant'', syn. ''Blechnum spicant'', is a species of fern in the family Blechnaceae, known by the common names hard-fern or deer fern. It is native to Europe, western Asia, northern Africa, and western North America. Like some ...

. Wildlife of note that take residence in the estuary include

American black bear The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), also called simply a black bear or sometimes a baribal, is a medium-sized bear endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. American black bea ...

Roosevelt elk The Roosevelt elk (''Cervus canadensis roosevelti)'', also known commonly as the Olympic elk and Roosevelt's wapiti, is the largest of the four surviving subspecies of elk ('' Cervus canadensis'') in North America by body mass (although by an ...

North American river otter The North American river otter (''Lontra canadensis''), also known as the northern river otter and river otter, is a semiaquatic mammal that only lives on the North American continent, along its waterways and coasts. An adult North American ri ...

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same nich ...

s, and

mink Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera '' Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": ...

References

External links

{{British Columbia parks Juan de Fuca region Rivers of Vancouver Island Spanish history in the Pacific Northwest