Barrière River (North Thompson River tributary)

Barrière River (also spelled Barriere River^[4]) is a tributary of the North Thompson River, one of the main tributaries of the Fraser River, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It flows through the Shuswap Highland region north of Kamloops. Its name in Secwepemctsín is St́yelltsecwétkwe.^[5]

Barrière River Barriere River
Show map of British Columbia Show map of Canada
Etymology	French for "barrier"
Location
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Land District	Kamloops Division Yale
Physical characteristics
Source	Shuswap Highland
• coordinates	51°31′N 119°42′W[1]
• elevation	1,568 m (5,144 ft)[2]
Mouth	North Thompson River
• location	Barriere, Thompson Country
• coordinates	51°10′26″N 120°8′19″W[1]
• elevation	365 m (1,198 ft)[2]
Basin size	1,140 km2 (440 sq mi)[3]
Discharge
• location	mouth[3]
• average	14.5 m3/s (510 cu ft/s)[3]
• minimum	0.566 m3/s (20.0 cu ft/s)
• maximum	171 m3/s (6,000 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	East Barrière River

Name origin

In 1828 Hudson's Bay Company fur trader Archibald McDonald named the mouth of the river Barrière because rocks there were an impediment to navigation. Another possibility is that the name relates to fish traps placed across the river by the Secwepemc people.^[1]

Course

The Barrière River originates near Vavenby Mountain in the Shuswap Highland, south of Vavenby.^[6] It flows south into Saskum Lake, then continues south for some distance.^[7] It turns west and is joined by Fennell Creek.^[8] Bear Creek joins from the north just before the Barrière River empties into North Barrière Lake.^[9][10] Vermelin Creek and Harper Creek empty into the lake from the north.^[11][12] The Barrière River flows from the west end of the lake, turning south as numerous tributaries join, such as Birk Creek, Mack Creek, Slate Creek, and Sprague Creek.

The East Barrière River then joins from the east and the Barrière River turns to flow west.^[13] The East Barrière River originates near the north end of Adams Lake and flows generally east, through East Barrière Lake before joining the main Barrière River.^[14]

After its confluence with the East Barrière the main Barrière River flows west and southwest, between Barrière Mountain on the south and Mount Borthwick and Garrison Mountain on the north.^[15][16][17] It is joined by Leonie Creek just north of the town of Barriere.^[18] The river flows through the town and by the Simpcw North Thompson Indian Band "Barriere River 3A" Indian reserve before emptying into the North Thompson River.^[19][20][21]

History

The Barrière River is part of the traditional lands of the Simpcw people, or "People of the North Thompson River", a division of the Secwepemc people.^[22][23]

In the early 19th century the Barrière River was often difficult to cross by fur traders travelling the Hudson's Bay Brigade Trail between Alexandria and Kamloops. The trail ran along the east bank of the North Thompson River and required crossing the Barrière River.^[24]

See also

• List of rivers of British Columbia
• List of tributaries of the Fraser River

References

1. "Barrière River". BC Geographical Names.
2. Elevation derived from ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model, using GeoLocator, and BCGNIS coordinates
3. "Archived Hydrometric Data Search". Water Survey of Canada. Archived from the original on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2013. Search for Station 08LB020 Barriere River at the mouth
4. "Barriere River". BC Geographical Names.
5. Ignace, Marianne; Ignace, Ronald E. (2017). Secwépemc People, Land, and Laws: Yerí7 re Stsq'ey's-kucw. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 161. ISBN 9780773552036.
6. "Vavenby Mountain". BC Geographical Names.
7. "Saskum Lake". BC Geographical Names.
8. "Fennell Creek". BC Geographical Names.
9. "Bear Creek". BC Geographical Names.
10. "North Barrière Lake". BC Geographical Names.
11. "Vermelin Creek". BC Geographical Names.
12. "Harper Creek". BC Geographical Names.
13. "East Barrière River". BC Geographical Names.
14. "East Barrière Lake". BC Geographical Names.
15. "Barrière Mountain". BC Geographical Names.
16. "Mount Borthwick". BC Geographical Names.
17. "Garrison Mountain". BC Geographical Names.
18. "Leonie Creek". BC Geographical Names.
19. "Barriere". BC Geographical Names.
20. "Barriere River 3A Reserve". Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Government of Canada. 14 November 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
21. Course information in part from "Barrière, Canadian 1:50K topographic maps" (map). TopoQuest.com. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
22. Walker, Ryan; Jojola, Ted; Natcher, David (2013). Reclaiming Indigenous Planning. MQUP. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-7735-8994-0. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
23. "Our Land". Simpcw First Nation. Archived from the original on 17 January 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
24. Gibson, James R. (1998). The Lifeline of the Oregon Country: The Fraser-Columbia Brigade System, 1811-47. UBC Press. pp. 83–85. ISBN 978-0-7748-0643-5. Retrieved 17 August 2013.