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Harrison Mills, British Columbia
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Harrison Mills, British Columbia
Harrison Mills, formerly Carnarvon and also Harrison River, is an agricultural farming and tourism-based community in the District of Kent west of Agassiz, British Columbia. The community is a part of the Fraser Valley Regional District. Harrison Mills is home to the British Columbia Heritage Kilby Museum and Campground.
Harrison Bay is the home of the Scowlitz (Scaulits) people, whose main reserve is on the bay's western shore, across from Harrison Mills, and also of the Sts'Ailes or Chehalis people, whose reserve is located on the north side of the bay along the lower Harrison River and around that river's confluence with its tributary, the Chehalis. The Scowlitz and Chehalis peoples once had large and famously-carved longhouse villages, long since destroyed by the encouragement of missionaries. An archaeological site on the Harrison Mills side of the bay, the Scowlitz Mounds, also known as the Fraser Valley Pyramids, is under investigation by Simon Fraser University and the Scowlitz First Nation and represent an unusual period in the anthropological and cultural history of the Fraser Valley. The Scowlitz are Halqemeylem-speaking and are part of the Sto:lo cultural group, while the Sts'ailes (Chehalis) identify themselves separately and speak a dialect of Halqemeylem that has similarities with the Lower Lillooet River dialect of St'at'imcets (Ucwalmicwts).
The dialect spoken by the Sts'Ailes, whose name means "beating heart", includes the word sesqac, which is the source of the English word "sasquatch". The vicinity of Harrison Bay, Harrison Mills and the lower Harrison River is reputed to have the greatest number and density of sasquatch sightings worldwide. The sasquatch is the emblem of the Chehalis First Nation and is sacred in Sts'Ailes culture. The opening of Fort Langley in 1827 downriver began changing the traditional patterns of life for the Scowlitz and Chehalis by the introduction of new goods and also an end to raids by the Euclataws Kwakwaka'wakw (Southern Kwakiutl) of Cape Mudge and other northern coastal tribes.
In 1859, Governor James Douglas named the meeting place of the Harrison and Fraser rivers Carnarvon in honour of Henry Herbert Molyneux, the fourth Earl of Carnarvon. At the time of its naming, the town consisted of one crude hotel. Partly because of this, the name never caught on and the town-to-be never grew as hoped. For a time, official maps of the area duly recorded the name as Carnarvon but almost all newspapers and diaries referred to it as Harrisonmouth.
In just a few weeks, during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858, 30,000 men travelled up the Fraser River to the Fraser Canyon, upstream from Hope. Many stopped along the way, with sandbars along the Fraser near Harrison Mills and throughout the Fraser Valley turned over by prospectors. Gold was found around Harrison Mills and as far downstream as the present site of Mission, but extraction was profitable only above Hope.
The first settlers of note, and perhaps the most important, were Captain William Menten and his wife Emma who arrived in 1890. Emma Menten became the owner of the aforementioned hotel that had been expanded over the years. The next prominent family to arrive was that of Charles Fenn Pretty who built a spacious lodge in 1903. Finally, Joseph Martin built a large sawmill in 1892 beside the railway. The construction of this mill would move the townsite away from Lot 10A which was bordered on all sides by the Scowlitz reserve and towards Harrison Bay, a move that would have significant repercussions.
It was at this time that Emma Menten moved her store from Lot 10A to a site immediately east of the Martin mill in order to compete with a new store by the railway opened by Laurie and David Galbraith. Meanwhile, Captain Menten built a small sternwheeler called the Minto to carry passengers between Chilliwack and Harrison Mills. This increased the traffic coming across the Fraser River from Chilliwack and spurred business in the town.
Quite suddenly, two new mills were constructed: a shingle mill, which would remain in operation until 1942, and a larger sawmill that replaced the old Martin mill, bought by the Tretheweys. James Trethewey sr. was an ambitious man with big plans for the enterprise. In November 1899, the Harrison River Mills Timber and Trading Company was incorporated. Trethewey planned to run the business jointly with his two sons, as well as Thomas Jackson of Chilliwack, T.A. Cuddy and Frank Boyd. With these mills came a large influx of people. A school and church were built in 1901 to meet the needs of the expanding town. Before this, children had to cross the river by boat to go to school; this is how Maud Menten, one of Harrison Mills's most famous residents, was educated.
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Harrison Mills, British Columbia
Harrison Mills, formerly Carnarvon and also Harrison River, is an agricultural farming and tourism-based community in the District of Kent west of Agassiz, British Columbia. The community is a part of the Fraser Valley Regional District. Harrison Mills is home to the British Columbia Heritage Kilby Museum and Campground.
Harrison Bay is the home of the Scowlitz (Scaulits) people, whose main reserve is on the bay's western shore, across from Harrison Mills, and also of the Sts'Ailes or Chehalis people, whose reserve is located on the north side of the bay along the lower Harrison River and around that river's confluence with its tributary, the Chehalis. The Scowlitz and Chehalis peoples once had large and famously-carved longhouse villages, long since destroyed by the encouragement of missionaries. An archaeological site on the Harrison Mills side of the bay, the Scowlitz Mounds, also known as the Fraser Valley Pyramids, is under investigation by Simon Fraser University and the Scowlitz First Nation and represent an unusual period in the anthropological and cultural history of the Fraser Valley. The Scowlitz are Halqemeylem-speaking and are part of the Sto:lo cultural group, while the Sts'ailes (Chehalis) identify themselves separately and speak a dialect of Halqemeylem that has similarities with the Lower Lillooet River dialect of St'at'imcets (Ucwalmicwts).
The dialect spoken by the Sts'Ailes, whose name means "beating heart", includes the word sesqac, which is the source of the English word "sasquatch". The vicinity of Harrison Bay, Harrison Mills and the lower Harrison River is reputed to have the greatest number and density of sasquatch sightings worldwide. The sasquatch is the emblem of the Chehalis First Nation and is sacred in Sts'Ailes culture. The opening of Fort Langley in 1827 downriver began changing the traditional patterns of life for the Scowlitz and Chehalis by the introduction of new goods and also an end to raids by the Euclataws Kwakwaka'wakw (Southern Kwakiutl) of Cape Mudge and other northern coastal tribes.
In 1859, Governor James Douglas named the meeting place of the Harrison and Fraser rivers Carnarvon in honour of Henry Herbert Molyneux, the fourth Earl of Carnarvon. At the time of its naming, the town consisted of one crude hotel. Partly because of this, the name never caught on and the town-to-be never grew as hoped. For a time, official maps of the area duly recorded the name as Carnarvon but almost all newspapers and diaries referred to it as Harrisonmouth.
In just a few weeks, during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858, 30,000 men travelled up the Fraser River to the Fraser Canyon, upstream from Hope. Many stopped along the way, with sandbars along the Fraser near Harrison Mills and throughout the Fraser Valley turned over by prospectors. Gold was found around Harrison Mills and as far downstream as the present site of Mission, but extraction was profitable only above Hope.
The first settlers of note, and perhaps the most important, were Captain William Menten and his wife Emma who arrived in 1890. Emma Menten became the owner of the aforementioned hotel that had been expanded over the years. The next prominent family to arrive was that of Charles Fenn Pretty who built a spacious lodge in 1903. Finally, Joseph Martin built a large sawmill in 1892 beside the railway. The construction of this mill would move the townsite away from Lot 10A which was bordered on all sides by the Scowlitz reserve and towards Harrison Bay, a move that would have significant repercussions.
It was at this time that Emma Menten moved her store from Lot 10A to a site immediately east of the Martin mill in order to compete with a new store by the railway opened by Laurie and David Galbraith. Meanwhile, Captain Menten built a small sternwheeler called the Minto to carry passengers between Chilliwack and Harrison Mills. This increased the traffic coming across the Fraser River from Chilliwack and spurred business in the town.
Quite suddenly, two new mills were constructed: a shingle mill, which would remain in operation until 1942, and a larger sawmill that replaced the old Martin mill, bought by the Tretheweys. James Trethewey sr. was an ambitious man with big plans for the enterprise. In November 1899, the Harrison River Mills Timber and Trading Company was incorporated. Trethewey planned to run the business jointly with his two sons, as well as Thomas Jackson of Chilliwack, T.A. Cuddy and Frank Boyd. With these mills came a large influx of people. A school and church were built in 1901 to meet the needs of the expanding town. Before this, children had to cross the river by boat to go to school; this is how Maud Menten, one of Harrison Mills's most famous residents, was educated.
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