Online Encyclopedia

west and approach the ranges which border the Pacific coast. Thus British Columbia comprises practically the entire width of what has been termed the See also:

CORDILLERA

Cordillera or Cordilleran See also:

belt of North See also:

AMERICA

America, between the See also:

PARALLELS

parallels of See also:

LATITUDE (Lat. latitudo, latus, broad)

latitude above indicated. There are two ruling See also:

mountain systems in this belt—the Rocky Mountains proper on the north-east See also:

side, and the Coast Range on the See also:

south-west or Pacific side. Between these are subordinate ranges to which various See also:

LOCAL

local names have been given, as well as the " Interior See also:

Plateau "—an elevated See also:

TRACT (from Lat. tractare, to treat of a matter, through Provencal tractat and Ital. trattato)

tract of hilly country, the See also:

hill summits having an accordant See also:

ALTITUDE (Lat. altitudo, from altus, high)

altitude, which lies to the east of the Coast Range. The several ranges, having been produced by successive foldings of the See also:

earth's crust in a direction parallel to the border of the Pacific Ocean, have a See also:

COMMON

common trend which is south-east and north-west. Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands are remnants of still another mountain range, which runs parallel to the coast but is now almost entirely submerged beneath the See also:

WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters of the Pacific. The province might be said to consist of a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of parallel mountain ranges with Tong narrow valleys lying between them.

The Rocky Mountains are composed chiefly of palaeozoic sediments ranging in See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age from the See also:

CAMBRIAN

Cambrian to the Carboniferous, with sub-See also:

ORDINATE

ordinate infolded areas of Cretaceous which hold See also:

COAL

coal. The See also:

AVERAGE

average height of the range along the United States boundary is S000 ft., but the range culminates between the latitudes of 51' and 53', the ? iighest See also:

PEAK, THE

peak in the See also:

CANADIAN

Canadian Rockies being See also:

MOUNT, WILLIAM SIDNEY (1807-1868)

Mount See also:

ROBSON, STUART (1836-1903)

Robson, 13,700ft., although the highest peak in British Columbia is Mount See also:

FAIR

Fair-See also:

WEATHER (O. Eng. weder; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Du. weder, Dan. veir, Icel. ve8r, and Ger. Wetter and Gewitter, storm; the root is wa- to blow, from which is derived " wind ")

weather on the See also:

INTERNATIONAL, THE

International Boundary, which rises to 15,287 ft. Other high peaks in the Rocky Mountains of Canada are Columbia, 12,740 ft.; See also:

Forbes, 12,075; Assiniboine, 11,860; See also:

BRYCE, JAMES (1838- )

Bryce. 11,686; See also:

Temple, 11,626; See also:

LYELL, SIR CHARLES (1797-1875)

Lyell, 11,463. There are a number of passes over the Rocky Mountains, among which may be mentioned, beginning from the south, the South Kootenay or Boundary Pass, 7100 ft.; the See also:

CROW (Dutch, kraal, Ger. Krdhe, Fr. corbeau, Lat. corvus)

Crow's See also:

NEST

Nest Pass, 5500 (this is traversed by the southern See also:

BRANCH (from the Fr. branche, late Lat. branca, an animal's paw)

branch of the Canadian Pacific railway and crosses great coal See also:

FIELDS, JAMES THOMAS (1817-1881)

fields) ; the Kicking See also:

HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

Horse or Wapta Pass, 5300 (which is traversed by the See also:

main See also:

LINE

line of the Canadian Pacific railway) ; the See also:

ATHABASCA (Athapescow), or ELK

Athabasca Pass, 6o25; the Yellow See also:

Head Pass, 3733 (which will probably be used by the See also:

GRAND

Grand See also:

TRUNK (Fr. tronc, Lat. truncus, cut off, maimed)

Trunk Pacific railway); the See also:

PINE (Lat. Pinus, Gr. srlrur)

Pine River Pass, 2850; and the Peace River Pass, 2000, through which the Peace river flows. The Coast Range, sometimes called the Cascade Range, See also:

BORDERS, THE

borders the Pacific coast for 900 M. and gives to it its remarkable See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character. To its partially submerged transverse valleys are due the excellent harbours on the coast, the deep sounds and inlets which penetrate far inland at many points, as well as the profound and gloomy fjords and the stupendous precipices which render the coast line an exaggerated See also:

REPRODUCTION

reproduction of that of See also:

Norway. The coast is, in fact, one of the most remarkable in the See also:

WORLD

world, measuring with all its indentations 7000 M. in the aggregate, and being fringed with an See also:

ARCHIPELAGO

archipelago of innumerable islands, of which Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands are the largest. Along the south-western side of the Rocky Mountains is a very remarkable valley of considerable See also:

GEOLOGICAL

geological antiquity, in which some seven of the great See also:

rivers of the Pacific slope, among them the Kootenay, Columbia, See also:

Fraser and See also:

FINLAY, GEORGE (1799-1875)

Finlay, flow for portions of their upper courses. This valley, which is from r to 6 m. in width, can be traced continuously for a length of at least 800 m. One of the most important rivers of the province is the Fraser, which, rising in the Rocky Mountains, flows for a See also:

long distance to the north-west, and then turning south eventually crosses the Coast Range by a deep See also:

canton-like valley and empties into the Strait of See also:

GEORGIA

Georgia, a few See also:

MILES, NELSON APPLETON (1839— )

miles south of the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city of Vancouver. The Columbia, which rises farther south in the same range, flows north for about 15o m., See also:

CROSSING

crossing the main line of the Canadian Pacific railway at Donald, and then bending abruptly back upon its former course, flows south, recrossing the Canadian Pacific railway at See also:

REVELSTOKE

Revelstoke, and on through the Arrow Lakes in the Kootenay country into the United States, emptying into the Pacific Ocean at See also:

ASTORIA

Astoria in the state of See also:

OREGON

Oregon.

These lakes, as well as the other large lakes in southern British Columbia, remain open throughout the See also:

winter. In the north-western part of the province the Skeena flows south-west into the Pacific, and still farther to the north the Stikine rises in British Columbia, but before entering the Pacific crosses the coast strip of Alaska. The Liard, rising in the same See also:

DISTRICT

district, flows east and falls into the See also:

Mackenzie, which empties into the See also:

ARCTIC (Gr. "ApKroc, the Bear, the northern constellation of Ursa Major)

Arctic Ocean. The headwaters of the See also:

YUKON

Yukon are also situated in the northern part of the province. All these rivers are See also:

swift and are frequently interrupted by rapids, so that, as means of communication for coinmercial purposes, they are of indifferent value. Wherever lines of railway are constructed, they lose whatever importance they may have held in this respect previously. At an See also:

early See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage in the Glacial See also:

period British Columbia was covered by the Cordilleran See also:

glacier, which moved south-eastwards and north-westwards, in See also:

correspondence with the ruling features of the country, from a gathering-ground situated in the vicinity of the 57th parallel. See also:

ICE (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Eis)

Ice from this glacier poured through passes in the coast ranges, and to a lesser extent debouched upon the edge of the great plains, beyond the Rocky Mountain range. The great valley between the coast ranges and Vancouver Island was also occupied by a glacier that moved in both directions from a central point in the vicinity of Valdez Island. The effects of this glacial See also:

ACTION

action and of the long periods of erosion preceding it and of other physiographic changes connected with its passing away, have most important See also:

BEARINGS

bearings on the See also:

DISTRIBUTION (Lat. distribuere, to deal out)

distribution and character of the See also:

gold-bearing alluviums of the province. See also:

CLIMATE

Climate.—The subjoined figures See also:

RELATING

relating to temperature and precipitation are from a table prepared by Mr R. F.

Stupart, director of the meteorological service. The station at See also:

Victoria may be taken as representing the conditions of the southern part of the coast of British Columbia, although the rainfall is much greater on exposed parts of the See also:

OUTER

outer coast. See also:

Agassiz represents the Fraser See also:

DELTA (from the shape of the Gr. letter A, delta, originally used of the mouth of the Nile)

delta and Kamloops the southern interior district. The mean temperature naturally decreases to the northward of these selected stations, both along the coast and in the interior, while the precipitation increases. The figures given for See also:

PORT

Port See also:

Simpson are of See also:

INTEREST

interest, as the Pacific See also:

TERMINUS

terminus of the Grand Trunk Pacific railway will be in this vicinity. See also:

FAUNA

Fauna.—Among the larger mammals are the big-See also:

horn or mountain See also:

sheep (Ovis canadensis) ,the Rocky Mountain See also:

GOAT (a common Teut. word; O. Eng. gat, Goth. gaits, Mod. Ger. Geiss, cognate with Lat. haedus, a kid)

goat (Manama See also:

MONTANA

montana), the grizzly bear, See also:

MOOSE

moose, woodland caribou, See also:

black-tailed or See also:

MULE (Lat. mulus)

mule See also:

deer, See also:

white-tailed deer, and See also:

COYOTE

coyote. All these are to be found only on the mainland. The black bear, See also:

wolf, See also:

PUMA

puma, See also:

LYNX (Lat. Lynx, Gr. airy, probably connected with X hovewv, to see)

lynx, wapiti, and Columbian or coast deer are common to parts of both mainland and islands. Of marine mammals the most characteristic are the See also:

sea-See also:

lion, See also:

FUR (connected with O. Fr. forre, a sheath or case; so " an outer covering ")

fur-See also:

seal, sea-See also:

otter and See also:

HARBOUR (from M.E. hereberge, here, an army; cf. Ger. Heer and -beorg, protection or shelter. Other early forms in English were herberwe and haiborow, as seen in various place names, such as Market Harborough.. The French auberge, an inn, derived through

harbour-seal.

End of Article: BRITISH COLUMBIA

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
BRITISH COLONIES AND

[next]
BRITISH DOMINIONS