6 miles south of Boston Bar
“…we could scarcely make our way even without guns. We had to pass where no human being should venture; yet in those places there is a regular path…indented upon the very rocks.” So wrote Simon Fraser, explorer and fur-trader, in 1808, the first white man to descend the river which bears his name.
Simon Fraser was chosen by the North West Co. to search west of the Rockies for fur-rich areas and a useable route to the Pacific. Fraser began his journey in 1805, and for the next 3 years traveled across northern BC. During these years he built several forts - most notably Fort St. James and Fort George which became permanent settlements.
In 1808 Fraser carried out his instructions to find a route to the Pacific. On May 22, with four canoes and 23 men, Fraser entered the river he believed to be the Columbia. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Had the obstacles and hardships that lay ahead been known, it is doubtful that Fraser would have started this journey.
Along the way the group passed and named several rivers including the Quesnel (after one of Fraser's lieutenants), and the Thompson (after David Thompson, another North West Co. explorer in the eastern and southern portions of BC). At many points the canoes were abandoned and they proceeded on foot. Through the Fraser Canyon the men even took to the narrow paths and ladders hung along the canyon walls by the First Nations of the region.
At Yale the river again became navigable, and by July 2 the party reached Musqueam at its mouth. Immediately they had to turn back up river due to conflicts with the Musqueam Nation living there. Fraser was very disappointed; not only was the river impassable but the country through which it passed was too warm to produce good furs. And right to the end, although now he knew better, Fraser had hoped he was on the Columbia.
