The Fraser River is Pretty Amazing
- It is 1375 km (850 miles) long! Stretched out, it would span the distance between Vancouver, BC to Regina, Saskatchewan.
- The Fraser Basin makes up 25% of the province of BC!
- Over 60% of the people in BC live in the Fraser Basin!
- The Fraser is one of the largest salmon spawning rivers in the world!
- The Fraser is one of only three rivers in BC in which the white sturgeon spawn, the largest freshwater fish in North America!
- The Fraser River Estuary is one of Canada’s premier Important Bird Areas!
Since Time Immemorial
- 10,000 years ago: Earliest known archaeological traces of human occupation in the Fraser River Basin
- 3500 years ago: Communities emerged, including those groups that continue to live along the river today
- 1806 – 1808: Simon Fraser explored the river as an employee of the North West Company
- 1827: First fur trading post established along river at Fort Langley
- 1846: Hudsons Bay Company first imported cattle to Chilcotin River Basin and Thompson River Basin, tributaries to the Fraser now famous for their large cattle ranches
- 1858: New Westminster named capital of British Columbia
- 1858: Gold found in the Fraser Canyon, setting off the Fraser River Gold Rush
- 1858: First sawmill in BC built at Fort Yale
- 1870: First salmon cannery built along BC’s coast
- 1881: Construction of the CPR began
- 1891: First bridge built over the river 1996: Fraser River named a British Columbia Heritage River
- 1998: Fraser River named a Canadian Heritage River based on its vast cultural and natural heritage, including geographic formations, rich and ongoing First Nations history, and significance to European settlement.