The Hells Gate rapids
along the Fraser River are located
at the narrowest section of the
Fraser Canyon and form a major
obstacle to spawning sockeye salmon.
Hells Gate was the site of a major
salmon fisheries disaster in 1913,
when much of the salmon run for
that year was unable to pass through
the rapids due to an obstruction.
The obstruction was caused by
rock debris dumped into the river
during the construction of a railway
tunnel, which is visible along
the midpoint of the cliff.
[2]
Hell's Gate is a 35
metre (110 ft) narrowing of British
Columbia's Fraser River, located immediately
downstream of Boston Bar in the southern
Fraser Canyon. The towering rock walls
of the Fraser River plunge toward
each other forcing the waters through
a passage only 35 metres (110 ft)
wide. It is also the name of a rural
community at the same location.
The first recorded history
of Hell's Gate is found in the explorer
Simon Fraser's journal, 1808. There
he describes this narrow passage as
an "awesome gorge" He also
says that "surely this is the
gate of hell". On June 26, 1808
Fraser passed along the cliffs on
a series of bridges and ladders built
by local Nlaka'pamux people.
Construction of the
Canadian Northern Railway in 1914
blasted thousands of tons of rock
into the river below the railroad
grade which further constricted the
river and damaged sockeye salmon runs.
Thirty years of scientific planning
and several years' construction have
not completely repaired the damage.
Hell's Gate's fishways, built by a
joint Canadian-American Commission,
were completed in 1946.
The route of the present
Trans-Canada Highway through the Fraser
Canyon parallels, roughly, the fur
brigade trail of the Hudson's Bay
Company, which was built over the
shoulder of the Cascade Mountains
high above the east bank of Hell's
Gate, as the route north from Kequaloose
(opposite Spuzzum) was completely
impassable, even for mules. Beginning
with the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of
1858 Canyon a usable mule trail was
built through the Canyon towards the
'Eye of Morello', a route which the
new colonial government invested in
heavily to build the Cariboo Wagon
Road. The Cariboo Road was completed
in 1864 but destroyed by CPR construction
in the 1880s. A road through the canyon
was not opened again until 1922 as
the Cariboo Highway.
The Canadian Pacific
Railway runs through the canyon. Construction
through the canyon took four years
and was completed in 1884. Across
the river is the Canadian National
Railway. Originally called the Canadian
Northern Railway, this stretch was
completed in 1914. Rockslides during
construction narrowed the channel
just above Hell's Gate, resulting
in the need for the present fishways[1]
