Mount Currie, British Columbia facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mount Currie
Mount Currie, British Columbia Location in British Columbia
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Region	Lillooet Country
Regional District	Squamish-Lillooet
Area code(s)	604
Highways	Hwy 99

Mount Currie is a community in the Squamish-Lillooet area of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is located on BC Highway 99. By road, it's about 160 kilometres (99 mi) north of Vancouver. It's also 39 kilometres (24 mi) northeast of Whistler and 92 kilometres (57 mi) southwest of Lillooet.

The Lillooet Tribal Council manages the part of Mount Currie that belongs to the First Nations. There's also a smaller, non-First Nations part of the community. This area has a business center. The First Nations reserves are located along the Birkenhead River.

First Nations Community History

Early Life and Traditions

In 1846, a visitor named Alexander Caulfield Anderson came to Lillooet Village. This village was on a grassy island about 5 kilometres (3 mi) above Lillooet Lake. Around 50 men lived there, along with women and children. This island was near where the Owl Creek community is today.

In 1881, the government set aside a large area of land, about 2,000-hectare (5,000-acre), for a reserve at Mount Currie. By the early 1900s, the people living there were growing excellent crops and fruit in orchards.

A Catholic church building was destroyed by fire. A new one was built in 1896. The community received a very heavy bell from a church in Vancouver. They moved it north using carts and canoes. This bell hung in the Mount Currie church steeple from about 1905 until 1948. The church then burned down, and the bell fell. After being in Whistler for 20 years, the bell returned. It now hangs at the old village site in an open-air steeple. It rings when a band member passes away.

By 1933, only 350 people lived on the reserve. Many children did not survive early childhood, as shown by the cemetery.

Education and Culture

A one-room school opened at Mount Currie in the 1930s. It was called the Pemberton Indian Day School. In 1948, two Catholic sisters joined the two teachers. A year later, they took full charge of the school. In 1958, a second building was built. It had classrooms for grades 1–7 and living areas for staff. The 1930s building became a kindergarten.

The Lil'wat First Nation makes up most of the population in Mount Currie. They are part of the Interior Salish people. They belong to the Upper Lillooet language group of the St'at'imc Nation. Other groups to the south are part of the Lower Lillooet section of the nation.

In the early 1970s, the school came under the control of the Indigenous community. It was renamed the Ts̓zil Community School. Today, it is called the Xet̓ólacw Community School. Learning the Lil'wat language and culture is a very important part of what they teach there.

The Lil'wat community also runs its own gas station and grocery store. The Stl’atl’imx Tribal Police have their main office in Mount Currie.

Understanding the Name Mount Currie

The local post office was first called Creekside. The Creekside train station was a short distance east of the Chilsampton station. In 1956, both the post office and the Chilsampton station changed their names to Mount Currie. This new name comes from a nearby mountain. The mountain was named after John Currie of Pemberton. The original name for the mountain is Ts̓zil.

Early Community Life in Mount Currie

The open fields north of the settlement were some of the first privately owned lands in British Columbia. P. Smith and Co. were the first to claim land there. John Shaw was the second. These two properties are now part of the Mount Currie reserve.

John Charles McKay was the first postmaster for Creekwood from 1938 to 1945.

Around 1923, Bill Kiltz built the first Creekside store. It was a log cabin across from the church. After a fire, a new store was built near the train station. This store sold groceries, hardware, basic clothes, and some medicines. In 1946, Gerry and Florence Cowell took over the store. In 1950, Hector and Adele Harwood changed it into a restaurant.

By 1937, A. William (Bill) Spetch moved the Owl Creek store and post office to Creekside. This was to serve the Indigenous village. However, that post office closed soon after. George and Adeline Williams already had a store in their home on the reserve. This store stayed open until the early 1950s.

In 1940, Bill Spetch sold his store to his brother Walter. Jack and Alice McKay first rented the business, then bought it in 1943. Bill bought it back in 1947. While Bill worked in logging, George McDonald managed the store. In 1955, Bill opened a dry goods store. This was the first real clothing store in the area. Bill's wife Jean managed it by the mid-1960s. Bill also built a hardware store, where the post office moved.

After the church on the reserve burned down, the current St. Christopher's church was built. It was built on private land to serve all Catholics in the area. Mount Currie used to have an annual parade and races in May. The rodeo was even shown in a CBC documentary called Pemberton Valley in 1957. A movie called The Trap was filmed at Birkenhead Lake and Mount Currie. They used Indigenous people from the area as extras. The community hall opened in 1968.

Owl Creek Community

In 1905, a sawmill powered by water was set up for a short time. It produced lumber for fish hatchery buildings. The main building was 46 by 12 metres (150 by 40 ft) and could hold 25 million fish eggs. A nearby two-story boarding house was 4.9 by 7.3 metres (16 by 24 ft). Fences were put in the Birkenhead River to help with trapping fish. The hatchery closed in 1936. It had provided local people with part-time jobs.

In 1908, Samuel Spetch moved his store and post office from Birken. He was the first postmaster for Owl Creek from 1908 to 1929. By 1918, his house was one of the few in the area with indoor plumbing. He also had a water-powered sawmill at Owl Creek.

During that time, the forests near the Pemberton Portage had many companies making poles and railroad ties.

Sam Spetch helped create the Correspondence Branch of the BC Department of Education in 1919. His children were the first three students to learn through this program.

In 1929, A. William (Bill) Spetch took over his father's store at Owl Creek. It did well because of the hatchery and customers from the valley. By 1937, Bill had moved the store and post office to Creekside. Today, Owl Creek has scattered rural properties.

Transportation Routes

Mount Currie has had similar road and railway access to Pemberton. The Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE) reached the area in November 1914. In 1922, the closest train stations were about 7.6 kilometres (4.7 mi) northeast at Spetch and 7.9 kilometres (4.9 mi) west at Pemberton.

By 1947, regular train stops northeast from Pemberton included:

• Chilsampton (7.4 kilometres (4.6 mi) away)
• Creekside (1.0 kilometre (0.6 mi) from Chilsampton)
• Owl Creek (3.1 kilometres (1.9 mi) from Creekside)
• Birken (19.2 kilometres (11.9 mi) from Owl Creek)

By 1959, the flag stops northeast from Mount Currie were Spetch (8.2 kilometres (5.1 mi) away) and then Birken (15.1 kilometres (9.4 mi) from Spetch).

Modern Mount Currie Community

Today, Mount Currie's economy still relies on farming and forestry. However, tourism and service industries have also grown. Better internet access has allowed more people to work from home. The biggest natural risk in the area is flooding.

The annual Lillooet Lake Rodeo is still held in Mount Currie every May.