Stewart is a small town, incorporated as a district municipality at the head of the Portland Canal in northwestern British Columbia, Canada.[1] In 2006, its population was about 496.
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History
The Nisga'a, who lived around the Nass River, called the head of Portland Canal Skam-A-Kounst, meaning "safe house" or "strong house", probably because it served them as a retreat from the harassment of the Haida and Tlingit from the outer coast.[citation needed] They travelled in the area seasonally to pick berries and hunt birds. It and the rest of the Portland Canal had been the domain of the Tsetsaut people, also called the Skam-a-Kounst Indians, or Jits'aawit in Nisga'a, an Athapaskan people who became decimated by war and disease and were driven out of the Stewart area by either Haida or Nisga'a in 1856-57.[2] Their remaining population was taken under the protection of the Eagle/Laxsgiiks chief Sim'oogit Sganisim Sim'oogit ("Mountain Chief") in the late 1800s.[3] The former Scamakounst Indian Reserve 19, now named Sgamagunt as a result of the Nisga'a Treaty, is located on the east bank of the Bear River adjacent to the town of Stewart.[4][5] and is under the jurisdiction of the Kincolith group of the Nisga'a.
The area around the Portland Canal was explored in 1896 by Captain D.D. Gaillard of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (after whom the Gaillard Cut in the Panama Canal was later named). Two years after Gaillard's visit, the first prospectors and settlers arrived. Among them was D. J. Raine, for whom a creek and a mountain in the area are named. The Stewart brothers arrived in 1902. In 1905, Robert M. Stewart, the first postmaster, named the town Stewart.
Gold and silver mining dominated the early economy. Nearby Hyder, Alaska, boomed with the discovery of rich silver veins in the upper Salmon River basin in 1917 and 1918. Hyder became an access and supply point for the mines, while Stewart served as the port for Canadian mining activity, which was centred on the town of Premier, which was accessed by a 14 mile road from Hyder.
Stewart had a population of about 10,000 prior to World War I, which then declined to about 700 in 2000. As of 2005, its population had reduced to less than 500. Stewart is accessible by highway from the British Columbia highway system, via Highway 37A.
Climate
Stewart has a coastal rainforest climate, with about 1832 mm (72 inches) per year of precipitation, much of it as snow, and an average yearly temperature of 6 degrees Celsius (43ºF), according to Environment Canada[6]. Stewart is Canada's most northerly ice-free port.
See also
References
- ^ Stewart (district municipality) in the BC Geographical Names Information System
- ^ Stewart (district municipality) in the BC Geographical Names Information System
- ^ Portland Canal in the BC Geographical Names Information System
- ^ Scamakounst Indian Reserve 19 in the BC Geographical Names Information System
- ^ Sgamagunt (site) in the BC Geographical Names Information System
- ^ Canadian Climate Normals 1971-2000
External links
Coordinates: 55°56′9.8″N 129°59′30″W / 55.936056°N 129.99167°W
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