The Southgate River is a river in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada, entering the head of Bute Inlet, on that province's South Coast, just east of the mouth of the Homathko River at Waddington Harbour.
Name origin
Its namesake was Captain James Johnson Southgate, a retired
ship-master, who came to Victoria in 1859 via
San Francisco and launched a commission and general mercantile business, largely in connection with the
Pacific Station of the
Royal Navy at
Esquimalt, operating as J.J. Southgate & Co. He sold the business and returned to England in 1865, but during his time in Victoria, he served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island from 1860 to 1863, as the member for Saltspring Island. He died in London in 1894. The
Southgate Group of islands are also named for him as is
Southgate Island within that group.
[Adapted from British Columbia Coast Names, 1592-1906: their origin and history, John T. Walbran, Ottawa 1909 (republished for the Vancouver Public Library by J.J. Douglas Ltd, Vancouver, 1971)] The Southgate Glacier at the river's head,
[ BC Names/GeoBC entry "Southgate Glacier"] and
Southgate Peak,
[ BC Names/GeoBC entry "Southgate Peak"] which stands above its mouth, were named in association with the river.
Hydrology
The river is approximately in length, beginning on the western flank of Good Hope Mountain, to the east of the Homathko Icefield, and then flows generally south-southwest for about before turning west-northwest toward the head of Bute Inlet. The
Bishop River enters it from the east after the first of its course and has its origin at
Ring Pass, which lies between the
Compton Neve to the west and the
Lillooet Icecap to the east and forms the divide with the uppermost
Lillooet River.
Other major tributaries include Boulanger Creek, Elliot Creek, Icewall Creek, and Malim Creek.
History
The indigenous Homalco people have inhabited the watershed of the Southgate River since time immemorial.
2020 Elliot Creek Megatsunami
On 28 November 2020, unseasonably heavy rainfall triggered a
landslide of into a
glacial lake at the head of Elliot Creek. The sudden displacement of water generated a high
megatsunami that cascaded down Elliot Creek and the Southgate River to the head of
Bute Inlet, covering a total distance of over . The event generated a magnitude 5.0 earthquake and destroyed over of salmon habitat along Elliot Creek.
See also
-
Bishop River Provincial Park
-
Homathko Estuary Provincial Park
-
List of rivers of British Columbia
