British Columbia. River: Fraser River drainage
Flows SW into Fraser NW of McBride
53.3975 N 120.3422 W — Map 093H08 — Google — GeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1915
Name officially adopted in 1963
Official in BC – Canada
Flows SW into Fraser NW of McBride
53.3975 N 120.3422 W — Map 093H08 — Google — GeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1915
Name officially adopted in 1963
Official in BC – Canada
This river appears on:
Jobe’s map Jarvis Pass to Yellowhead 1915
Pre-emptor’s map Tête Jaune 3H 1919 [McKale River (Blackwater)]
Jobe’s map Jarvis Pass to Yellowhead 1915
Pre-emptor’s map Tête Jaune 3H 1919 [McKale River (Blackwater)]
Two McKale brothers settled in the valley after the First World War. James R. McKale first came through on the railway survey (presumably the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway). He was a charter member of the Royal Canadian Legion, in 1927, and one of the initial trustees of Elks Lodge 247, in 1933. Jack B. McKale was a stationary fireman on the railroad up to the time of the end of steam locomotives in the mid-1950s. He ran the ice house in McBride in early 1920s, and also the local dray business. The house he built on Main Street still exists.
R. E. McKale (1910-1950), relationship unknown, is buried in the McBride cemetery.
Locally the river is known as the Blackwater Riverr.
References:
- Wheeler, Marilyn [1932–2016]. The Robson Valley Story. McBride, B.C.: Robson Valley Story Group, 1979
- McBride Cemetary. Grave markers. 2000
Also see: