The Duncan River is in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. Entering the North Arm of Kootenay Lake, the river is a major tributary of the Kootenay River, which in turn flows into the Columbia River. The Selkirk Mountains lie to the west and the Purcell Mountains to the east.
Name origin
The earliest known mention of the river name was 1889 in honour of John (Jack) Duncan, a prospector and candidate for the colonial Legislative Council from the Kootenay Land District in 1866.
Duncan Lake
Duncan Lake is a man-made reservoir lake in the Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada, formed by Duncan Dam and about 45 km in length. It is fed by the Duncan River, which forms part of the boundary between the Selkirk Mountains to the west and the Purcell Mountains to the east. Below Duncan Dam is the head of Kootenay Lake.
Prior to inundation there was a lake of shorter length at the same location, also named Duncan Lake but also known as Upper Kootenay Lake or Upper Kootenai Lake. The name comes from the Duncan River's namesake, John "Jack" Duncan, prospector, who ran for election but did not win the Kootenay District seat on the colonial Legislative Council of British Columbia.
The lake, which divides the upper and lower parts of the river, takes its name from the latter. The lake was called Ecclesion by Father De Smet on his 1846 map, Upper Kootenay by Moberly around 1866 and Trutch in 1871, Upper Kootenai on government maps in 1890, and Howser by John Retallack and Duncan by Perry in 1893. The name Duncan had prevailed for the lake by 1912 and Howser for the community by 1905.
River traffic
Thousands of years ago, prior to reclamation by silting, the present mouth of Meadow Creek (about up the Duncan River) was part of Kootenay Lake. First Nations have camped in this locality each August to fish for kokanee salmon.
In 1889, Andrew Jardine, Jack Allen Jack MacDonald came by rowboat from Kootenay Lake as far north as Howser creek to prospect. By the early 1890s, various small craft were travelling northward between the timbered slopes bordering the turbulent, log-jammed river. The upper reaches of the upper river required a combination of canoeing and portage. The lower river could be bypassed by taking the trail north from Argenta to Duncan City (Howser), which by 1893 was a tent city near the foot of the lake housing prospectors waiting for the snow to melt and spring flooding to subside.
In 1897, the Idaho was the first steamboat to successfully navigate the lower river between the lakes. However, a steamer had to winch its way through the Cooper Creek rapids by anchoring a line to a tree on the shore. That summer, the Idaho carried prospectors and supplies on regular runs into the upper river as far as a log jam.
After leaving Duncan City, the Idaho would travel about north to Jubilee Point on the east shore, the headquarters of the Gold Hill Exploration and Development Co. The Matthews ranch was also on the peninsular. On the northern tip was a government assay office. In later decades, only the flagpole and rock fireplaces remained of the abandoned assay facilities, prior to flooding by the Duncan Dam reservoir, which changed the peninsular into an island.
The packhorse trail from Argenta was more frequented than the lower river. Since 1896, the federal government had been clearing the lower river of obstructions to make it navigable for eight months of the year. By 1900, the clearing cost $3,000 annually.
In 1902, the steamer Argenta operated on the river as far north as the landing at Hall Creek. Healy's Landing, which was midway between Howser and Hall creeks, was the primary northern terminal for river traffic and the southern one for packhorses travelling to Hall Creek.
Once the railway was built, the lower river was no longer kept clear by the government and became unnavigable for larger vessels. However, Howser farmers would raft their produce downriver.
The upper river was kept clear but was only navigable by small boats from May to early September, when the water was sufficiently high.
During the 1930s, logs were manoeuvred down the river from the upper Duncan to the sawmill at Howser. The forestry phone line, which was attached to trees, followed the east shore of the lake and river to McGuire Creek and then terminated at Healy. During 1930–1936, significant placer mining occurred around Hall Creek. At the time, people lobbied for a road from the foot of the lake up the east side of the river to Healy's Landing, where a trail extended to Hall Creek.