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43-749: Black Dome Mountain is the northernmost summit of the Camelsfoot Range , which lies along the west side of the Fraser River , north of Lillooet, British Columbia , Canada . It is an ancient butte -like volcano located in the formation known as the Chilcotin Group , which lie between the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains and the mid- Fraser River in British Columbia , Canada . Black Dome

86-745: A historical reenactment group visits Yale to celebrate the Royal Engineers , who had served under Richard Clement Moody during McGowan's War . They also worked on the Cariboo Wagon Road (later improved as the Trans-Canada Highway) and the Douglas-Lillooet Trail. The men were an integral part of Yale's life from the gold rush to the end of the 1870s. The town was founded in 1848 by the Hudson's Bay Company as Fort Yale by Ovid Allard ,

129-551: A busy dockside life as well as a variety of bars, restaurants, hotels, saloons and various services. Its maximum population during the gold rush era was in the 15,000 range. More generally, it housed 5,000-8,000. The higher figure was counted at the time of evacuation of the Canyon during the Fraser Canyon War of 1858. Most of today's population are members of the self-governing Yale First Nation . Non-native businesses have included

172-598: A continuous "highway"). Its counterpart on the north side of the river was the Dewdney Trunk Road , built in the same period in advance of railway construction in the 1880s. That road ran only to Dewdney , just east of Mission City . Because of its unique role as a transshipment point for the Cariboo Road, Yale prospered for another twenty years after the gold rush. Although it declined in population, it retained some prestige and such sophistication as had grown up within

215-512: A couple of stores, restaurants and a few motels and other services, as well as a gas station, and automotive repair and rescue outfits. The town's only gas station closed in 2021 or 2022 and their general store closed in December 2023. The Yale area is the lowest main destination for the Fraser River rafting expedition companies; several have waterfront campgrounds and facilities near town. All Hallows

258-444: A reference to a head. Due south of it is the isolated massif of Yalakom Mountain 2424 m (7953 ft), which is one of the highest in the range and remains a redoubt of mountain sheep and other big game, and historically was part of a long-standing wildlife preserve. East of Yalakom Mountain is Hogback Mountain 2149 m (7051 ft), whose name is not descriptive but concerns Cheng Won's hog ranch on its shoulders from which

301-612: A southern foreshoulder overlooking the confluence of the Yalakom and Bridge Rivers is named Mount Bishop 1,721 m (5,646 ft). From Bishop south to the Fraser the boundary of the range is the very lower stretches of the Bridge River , after its confluence with the Yalakom . A rural farming and ranching community named Moha, also called Yalakom, is located around that confluence, which also

344-490: Is a protected area. China Head's name is thought by some to have to do with a conical-shaped hill atop the ridge visible from the Fraser , but the name may have to do with long-established Lillooet entrepreneur Cheng Won, who owned a hog ranch on Leon Creek, another valley south and "Wo Hing General Store" in Lillooet. The term "head" in 19th-century frontier usage was a synonym for mountain or ridge or headland, and not meant as

387-483: Is bounded on the north and west by a large and impressive benchland-and-hoodoo sand canyon similar to those along the range's east flank - that of Churn Creek , which is a provincial protected area. The historic Empire Valley Ranch is near the mouth of Churn Creek and is provincially protected for heritage and environmental reasons. It is on a high side-valley above the Fraser Canyon ; north of it beyond Churn Creek

430-592: Is located in the angle of Churn Creek and the Fraser Canyon , 27 km (17 mi) southwest of Dog Creek Bridge at Gang Ranch . It is the northernmost summit of the Camelsfoot Range , which lines the west bank of the Fraser north of Lillooet . The Churn Creek Protected Area adjoins the north and western flanks of the mountain, while the Fraser Canyon runs southward along its eastern flank. Like other volcanic landforms in British Columbia, Black Dome Mountain

473-530: Is located where the spine of the Shulaps Range intersects with that of the Camelsfoot, at the apex of the Yalakom valley which runs SE towards Lillooet from this point. Poison Mountain's name comes from the toxic leaching of its orebodies into local streams (and rumours of mercury in the copper ore) while Red's comes from the colour of its cuprous earth. Red's flanks show ziggurat-like scars that are evidence of

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516-530: Is now a campground and hostel. Not much of gold rush-era Yale survives, as the docks vanished long ago. The railway was built in the 1880s down the main street of what had been the waterfront town. The Yale Museum is located on old Front Street, adjacent to the tracks. Next to it is the Anglican Church of St. John the Divine , among the oldest in British Columbia. The town has its own natural landscape. Every summer,

559-585: Is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire which includes over 160 active volcanoes. There are obsidian deposits and other deposits around the volcano. It has produced olivine basalt dykes , lavas , and agglomerate . Black Dome Mountain is thought to have formed as a result of extension of the crust behind the Cascadia subduction zone and last erupted during the Pliocene . During the early 1950s, Black Dome Mountain

602-405: Is rocky and lightly forested with lodgepole pine, breaking into high benchlands and large creek basins draining through benchland country via small canyons. Beyond that the range's terrain is much more gentle, with high, meadowed ridges running east towards the Fraser Canyon between treed plateaus and small canyons, and a few large, barren domes running further north along the Fraser . The range

645-656: Is the historically significant Gang Ranch . Camelsfoot Peak and the range itself take their name from an odd episode in the story of the Fraser and Cariboo Gold Rushes . Frank Laumeister, a United States veteran of the Camel Corps, bought 23 camels from the US military, which was ending their use. He used the animals to carry freight on the Douglas Road and the Old Cariboo Road from Lillooet to Fort Alexandria , and later on

688-455: Is the lower end of the Big Canyon of the Bridge River . Southeast from Duncan there is Slok Hill (Red Hill) 2081 m (6827 ft) which is a mountain despite its name, which is St'at'imcets for "red". The upper canyon of Applespring Creek nearly bisects the range to nearly connect top Slok Creek, south of which is Camelsfoot Peak 2014 m (6608 ft). Below Applespring Creek along

731-482: The Bridge and Fraser Rivers is at the range's southern foot. Just upriver from it is a final unnamed pinnacle of the range, in a locality sometimes referred to as North Fountain ( Fountain is south of the Fraser at this point), that is the site of an old forestry lookout, accessed by a decommissioned side road off the "main" road up the west side of the Fraser from Lillooet . Ranches off that west side road, known as

774-702: The Fraser River from it. In such a classification system, the boundary of the Chilcotin Ranges would stop at the Yalakom River , the North Fork of the Bridge River , which is the western boundary of the Camelsfoot. On the other hand, those ranges, classified as part of the Interior Plateau, are really part of the same geologic system as the Coast Mountains across the Fraser or the Cascade Range south of

817-449: The Shulaps Range and west from there. Contrary to media myth there are no rattlesnakes in the Lillooet region, nor west of the Fraser at all except a few near Lytton and Boston Bar . There are, however, many species of lizard and non-venomous snake. All of these summits and many other high areas of the range and other nearby ranges are accessible by 4x4 (preferably with a winch) or mountain bike or horseback. The main roads encircle

860-629: The Shulaps Range , which is to the west across the Yalakom . Yale, British Columbia Yale is an unincorporated town in the Canadian province of British Columbia , which grew in importance during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush . Located on the Fraser River , it is generally considered to be on the dividing line between the British Columbia Coast and the Interior regions of

903-639: The Thompson on the near side of the Fraser , which has been riven by the gorges of the Thompson and Fraser Canyons to separate the Pacific Cordillera into different ranges . The Camelsfoot Range is crammed into the division point of the huge Fraser and Yalakom Faults, which converge south of Lillooet at the south end of Fountain Ridge , and compositionally is more similar to the Marble and Clear Ranges than to

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946-456: The Yalakom River is a simplified version of the Chilcotin word for the ewe of the mountain sheep. Shulaps , the name of the range to the west of the Camelsfoot, is a simplified version of the Chilcotin for the ram. There have been copper prospects operating on Red Mountain 2445 m (8022 ft), the highest in the range, and on Poison Mountain 2264 m (7428 ft), just south Red,

989-474: The British Columbia Mainland. Immediately north of the town, the Fraser Canyon begins and the river is generally considered unnavigable past this point. Rough water is common on the Fraser anywhere upstream from Chilliwack and even more so above Hope , about 32 km (20 mi) south of Yale. However, steamers could make it to Yale, good pilots and water conditions permitting, and the town had

1032-511: The Crown over the Mainland (or " New Caledonia " as it was called before the creation of the mainland colony . (New Caledonia was usually applied to the fur district northwest from present-day Prince George ). As Yale was the head of river navigation, it was the best location to be designated for the start of the Cariboo Wagon Road , as there were no usable roads between Yale and the settlements nearer

1075-593: The Fraser's mouth. The Cariboo Road, built in the early 1860s, ran from Yale to Barkerville via Lytton , Ashcroft and Quesnel . By the start of the 1870s, an overland route from New Westminster was finally built – the Yale Road along the south side of the river. It was formerly known as the Grand Trunk Road and in the 21st century as Old Yale Road ; it survives in sections from Surrey through Abbotsford and Chilliwack (though no longer entirely

1118-550: The Slok Creek Forest Service Road or, more traditionally, the West Pavilion Road, access ranches on high benchlands atop cliffs that plunge to one of the Fraser 's deepest gorges, plunging in near-desert between Fountain and Big Bar . Although road-access today, these once were accessed only by cable ferry on the river far below Pavilion, or via tortuous horse trails over the southern Camelsfoot. Some of

1161-558: The appointed manager of the new post, who named it after his superior, James Murray Yale , then Chief Factor of the Columbia District . In its heyday at the peak of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush , it was reputed to be the largest city west of Chicago and north of San Francisco . It also earned epithets such as "the wickedest little settlement in British Columbia" and "a veritable Sodom and Gomorrah" of vice, violence and lawlessness. Yale played an important role in certain events of

1204-447: The early 1880s before construction in the Canyon was finished in 1885 – made Yale a popular excursion run. With construction ended, however, the population dropped dramatically in Yale by 1890, and continued to decline afterwards. Daily return service remained in effect until World War I. When Onderdonk moved on in 1886, he donated his estate for a girls' school, All Hallows. This

1247-461: The gold rush period which threatened British control in the region with annexation by the United States: the Fraser Canyon War and McGowan's War . The Governor came to Yale during the first crisis, and government officials Matthew Baillie Begbie , Chartres Brew and Richard Clement Moody during the second, to address American miners and take control of matters. The unrest threatened the rule of

1290-571: The headquarters and residence of the American railway contractor Andrew Onderdonk , who supervised its construction. The town boomed with population and new businesses because of railway spending and employment. Yale and nearby Emory City , in the vicinity of Hill's Bar , where the gold rush had begun, as well as all the major Fraser Canyon towns to Ashcroft , thronged with temporary residents and business of various kinds and legitimacy. Three-times daily rail service to Vancouver – begun in

1333-454: The immediate region. Red has a twin summit , French Mountain 2231 m (7320 ft), originally named French Bar Mountain after a rich gold-bearing bar on the Fraser just east. North of them is a remote, gentle summit known as Black Dome Mountain 2252 m (7388 ft). China Head 2125 m (6972 ft) and Nine Mile Ridge 2422 m (7946 ft) are southeast of Red and are large, wide ridges covered in meadow; Nine Mile Ridge

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1376-514: The lower Bridge is the rancherie of the Bridge River Indian Band , Xwisten (which is the name of the river in their language). Their combined reserves extend much further up the Bridge on its south side, almost to Moha, and comprise one of the largest Indian reserves in British Columbia . The southeastern shoulders of Camelsfoot Peak overlook the town of Lillooet . The confluence of

1419-549: The new Cariboo Wagon Road from Yale . After this, he finally discontinued using the camels. Horses could not stand their smell, the camels' soft feet were hurt by the rocky soils of the BC Interior and the canyon trails, and handlers found them difficult. Many escaped retirement into the wilds. The last confirmed sighting was in the Ashcroft area in 1905, possibly 1910 by some claims. Barroom stories recount sightings elsewhere in

1462-483: The opening of the faster Coquihalla Highway in the 1980s, Yale's economy and population fell off as traffic bypassed it. In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada , Yale had a population of 162 living in 86 of its 118 total private dwellings, a change of 13.3% from its 2016 population of 143. With a land area of 3.38 km (1.31 sq mi), it had a population density of 47.9/km (124.1/sq mi) in 2021. The average age of Yale residents

1505-668: The original waggon road and since upgraded to the Trans-Canada Highway . For a long time, this was the main route between the Interior Plateau and the Lower Mainland . After major reconstruction of the Cariboo Highway in the 1950s, involving the construction of several major tunnels, the difficult old canyon stretch of the route achieved highway quality (instead of in name only), and towns such as Yale boomed once again. With

1548-561: The pigs would run wild onto the mountain. South of Hogback and Leon Creek the range becomes much more rugged as it narrows. Mount Birch 2232 m (7323 ft), just south of Leon Creek, is named after the Lieutenant-Governor who ran the Crown Colony of British Columbia for most of the alcoholic Frederick Seymour 's term as governor . Birch has a twin summit on its short, sharp ridge - Mount Duncan 2182 m (7159 ft) and

1591-592: The ranchlands and spreads in this area, which is called Blue Ridge as well as West Pavilion, were part of the Diamond S Ranch holdings at Pavilion founded by American settler Robert Carson and owned in later years by the Martley family and their descendants to this day. The range is home to black bear, black-tail deer, moose, mountain sheep, mountain goat, cougar, lynx and smaller creatures. Encounters with grizzlies may occur in this range, but they are not so common here as in

1634-519: The range via the Yalakom and Fraser Rivers , converging via China Head and northeast via Watson Bar and Big Bar Ferry . In some classifications, they are a parallel region to the Pacific Ranges rather than its subdivisions, and in others they are part of the Chilcotin Plateau . That is to say, part of the Interior Plateau , along with the Marble Range and Clear Range on the other side of

1677-560: The rough gold town. It was as familiar to early provincial high society as were New Westminster and distant Barkerville. During the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway , construction ran directly through the village, built on flatland by the river. It destroyed the town's old commercial core and the connection of the town life to the waterfront. As Yale was handy for travel to and from New Westminster and Gastown (soon after named Vancouver ) on Burrard Inlet , it became

1720-498: The scale of ore-sampling that at one time was underway. There are projected open-pit mine and smelter plans for the Poison Mountain-Red Mountain orebody, using power from the also projected Hat Creek lignite deposits nearby on the other side of the Fraser . These have never been brought forward in the public planning process, nor are they likely to be given the scope (and overlapping) of First Nations land claims in

1763-668: The southern Interior into the 1930s, but these are taken with the same amount of stock as the Sasquatch or the Cariboo Alligator . The original Log Cabin Theatre in Lillooet, still exists today, originally was used by Laumeister for a camel barn. No one knows if the camels roamed the Camelsfoot. The new highway bridge in Lillooet is named the Bridge of the Twenty-Three Camels to commemorate their role in local history. The name of

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1806-460: Was ranked as one of the main society schools in the colony and continued to operate for decades, into the 1920s. Construction of the railway destroyed parts of the Cariboo Wagon Road , which was severed between Yale and Boston Bar and between Lytton and Spences Bridge . A new highway north from Yale was not built until the Cariboo Highway in 1922, partly built using surviving roadgrades of

1849-403: Was the site of gold mining prospects by Bralorne Mines Inc. and produced a bit of an excitement for people that lived near the mountain. Camelsfoot Range The far southeast end of the Camelsfoot is extremely rugged, and dropping to one last point at 7000'-plus before plunging into the gorge of the Fraser Canyon at Fountain , near Lillooet . For 45 km NW from there, the range

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