Canal Flat

In 1808 David Thompson named this flat 'McGillivary's Portage' as he crossed from Columbia Lake to the Kootenay River. In 1889 W.A. Baillie-Grohman joined the two waterways by a canal with a single lock. Regulations aimed at preventing Columbia River flooding so restricted the operation of the canal that only two steamboats passed through - the Gwendoline in 1894 and the North Star in 1902.

From BC's Stops of Interest