North River: The Story of BC's North Thompson Valley and Yellowhead Highway 5

David W. Leonard is the project historian (Northern Alberta) in the
Historic Sites and Archives Service, Alberta Community Development. He
is the author of Delayed Frontier: The Peace River Country to 1909 and
co-author of The Lure of the Peace River Coun

Among the local histories to be released in Western Canada recently, one
of the more substantial—and engaging for non-residents—is this book
on the north Thompson River of British Columbia, a district covering the
area between Kamloops and Jasper. The product of over two decades of
research of both published and archival materials, plus many interviews
and on-site investigations, North River follows a narrative approach,
beginning with David Thompson himself and the people he described as
being “of the upper reaches.” The narrative is more or less
chronological, although throughout the book descriptions of scenes and
events recorded by the first explorers, surveyors, and prospectors are
interspersed with those experienced and recorded by later travelers.

Like the Peace River Block further north, this region of British
Columbia has long been neglected by the province’s historians. While
the Fraser River Valley and the southern interior of British Columbia
experienced more substantial development over the years, the North
Thompson was not part of any major fur trade route and had no gold rush.
Indeed, it was not until after the Canadian Northern began to push track
along the river in 1911 that much settlement occurred at all. As far as
the author is concerned, the absence of large-scale development only
adds to the quality of life in the area, and to the majesty of its story
as told by the individuals who passed through or made it their home.

The well-documented text is supplemented by many archival and recent
photographs (a color section for the recent scenic shots would have
captured the district’s natural landscape more effectively). Several
maps at the beginning of the book point out the many localities dealt
with, although not the geographic features. A thorough index rounds out
what must be regarded as the standard history of this region.