User:Danilar/sandbox


 * Question to my group members: When I make my intro/background section public, should I also make the article title change (Hell's Gate, British Columbia --> Hells Gate, British Columbia)? I figure we should probably make the change then so that we start making the article consistent from top to bottom (We will all be spelling Hells without the apostrophe). Let me know!
 * Based on what one of our ambassador people said, we should determine what the most common usage is in the materials we are citing (in mine, it seems to be fairly even with a little lean towards "Hells"), then go with that. I think Alex said hers used pretty much only "Hells" as well. What are yours using? Also, if we're going to switch, it means requesting a new page (with the correct spelling) and waiting for that to be approved or whatever, and then switching all the data over and deleting the current page. --Eye101 (talk) 04:43, 17 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Hmmm that's definitely something to think about. I have mostly been using Matthew Evenden's work and he uses "Hells," however this being said, several of the other sources that I have read use "Hell's." I think we should make a definitive decision when we get together for our next group meeting, since requesting a page move and title change may take some time. Danilar (talk) 20:18, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

This is the rough draft of the section 1.1 Background. I had to put explorer in brackets behind Simon Fraser since there are dozens of wikipedia entries on various Simon Frasers, so I had to include that in order for the internal link to correctly match up with Simon Fraser's wikipedia entry. I was also wondering whether or not I should internally link "Pacific Salmon" to it's wikipedia entry, which is titled "Oncorhynchus" (its genus name). The first few sentences at the top of the entry are the ones that are already present in the article, which I think are worth keeping, but I (we) will have to find a legitimate source for where the information came from (there is currently no reference). Let me know if you happen to come across any source with that information regarding Simon Fraser in it!
 * Check out how Simon Fraser is linked now. That's how to link a page that has a name that's different than the word you want to put in there. For example, I can link YOUR user page without the text here saying "User:Danilar" --Eye101 (talk) 23:31, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

History
The first recorded history of Hells Gate is found in the explorer Simon Fraser's journal from 1808, where he describes this narrow passage as "a place where no human should venture, for surely these are the gates of Hell." Long before the arrival of Simon Fraser and as early as the end of the last ice age, Hells Gate was a First Nations congregation ground for settlement and salmon fishing. Archaeological evidence from old occupation sites and isotope analysis of human skeletal remains suggest that settlement and migration patterns for indigenous peoples in the Fraser Canyon correlated with the seasonal migration patterns of Pacific salmon. During the last deglaciation 4000-6000 years ago, long tongues of ice formed wedges and dams in the basin above the canyon, resulting in the formation of large reservoirs and new lakes—creating optimal spawning grounds for salmon. During this inter-glacial period, salmon began to populate the Fraser River and used Hells Gate passage as their route to upstream spawning grounds. Constricted by two steep subvertical granodiorite walls, the incredibly narrow passage and high water velocity made this part of the upstream journey by salmon extraordinarily difficult. Salmon would closely hover along the shores of the river or rest in its back-eddies. As a result, Hells Gate’s geology provided the indigenous fishers with superb opportunities to readily catch salmon congregated at the river’s edge attempting to elude the strong currents and rough waters. Hells Gate became one of the most popular fishing stations along the Fraser River— pre and post-colonial contact— where large numbers of natives, and eventually European settlers, congregated during the summer months to fish for migrating salmon. Standing on adjacent rocks or on specially constructed wooden platforms extending from surrounding cliffs, fishermen would use long dip nets to snatch the salmon. As Matthew Evenden asserts, the native culture along the Fraser River was built on a “salmon economy.” After Simon Fraser explored and charted the river in the early nineteenth century, it became (and Hells Gate with it) an established corridor between the Pacific Ocean and the interior of what was to become British Columbia. As Fraser discovered, Hells Gate would be a point that was passed by, but never through. Safe water transportation through the 115 foot wide opening at Hells Gate proved virtually impossible.

Hells Gate Slide
By the 1850s the Fraser Canyon was transformed from a First Nations and fur trade corridor to a busy route for gold rush miners seeking access to the upper Fraser Basin. The route formed what was called the Caribou Road. During the 1880s, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was building a new transcontinental railroad to unite the far-flung provinces of the young Dominion of Canada. As a result of this nation-building project, new railroad tracks were constructed on the west side of the riverbank at Hell’s Gate, connecting the British Columbia coast to the Interior (and the rest of Canada) through the Fraser Canyon. Some assert that rocks and debris dumped into the river during construction of the CPR constricted the river flow and impeded salmon passage, though there is no documented historical or physical evidence to support this claim. The construction of the CPR through the Fraser Canyon, as Evenden noted, reduced “the friction of distance” and introduced change to the land and its people. By early 1911 a second transcontinental railway—the Canadian Northern Railway (CNR)—was being built along the south and east bank of the canyon and was completed in a year’s time. While carving into canyon walls to create new rail-bed, rock and debris were again dumped into the river at various locations-including Hell’s Gate-and in significant volumes. In early 1914, two years after the completion of the CNR and during construction of a new tunnel, a large rockslide fell into the river just above the Hell’s Gate portal. Debris dispersed on the river bottom caused a 5 meter vertical drop in water depth and increased water velocity from five cubic meters per second to 6.75m/second. As observed and noted by local residents and later by biologists in the aftermath of the slide, noticeably higher water velocity seemed to exceed the swimming capacity of the salmon, resulting in premature mortality and reduced populations of salmon fry in the subsequent year. In an initial attempt to redress the ecological and physical changes at Hell’s Gate that impeded migrating salmon, tons of rocks and debris were removed from the river during the winter of 1914-1915. By early 1915, Hell’s Gate was pronounced clear. While government officials declared that the river at Hell’s Gate was fully restored, many biologists maintain that the slide permanently altered the river’s ecology.