Nicomen Island

Area description

Nicomen Island is a long, narrow island lying alongside the north bank of the Fraser River. Nicomen Slough forms a channel around the north side of the Island, entering at Dewdney and rejoining the Fraser at Deroche. From east to west, Nicomen Island is about nine miles long; from north to south it is less than it was, because it has lost some of the southern shoreline, due to erosion from the action of the river. It has always been subject to flooding during the spring freshet, and has suffered considerable damage from the heavier floods, especially the record-breaking ones of 1894 and 1948.

The Leq’á:mel First Nation have always had a centre of habitation at Skeahm on today’s Lougheed Highway, and have also two smaller acreages, Papekwatchin on the south shore and Zaitscullachan at the eastern tip. In the gold rush years a colonial post office and hostelry operated briefly at a ranch on the south shore, and teamsters wintered their oxen among the reedy marshes of the Island. Eventually, around 1900, bridges were built at each end of the Island, connecting with the mainland at Dewdney and Deroche. No commercial centre ever developed on Nicomen Island itself, though it did have a Baptist church and a school. It has always been primarily a farming and fruit-growing district.