About Us

Boston Bar and North Bend are located across the Fraser River from one another in the rugged Fraser Canyon, halfway between Yale and Lytton, British Columbia.

About 500 people live in the area, and we are proud of the fascinating history and natural beauty our communities share with both residents and visitors.

Boston Bar and North Bend were "forestry" towns for many years. The closing of the local mill and the loss of active logging have led to a shrinking of our towns in the last decade.

Currently, our towns provide services for travelers on the trans Canada highway, and the CN and CP railways maintain bunkhouses and crew switching facilities in Boston Bar and North Bend.

Boston Bar was so named because of the numerous Americans washing for gold in the bar in the Fraser River at this point.

Similarly, the natives called the British “King George men”.

In 1859 Arthur Bushby noted in his journal that it “is quite strange to see how soon the Indians detect the Boston men & how they dislike them and how much they like King George man.

Provoked by the Americans, the Indians in the Fraser Canyon began to murder isolated parties of whites washing the bars of the Fraser River.

The trouble culminated in the so-called “Battle of Boston Bar” on August 14, 1858.

A correspondent of the San Francisco Bulletin who was present reported the fight “lasted three hours, and resulted in the complete rout of the savages.

Seven of the Indians are known to have been killed and a number wounded. One white man only was wounded, and that slightly in the arm.

According to some authorities, “The Battle of Boston Bar” actually took place at Spuzzum.

The original Indian village at Boston Bar was named Koia’um, often spelt Quayome, meaning “to pick berries.”