Milbanke Sound is a sound on the coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia.[1]
Milbanke Sound | |
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Milbanke Sound Location in British Columbia | |
Location | British Columbia, Canada |
Coordinates | 52°19′N 128°33′W / 52.317°N 128.550°W |
Type | Sound |
Ocean/sea sources | Pacific Ocean |
Milbanke Sound extends east from Queen Charlotte Sound, with Price Island on the west, Swindle Island on the north, and the Bardswell Group of islands on the south.[2] Milbanke Sound is one of the open sea portions of the Inside Passage, with Seaforth Channel joining from the east and Finlayson Channel from the north.[3][4] Mathieson Channel also connects to Milbanke Sound from the north, and leads to Fiordland Conservancy.
On the islands surrounding the sound is a group of five volcanos called the Milbanke Sound cones.[5]
The Heiltsuk peoples traditionally occupied the land around Milbanke Sound.[6][7][8]
In late June, 1788, the British fur trader Charles Duncan, captain of Princess Royal, entered Milbanke Sound, which was then uncharted waters. He spent a few days trading with the Heiltsuk.[9] He named the sound after Vice Admiral Mark Milbanke.[10] Explorer George Vancouver sailed through the sound a few years later.[8][11] In 1805, a trading ship from Boston, the Atahualpa, was attacked by a group of Tlingit; the captain and some of the crew were killed.[12][13]
In 1833 the Hudson's Bay Company established Fort McLoughlin in the Milbanke Sound area.[14][15] William Fraser Tolmie was stationed there in 1833-1834. Tolmie wrote about the fur trade in the area, saying that it was conducted with the Coast Tsimshians and Heiltsuks, using a pidgin jargon composed of the Kaigani and Tshatshinni dialects of Haida and English. Chinook Jargon, commonly used elsewhere, was not widely known in Milbanke Sound at the time.[16] The fort operated for about ten years, and then was abandoned; the company later opened a small store at the same location.[17]
To improve the safety of the developing travel and shipping lanes, a lighthouse was built in 1898 at Robb Point on Ivory Island.[18]
In recent times archaeological investigations have been carried out in the Milbanke Sound area.[19][20]
The sound is popular with sports fishing enthusiasts.[21]
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