This cache will take you to a map of the Bertrand Watershed.
Check the tree -- the last finder emailed and said they rehid the
cache in a nearby tree.
History of Bertrand Creek
Named after James Bertrand, one of the surveyors of the 49th
parallel in the 1800’s, Bertrand Creek was originally known
as the “Sehkomehkl” to native inhabitants. The creek is
a trans-boundary stream, with approximately half the watershed
originating in British Columbia and the other half located in
Washington State. The many small streams and wetlands comprising
the Canadian portion travel through hilly terrain, with the
watershed flattening considerably as it approaches the U.S. border.
Early inhabitants described the northern most U.S. portion of the
watershed as the “Bertrand Prairie” –a flat, wet,
grassland- shrub area interspersed with the huge conifer forest
stands common throughout the region (Jeffcott, 1995).
Native peoples inhabited the watershed for thousands of years
prior to white settlement. In the 1800s a native leader named
Skaleel reportedly lived to the age of 125 years in the northern
open prairie along the creek. Lockanum, another native leader
around that time, lived several miles away, down at the mouth of
the creek along the Nooksack River. Lockanum subsisted on the
abundant salmon and waterfowl available near his home and on
wapatoes (potatoes) grown by his industrious wife. He also aided
white explorers and settlers portaging around log jams on the
Nooksack near the mouths of Bertrand and Fishtrap Creeks (Jeffcott,
1995). The Sehkomehkl watershed proved to be rich and productive
not only for native peoples, but for the new inhabitants as well.
The following description rings familiar to those who have loved
and inhabited this area, but it was written over 100 years ago by
Axling Road settler John Potgeter: “We can see the
snow-capped mountain from here – it appears as if it is only
two miles…Here we have every fruit…apples, plums,
berries – no want for anything. The water runs through the
ditches along the road the whole year…there are more fish
than [anyone] could eat… [including] many salmon. The creeks
have the nicest trout and the largest salmon in the fall. The trees
are beautiful…here is rich land, a mild climate; [anything
closer to] a heaven on this earth you could not find.”
(Walcott, 1966).
Other watershed inhabitants of the mid-1900’s recalled the
large salmon runs and plentiful wildlife. Farm wife Nellie
VanderMey revealed that the code phrase used by Dutch settlers,
“De hondjes zyn aan het lopen” [“The doggies are
running”] meant that it was time to get to the creek to
harvest the running salmon, often simply by pitchfork. Long-time
residents such as Marshall Bayes and Myrtle VanderYacht related
that other fish species, freshwater clams, deer, bears and beaver
were plentiful enough to be taken as food also. Cougars and bears
were not uncommon, and foxes and numerous birds of prey and other
birds were in the area (personal communication).
By the 1950s the Bertrand watershed on both sides of the
international border was primarily in agricultural use, with dairy
cows and row crops supporting many small farms. Some of the finest
soils on earth, in combination with a mild climate and plentiful
rain, resulted in the highest milk production per cow in the world
as well as the most concentrated raspberry production in the world,
interspersed with productive salmon streams and wetlands.
References:
Hawley, R.E. 1945. Skqee mus, or pioneer days on the Nooksack.
Bellingham, WA: Whatcom Museum of History and Art. 189 pp.
Jeffcott, P.R. 1995. Nooksack tales and trails. Bellingham, WA:
Sincyrly Ours Publishing. 436 pp.
Walcott, A.R. 1966. Genealogy of Jan Potgieter. Dearborn, MI:
privately published. 68 pp. Family records provided by Howard and
Rachel Van Aalsburg of Lynden, Washington.