Milbanke Sound

Milbanke Sound is a sound on the coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia, extending 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. 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. Mathieson Channel also connects to Milbanke Sound from the north, and leads to Fiordland Recreation Area.

History

The Heiltsuk peoples traditionally occupied the land around Milbanke Sound.

In late June, 1788, the British fur trader Charles Duncan, captain of the Princess Royal entered Milbanke Sound, which was then uncharted waters. He spent a few days trading with the Heiltsuk.

In the early 19th century the Hudson's Bay Company established Fort McLoughlin in the Milbanke Sound area. 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.

Milbanke Sound Group

The Milbanke Sound Group, also called the Milbanke Sound Cones, is an enigmatic group of five small basaltic volcanoes in the Kitimat Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. Named for Milbanke Sound, this volcanic group straddles on at least four small islands (three of which are uninhabited), including Swindle, Price, Lady Douglas and Lake Island. Not much is known about this group of volcanoes and they remain undated. However, they all likely formed in the past 10,000 years after the last glacial period as evidenced by a small amount of erosion. The age of the most recent volcanic activity is also unknown. Most of the Milbanke Sound Cones are covered by mature forest. Kitasu Hill and Helmet Peak are the only two cones that are officially named.

This group of volcanoes is unlike many other volcanic groups in Canada as it resides on islands instead of on the mainland. The volcanoes form a northwest-southeast trend along the British Columbia Coast. To the west the Milbanke Sound Group is bounded by the Pacific Ocean and elsewhere it is surrounded by adjacent islands that form an archipelago. Although not related, the Milbanke Sound Group is close to the remains of a much older magmatic feature that was formed during the Tertiary period.