Editing Fraser Valley (section)

==History==
[[File:Evolution of the Lower Fraser Valley From Langley to Harrison.gif|thumb|300px|alt=Animated map of different events of the Fraser Valley|Evolution of the Lower Fraser Valley from Langley to Harrison]]
This section of the Fraser River is known by local indigenous peoples as "Sto:lo" in the [[Halqemeylem]] language of the area, and this term has been adopted to refer to all of the indigenous peoples of the [[Fraser Lowland]], other than the [[Squamish people|Squamish]] and [[Musqueam]]. The indigenous peoples of the area have long made use of the river valley for agricultural and commercial exploits and continue to do so today.{{when|date=May 2023}}

The Indigenous people were not consulted in the [[Treaty of Oregon]], which saw the United States and Great Britain define and recognize each other's claims to the area. This overstepping of jurisdiction inevitably led to conflict as Great Britain was incapable of exercising the control they claimed over the river valley. As a wave of immigrants flooded into the Fraser River Valley because of the [[Fraser Canyon Gold Rush]], the British were unable to maintain order without the cooperation of the local indigenous peoples, and the [[Fraser Canyon War]] broke out. The war was resolved with a series of treaties, none of which remain to this day, but which evidently included the regulation of immigration and the continuation of mining on the river by the indigenous inhabitants and the new immigrants. This war was part of a series of local conflicts surrounding the arrival of settlers ahead of American and British capacity to maintain order and refusal to cooperate with or recognize indigenous land claims and demands. These conflicts were pivotal in many aspects to the settlement of the West Coast in both Canada and the United States.

The interaction of indigenous peoples and settlers led to the growth of [[Chinook Wawa]], a pidgin language that was used throughout the Fraser River Valley until the early 1900s. Industrialization of the river began with the use of the traditional trade waterway by steamboats and eventually, roads and railways were built, fueled by and in turn fuelling further population growth.  Today,{{when|date=May 2023}} the most important transportation through the region are the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] and [[Canadian National Railway]] transcontinental main lines, the [[British Columbia Highway 7|Lougheed Highway]] (Hwy 7), and the [[Trans-Canada Highway]] ([[British Columbia Highway 1|Hwy 1]]).