[2] Dewdney, which by road is about 11 kilometres (7 mi) east of Mission, extends onto the northwestern end of the island.
Suggested meanings for Nicomen (Nickcöhrn-men) (Halkomelem) are 'level part', 'part (people) travel to',[3] 'place cut through by a water course', or 'near a big creek'.
[5] Haida war canoes frequently travelled up the river to plunder the villages and take slaves.
The original Fort Langley, which was established in 1827, quickly realized that defending against Haida raids was a priority for local First Nations, rather than hunting and bringing in pelts to the fur trading post.
Eventually, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fort opened fire on a passing war party, which deterred future raids and allowed the local people to return to a more peaceful existence.
[6] In 1846, the HBC established a fish-curing plant at the mouth of the Chilliwack River, opposite the eastern end of the island, where the local people could bring canoe loads of salmon.
[10] During 1865–1866, he operated the first rural post office in mainland BC, before the facility moved to the mouth of the Sumas River.
Spring freshets regularly flooded much of the island, making crop growing secondary to raising livestock.
[14] In 1892, an area from Norrish Creek (mid-island) east to the Harrison River mouth was incorporated as the Nicomen municipality but existed only on paper.
[28] As the river rose during the 1948 flood, residents and livestock evacuated much of the island[29] before the dike burst, destroying bridges and buildings.
[32] In 2017, the British Columbia Court of Appeal reversed the decision of a lower court by dismissing the claims by the great grandchildren of Samuel McDonald for a larger share of the McDonald Landing Farms Ltd assets following their father's death in 2005.