Seton Portage and its twin community Shalalth, which is farther east along Seton Lake. The valley became an important food supply for the booming goldfields in the Bridge River from the 1920s to the 1950s because of its lower elevation () and hence warmer climate and long growing season (favorable enough for bigleaf maple at the northeast corner of its natural range). The locality is known for its fine fruit-growing weather - McIntosh apples grown here are considered some of the best in the world, but there is only one commercial orchard today. During the construction of the Bridge River Power Project, the population of the Portage boomed and hundreds of temporary houses and barracks were brought in to house workers and their families. It was during this period that festivities surrounding the 1958 Centennial of the Province of British Columbia saw Short Portage renamed Seton Portage. Local parlance already referred to the valley simply as "Seton", a term still in use today that collectively describes Seton Portage, Shalalth and the remaining hydro company townsite at South Shalalth (formerly known as Bridge River after the name of the project, not because it was on that river). Land claims issues The railway line at Seton Portage was blockaded in August 1990 by members of the Seton Lake Indian Band (population: over 500), a branch of the St'at'imc Nation, who were demonstrating in support of the Mohawks during the Oka Crisis. A day or two after a visit by then-Premier William Vander Zalm, the blockade was suppressed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The event was covered by provincial and national television news media and led to province-wide protests in support of native land claims. Shortly afterward, the main railway bridge in Seton Portage was destroyed by an arsonist. Access Access to "The Portage" is via a pass from the Bridge River known as the Mission Mountain Road, or a powerline road from D'Arcy at the farther end of Anderson Lake known as the High Line and in recent times dubbed the Douglas Trail, in reference to the old Douglas Road route from Harrison Lake to Lillooet. There is no road connection along Seton Lake, but that route is used by the British Columbia Railway (now CN); the Seton Lake First Nation operates a railbus, the Kaoham Shuttle, between the Seton communities, beginning at the Seton Portage railway station to and from