The Taiya River (also Dyea RiverTaiya River
, Donald J. Orth, ''Dictionary of Alaska Place Names'', Geological Survey Professional Paper, Volume 567, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1967. p.941.) is a 17-mile-long (27 km)

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

running from the border with

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, to the

Taiya Inlet Taiya Inlet is part of the upper Lynn Canal located in the U.S. state of Alaska. Taiya Inlet is an estuary which lies in a deep valley, with Skagway, Alaska at its north end and the remainder of the Lynn Canal at its south end. History Taiya In ...

of upper

Lynn Canal Lynn Canal is an inlet (not an artificial canal) into the mainland of southeast Alaska. Lynn Canal runs about from the inlets of the Chilkat River south to Chatham Strait and Stephens Passage. At over in depth, Lynn Canal is the deepest fjord i ...

Geography

The Taiya River is unique as it passes through a number of different ecosystems over a short distance. From alpine tundra to

temperate rainforest Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American ...

a variety of fauna and flora reside in the Taiya River and its valley. The Taiya River valley and the synonymous Taiya River watershed are actually confined to a very small area as the valley is a very steep-sided

glaciated valley U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with steep, straight s ...

(as a sidenote, because of glaciation, the valley is also experiencing

post-glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound ...

). There are a number of small

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

s and

icefield An ice field (also spelled icefield) is a mass of interconnected valley glaciers (also called mountain glaciers or alpine glaciers) on a mountain mass with protruding rock ridges or summits. They are often found in the colder climates and highe ...

s that the river drains from the surrounding mountains, but for the most part, it's relatively a very small watershed for its size. The Taiya River delta is quite expansive and makes the adjacent portion of the Taiya Inlet very shallow.

History

The Taiya River received its name when the

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

word ''Taiya'' became noted as a common usage for the body of water in 1868. The Taiya River is historically significant with its role in the Klondike Gold Rush. The river's terminus, the Taiya Inlet, was also home to the Klondike boom town of

Dyea Dyea ( ) is a former town in the U.S. state of Alaska. A few people live on individual small homesteads in the valley; however, it is largely abandoned. It is located at the convergence of the Taiya River and Taiya Inlet on the south side of th ...

which was the start of the

Chilkoot Trail The Chilkoot Trail is a 33-mile (53 km) trail through the Coast Mountains that leads from Dyea, Alaska, in the United States, to Bennett, British Columbia, in Canada. It was a major access route from the coast to Yukon goldfields in the lat ...

. The sediment from the Taiya River in the Taiya Inlet made a deep-water dock in Dyea impossible. This was one (but not the only reason) for the construction of the

White Pass and Yukon Route The White Pass and Yukon Route (WP&Y, WP&YR) is a Canadian and U.S. Class III narrow-gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other rai ...

taking the

Skagway The Municipality and Borough of Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska on the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,240, up from 968 in 2010. The population doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal with ...

White Pass White Pass, also known as the Dead Horse Trail, (elevation ) is a mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the border of the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia, Canada. It leads from Skagway, Ala ...

route instead of the Dyea-Chilkoot Pass route which effectively sealed the fate of both the Chilkoot Trail and the town of Dyea. The Taiya was also a key component of transportation during the gold rush days. During the winter the river would freeze over allowing significantly easier transportation (especially with

sledge A sled, skid, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with either a smooth underside or a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners s ...

s and

pack animal A pack animal, also known as a sumpter animal or beast of burden, is an individual or type of working animal used by humans as means of transporting materials by attaching them so their weight bears on the animal's back, in contrast to draft ani ...

s) than the overland trail. This was especially true when the Taiya went into a canyon between Canyon City and Pleasant Camp and the overland trail was especially difficult.

Current status

Today the Taiya River is a centerpiece of the

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park is a national historical park operated by the National Park Service that seeks to commemorate the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1890s. Though the gold fields that were the ultimate goal of the stamped ...

and the Chilkoot Trail it protects. It's also the recipient of rafting tours based out of Skagway and has an anadromous fish population that is popular with fishermen. It has a watershed council, the ''Taiya Inlet Watershed Council'' partially dedicating to its protection and its recreational users.

Notes

External links

Feature Detail Report for: Taiya RiverTaiya Inlet Watershed Council
{{authority control Rivers of Alaska Klondike Gold Rush Rivers of the Municipality of Skagway Borough, Alaska Rivers of the Boundary Ranges

Geography

History

Current status

See also

Notes

External links