The Yukon Telegraph Trail, also known simply as the Telegraph Trail, is a historic pathway in the Canadian province of

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, ...

that extends from the village of

Ashcroft Ashcroft may refer to: Places * Ashcroft, British Columbia, a village in Canada **Ashcroft House in Bagpath, Gloucestershire, England—eponym of the Canadian village * Ashcroft, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia * Ashcroft, Colorado, ...

in the south to the community of Atlin in the north. It was used for servicing the Yukon Telegraph Line which ran from Ashcroft in the south to

Dawson City Dawson City, officially the City of Dawson, is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–99). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest town in Yuko ...

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

in the north. The telegraph line was constructed by the Dominion Government Telegraph Service from 1898 to 1901. It was abandoned in 1936 with the advent of radio communication. Along the length of the trail are remains of telegraph cabins, telegraph cable and other artifacts that were used during the construction of the telegraph line.

History

Perry Collins Perry McDonough Collins (1813–1900)
timeline at frontiers.loc.govCorday Mackay
Bering Strait. He negotiated contracts in the United States, Canada, and Russia starting in 1858 and was appointed managing director of the Western Union Russian Extension, later known as the Collins Overland Line, in 1864. The route was planned originally to follow the Fraser River north from Quesnel to Fort George, but the river proved to be unnavigable during spring thaws, so an alternate route was chosen, following a trail used by the

Dakelh The Dakelh (pronounced ) or Carrier are the indigenous people of a large portion of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The "Carrier" name was derived from an English translation of ''Aghele'', the name from the neighbouring Sekani ...

First Nations people, who also were serving as guides for the surveying crews. The line was abandoned in February 1867 after it had been built from

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capi ...

to Fort Stager (present-day

Kispiox Kispiox is a Gitxsan (often known also as Gitksan, due to eastern and western dialects) village of approximately 550 in the Kispiox Valley, at the confluence of the Kispiox and Skeena Rivers in British Columbia. Located north of Hazelton, the c ...

at the confluence of the

and

Skeena River The Skeena River is the second-longest river entirely within British Columbia, Canada (after the Fraser River). Since ancient times, the Skeena has been an important transportation artery, particularly for the Tsimshian and the Gitxsan—whose n ...

s, just north of Hazelton), as Cyrus W. Field's Atlantic Telegraph Company had succeeded in laying a

Transatlantic telegraph cable Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is now an obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and data a ...

in 1866. The telegraph station at Fort Stager was abandoned in 1869. Although the rest of the Collins Line remained active to Quesnel and even was extended east to

Barkerville Barkerville was the main town of the Cariboo Gold Rush in British Columbia, Canada, and is preserved as a historic town. It is located on the north slope of the Cariboo Plateau near the Cariboo Mountains east of Quesnel. BC Highway 26, which ...

, the trail eclipsed its utility as the primary overland route from Quesnel for supplies and the thousands of prospectors eager to join the Omineca, Cassiar, and Klondike Gold Rushes. A new telegraph line was authorized in 1899 to improve communications with the Klondike following the migration of an estimated 100,000 prospectors; the first segment of this Yukon Telegraph Line was completed between

and Bennett at the end of September that year. A branch was added to Atlin that year, which had grown as a result of its own gold rush. The primary route for messages was through Bennett and

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 ...

, where they were transcribed and shipped to Victoria or Vancouver. The Bennett–Dawson segment had fourteen stations, spaced apart; smaller refuge cabins were spaced at to provide emergency shelter. The Yukon Telegraph Line continued construction in 1900, working south from Atlin and north from Quesnel simultaneously; that year, a short extension was built from

Eagle, Alaska Eagle ( in Hän Athabascan) is a city on the south bank of the Yukon River near the Canada–US border in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, United States. It includes the Eagle Historic District, a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Th ...

to Dawson City, linking the remote Alaskan territory, although a project led by

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...

would move American communications to an alternate line by 1903. Work on the Atlin–Quesnel segment had to pause with the onset of snow in fall 1900, leaving what the planners estimated to be a gap in the line south of

Telegraph Creek Telegraph Creek is a small community located off Highway 37 in northern British Columbia at the confluence of the Stikine River and Telegraph Creek. The only permanent settlement on the Stikine River, it is home to approximately 250 members of ...

. Two cabins were built at the termini and it was proposed to relay messages across the gap via dogsled during the ensuing winter, but this plan was abandoned as the gap proved to be significantly larger than estimated. When the gap was closed on September 24, 1901, it was discovered to be . There are thirteen cabins between Hazelton and Telegraph Creek, spaced approximately apart. From Telegraph Creek to Whitehorse, there are seven cabins, spaced apart. The Yukon Telegraph operated until 1936, when it was wiped out by floods and replaced by radio communications. As the trail was used by heavily-laden animals to bring supplies north, continuing from the terminus of the

Cariboo Wagon Road The Cariboo Road (also called the Cariboo Wagon Road, the Great North Road or the Queen's Highway) was a project initiated in 1860 by the Governor of the Colony of British Columbia, James Douglas. It involved a feat of engineering stretching fr ...

in Quesnel, soil compaction has continued to preserve the trail by discouraging tree growth.

Route

North of Kispiox, the Telegraph Trail that likely was scouted as part of the Collins Line ran north along the Skeena River to its headwaters, then crossed into the watershed of the Stikine, following the

Klappan River The Klappan River is a major tributary of the Stikine River in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It flows north from an area known as the Sacred Headwaters, which is the source not only of this river but also of the Nass, Skeena, Spatsizi a ...

partially. In

Cassiar Land District The Cassiar Land District is a cadastral survey subdivision of the province of British Columbia, Canada, created with rest of those on Mainland British Columbia via the Lands Act of the Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866), Colony of British Col ...

, the Yukon Telegraph Trail crosses from the

Stikine River The Stikine River is a major river in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada and southeastern Alaska in the United States. It drains a large, remote upland area known as the Stikine Country east of the Coast Mountains. Flowing west and south f ...

watershed to the

Taku River The Taku River ( Lingít: ''T'aaḵu Héeni'') is a river running from British Columbia, Canada, to the northwestern coast of North America, at Juneau, Alaska. The river basin spreads across . The Taku is a very productive salmon river and its ...

watershed between the Little Tahltan River and the Hackett River. It passes through the abandoned settlement of Sheslay at the mouth of Egnell Creek and the confluence of the Hackett and Sheslay Rivers. Continuing north it passes through Callison Ranch then follows the Koshin River to its confluence with the Nahlin River, a locality called Nahlin Crossing. Proceeding north from Quesnel, the cabins and settlements (noted in ''italic'' text) on the Yukon Telegraph were: * ''Quesnel'' * Blackwater * Bobtail Lake * Stoney Creek * Fraser Lake * Burns Lake * South Bulkley * Tyee Lake * ''Hazelton'' * Cabin 1 * Cabin 2 * Cabin 3 * Cabin 4 * Cabin 5 * Cabin 6 * Cabin 7 * Cabin 8 * Cabin 9 * Echo Lake * Iskoot * Raspberry * ''Telegraph Creek'' * Shesley * Nahlin * Nakina * Pike River * ''Atlin''

Significance

The Yukon Telegraph Trail was formally recognized by the Canadian Register of Historic Places on January 22, 2010, as one of many

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

s in Canada due to its historical association with the Collins Overland and Yukon Telegraph lines. It was also recognized for its role in communications and transportation, as well as its scientific association with the changes in communications technology, its current use by guide outfitters, its cultural association with

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

and telegraph operators, its potential as a recreational resource, and its location within the pristine natural environment of Kitimat-Stikine Regional District.

References

External links

* Historic trails and roads in British Columbia Regional District of Kitimat–Stikine {{BritishColumbiaInterior-geo-stub