The Stikine Country , also referred to as the Stikine District or simply "the Stikine", is one of the historical geographic regions of 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, ...

, located inland from the central Alaska Panhandle and comprising the basin of 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 ...

and its tributaries. The term Stikine–Iskut (alone or in various combination forms "District", "Country", "Region") is also fairly common to describe the area, and references the

Iskut River The Iskut River, located in the northwest part of the province of British Columbia is the largest tributary of the Stikine River, entering it about above its entry into Alaska. From its source at Kluachon Lake the Iskut River flows south and wes ...

, the Stikine's largest tributary and describable as its south fork.

Geography

The basin of the Stikine is sparsely populated, mostly by members of the

Tahltan The Tahltan or Nahani are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group who live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Iskut. The Tahltan constitute the fourth division of the ''Nahane' ...

people, though the lower reaches are the territory of group of 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 ),

people centred on

Wrangell, Alaska The City and Borough of Wrangell ( tli, Ḵaachx̱ana.áakʼw, russian: Врангель) is a borough in Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 2,127, down from 2,369 in 2010. Incorporated as a Unified Home Rule Bor ...

, which is on

Etolin Island Etolin Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska, United States at . It is between Prince of Wales Island, to its west, and the Alaska mainland, to its east. It is southwest of Wrangell Island. It was first chart ...

just outside the mouth of the Stikine. The region is noted for its rugged and unusual mix of glaciated ranges, semi-arid subarctic volcanic plateaux and cones, and deep river canyons, most of all the

Grand Canyon of the Stikine The Grand Canyon of the Stikine is a stretch of the Stikine River in northern British Columbia, Canada. It has been compared to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. The canyon is home to a large population of mountain goats and other wildlife. Offi ...

, which was described by naturalist

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist ...

as "the northern Yosemite". Also notable and rather famous on the river's course is the Great Glacier, which fronts along the river's right (west) bank a few miles north of the Alaska frontier.

Mount Edziza Provincial Park Mount Edziza Provincial Park is a provincial park in Cassiar Land District of northern British Columbia, Canada. It was established on 27 July 1972 to protect the Mount Edziza volcanic complex and the surrounding Tahltan Highland. Geography The p ...

Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, protecting most of the Spatsizi Plateau, the southeasternmost subplateau of the Stikine Plateau, and the upper reaches of the basin of the Stikine River. ...

and Stikine River Provincial Park are the largest provincial parks in the region, which continues to be heavily explored for mineral potentials since first opened up by the Stikine Gold Rush of the 1860s, which forced the creation of the

Stikine Territory The Stickeen Territories , also colloquially rendered as Stickeen Territory, Stikine Territory, and Stikeen Territory, was a territory of British North America whose brief existence began July 19, 1862, and concluded July of the following year. ...

, soon afterwards absorbed into the

Colony of British Columbia The Colony of British Columbia refers to one of two colonies of British North America, located on the Pacific coast of modern-day Canada: *Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) *Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871) See also *History of Br ...

. The term "Stikine District" was also used in reference to the Stikine Mining District, an administrative jurisdiction. Today the term Stikine Region is a British Columbia administrative district, similar to a

Regional District In the province of British Columbia in Canada, a regional district is an administrative subdivision of the province that consists of a geographic region with specific boundaries and governmental authority. there were 28 regional districts in ...

but not fully qualified as one, but it does not include all of the Stikine Country and comprises mostly the

Cassiar Country The Cassiar Country, also referred to simply as the Cassiar, is a historical geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Cassiar is located in the northwest portion of British Columbia, just to the northeast of the Stikine ...

and

Atlin District The Atlin District, also known as the Atlin Country, is a historical region located in the far northwestern corner of the Canadian province of British Columbia, centred on Atlin Lake and the gold-rush capital of the region, the town of Atlin. The ...

, which are to the north and northwest of the Stikine Country, respectively. The largest town in the district is

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 ...

, which lies on a side-road to the west of the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, which traverses the region from north to south, connecting parts of British Columbia farther south with the

Yukon Territory 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 ...

to the north. To the northeast of the Stikine Country is another region known as the

, and to its southeast is the

Omineca Country The Omineca Country, also called the Omineca District or the Omineca, is a historical geographic region of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, roughly defined by the basin of the Omineca River but including areas to the south which allowed ...

(both of which had also at one time been "Mining Districts" resulting from their own gold rushes).

History

The region was the traditional home of the

Taku Taku may refer to: Places North America * the Taku River, in Alaska and British Columbia ** Fort Taku, also known as Fort Durham and as Taku, a former fort of the Hudson's Bay Company near the mouth of the Taku River ** the Taku Glacier, in Al ...

and Inland

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 ),

people who by the 19th century settled around what was to become the gold rush town of Atlin. Other

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 ...

such as the Tahltan settled at Telegraph Creek and

Dease Lake Dease Lake is a small community located in the Cassiar Country of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located a few hours south of the Yukon border on Stewart–Cassiar Highway (Highway 37) at the south end of the lake ...

. The

Sekani Sekani or Tse’khene are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group in the Northern Interior of British Columbia. Their territory includes the Finlay and Parsnip River drainages of the Rocky Mountain Trench. The ne ...

lived along the

Finlay Finlay is a masculine given name, and also a surname. The given name is represented in Scottish Gaelic as Fionnlagh. Given name Finlay * Finlay Mickel, Scottish skier *Finlay Currie (1878–1968), Scottish actor * Finlay Calder, Scottish rugby pl ...

and

Parsnip River The Parsnip River is a long river in central British Columbia, Canada. It flows generally north-westward from the Parsnip Glacier in the Hart Ranges to the Parsnip Reach of Williston Lake, formed by the impounding of the waters of the Peace Rive ...

s, while in the east the

Kaska The Kaska or Kaska Dena are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living mainly in northern British Columbia and the southeastern Yukon in Canada. The Kaska language, originally spoken by the Kaska, is an Athabas ...

people occupied the Liard and

Dease River The Dease River flows through northwestern British Columbia, Canada and is a tributary of the Liard River. The river descends from Dease Lake, though its ultimate origin is in the headwaters of Little Dease Creek at Snow Peak, approximately we ...

s and eventually settled along

McDame Creek McDame Creek is a creek in Cassiar Land District of British Columbia, Canada. The creek flows southeast into Dease River and is south of Good Hope Lake. The creek was discovered in 1874 by a prospector named Harry McDame. McDame Creek was mined ...

. Non native exploration of the district did not occur until the 1770s with the arrival of

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

fur traders, who never traveled beyond the coastal areas, but relied on the Tlingits to provide the pelts from the inland animals. With the construction of a fort at Fort Wrangell, the Russian fur traders held a monopoly in the region until the 1830s when Fort Taku and

Fort Stikine Fort Stikine was a fur trade post and fortification in what is now the Alaska Panhandle, at the site of the present-day of Wrangell, Alaska. Originally built as the Redoubt San Dionisio or Redoubt Saint Dionysius (russian: Форт or , r ''Fort ...

were both built on the Stikine River by the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

Stikine Gold Rush

On September 12, 1861, the

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

newspaper, the ''British Colonist'', reported a rumor that gold had been discovered on the Stikine River, and by the following spring, more than 200 miners struck out for the Cassiar. Sixty of them went on a sternwheeler, the ''Flying Dutchman'', owned by Captain William Moore. While the rush did not settle the area, as had the

Fraser Canyon The Fraser Canyon is a major landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley. Colloquially, the term "Fraser ...

or the

Cariboo Gold Rush The Cariboo Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Colony of British Columbia, which later joined the Canadian province of British Columbia. The first gold discovery was made at Hills Bar in 1858, followed by more strikes in 1859 on the Horsefly Rive ...

in their respective regions, it did draw the attention of British Columbia’s Governor James Douglas, who petitioned the British government to create the Stikine Territory from the line of the Finlay and Skeena Rivers, which were the Colony of British Columbia's northern boundary, north to the 62nd parallel and east to the 125th meridian. The territory was established in 1862, and a year later it was merged into the

Collins Telegraph Line

In the early 1860s,

Perry Collins Perry McDonough Collins (1813–1900)
timeline at frontiers.loc.govCorday Mackay
Western Union Telegraph to build a

telegraph line Electrical telegraphs were point-to-point text messaging systems, primarily used from the 1840s until the late 20th century. It was the first electrical telecommunications system and the most widely used of a number of early messaging systems ...

from

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

through British Columbia and

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. ...

and across the Bering Strait to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and ultimately

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. The line was begun in 1865 at

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 ...

, and continued as far as the

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 ...

in 1866, but then the project was abandoned because the transatlantic line was built first, making the Collins line redundant. Despite the fact that the line would not be completed, surveyors had created a primitive route from Quesnel to the newly established settlement of Telegraph Creek, thus opening up the district for travel. The region was also affected by the Klondike Gold Rush when in 1897–1898, 5000 miners went to the

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 ...

via the all Canadian route, up the Stikine River to Telegraph Creek and overland to the

Teslin River The Teslin River is a river in southern Yukon Territory and northwestern British Columbia, Canada, that flows from its source south of Teslin Lake to its confluence with the Yukon River. During the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896–99, the river beca ...

References

* ''Cassiar A Jewel in the Wilderness'' Suzanne Leblanc {{Subdivisions of British Columbia, regions=yes Northern Interior of British Columbia