Canyon City on the Chilkoot Trail, circa 1898

• Other Authors: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Log buildings > Alaska > Canyon City; Wooden buildings > Alaska > Canyon City; Tents > Alaska > Canyon City; Canyon City (Alaska) > Buildings; structures; etc.; Chilkoot Trail; Yukon; Steele; East Bank; Whitehorse Rapids; Miles Canyon; Alaska Canyon; Canyon City; Dawson; Whitehorse; Yukon river; Alaska
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/alaskawcanada/id/80

Caption on mount: Canyon City, Dyea Trail Filed in Alaska--Cities--Canyon City For the thousands of stampeders travelling down the Yukon River to Dawson, Miles Canyon and the Whitehorse Rapids were the most treacherous obstacles on the entire route. Canyon City, at the upstream end of the canyon, was the place where people stopped to plan their next move. Many unloaded their boats and labouriously portaged their goods; a few attempted to run their boats through. By June of 1898 a huge bottleneck had developed at Canyon City. Nearly 300 boats had been wrecked in the rapids, and five people had drowned; North-West Mounted Police Inspector Samuel Steele confessed: "why more casualties have not occurred is a mystery to me." In June, Steele issued an order that skilled pilots had to be hired to take the boats through. By then, a tramway had been built on the east bank of the river. It was eight km long and ran from Canyon City to the foot of the rapids, just across from the present site of downtown Whitehorse, hauling goods on horse-drawn cars for 3 cents per pound. A rival tram was also built, on the west bank of the river. A small settlement developed at Canyon City, and a townsite was even surveyed there. Although it thrived for a short time, by 1900 the railway was completed to Whitehorse, and Canyon City had lost its reason for existence. [Source: http://www.yukonalaska.com/communities/whitehorsehist.html]