Bennett,

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada, is an abandoned town next to

Bennett Lake Bennett Lake is a lake in the Province of British Columbia and Yukon Territory in northwestern Canada, at an elevation of . It is just north of the border with the United States state of Alaska, near the Alaskan port of Skagway. The lake has ...

and along Lindeman Creek (formerly known as the One Mile River). The townsite is now part of the Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site of Canada and is managed by Parks Canada. Bennett is also a stop on 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 rail ...

railroad during the summer months.

History

Bennett was built during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897–1899 at the end of the

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 ...

and

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 l ...

s from the nearby ports of Skagway, Alaska, Skagway and

Dyea Dyea ( ) is a ghost 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 the C ...

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. Gold prospectors would pack their supplies over the

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains () are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the British Columbia Coast, Coast of British Columbia sout ...

from the ports and then build or purchase rafts to take them down the

Yukon River The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S ...

to the gold fields around

Dawson City, Yukon Dawson City is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest municipality in Yukon. History Prior t ...

. When the

Railroad was completed in 1900 it went right to Whitehorse, passing the town. This led the entire economy of Bennett, based on stampeders and river travelers, to collapse. One of the establishments in Bennett was the Arctic Hotel, a combination saloon, restaurant, and hotel set up by Friedrich "Fred" Trump (grandfather of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

) and Ernest Levin. The establishment included a brothel, a portrayal that

said was "totally false".

White Pass and Yukon Route

References

External links

* {{Authority control Klondike Gold Rush Ghost towns in British Columbia Atlin District 1897 establishments in British Columbia Populated places established in 1897 1900 disestablishments in British Columbia