Whitehorse Attractions

Whitehorse

Administrative unit: Yukon Territory

Location

Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon Territory since 1953, stands at the intersection of the Alaska and Klondike Highways, about 80 km (50 mi.) north of the provincial border with British Columbia. Home to half the population of the Yukon Territory, in recent years Whitehorse has become a major center for the opening up of the Canadian north-west.

Tourism

Tourism is of increasing importance to the town, a starting point for tours of the Northland. Today, with scheduled flights augmented by charter planes bringing in several thousands of Europeans for adventure holidays, Whitehorse offers all the necessary facilities. Among the items in the shops especially typical of the area are gold nuggets, Indian and Inuit craftwork, carvings in wood, ivory and soapstone, drawings and paintings, and the Inuit boots called mukluks, all being very popular.

History

Whitehorse, like Dawson, owes its existence to the Klondike gold-rush which began in 1897. Having survived the arduous journey from Skagway over White Pass (in the course of which many lost their lives) the gold prospectors then had to negotiate the Miles Canyon and Whitehorse rapids before descending the Yukon River to Dawson. From the first arrivals, a small settlement grew up on the river's right bank opposite the present town. The seething, foaming waters of the rapids, rearing like white steeds, gave the settlement its name - White Horse. Although nothing remains to be seen of the rapids (the Sunwapta Lakes having since been dammed), driving through the canyon today still conveys a vivid impression of the hardship which this stretch of the river must have represented in those early days.

When in 1898-1900 the White Pass/Yukon Railway from Skagway was constructed, its northern terminus was on the western bank and so the present town was born. From Whitehorse the legendary Yukon River sternwheelers pounded their way downstream to Dawson. One of the largest, the S.S. "Klondike", is now permanently berthed in Whitehorse and forms one of the town's major landmarks. When the gold-rush subsided the population of Whitehorse fell dramatically. For a time copper mining kept the town alive but when this too halted in the 1920s numbers sank to fewer than 400 inhabitants. In 1942 however the building of the Alaska Highway and with it an influx of more than 20,000 newcomers, provided a fresh impetus comparable to the first arrival of the railway. At the same time Dawson was experiencing an ever deepening crisis which led eventually to its relinquishing its role as capital of the Territory to Whitehorse in 1953.