The Yukon Telegraph Trail

In 1898, the Klondike Gold rush was on and Hazelton became a very busy town.  It was the following year, 1899, that the Dominion government decided to complete a telegraph line to Dawson City since there had been no northern overland communication before.  The old Collins Overland Telegraph route was resurrected and used to route the line.  The telegraph line was completed in 1901 and was 1100 miles in length.

In order to maintain the line, men lived in cabins that were built along the line.  There were 14 cabins in total and they were positioned 30 to 32 miles apart between Hazelton and Telegraph Creek.  Each cabin supported two workers - a lineman and an operator.  The lineman would walk the trail north 16 miles and south 16 miles to make sure the wire was in good condition and the operator would relay messages.  In between these main cabins there were refuge cabins that had
emergency supplies in case a lineman was snowed in for a few days.  

Fourth Cabin on the Yukon Telegraph Line, 1911
Image Courtesy of BC Archives - Detail of Call #A-05356

Food and supplies were brought in to the telegraph cabins by pack train in the middle of summer.  Hazelton supplied the first nine cabins and Telegraph Creek supplied the remaining five due to the dangerous terrain between the ninth and tenth cabin.   It was a glorious sight for the workers to see the pack trains since they only came around once a year.  Also, it was the only time the workers had contact with the outside world since they stayed in their cabins year round.

The entire trip from Hazelton to the ninth cabin and back again took about three months.  What a lengthy journey!   Indeed, the telegraph line workers relied heavily on the packers and pack animals to successfully deliver their food and supplies.

Packing and pack trains remained the only way of supplying these northern outposts for 35 years.  In 1936, the Yukon Telegraph line was shut down.  It had been a very bad winter.  Much of the line was down due to the heavy snowfall.  Short wave radio had come into use and, therefore, telegraph communication no longer seemed necessary.  So when summer floods washed out parts of the line, it was never replaced.

The men left their cabins to take up life elsewhere, and the pack trains went into retirement or were sold to other ranchers.

Pack train leaving Hazelton for the Yukon Telegraph Trail
Image Courtesy of BC Archives - Detail of Call #B-05848

This digital collection was produced under contract to the
   SchoolNet Digital Collections program, Industry Canada. Revised:  02/15/99