Dewdney Trail facts for kids
The Dewdney Trail is a long trail in British Columbia, Canada. It stretches about 720 kilometers (450 miles). In the mid-1800s, this trail was super important for the new British Colony of British Columbia.
It helped connect mining camps and small towns that popped up during the gold rush. Many new gold discoveries were happening close to the US border. It was easier to reach these places from Washington Territory than from other parts of British Columbia. The Dewdney Trail helped British Columbia keep control of these areas. Today, about 80 percent of the old trail is part of the Crowsnest Highway.
Where is the Dewdney Trail?
The Dewdney Trail was built in southern British Columbia. It connected Fort Hope (now Hope) in the southwest to what became Fort Steele in the southeast.
The trail's main goal was to help Britain control the parts of the colony near the US border. This included new gold rush areas like Wild Horse Creek and Rock Creek. Much of today's Highway 3 follows the original Dewdney Trail. This is because the land doesn't offer many other easy ways to cross these regions at low heights.
The trail generally runs close to the Canada-US border. Sometimes, it reaches heights of over 1,200 meters (4,000 feet). You can see many different landscapes along the trail. It goes through four main mountain ranges: the Cascades, Monashees, Selkirks, and Purcells.
It also passes through major river valleys like the Skagit, Similkameen, and Columbia. You'll find historic towns along the way, such as Hope, Princeton, Grand Forks, and Cranbrook.
Building the Trail: A Gold Rush Story
Edgar Dewdney, an engineer from England, was in charge of building the trail. When gold was found in the Similkameen River and Rock Creek areas, the governor of British Columbia, James Douglas, wanted to protect British interests. He decided a trail to the Interior was needed.
In 1860, the Royal Engineers mapped out a route from Fort Hope to Vermilion Forks (now Princeton). Dewdney and Walter Moberly won the job to build this first part. This section was finished in 1861 and was about 120 kilometers (75 miles) long.
The trail had specific rules for building. It had to be 1.3 meters (4 feet) wide, with no trees or big rocks. Wet areas needed to be made easy to cross. The middle part, about 0.5 meters (1.5 feet) wide, had to be smooth and firm. In dangerous spots, there needed to be enough room for animals and people to pass safely. Bridges over rivers and creeks were to be 4 meters (12 feet) wide. Builders were paid $496 for each mile.
In 1863, more gold was found at Wild Horse Creek in the East Kootenays. The new governor, Frederick Seymour, wanted the trail extended to Wild Horse Creek. This was to make sure the gold went to British Columbia, not south into the US. So, in 1865, Dewdney, who was 28, got the contract. He finished the much longer second section (480 kilometers or 300 miles) in just seven months. It cost $75,000. This second part went through wild areas and required crossing three mountain ranges.
The Royal Engineers first surveyed the route. Local First Nations people were hired to carry supplies over the mountains between Hope and Princeton. They could cover about 11 kilometers (7 miles) a day. However, near Princeton, the First Nations porters decided not to travel down the Similkameen River. So, Dewdney paid them and bought a dozen horses from a nearby ranch.
By May 13, 1865, the team reached So-o-yoyos (now called Osoyoos). They climbed Anarchist Mountain and then went down into the Kettle River Valley to the settlement of Rock Creek. Rock Creek had been a busy gold rush town with about 5,000 people. But it was almost empty when Dewdney's team passed through.
After resting their tired horses near Rock Creek, Dewdney and his team, with help from some Sinixt people, headed east to Christina Lake. Before the mountains west of today's Rossland, the group split up to find the best way across. Dewdney sent George Turner and most of the crew over what is now the Santa Rosa Pass. They aimed for Fort Shepherd, a fort built by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1858 on the Columbia River.
Dewdney took five men and went north of Christina Lake. They walked over the Rossland Mountains further north. They reached the Lower Arrow Lake, where they got a canoe. They paddled down to meet the main group at Fort Shepherd on May 27, 1865. While the crew rested, Dewdney and a few volunteers paddled back up the Columbia and the Lower Kootenay River. They had to carry their canoe 14 times to get to the West Arm of Kootenay Lake. Dewdney decided Kootenay Lake was too big to be a good route, so he returned to Fort Shepherd.
He eventually found a path through the mountains by following stream valleys. He came out near where the city of Rossland is today. Then he followed what became known as Trail Creek, which flowed into the Columbia River. The city of Trail is now located there.
Some of the crew then worked their way west, building the trail over the Santa Rosa Pass back to Rock Creek. Meanwhile, Dewdney, along with Robert Howell and a small crew, crossed the Columbia River. They traveled up the Pend d’Oreille to the Salmon (now Salmo) River. Then they went up the Lost Creek valley and across the Nelson Range using the Kootenay Pass. (Today, travelers on Highway 3 still use this route, also known as the Salmo-Creston pass.) From there, they went down Summit Creek into what is now the Creston Valley in the East Kootenays.
Next, they crossed the swampy area of the Purcell Trench at the top of Kootenay Lake. Then they crossed the Purcell Mountains via Duck Creek. Traveling down the eastern side along the Goat River, they eventually met the Walla Walla Trail at Yahk in the Moyie River valley. The crew was happy to reach the Walla Walla Trail, as it was the main route into the US. From there, it was an easier walk along the Walla Walla, and they arrived at Galbraiths’ Ferry, near Fisherville, in early June.
Dewdney hired William Fernie and 65 men to start building the trail back to the west. (The town of Fernie in the East Kootenays is named after Mr. Fernie.) Dewdney received $25,000 in cash and gold dust to pay his crew. He had a scary moment when he hid the money in a tree stump. He was guiding Chief Justice Matthew Baillie Begbie through a muddy area to Fisherville, a mining town where Begbie was going to hold court. When Dewdney returned for the money, he thought it was gone. The stump was shattered. But he found it when he frantically chopped at the stump; the weight of the money had broken it.
By September, pack trains were using the trail to Wild Horse. By 1866, most of the gold from the Wild Horse strike was gone. Miners even took apart the town of Fisherville to try and mine underneath it. In its best days, Fisherville had government offices, saloons, stores, and a brewery. It was home to 5,000 people or more.
See also
In Spanish: Dewdney Trail para niños
