Lillooet Cattle Trail facts for kids
The Lillooet Cattle Trail was a very brave and unusual construction project in British Columbia back in 1877. It was also known as the Lillooet-Burrard Cattle Trail or just the Lillooet Trail. This trail was the biggest public works project the new province had done since joining Canada in 1871, costing a lot of money for its time – about $35,000!
Why the Trail Was Built
Back then, ranchers in areas like Lillooet and the Gang Ranch had lots of cattle. They wanted to sell their beef to the many workers building the Canadian Pacific Railway to the east. The problem was, it was hard to get the cattle across the Fraser River because there weren't enough bridges.
So, these ranchers asked the government to build a trail. They wanted a path from their ranches all the way to the coast, near what is now Vancouver harbour, by the Seymour River. This trail would go through Pemberton and Squamish.
Building the Trail
Work on the trail started in 1874 and it was "finished" in 1877. The route followed an old path from the 1862 gold rush. It went through the Seymour Watershed, over to the Mamquam and Indian Rivers, and then to Squamish. From there, it followed a path that was later used by the PGE railway, all the way to the Lillooet area.
A Very Difficult Route
The trail's path was incredibly tough! It hugged cliffs along lakes, meaning workers had to build special wooden bridges (called trestles) and even floating platforms over the water. Beyond the lakes, the trail went through swampy marshes and thick forests. These areas were famous for having huge numbers of biting mosquitos.
The hardest part was a section called the "stairway" over a mountain pass between the Squamish area and the start of the Seymour River. Here, the trail was very narrow, less than 6 yards wide, and had steps carved into it. Imagine trying to get cattle to walk up steps on a narrow mountain path!
What Happened Next
Only one big cattle drive ever tried to use the entire trail. Sadly, most of the cattle were lost along the way. The few that made it to the end were so skinny and tired that they had to rest and get healthy again before they could be used for meat. This huge loss of cattle and the high cost of building the trail made the government hesitant to fund similar projects for many years.
Even though the trail wasn't great for cattle, people in the Pemberton Valley still used parts of it for regular travel. A couple more smaller cattle drives were attempted from Pemberton to Squamish, but they also ended up losing money.
Over time, the trail's path from Pemberton to Squamish was eventually used for building the Pacific Great Eastern Railway. This meant that parts of the old cattle trail became part of the railway line.
