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Whitehorse

Capital and largest city of Yukon, Canada

  • 22 min read
  • 12 chapters
Whitehorse on the Yukon river
Gareth Sloan from Montreal, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0

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Because of the city's location in the Whitehorse valley and relative proximity to the Pacific Ocean, the climate tends to be milder. At this latitude, winter days are short and summer days have up to about 19 hours of daylight.

As of the 2021 Canadian census, the population was 28,201 within city boundaries and 31,913 in the census agglomeration. These figures represent approximately 70 and 79 percent, respectively, of the total population of Yukon.

History

Archaeological research south of the downtown area, at a location known as Canyon City, has revealed evidence of use by First Nations for several thousand years. The surrounding area had seasonal fish camps and Frederick Schwatka, in 1883, observed the presence of a portage trail used to bypass Miles Canyon. Before the Gold Rush, several different tribes passed through the area seasonally and their territories overlapped.

The discovery of gold in the Klondike in August 1896, by Skookum Jim, Tagish Charlie, and George Washington Carmack, set off a major change in the historical patterns of the region. Early prospectors used the Chilkoot Pass, but by July 1897, crowds of neophyte prospectors had arrived via steamship and were camping at "White Horse". By June 1898, there was a bottleneck of prospectors at Canyon City, and many boats had been lost to the rapids as well as five people. Samuel Steele of the North-West Mounted Police remarked: "why more casualties have not occurred is a mystery to me."

On their way to find gold, prospectors also found copper in the "copper belt" in the hills west of Whitehorse. The first copper claims were staked by Jack McIntyre on July 6, 1898, and Sam McGee on July 16, 1899. Two tram lines were built, one 8-kilometre (5.0 mi) stretch on the east bank of the Yukon River from Canyon City to the rapids, just across from the present day downtown, and the other on the west bank of the river.

The White Pass and Yukon Route narrow-gauge railway linking Skagway to Whitehorse had begun construction in May 1898. By May 1899, construction had arrived at the south end of Bennett Lake. Construction began again at the north end of Bennett lake to Whitehorse. It was only in June–July 1900 that construction finished the difficult Bennett Lake section itself, completing the entire route.

By 1901, the Whitehorse Star was already reporting on daily freight volumes. Even though traders and prospectors were all calling the city Whitehorse (White Horse), there was an attempt by the railway people to change the name to Closeleigh (British Close brothers provided funding for the railway), this was refused by William Ogilvie, the territory's Commissioner.

On May 23, 1905, a small fire in the barber shop of the Windsor Hotel got out of control when the fire engine ran out of water, spreading throughout the city and causing $300,000 (equivalent to $10 million in 2025) in damage, though there were no deaths. Robert Service was working as a bank teller at the time and participated in suppressing the flame. The White Horse Restaurant and Inn was among the buildings destroyed, after its co-founder Frederick Trump had sold his shares and left the city.

In 1920, the first planes landed in Whitehorse and the first air mail was sent in November 1927. Until 1942, rail, river, and air were the only way to get to Whitehorse, but in 1942 the US military decided an interior road would be safer to transfer troops and provisions between Alaska and the US mainland and began construction of the Alaska Highway. The entire 1,600-mile (2,600 km) project was accomplished between March and November 1942. The Canadian portion of the highway was only returned to Canadian sovereignty after the war. The Canol pipeline was also constructed to supply oil to the north with a refinery in Whitehorse.

In 1950, the city was incorporated and by 1951 the population had doubled from its 1941 numbers. On April 1, 1953, the city was designated the capital of the Yukon Territory when the seat was moved from Dawson City after the construction of the Klondike Highway. On March 21, 1957, the name was officially changed from "White Horse" to "Whitehorse".

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