Overland Trail (Yukon)
The Overland Trail was a Klondike Gold Rush-era transportation route between Whitehorse, Yukon and Dawson City in Yukon, Canada.
It was built in 1902 at a cost of CDN$129,000 after the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad won a contract to deliver mail to the Dawson City gold fields from the Canadian government.
The trail consisted of a 330 miles (531 km)-long, 12 feet (4 m) wide graded surface with culverts in some locations.
[1] Before its construction, transportation to Dawson City required a steamboat trip on the Yukon River during the brief subarctic summer, or dog sleds after the rivers had frozen.
Sleighs were substituted for coaches once snow began to fall, and passengers were charged CDN$125 for a one-way trip.
[3] The first automobile used the trail in 1912,[4] but soon afterward, declining returns from the gold mines caused the population of Yukon to drop precipitously.
In 1921, the White Pass discontinued operating stages on the Overland Trail, and the mail contracts were awarded to other contractors thereafter.
In 1955, a new automobile highway was built north from Whitehorse to Mayo, with a spur to Dawson City.
This highway made the Overland Trail obsolete, and it fell into disrepair.
Today, the Overland Trail is primarily a recreation route for sled dog teams, snowmobiles, and other tourism-related activities.
Artifacts relating to the Gold Rush-era use of the trail are plentiful along the route, which is used in February as part of the Yukon Quest, a 1,000-mile sled dog race between Whitehorse and Fairbanks, Alaska.
[5] Suspension and Body: WP&YR One of ##1, 2, 4, 7, and 8 (five passenger wagons) was destroyed by a flood at Carmacks in 1918, leaving four.
Suspension and Body: WP&YR For disposition, see, Remarks for #1, above.
Suspension and Body: WP&YR Middle bench seat removed, thereby reducing passenger capacity to 8.
Put on display at Yukon Historical Society Museum in 1953.
Suspension and Body: WP&YR For disposition, see, Remarks for #1, above.
Suspension and Body: WP&YR Given to the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1944.
Suspension and Body: WP&YR Middle bench seat removed, thereby reducing passenger capacity to 8.
Put on display at Yukon Historical Society Museum in 1953.
One of ##11-15 (five Bain heavy freight wagons) was sold in 1912, leaving four.
One lost its running gear in Laberge Lake in 1930, leaving four.
Put on display at Yukon Historical Society Museum in 1953.
The body of #41 was at Yukon Crossing in 1963, without its running gear and without its center seats.
bob freight sleighs) were sold in 1909, leaving six.
bob freight sleighs) was sold in 1919, leaving four.
bob perishable sleighs) was destroyed by a flood at Carmacks in 1918, and the remaining one was sold in 1923.
bob perishable sleighs) was sold in 1926, leaving two.
bob freight sleighs) was sold in 1922, leaving four.
For the roster of White Pass boats, see, List of steamboats on the Yukon River.
For the roster of White Pass railroad equipment, see, List of White Pass and Yukon Route locomotives and cars.
