Ross River, Yukon
Encyclopedia
Ross River is an unincorporated community in the Yukon
, Canada
. It lies at the juncture of the Ross River
and the Pelly River
, along the Canol Road
, not far from the Campbell Highway. Primary access to the Campbell Highway is a nine-mile access road of superior alignment, not the six-mile Canol Road section which is no longer maintained. It is serviced by Ross River Airport
, used mainly for charter and scheduled flights to and from Whitehorse
and Watson Lake
.
In 2001, the community had a population of 337.
It is the home of the Ross River Dena Council
.
and Pelly River
s has long been used as a gathering place for First Nation peoples, particularly in the late summer. The first permanent settlement was established in 1901 when Tom Smith started a small fur
trading post
on the north bank of the Pelly and called the spot Smiths Landing. That winter approximately 15 First Nation families over wintered near the post, creating the beginnings of the permanent community of Ross River. By 1903 a second, rival, trading post was set up on the south bank of the Pelly opposite Smiths Landing. The settlement attracted an increasing number of people, mostly the Kaska
but including many First Nation people from the Mackenzie River
region who would travel over the divide to meet others, trade, and sometimes stay. By 1914 over 1,000 people were gathering at Ross River in the late summer. But a severe influenza
epidemic
in 1916 hit the community’s First Nation people hard, and increasing economic activity and new trading posts along the Mackenzie River reduced the numbers of people gathering and settling at Ross River.
World War II
and the years immediately following brought massive changes to Ross River. The building of the Canol Road
and pipeline between 1942 and 1944 brought a massive, but temporary, influx of outsiders to the area and the new road made the community much more accessible, although the road closed in 1946 and did not reopen until 1958. The late 1940s and early 1950s also saw a collapse of fur prices and the permanent closure of most of the region’s fur trading posts — including Pelly Banks, Sheldon Lake, Rose Point, Frances Lake
and Macmillan River
. By 1952 Ross River was designated as a band village and had the only remaining trading post in the region. The Canol Road shifted the commercial centre of the community to the south bank of the Pelly River at the new ferry crossing point and the federal government began pressuring the First Nation to move across the river from the Old Village. By the mid 1960s that pressure resulted in the complete abandonment of the Old Village and the community of Ross River assumed the shape it has today.
Mining
exploration increased in the region around Ross River through the 1950s and an exploration and mining boom occurred in the 1960s and 1970s with the discovery and development of the Faro
mine.
In 1950 and 1951 Al Kulan, who was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame
in 2005, prospected the Pelly Range. In 1952 he located mineralization in the Anvil district. In 1953 Ross River Dena citizen Jack Sterriah mentioned a heavy concentration of rust in Vangorda Creek that he had know about as a boy. That year Kulan, Peter Thompson along with Dena citizens Arthur John, China Sterriah, Jack Ladue and Robert Etzel prospected Vangorda Creek and found the first significant mineralization in the area on July 2nd. All the Dena citizens mentioned, along with Dena members Joe Etzel and Jack Steriah were issued shares in the company formed as a result of the discovery, Vangorda Mines Ltd. The property was optioned to Prospectors Airways, headquartered in Toronto.
Arthur John, a respected Dena elder, learned prospecting from, and worked with, Kulan in the early 1950's and his fluency in English enabled him to serve as an intermediary between Kulan and other Ross River Dena members who also learned to identify minerals. John had a long career prospecting with Conwest Explorations as well as Kulan's companies Spartan Explorations and Welcome North Mines.
In 1954 to 1957 Kulan prospected north-west of the Vangorda showing and discovered a rusty area. Geochemical and geophysical surveys resulted in several drill targets. Propspectors Airways superiors would only pay for a packsack drill. The first drill hole was attempted over the No. 2 orebody of what, a decade later, would become Canada's largest lead-zinc mine. This hole could not reach the bedrock due to heavy overburden. The program was discontinued.
In 1964 the property was re-staked by Dynasty Explorations which Kulan was a director and officer of. Dynasty staked large tracts of the district and identified many drill targets. Due to lack of funds they joined forces with Cyprus Mines of Los Angeles. The joint venture was running over budget when a move was made to one of the mineralized sites selected by Kulan, which was one of the last hopes for the discovery of a successful body of ore. In the summer of 1965 the discovery of Canada's largest lead-zinc mine was made and resulted in biggest staking rush the Yukon Territory had ever seen.
Al Kulan helped Ross River residents contribute another colourful story to the Yukon's history in 1972, when he financed television service. The community was too small to get a satellite serviced transmitter for the CBC, and in fact did not even have radio because of bureaucratic delays on the equipment that was waiting for installation. Residents had to drive to Faro to listen to the Canada-Russia hockey series. Kulan hired a helicopter and he and the pilot from Whitehorse flew from mountaintop to mountaintop on a bitterly cold night trying to find the signal from Faro's five watt TV transmitter. After a signal was detected on Grew Creek Hill, Kulan paid for the equipment, and the community's men volunteered their work, bulldozing a road up the mountain. The transmitter caught the government's attention, and the residents defiantly refused to shut it down and requested a licence. In early 1975, radio was finally installed. Ross River's community effort led to other such projects that brought TV to every community; Teslin installed their own satellite dish (illegal until 1979), and the Yukon government attempted to negotiate a lower lease price with Telesat Canada
which had a monopoly on satellite earth stations until 1979.
Tragically, Al Kulan was murdered in 1977 by a person diagnosed by a psychiatrist called by his defence counsel at trial as having a "paranoid personality disorder compounded by alcohol abuse" and who had a list of people he wanted to kill including the Commissioner of the Yukon. The murderer had no mining connection with Kulan.
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. It lies at the juncture of the Ross River
Ross River (Yukon)
The Ross River in the Yukon, Canada is one of the main tributaries of the Pelly River. It rises in the Mackenzie Mountains and the community of Ross River can be found where it joins the Pelly.-External links:* at the Atlas of Canada...
and the Pelly River
Pelly River
The Pelly River is a river in Canada, and is a headstream of the Yukon River. The river originates west of the Mackenzie Mountains and flows 530 km long through the south central Yukon. The Pelly has two main tributaries, the Ross and Macmillan rivers.The river was named by Robert Campbell in...
, along the Canol Road
Canol Road
The Canol Road was part of a project to build a pipeline and a road from Norman Wells, Northwest Territories to Whitehorse, Yukon during World War II. The pipeline no longer exists, but the long Yukon portion of the road is maintained by the Yukon Government during summer months...
, not far from the Campbell Highway. Primary access to the Campbell Highway is a nine-mile access road of superior alignment, not the six-mile Canol Road section which is no longer maintained. It is serviced by Ross River Airport
Ross River Airport
Ross River Airport is located south of Ross River, Yukon, Canada....
, used mainly for charter and scheduled flights to and from Whitehorse
Whitehorse, Yukon
Whitehorse is Yukon's capital and largest city . It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1476 on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas occupy both shores of the Yukon River, which originates in British Columbia and meets the Bering Sea in...
and Watson Lake
Watson Lake, Yukon
Watson Lake is a town at historical mile 635 on the Alaska Highway in the southeastern Yukon close to the British Columbia border. Population in December 2004 was 1,547 ....
.
In 2001, the community had a population of 337.
It is the home of the Ross River Dena Council
Ross River Dena Council
The Ross River Dena Council is a First Nation in the eastern Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main centre is in Ross River, Yukon at the junction of the Campbell Highway and the Canol Road, near the confluence of the Pelly River and the Ross River...
.
History
The confluence of the RossRoss River (Yukon)
The Ross River in the Yukon, Canada is one of the main tributaries of the Pelly River. It rises in the Mackenzie Mountains and the community of Ross River can be found where it joins the Pelly.-External links:* at the Atlas of Canada...
and Pelly River
Pelly River
The Pelly River is a river in Canada, and is a headstream of the Yukon River. The river originates west of the Mackenzie Mountains and flows 530 km long through the south central Yukon. The Pelly has two main tributaries, the Ross and Macmillan rivers.The river was named by Robert Campbell in...
s has long been used as a gathering place for First Nation peoples, particularly in the late summer. The first permanent settlement was established in 1901 when Tom Smith started a small fur
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
trading post
Trading post
A trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
on the north bank of the Pelly and called the spot Smiths Landing. That winter approximately 15 First Nation families over wintered near the post, creating the beginnings of the permanent community of Ross River. By 1903 a second, rival, trading post was set up on the south bank of the Pelly opposite Smiths Landing. The settlement attracted an increasing number of people, mostly the Kaska
Kaska
The Kaska or Kaska Dena are a First Nations people living mainly in northern British Columbia and the southeastern Yukon in Canada. The Kaska language originally spoken by the Kaska is an Athabaskan language....
but including many First Nation people from the Mackenzie River
Mackenzie River
The Mackenzie River is the largest river system in Canada. It flows through a vast, isolated region of forest and tundra entirely within the country's Northwest Territories, although its many tributaries reach into four other Canadian provinces and territories...
region who would travel over the divide to meet others, trade, and sometimes stay. By 1914 over 1,000 people were gathering at Ross River in the late summer. But a severe influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
in 1916 hit the community’s First Nation people hard, and increasing economic activity and new trading posts along the Mackenzie River reduced the numbers of people gathering and settling at Ross River.
World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the years immediately following brought massive changes to Ross River. The building of the Canol Road
Canol Road
The Canol Road was part of a project to build a pipeline and a road from Norman Wells, Northwest Territories to Whitehorse, Yukon during World War II. The pipeline no longer exists, but the long Yukon portion of the road is maintained by the Yukon Government during summer months...
and pipeline between 1942 and 1944 brought a massive, but temporary, influx of outsiders to the area and the new road made the community much more accessible, although the road closed in 1946 and did not reopen until 1958. The late 1940s and early 1950s also saw a collapse of fur prices and the permanent closure of most of the region’s fur trading posts — including Pelly Banks, Sheldon Lake, Rose Point, Frances Lake
Frances Lake
-References:*...
and Macmillan River
Macmillan River
The Macmillan River is a tributary, approximately long, of the Pelly River in the Yukon Territory of northwestern Canada. It originates in the Mackenzie Mountains and flows in a generally westward direction. The river's watershed extends over and its average discharge is about ....
. By 1952 Ross River was designated as a band village and had the only remaining trading post in the region. The Canol Road shifted the commercial centre of the community to the south bank of the Pelly River at the new ferry crossing point and the federal government began pressuring the First Nation to move across the river from the Old Village. By the mid 1960s that pressure resulted in the complete abandonment of the Old Village and the community of Ross River assumed the shape it has today.
Mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
exploration increased in the region around Ross River through the 1950s and an exploration and mining boom occurred in the 1960s and 1970s with the discovery and development of the Faro
Faro, Yukon
Faro is a small town in the central Yukon, Canada, formerly the home of the largest open pit lead–zinc mine in the world as well as a significant producer of silver and other natural resource ventures. The mine was built by the Ralph M. Parsons Construction Company of the USA with General...
mine.
In 1950 and 1951 Al Kulan, who was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame
Canadian Mining Hall of Fame
The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame aims to recognize the accomplishments of leaders in the mining industry.It was conceived by Maurice R. Brown as a way to recognize and honor the legendary mine finders and builders of this Canadian industry. The Hall was established in 1988...
in 2005, prospected the Pelly Range. In 1952 he located mineralization in the Anvil district. In 1953 Ross River Dena citizen Jack Sterriah mentioned a heavy concentration of rust in Vangorda Creek that he had know about as a boy. That year Kulan, Peter Thompson along with Dena citizens Arthur John, China Sterriah, Jack Ladue and Robert Etzel prospected Vangorda Creek and found the first significant mineralization in the area on July 2nd. All the Dena citizens mentioned, along with Dena members Joe Etzel and Jack Steriah were issued shares in the company formed as a result of the discovery, Vangorda Mines Ltd. The property was optioned to Prospectors Airways, headquartered in Toronto.
Arthur John, a respected Dena elder, learned prospecting from, and worked with, Kulan in the early 1950's and his fluency in English enabled him to serve as an intermediary between Kulan and other Ross River Dena members who also learned to identify minerals. John had a long career prospecting with Conwest Explorations as well as Kulan's companies Spartan Explorations and Welcome North Mines.
In 1954 to 1957 Kulan prospected north-west of the Vangorda showing and discovered a rusty area. Geochemical and geophysical surveys resulted in several drill targets. Propspectors Airways superiors would only pay for a packsack drill. The first drill hole was attempted over the No. 2 orebody of what, a decade later, would become Canada's largest lead-zinc mine. This hole could not reach the bedrock due to heavy overburden. The program was discontinued.
In 1964 the property was re-staked by Dynasty Explorations which Kulan was a director and officer of. Dynasty staked large tracts of the district and identified many drill targets. Due to lack of funds they joined forces with Cyprus Mines of Los Angeles. The joint venture was running over budget when a move was made to one of the mineralized sites selected by Kulan, which was one of the last hopes for the discovery of a successful body of ore. In the summer of 1965 the discovery of Canada's largest lead-zinc mine was made and resulted in biggest staking rush the Yukon Territory had ever seen.
Al Kulan helped Ross River residents contribute another colourful story to the Yukon's history in 1972, when he financed television service. The community was too small to get a satellite serviced transmitter for the CBC, and in fact did not even have radio because of bureaucratic delays on the equipment that was waiting for installation. Residents had to drive to Faro to listen to the Canada-Russia hockey series. Kulan hired a helicopter and he and the pilot from Whitehorse flew from mountaintop to mountaintop on a bitterly cold night trying to find the signal from Faro's five watt TV transmitter. After a signal was detected on Grew Creek Hill, Kulan paid for the equipment, and the community's men volunteered their work, bulldozing a road up the mountain. The transmitter caught the government's attention, and the residents defiantly refused to shut it down and requested a licence. In early 1975, radio was finally installed. Ross River's community effort led to other such projects that brought TV to every community; Teslin installed their own satellite dish (illegal until 1979), and the Yukon government attempted to negotiate a lower lease price with Telesat Canada
Telesat Canada
Telesat Canada is a Canadian satellite communications company founded on May 2, 1969. The company is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario as well as having offices in the United States and Brazil.On October 5, 2007 Loral Space & Communications Inc...
which had a monopoly on satellite earth stations until 1979.
Tragically, Al Kulan was murdered in 1977 by a person diagnosed by a psychiatrist called by his defence counsel at trial as having a "paranoid personality disorder compounded by alcohol abuse" and who had a list of people he wanted to kill including the Commissioner of the Yukon. The murderer had no mining connection with Kulan.