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The
area that is now Whistler was first explored in 1858 during the Gold Rush
in search of a more direct route to the Cariboo Gold Fields. J.W. McKay
& Major William Downie were hired by Hudson's Bay Chief Factor, James
Douglas to explore the area and report their findings. The men accessed
the area by the numerous small lakes and described the land as, "..mountainous,
with some fertile valleys and very fine timber, but not attractive as
a place of settlement."
A second exploration in search of passage to the BC interior took place
in 1862 led by a Captain with the British Royal Navy, Captain R.C. Mayne.
Mayne was also assigned the task of mapping the area and many of the region's
names still used today are a result of this mission.
In the 1870's an investigation into the possibility of a cattle trail
from Pemberton Meadows to the Burrard Inlet was funded by the BC Government
and carried out by William Sampson. The 8-day journey by Sampson determined
that a suitable cattle trail could be constructed and for the reasonable
sum of only $8000. The project was run by William Sampson, George Jenson,
Samuel Clay and Alexander Jack and continued until the fall of 1875 when
the rainy season and extremely discontented workers forced them to shut
down construction.
The project was re-assessed by a Victoria engineer, J.A. Mahood in 1876
and construction of the Pemberton Trail resumed. However, like his predecessors,
Mahood was unable to complete the work before the rainy season and furthermore,
the funding had all been spent.
By September of 1877 the Lillooet-Burrard Inlet Trail, better known as
the Pemberton Trail, was finally completed. It was estimated that the
project cost approximately $37,000 and the trail was not even fit to move
cattle! Ranchers had attempted to drive cattle on this trail only once
and lost most of the herd to accidents on the treacherous terrain or starvation
due to lack of grass along the way. The trail was still used by people
traveling on foot or horseback, as this was the only direct route from
the seaboard to the Alta Lake & Lillooet regions.
The Alta Lake area's first residents; John Millar, Harry Horstman, Grace
Woollard and Myrtle and Alex Philip made the 2-day journey from Squamish
by foot and transported their belongings using pack horses. These early
settlers of Alta Lake made a living by trapping during the winter months,
mining or prospecting as well as growing produce in the summer and occasionally
finding work on the construction of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway.
In 1914 the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE) came through Alta Lake
and opened up access to the area - as well as opportunity.
The tiny resort that grew…
On October 11, 1914 the first station in the valley was established. It
was named Mons after the WWI battle, but was later named Alta Lake Station.
Numerous logging operations developed and continued to thrive utilizing
the railway to ship their products to the coast, but it was Alex and Myrtle
Philip who put Alta Lake on the map.
Following his dream of operating a fishing lodge in the Canadian wilderness,
Alex, his wife Myrtle, as well as Myrtle's family, the Tapley's, built
Rainbow Lodge on the north-west shores of Alta Lake. By the spring of
1915 the lodge was completed and the Philips agreed to partner with the
PGE who would bring fishermen up by train to participate in their fishing
tours. Business took off and soon the small community was a booming resort
destination featuring fishing, horseback and hiking tours in the summer
and skating and skiing in the winter. Early settlers had used skis as
a means of getting around but by the 1930's recreational skiing started
to increase in popularity. After WWI Rainbow Lodge was known as the most
popular resort west of Jasper and the popularity and population of the
town continued to grow.
In 1962 a gravel road from Squamish to Alta Lake was built using existing
BC Hydro service roads. This would provide access to the proposed downhill
ski operation being developed by the Garibaldi Lift Company on Whistler
Mountain, but was still a grueling 5-hour journey. By 1966 the road was
paved and in February of 1966, the Garibaldi Lift Company had completed
development of the southern slopes of Whistler Mountain and opened up
the mountain to the public. Fourteen years later, on December 6, 1980,
Blackcomb Mountain opened, and the rest, as they say, is history.
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