Editing Whitehorse (section)

==History==
[[File:Street in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, ca 1900 (HESTER 312).jpeg|thumb|left|Streetscape of Whitehorse in 1900. The community saw a population boom with the [[Klondike Gold Rush|discovery of gold in the Klondike]] in 1896.]]
[[File:White horse 1910.png|thumb|left|View of Whitehorse in 1910]]
[[File:Canada - Whitehorse - NARA - 68154678 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Whitehorse, 1941]]
Archaeological research south of the downtown area, at a location known as [[Canyon City, Yukon|Canyon City]], has revealed evidence of use by [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] for several thousand years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Whitehorse {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/whitehorse#:~:text=Indigenous%20Peoples&text=These%20artifacts%20indicate%20that%20Yukon,reside%20in%20and%20around%20Whitehorse. |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca}}</ref> The surrounding area had seasonal fish camps and [[Frederick Schwatka]], in 1883, observed the presence of a [[portage]] trail used to bypass [[Miles Canyon Basalts|Miles Canyon]]. Before the Gold Rush, several different tribes passed through the area seasonally and their territories overlapped.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The History of Whitehorse, Canada {{!}} Shuttle Alaska |url=https://alaskashuttle.com/blog/the-history-of-whitehorse-canada/ |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=Alaska Shuttle |language=en-US}}</ref>

The [[Klondike Gold Rush|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 [[Prospecting|
prospector]]s had arrived via steamship and were camping at "White Horse".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The History of Whitehorse, Yukon |url=https://www.explorenorth.com/yukon/whitehorse-history.html |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=www.explorenorth.com}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite web |last=sharlene |date=2003-07-06 |title=Miles Canyon and Canyon City |url=https://wend.ca/?p=8155 |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=wend.ca |language=en-US}}</ref>

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 [[The Cremation of Sam McGee|Sam McGee]] on July 16, 1899.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yukon Nuggets – Facts, Photos and News Radio |url=https://yukonnuggets.com/stories/pueblo-mine-disaster#:~:text=A%20Klondike-bound%20prospector,%20John,called%20it%20the%20Copper%20King. |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=yukonnuggets.com}}</ref> Two tram lines were built, one {{cvt|8|km}} 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]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Markusoff |first=Jason |date=2016-10-13 |title=Inside the wild Canadian past of the Trump family |url=https://macleans.ca/politics/inside-the-wild-canadian-past-of-the-trump-family/ |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=Macleans.ca |language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Company Info |url=https://wpyr.com/company-info/ |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=White Pass & Yukon Route Railway |language=en-US}}</ref>

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 (surveyor)|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 ${{Inflation|CA|0.3|1905}} million in {{Inflation/year|CA}}) in damage, though there were no deaths. [[Robert W. Service|Robert Service]] was working as a bank teller at the time and participated in suppressing the flame.<ref>{{cite web |title=Whitehorse Daily Star: Whitehorse swept by fire |url=https://www.whitehorsestar.com/History/whitehorse-swept-by-fire1 |website=Whitehorse Daily Star |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>Gwenda Blair (2000). The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire. Simon and Schuster. {{ISBN|978-0-7432-1079-9}}.</ref>

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]].{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} The entire {{cvt|2500|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.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

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]].<ref name="Traveller's Guide">{{cite web
 |url=http://www.visitwhitehorse.com/
 |title=The Whitehorse Interactive Traveller's Guide
 |access-date=2006-07-03
 |pages=History–>Facts–>Whitehorse–>The Name "Whitehorse"}}</ref> On March 21, 1957, the name was officially changed from White Horse to Whitehorse.<ref name="ref1">Robert G. Woodall, The Postal History of Yukon, Canada, Lawrence, MA, Quarterman, Revised edition, ©1976, {{ISBN|0-88000-086-4}}, p.239</ref>