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Gitsegukla
Community
Gitsegukla, 1954.
Location of Gitsegukla in British Columbia
Coordinates: 55°04′59″N 127°50′05″W / 55.08306°N 127.83472°W / 55.08306; -127.83472
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Region	Skeena
Regional district	Kitimat–Stikine
Government
• Type	Chief-Council Government
Area
• Total	10.98 km (4.24 sq mi)
Population
• Total	444
• Density	40/km (100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
Postal code	V0J 2J3
Area codes	250, 778, 236, & 672
Highways	Highway 16 (TCH)
Waterways	Skeena River
Website	Official website

Gitsegukla (also variants of Kitsegeucla or Skeena Crossing) is an unincorporated community in the Skeena region of west central British Columbia, Canada. The place is on the southeast side of the Skeena River adjacent to the Kitseguecla River mouth. On BC Highway 16, the locality is by road about 94 kilometres (58 mi) northwest of Smithers and 113 kilometres (70 mi) northeast of Terrace.

Name origin

In the Gitxsan language, Gitsegukla means the "people living under the precipice" or more specifically under the "Segukla" or "sharp-pointed" mountain, a reference to the characteristics of Kitseguecla Mountain. By the 1890s, the Kitseguecla River name was well established.

The name Skeena Crossing alluded to the railway bridge construction. The earliest newspaper references were June 1910 to Skeena crossing and October 1910 to Skeena Crossing, a steamboat stop.

First Nations

First Nations have inhabited the area for over six thousand years.

During the Omineca Gold Rush the Skeena River became a supply route for miners and traders to the northern interior. Kitsegukla, which was one of the seven Gitxsan winter villages, lay in a small canyon a short distance below the present village. About a dozen longhouses accommodated the village of 250–300 people. In early June 1872, a party in two canoes carrying both European and indigenous occupants failed to fully extinguish their camp fire at an adjacent site. The resulting blaze destroyed 12 totem poles, the longhouses, and the contents. Beside the cultural loss, the monetary value was estimated at $6,000.

During the preceding period, seven Gitxsan members had drowned while carrying freight for a Hazelton merchant in their canoes. These combined events prompted a Gitsegukla blockade of the river. Consequently, the merchant paid compensation for the drownings. A few weeks after the fire, the blockade was lifted on the understanding that the government would compensate for the fire loss. When a settlement did not appear imminent, the Gitsegukla again closed the river to freight traffic.

A delegation of five Gitsegukla chiefs travelled to Metlakatla to meet Lieutenant Governor Trutch, who arrived aboard the HMS Scout in early August. Trutch warned the chiefs not to repeat such blockades and made what he considered a $600 ex gratia payment. Subsequently, the community moved slightly upriver to the second village.

In 1885, when Methodist missionary Rev. W.H. Pierce came, he was loaned a building for a residence, church services, and a day school. The next year, a new building was erected for this purpose. During the 1889–90 winter, the Christians relocated upriver to form a new village in what became the Carnaby area. The village was called New Kitzegucla.

In 1892, most returned to the former village. In 1895, the remainder returned and Rev. Pierce left for the coast. A series of missionaries then filled the Kitzegucla posting. A few families moved downriver to the village at Andimaul, where the Salvation Army ministered. The Methodist Church, which became part of the United Church, ran the federal government-funded Kitsegukla First Nations school 1897–1985.

The second village lost many houses in the 1914 flood and every structure in the 1936 flood, which prompted the move to the current higher site.

In 1921, a new schoolhouse was erected.

Around 1933, a new church building was erected at Gitsegucla.

Jean Virginia (Ginny) Sampare, an eighteen-year old female, was last seen near the overpass in October 1971.

In 2021, the population on the reserve was 444.

The community lies on the Gitsegukla Indian Reserve No. 1. The Gitsegukla Elementary School (grades K–7) infuses the BC curriculum with Gitxsan culture. The United church building remains standing. The community possesses neither a gas station nor convenience store.

Steamboats and ferries

In fall 1906, the small sternwheeler Pheasant steamed up the Skeena to two spots to blast out rocks hindering navigation. On encountering low water when returning downstream, the vessel became wrecked upon protruding rocks. The location was Redrock Canyon near the later railway bridge.

The powerful outflow of the Kitseguecla River forms the long Jackman's Eddy in the Kitseguecla Rapids. The swift white water of the rapids has been one of the more challenging parts of the Skeena River.

Foley, Welch and Stewart (FW&S), the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP) prime contractor, operated a fleet on the Skeena, during the navigation season, which closed for five or six months over the winter.

In February 1911, a ferry charter across the Skeena was tendered. The cable ferry operated until the bridge was completed. The fare to cross was 50 cents.

When the 1912 river season commenced, only the FW&S Omineca was needed for the run from the crossing to Sealey.

Skeena Crossing bridge and railway construction

In July 1911, the western abutment of the bridge was finished. That October, work commenced on the piers. The substructure comprises the abutments and two concrete piers in the river and one on land.

In March 1912, the eastward advance of the GTP rail head from Prince Rupert reached the bridge. That June, a scheduled Prince Rupert–Skeena Crossing service replaced construction trains from Vanarsdol.

In early July the superstructure was complete and the rail head proceeded an additional 6 kilometres (4 mi) eastward. Built by the Canadian Bridge Company, the length is 288 metres (945 ft) and the height above the river is 50 metres (160 ft). About a week later, an intoxicated man fell from the bridge and assumedly drowned.

That September, the GTP telegraph and freight office moved to Sealey.

During World War II, the former hotel housed the troops who guarded the bridge.

Road passengers and freight

A stage ran to the Hazelton area during wintertime. Immediately upstream of the bridge construction, an aerial tramway was installed across the Skeena in March 1912, similar to the one at Kitselas Canyon. At that time, stables were built to house about 100 horses for hauling wagons to the Hazelton area. That year, passengers completed their journey by either ferrying across the Skeena and taking a stage to Hazelton or boarding a steamboat.

Heavy rains in 1934 undermined the highway bridge over the Kitsequecla River, rendering it unsafe. In 1938–39, the structure was replaced.

In 1958, Western Coach Lines inaugurated a Prince Rupert–Prince George bus service, which included a scheduled stop at Skeena Crossing.

The current passenger transit providers for Gitsegukla are BC Bus North and BC Transit.

Railway operations

By 1914, the place was a unofficial flag stop.

The development of several claims on Rocher Déboulé Mountain prompted the province to build an 18-kilometre (11 mi) winding road to Skeena Crossing. Although way freights stopped at that location, the GTP refused to construct a siding and station. In response to complaints, the Railway Commission ordered the GTP in 1916 to install a siding and small station within 30 days.

In 1987, 20 cars of a coal train derailed.

General community

Byron Robert Jones was a merchant at least from 1912. He was the inaugural postmaster 1914–1917.

Comprising about 20 guest rooms, his hotel was completed in May 1914 and a liquor licence application lodged for the Copper Tavern that August. The official opening was soon afterward. At the time, the settlement only had a few houses. The hotel was considered one of the finer establishments in Western Canada. The Chalcopyrite newspaper published from June to November that year.

In 1920, the contents of the Copper Tavern were auctioned. Under new management, the tavern may have operated into the late 1920s.

A general store with gas bar existed immediately southwest of the railway bridge on Skeena Crossing Rd (former highway) at least until the 1980s.

Maps

• "Official motorist's guide of British Columbia". library.ubc.ca. 1931. p. 69 (Map 31).
• "Standard Oil BC map". www.davidrumsey.com. 1937.
• "Shell BC map". www.davidrumsey.com. 1956. Archived from the original on 2022-10-17. Retrieved 2023-12-27.

Footnotes

1. "Kitsegeucla (community)". BC Geographical Names.
2. "Gitsegukla First Nation". fngovernance.org. December 2020.
3. "Kitseguecla Mountain (mountain)". BC Geographical Names.
4. Tuttle, Charles Richard (1897). "The golden North : a vast country of inexhaustible gold fields, and a land of illimitable cereal and stock raising capabilities". library.ubc.ca. Rand, McNally and Co. p. 146 (134).
5. "Omineca Herald". library.ubc.ca. 4 Jun 1910. p. 1.
6. "Prince Rupert Optimist". library.ubc.ca. 10 Oct 1910. p. 10.
7. ^ "Gitsegukla First Nation". gitsegukla.net.
8. Galois 1992, p. 6 (64).
9. Galois 1992, p. 4 (62).
10. Galois 1992, p. 14 (72).
11. Galois 1992, p. 7 (65).
12. Galois 1992, p. 8 (66).
13. Galois 1992, p. 22 (80).
14. Galois 1992, p. 9 (67).
15. Galois 1992, pp. 10, 18 (68, 76).
16. Galois 1992, p. 12 (70).
17. Galois 1992, p. 13 (71).
18. Crosby, Thomas (1914). "Up and down the north Pacific coast by canoe and mission ship". library.ubc.ca. Methodist Mission Rooms. p. 283 (233).
19. Pierce 1933, p. 63 (53).
20. Pierce 1933, p. 65 (55).
21. Pierce 1933, p. 72 (62).
22. ^ Pierce 1933, p. 73 (63).
23. Pierce 1933, p. 163 (153).
24. "List of Federal Indian Day Schools" (PDF). indiandayschools.com. p. 10.
25. "Prince George Citizen". pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca. 29 Nov 1921. p. 1.
26. "Vancouver Sun". vancouversun.com. 12 Dec 2009.
27. "2021 Census". www12.statcan.gc.ca. 9 February 2022.
28. "Gitsegukla 1 (reserve)". BC Geographical Names.
29. "Gitsegukla First Nation, Education". gitsegukla.net.
30. "Vanishing BC". michaelkluckner.com.
31. "Gitsegukla's Top Community Development Priorities" (PDF). www.gitsegukla.net. p. 3 (11).
32. "Terrace Standard". www.newspapers.com. 1 Aug 2001. p. 17.
33. Bennett, Norma (1997). Pioneer Legacy: Chronicles of the Lower Skeena, Volume I. Dr. R.E.M. Lee Hospital Foundation. p. 133. ISBN 0-9683026-0-2.
34. O'Neill, Wiggs (1960). "Whitewater men of the Skeena". library.ubc.ca. p. 18 (16).
35. "Prince Rupert Journal". library.ubc.ca. 4 Nov 1910. p. 5.
36. "Prince Rupert Journal". library.ubc.ca. 25 Apr 1911. p. 1.
37. "Prince Rupert Journal". library.ubc.ca. 21 Feb 1911. p. 5.
38. ^ "Skeena Crossing". www.gent.name.
39. "Omineca Herald". library.ubc.ca. 26 Apr 1912. p. 4.
40. "Omineca Herald". library.ubc.ca. 8 Jul 1911. p. 5.
41. "Prince Rupert Journal". library.ubc.ca. 27 Oct 1911. p. 8.
42. "Skeena Crossing". www.railpictures.ca.
43. "Omineca Herald". library.ubc.ca. 15 Mar 1912. p. 1.
44. "Omineca Herald". library.ubc.ca. 7 Jun 1912. p. 1.
45. "Omineca Herald". library.ubc.ca. 12 Jul 1912. p. 1.
46. "Omineca Herald". library.ubc.ca. 19 Jul 1912. p. 1.
47. "Omineca Herald". library.ubc.ca. 20 Sep 1912. p. 1.
48. "Omineca Miner". library.ubc.ca. 25 Nov 1911. p. 6.
49. "Construction of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Bridge Over Skeena River". princerupertarchives.ca.
50. "Omineca Herald". library.ubc.ca. 8 Mar 1912. p. 10.
51. "Phoenix Pioneer and Boundary Mining Journal". library.ubc.ca. 15 Jun 1912. p. 1.
52. "Fort George Herald". pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca. 18 May 1912. p. 4.
53. Septer, D. (2006). Flooding and Landslide Events Northern British Columbia 1820–2006 (PDF). www.gov.bc.ca (Report). p. 28.
54. "Prince George Citizen". pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca. 22 Sep 1938. p. 2.
55. "Prince George Citizen". pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca. 12 Jun 1958. p. 1.
56. "Prince George Citizen". pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca. 13 Jun 1958. p. 12.
57. "Bus Schedule From Prince Rupert to Prince George". bcbus.ca.
58. "Route 164: Hazeltons/Terrace". www.bctransit.com.
59. ^ Minister of Mines annual report, 1914. library.ubc.ca (Report). p. 203 (K184).
60. Frank, Leonard (1990). "BC Quarterly: "To Injure Its Own Interests": The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company and the Blighting of Hazelton District, 1910-1918". Bc Studies: The British Columbian Quarterly. 88 (88): 35–36 (55–56). doi:10.14288/bcs.v0i88.1371.
61. "Victoria Daily Times". www.newspapers.com. 31 Oct 1916. p. 13.
62. "Interior News". www.newspapers.com. 8 Jul 1987. p. 17.
63. ^ "Timetable" (PDF). streamlinermemories.info. 28 Apr 1943. p. 62 (TT226).
64. Timetable. 1 Mar 1914. p. 15 (TT14).
65. Timetable. 3 Oct 1920. p. 11.
66. Timetable. 1925. p. 106 (TT156)
67. Timetable. 1932. p. 58 (TT226)
68. Timetable. 1935. p. 60 (TT226)
69. "Timetable". www.scribd.com. 30 Apr 1950. p. 59 (TT226).
70. "Timetable" (PDF). streamlinermemories.info. 30 Sep 1956. p. 55 (TT138).
71. "Timetable" (PDF). streamlinermemories.info. 30 Oct 1960. p. 54 (TT139).
72. "Timetable". pre.timetableworld.com. 25 Apr 1965. p. 42 (TT92A).
73. "Timetable". pre.timetableworld.com. 7 Jan 1970. p. 29 (TT50).
74. "Timetable". pre.timetableworld.com. 27 Apr 1975. p. 19 (TT53).
75. "Timetable". pre.timetableworld.com. 3 Feb 1980. p. 41 (TT57).
76. "Timetable". pre.timetableworld.com. 1 Jun 1985. p. 49 (TT39).
77. "Timetable". pre.timetableworld.com. 30 Oct 1988. p. 55 (TT36).
78. "Timetable". pre.timetableworld.com. 30 Apr 1989. p. 55.
79. "Omineca Miner". library.ubc.ca. 11 Jan 1913. p. 6.
80. "Postmasters (Skeena Crossing)". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. 25 November 2016.
81. "Omineca Miner". library.ubc.ca. 9 May 1914. p. 1.
82. "Omineca Miner". library.ubc.ca. 8 Aug 1914. p. 3.
83. "Fort George Herald". pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca. 27 Jun 1914. p. 1.
84. "Ledge". library.ubc.ca. 19 Nov 1914. p. 1.
85. "Interior News". www.newspapers.com. 17 Nov 1920. p. 3. A large number of people from this town attended the auction sale at the Copper Tavern at Skeena Crossing last Wednesday, with the result that the next freight train brought a large and varied assortment of furniture, linens, etc., for the various buyers.
86. "Omineca Herald" (PDF). core.ac.uk. 22 Feb 1928. p. 4.
87. "Skeena Crossing". www.flickr.com. 4 Feb 1984.

References

• Galois, Robert M. (1992). "BC Quarterly: The Burning of Kitsegukla, 1872". Bc Studies: The British Columbian Quarterly. 94 (94): 59–81. doi:10.14288/bcs.v0i94.1428.
• Pierce, William Henry (1933). "From potlatch to pulpit: being the autobiography of the Rev. William Henry Pierce, native missionary to the Indian tribes of the northwest coast of British Columbia". library.ubc.ca. Vancouver Bindery.

• Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia
• Gitxsan
• Skeena Country
• Grand Trunk Pacific Railway stations
• Canadian National Railway stations in British Columbia
• Via Rail stations in British Columbia