Gitsegukla

In the Gitxsan language, Gitsegukla means the "people living under the precipice" or more specifically under the "Segukla" or "sharp-pointed" mountain,{{Cite web | url=https://fngovernance.org/gitsegukla-first-nation |title=Gitsegukla First Nation |website=fngovernance.org|date=December 2020 }} a reference to the characteristics of Kitseguecla Mountain.{{BCGNIS|4617|Kitseguecla Mountain (mountain)}} By the 1890s, the Kitseguecla River name was well established.{{cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/bcbooks/1.0339941#p145z-5r0f:%22Kitseguecla%22 |last=Tuttle |first=Charles Richard |page=146 (134) |title=The golden North : a vast country of inexhaustible gold fields, and a land of illimitable cereal and stock raising capabilities |publisher=Rand, McNally and Co. |year=1897 |website=library.ubc.ca}}

The name Skeena Crossing alluded to the railway bridge construction. The earliest newspaper references were June 1910 to Skeena crossing{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/omineca/1.0083098#p0z-4r0f:%22crossing%22 |page=1 |title=Omineca Herald |date=4 Jun 1910 |website=library.ubc.ca}} and October 1910 to Skeena Crossing, a steamboat stop.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/princero/1.0227548#p9z-3r0f:%22Distributor%22 |page=10 |title=Prince Rupert Optimist |date=10 Oct 1910 |website=library.ubc.ca}}

First Nations have inhabited the area for over six thousand years.{{Cite web | url=https://gitsegukla.net/our-culture/history |title=Gitsegukla First Nation |website=gitsegukla.net}}

During the Omineca Gold Rush the Skeena River became a supply route for miners and traders to the northern interior.{{sfn|Galois|1992|p=6 (64)}} 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.{{sfn|Galois|1992|p=4 (62)}} 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.{{sfn|Galois|1992|p=14 (72)}} The resulting blaze destroyed 12 totem poles, the longhouses, and the contents. Beside the cultural loss, the monetary value was estimated at $6,000.{{sfn|Galois|1992|p=7 (65)}}

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.{{sfn|Galois|1992|p=8 (66)}} Consequently, the merchant paid compensation for the drownings.{{sfn|Galois|1992|p=22 (80)}} A few weeks after the fire, the blockade was lifted on the understanding that the government would compensate for the fire loss.{{sfn|Galois|1992|p=9 (67)}} When a settlement did not appear imminent, the Gitsegukla again closed the river to freight traffic.{{sfn|Galois|1992|pp=10, 18 (68, 76)}}

A delegation of five Gitsegukla chiefs travelled to Metlakatla to meet Lieutenant Governor Trutch, who arrived aboard the HMS Scout in early August.{{sfn|Galois|1992|p=12 (70)}} Trutch warned the chiefs not to repeat such blockades and made what he considered a $600 ex gratia payment.{{sfn|Galois|1992|p=13 (71)}} Subsequently, the community moved slightly upriver to the second village.

In 1885, when Methodist missionary Rev. W.H. Pierce came,{{cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/bcbooks/1.0343551#p282z-3r0f:%22Pierce%22 |last=Crosby |first=Thomas |page=283 (233) |title=Up and down the north Pacific coast by canoe and mission ship |year=1914 |publisher=Methodist Mission Rooms |website=library.ubc.ca}} he was loaned a building for a residence, church services, and a day school.{{sfn|Pierce|1933|p=63 (53)}} The next year, a new building was erected for this purpose.{{sfn|Pierce|1933|p=65 (55)}} 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.{{sfn|Pierce|1933|p=72 (62)}}

File:Gitseguycla as seen from the totem pole sign beside the Canadian National Railway track (68489).jpg

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.{{sfn|Pierce|1933|p=73 (63)}} A few families moved downriver to the village at Andimaul, where the Salvation Army ministered.{{sfn|Pierce|1933|p=163 (153)}} The Methodist Church, which became part of the United Church, ran the federal government-funded Kitsegukla First Nations school 1897–1985.{{Cite web | url=https://indiandayschools.com/en/wp-content/uploads/schedule-k.pdf#page=10 |page=10 |title=List of Federal Indian Day Schools | website=indiandayschools.com}}

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.{{Cite web | url=http://pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca/fedora/repository/pgc:1921-11-29-01 |page=1 |title=Prince George Citizen |date=29 Nov 1921 |website=pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca}}

Around 1933, a new church building was erected at Gitsegucla.{{sfn|Pierce|1933|p=73 (63)}}

Jean Virginia (Ginny) Sampare, an eighteen-year old female, was last seen near the overpass in October 1971.{{Cite web | url=https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/virginia-sampare-siblings-hope-to-put-missing-sister-to-rest-one-day |title=Vancouver Sun |date=12 Dec 2009 |website=vancouversun.com}}

In 2021, the population on the reserve was 444.{{Cite web | url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&SearchText=Gitsegukla&DGUIDlist=2021A00055949814&GENDERlist=1,2,3&STATISTIClist=1,4&HEADERlist=0 |title=2021 Census |website=www12.statcan.gc.ca|date=9 February 2022 }}

The community lies on the Gitsegukla Indian Reserve No. 1.{{BCGNIS|65820|Gitsegukla 1 (reserve)}} The Gitsegukla Elementary School (grades K–7) infuses the BC curriculum with Gitxsan culture.{{Cite web | url=https://gitsegukla.net/departments/education |title=Gitsegukla First Nation, Education |website=gitsegukla.net}} The United church building remains standing.{{Cite web | url=https://www.michaelkluckner.com/bciw10kitseguklachurch.html |title=Vanishing BC |website=michaelkluckner.com}} The community possesses neither a gas station nor convenience store.{{Cite web | url=https://www.gitsegukla.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Gitsegukla_CCP_pages11-20.pdf#page=3 |page=3 (11) |title=Gitsegukla's Top Community Development Priorities |website=www.gitsegukla.net}}

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.{{Cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/terrace-standard/53000938 |page=17 |title=Terrace Standard |date=1 Aug 2001 | website=www.newspapers.com}} The location was Redrock Canyon near the later railway bridge.{{cite book|last=Bennett |first=Norma |page=133 |title=Pioneer Legacy: Chronicles of the Lower Skeena, Volume I |year=1997 |publisher=Dr. R.E.M. Lee Hospital Foundation |isbn=0-9683026-0-2}}

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.{{cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/bcbooks/1.0379327#p17z-5r0f:%22Skeena%22 |last=O'Neill |first=Wiggs |page=18 (16) |title=Whitewater men of the Skeena |year=1960 |website=library.ubc.ca}}

Foley, Welch and Stewart (FW&S), the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP) prime contractor, operated a fleet on the Skeena, during the navigation season,{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/prj/1.0364659#p4z-3r0f:%22Foley%22 |page=5 |title=Prince Rupert Journal |date=4 Nov 1910 |website=library.ubc.ca}} which closed for five or six months over the winter.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/prj/1.0311784#p0z-3r0f:%22Skeena%22 |page=1 |title=Prince Rupert Journal |date=25 Apr 1911 |website=library.ubc.ca}}

In February 1911, a ferry charter across the Skeena was tendered.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/prj/1.0311934#p4z-3r0f:%22ferry%22 |page=5 |title=Prince Rupert Journal |date=21 Feb 1911 |website=library.ubc.ca}} The cable ferry operated until the bridge was completed. The fare to cross was 50 cents.{{Cite web | url=https://www.gent.name/bc:towns:skeena_crossing:start |title=Skeena Crossing |website=www.gent.name}}

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

Sealey.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/omineca/1.0082801#p3z-4r0f:%22Omineca%22 |page=4 |title=Omineca Herald |date=26 Apr 1912 |website=library.ubc.ca}}

In July 1911, the western abutment of the bridge was finished.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/omineca/1.0211745#p4z-4r0f:%22Skeena%22 |page=5 |title=Omineca Herald |date=8 Jul 1911 |website=library.ubc.ca}} That October, work commenced on the piers.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/prj/1.0311911#p7z-3r0f:%22cassion%22 |page=8 |title=Prince Rupert Journal |date=27 Oct 1911 |website=library.ubc.ca}} The substructure comprises the abutments and two concrete piers in the river{{Cite web | url=https://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=53062 |title=Skeena Crossing |website=www.railpictures.ca}} and one on land.

In March 1912, the eastward advance of the GTP rail head from Prince Rupert reached the bridge.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/omineca/1.0211682#p0z-4r0f:%22Skeena%22 |page=1 |title=Omineca Herald |date=15 Mar 1912 |website=library.ubc.ca}} That June, a scheduled Prince Rupert–Skeena Crossing service replaced construction trains from Vanarsdol.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/omineca/1.0211722#p0z-4r0f:%22Vanarsdol%22 |page=1 |title=Omineca Herald |date=7 Jun 1912 |website=library.ubc.ca}}

In early July the superstructure was complete and the rail head proceeded an additional {{convert|4|mi|km|0|order=flip}} eastward.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/omineca/1.0082836#p0z-4r0f:%22bridge%22 |page=1 |title=Omineca Herald |date=12 Jul 1912 |website=library.ubc.ca}} Built by the Canadian Bridge Company, the length is {{convert|288|m|ft}} and the height above the river is {{convert|50|m|ft}}. About a week later, an intoxicated man fell from the bridge and assumedly drowned.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/omineca/1.0082705#p0z-3r0f:%22fell%22 |page=1 |title=Omineca Herald |date=19 Jul 1912 |website=library.ubc.ca}}

That September, the GTP telegraph and freight office moved to Sealey.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/omineca/1.0082885#p0z-4r0f:%22crossing%22 |page=1 |title=Omineca Herald |date=20 Sep 1912 |website=library.ubc.ca}}

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

A stage ran to the Hazelton area during wintertime.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/ominecaminer/1.0211848#p5z-3r0f:%22stage%22 |page=6 |title=Omineca Miner |date=25 Nov 1911 |website=library.ubc.ca}} Immediately upstream of the bridge construction,{{Cite web | url=https://princerupertarchives.ca/search/detail-bare.php?ID=567 |title=Construction of Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Bridge Over Skeena River. |website=princerupertarchives.ca}} 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.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/omineca/1.0083208#p9z-4r0f:%22Crossing%22 |page=10 |title=Omineca Herald |date=8 Mar 1912 |website=library.ubc.ca}} That year, passengers completed their journey by either ferrying across the Skeena and taking a stage to Hazelton{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/xphoenix/1.0185754#p0z-1r0f:%22ferry%22 |page=1 |title=Phoenix Pioneer and Boundary Mining Journal |date=15 Jun 1912 |website=library.ubc.ca}} or boarding a steamboat.{{Cite web | url=http://pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca/fedora/repository/fgh:1912-05-18-04 |page=4 |title=Fort George Herald |date=18 May 1912 |website=pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca}}

Heavy rains in 1934 undermined the highway bridge over the Kitsequecla River, rendering it unsafe.{{Cite report | url=https://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wsd/public_safety/flood/pdfs_word/floods_landslides_north.pdf#page=28 |last=Septer |first=D. |page=28 |title=Flooding and Landslide Events Northern British Columbia 1820–2006 |year=2006 |website=www.gov.bc.ca}} In 1938–39, the structure was replaced.{{Cite web | url=http://pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca/fedora/repository/pgc:1938-09-22-02 |page=2 |title=Prince George Citizen |date=22 Sep 1938 |website=pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca}}

In 1958, Western Coach Lines inaugurated a Prince Rupert–Prince George bus service,{{Cite web | url=http://pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca/fedora/repository/pgc:1958-06-12-01 |page=1 |title=Prince George Citizen |date=12 Jun 1958 |website=pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca}} which included a scheduled stop at Skeena Crossing.{{Cite web | url=http://pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca/fedora/repository/pgc:1958-06-13-12 |page=12 |title=Prince George Citizen |date=13 Jun 1958 |website=pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca}}

The current passenger transit providers for Gitsegukla are BC Bus North{{Cite web | url=https://bcbus.ca/schedules-and-fares/bus-schedule-between-prince-george-prince-rupert |title=Bus Schedule From Prince Rupert to Prince George |website=bcbus.ca}} and BC Transit.{{Cite web | url=https://www.bctransit.com/hazeltons/schedules-and-maps/route-overview?route=164 |title=Route 164: Hazeltons/Terrace |website=www.bctransit.com}}

By 1914, the place was a unofficial flag stop.{{Cite report | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/bcsessional/1.0059901#p202z-3r0f:%22crossing%22 |page=203 (K184) |title=Minister of Mines annual report, 1914 |website=library.ubc.ca}}

The development of several claims on Rocher Déboulé Mountain prompted the province to build an {{convert|11|mi|km|adj=on|order=flip}} 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.{{Cite journal | url=https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/article/view/1371/1413 |page=35–36 (55–56) |last=Frank |first=Leonard |title=BC Quarterly: "To Injure Its Own Interests": The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company and the Blighting of Hazelton District, 1910-1918 |year=1990 |volume=88 |journal=BC Studies: The British Columbian Quarterly|issue=88 |doi=10.14288/bcs.v0i88.1371 }}{{ Cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/search/#lnd=1&query=%22gets+its+station%22&ymd=1916-10-31&t=11745 |page=13 |title=Victoria Daily Times |date=31 Oct 1916 |quote= | website=www.newspapers.com}}

In 1987, 20 cars of a coal train derailed.{{Cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/search/#lnd=1&query=%22July+2%22&ymd=1987-07-08&t=11779 |page=17 |title=Interior News |date=8 Jul 1987 |quote= | website=www.newspapers.com}}

Byron Robert Jones was a merchant at least from 1912.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/ominecaminer/1.0082874#p5z-3r0f:%22Jones%22 |page=6 |title=Omineca Miner |date=11 Jan 1913 |website=library.ubc.ca}} He was the inaugural postmaster 1914–1917.{{cite web |url=https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?app=posoffposmas&IdNumber=28771 |title=Postmasters (Skeena Crossing) |website=www.bac-lac.gc.ca|date=25 November 2016 }}

Comprising about 20 guest rooms, his hotel was completed in May 1914{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/ominecaminer/1.0082938#p0z-4r0f:%22Jones%22 |page=1 |title=Omineca Miner |date=9 May 1914 |website=library.ubc.ca}} and a liquor licence application lodged for the Copper Tavern that August.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/ominecaminer/1.0083435#p2z-3r0f:%22Tavern%22 |page=3 |title=Omineca Miner |date=8 Aug 1914 |website=library.ubc.ca}} 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{{Cite web | url=http://pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca/fedora/repository/fgh:1914-06-27-01 |page=1 |title=Fort George Herald |date=27 Jun 1914 |website=pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca}} to November that year.{{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/xledgreen/1.0308458#p0z-4r0f:%22Chalcopyrite%22 |page=1 |title=Ledge |date=19 Nov 1914 |website=library.ubc.ca}}

In 1920, the contents of the Copper Tavern were auctioned.{{Cite web | url=https://www.newspapers.com/search/#lnd=1&query=%22Wednesday+with+the+result%22&ymd=1920-11-17&t=11779 |page=3 |title=Interior News |date=17 Nov 1920 |quote=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. | website=www.newspapers.com}} Under new management, the tavern may have operated into the late 1920s.{{Cite web | url=https://core.ac.uk/download/141713792.pdf#page=4 |page=4 |title=Omineca Herald |date=22 Feb 1928 | website=core.ac.uk}}

A general store with gas bar existed immediately southwest of the railway bridge on Skeena Crossing Rd (former highway) at least until the 1980s.{{Cite web | url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/41465870@N04/6920965269 |title=Skeena Crossing |date=4 Feb 1984 | website=www.flickr.com}}

• {{Cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/bcbooks/1.0372919#p68z-3r0f |page=69 (Map 31) |title=Official motorist's guide of British Columbia |year=1931 |website=library.ubc.ca}}
• {{Cite web | url=https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~325740~90094661:1937-road-map-of-British-Columbia |title=Standard Oil BC map |year=1937 |website=www.davidrumsey.com}}
• {{Cite web |url=https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/workspace/handleMediaPlayer;JSESSIONID=83caf6bd-5c13-4a2d-8744-65fde1e6d603?lunaMediaId=RUMSEY~8~1~212315~5500350 |title=Shell BC map |year=1956 |website=www.davidrumsey.com |access-date=2023-12-27 |archive-date=2022-10-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017233208/https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/workspace/handleMediaPlayer;JSESSIONID=83caf6bd-5c13-4a2d-8744-65fde1e6d603?lunaMediaId=RUMSEY~8~1~212315~5500350 |url-status=dead }}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite journal | url=https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/bcstudies/article/view/1428/1472 |last=Galois |first= Robert M. |title=BC Quarterly: The Burning of Kitsegukla, 1872 |year=1992 |volume=94 |journal=BC Studies: The British Columbian Quarterly|issue=94 |pages=59–81 |doi=10.14288/bcs.v0i94.1428 }}
• {{cite web | url=https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/bcbooks/1.0377179#p60z-5r0f:%22Kitzegucla%22 |last= Pierce |first=William Henry |title=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 |year=1933 |publisher=Vancouver Bindery |website=library.ubc.ca}}

Category:Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia

Category:Gitxsan

Category:Skeena Country

Category:Grand Trunk Pacific Railway stations

Category:Canadian National Railway stations in British Columbia

Category:Via Rail stations in British Columbia