Valdez Trail

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The trail through the Chugach Mountains to the north of Valdez, around 1900

The Valdez Trail is a former trail in Alaska that first connected Valdez to Eagle and later also to Fairbanks .

history

The gold rush on Canada's Klondike River at the end of the 19th century led the majority of prospectors via Dyea and the Chilkoot Pass or via Skagway and the White Pass to Canada, where most of the route to the gold fields had to be covered. However, many US gold prospectors were offended by the long journey through territory under foreign sovereignty. The United States government then approved the construction of an alternative route through Alaska.

William R. Abercrombie of the United States Army explored possible routes in 1898. In the following year, gold prospectors were already on the selected and only half-completed route from Valdez on Prince William Sound to Eagle on the Yukon near the border with Canada. In 1901 the military completed the trail to Eagle.

The gold rush on the Klondike River began to subside at this point and in 1902 gold was found in the Tanana Valley near Fairbanks. The path from Valdez to Eagle was then only used along the Copper River to the Gakona River near today's Gakona , from where the prospectors crossed the Alaska range over the Isabel Pass and then followed the course of the Tanana River to Fairbanks. In 1904, the trail from Valdez to Fairbanks was the most popular transport route in the interior

In 1905, US President Theodore Roosevelt created the Alaska Road Commission , of which Wilds P. Richardson was chaired . Richardson took care of the development of the inland areas and the expansion of the Valdez Trail in the following years. Rest houses operated by settlers were built along the route. Some of these became germ cells for later settlements such as Copper Center , Big Delta or Salcha .

In 1913 the first car drove on the path. In 1919, the Road Commission renamed the now significantly expanded route to Richardson Road in honor of Wilds P. Richardson .

Today, parts of the Glenn and Richardson Highways run along the route of the Valdez Trail. However, the portion of the trail between the Tanana River and Fortymile River on the original route to Eagle has remained largely untouched since the days of the gold rush. Other sections, such as the one near the visitor center of the Wrangell-St.-Elias National Park , show later expansion stages.

The Valdez Trail was the first developed path into the interior of Alaska and contributed significantly to its development. People, goods and mail were transported on it. Mining activities and the emergence of related industries were favored by the trail.

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