Giscome Portage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Giscome Portage was a portage between the Fraser River and Summit Lake in British Columbia, Canada. The south end of the portage is now the location of a heritage site, the Huble Homestead, which is located on the Fraser River, 40 km north of Prince George and 6 km off Highway 97.
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[edit] 1800s
The Lheidli T'enneh called the trail "Lhedesti" meaning "the shortcut". In 1862, two men, John Giscome and Henry McDame, asked the Lheidli T'enneh at Fort George if they knew of a good route to the Peace River Country where the men were planning to go try some gold prospecting. The natives told them about the nine mile long portage and John Giscome wrote an article about the trail that was later published in a Victoria newspaper. Despite the newspaper coverage, the trail saw little use until the height of the Omineca Gold Rush in 1871, when nearly 400 miners petitioned the government for the funds to build a wagon road over the portage so they could more easily travel to the Omineca gold fields. The petition was granted and the contract for building the road was given to Gustavus Blin Wright, who widened the trail at a cost of $9070. Peter Dunlevy, who operated a store at Soda Creek and Fort George, opened a store at the south end of the portage on the river. However, by the 1890s, most of the miners had left for other gold strikes and the road fell into disuse.[1]
[edit] 1900s and today
In 1903, two men from Ontario, Albert Huble and Edward Seebach established a trading post at the south end of the Giscome Portage. Huble pre-empted the land, and the men built cabins, a barn and a store. They also re-cut the trail, making it wide enough for a horse drawn wagon. They got their supplies from Fort George, on horseback in the summer or by dog team or snowshoes in the winter. Then, in 1909, the area experienced new growth with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway's plans to cross the province at Fort George and the Fraser River became easier to travel with the arrival of the Chilco, one of twelve sternwheelers that would work on the upper Fraser River.
In 1914, the outbreak of the Great War brought a dramatic decrease in business and by 1919, the store at the Giscome Portage was closed.
In 1983 the Giscome Portage Historical Society was formed and with the aid of government grants and local fund-raising events the store and homestead was restored. Today, the Huble Homestead is a popular tourist attraction, entertaining thousands of visitors each year.[2]
