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Bennett, British Columbia

Coordinates: 59°51′N 135°00′W / 59.850°N 135.000°W / 59.850; -135.000
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Bennett
Ghost town
View of Bennett Railway station, British Columbia
Bennett railway station
Bennett is located in British Columbia
Bennett
Bennett
Location of Bennett in British Columbia
Coordinates: 59°51′N 135°00′W / 59.850°N 135.000°W / 59.850; -135.000[1]
CountryCanada
ProvinceBritish Columbia
LocationBennett Lake at border between British Columbia and Yukon, Canada
Tent camp for klondikers1897–1899

Bennett, British Columbia, Canada, is an abandoned town next to Bennett Lake[1] and along Lindeman Creek (formerly known as the One Mile River). The townsite is now part of the Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site of Canada and is managed by Parks Canada.[2] Bennett is also a stop on the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad during the summer months.

History

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Photo of camping sites in Bennett by Larss and Duclos, 1 June 1898, by during the Klondike Gold Rush

Bennett was built during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897–1899 at the end of the White Pass and Chilkoot Trails from the nearby ports of Skagway and Dyea in Alaska. Gold prospectors would pack their supplies over the Coast Mountains from the ports and then build or purchase rafts to take them down the Yukon River to the gold fields around Dawson City, Yukon. When the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad was completed in 1900 it went right to Whitehorse, passing the town. This led the entire economy of Bennett, based on stampeders and river travelers, to collapse.[3]

One of the establishments in Bennett was the Arctic Hotel, a combination saloon, restaurant, and hotel[4] set up by Friedrich "Fred" Trump (grandfather of Donald Trump) and Ernest Levin.[3] The establishment included a brothel,[4][5][6] a portrayal that Donald Trump said was "totally false".[4]

White Pass and Yukon Route

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Current services at Bennett station
Preceding station White Pass and Yukon Route Following station
Fraser Bennett Scenic Journey Carcross
Terminus
Steam Excursion Terminus

References

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  1. ^ a b "Bennett". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2014-07-28.
  2. ^ "Campground Guide". Hiking the Chilkoot Trail. Parks Canada. Retrieved 2016-10-28.
  3. ^ a b Markusoff, Jason (October 13, 2016). "Inside the wild Canadian past of the Trump family". Maclean's.
  4. ^ a b c Pearson, Natalie Obiko (2016-10-26). "Trump's Family Fortune Originated in a Canadian Gold-Rush Brothel". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2017-08-02.
  5. ^ "Donald Trump's ancestral brothel gets a new lease on life - Macleans.ca".
  6. ^ "Donald Trump's grandfather ran Canadian brothel during gold rush, author says".
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