Lower Post, British Columbia
Encyclopedia
Lower Post is an aboriginal community in northwestern British Columbia
, Canada
, located on Highway 97, the Alaska Highway
, approximately 15 miles (23 kilometers) southeast of Watson Lake, Yukon
. Its historical mile designation is Mile 620. It is located near the confluence of the Dease
and Liard River
s.
Early fur traders named it Lower Post to distinguish between the upper and lower Liard trading posts.
Lower Post, or Fort Liard (its original name), had been established by an American, Robert Sylvester, in 1872. Four years later the Hudson’s Bay Company took it over and a couple of years afterwards two of its officials brokered peace between the local Kaska Dena and a raiding party of two hundred Taku
Indians.
Before Lower Post became a community, it served as a fishing spot, a crossing and a meeting place. Because many different indigenous people stopped here for trading, the community still has a diverse ethnic make-up today. In the early 1940s, it served as a stopover for scheduled airline passenger service between Whitehorse and Edmonton via Fort Nelson .
One of the aboriginal languages spoken in Lower Post is Kaska
, of which there are very few fluent speakers.
There are no services provided at Lower Post, with residents using services at nearby Watson Lake, Yukon
.
The local school, Denetia School, is a K-7 elementary school that is British Columbia's most northern school and part of the School District 87 Stikine
. The school has between 9 and 12 students and currently operates as a one room school focusing on outdoor experiential education called P.A.C.E.S..
In 2006, approximately 113 people live in Lower Post, up from just 28 in 2001, according to the 2006 Census.
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, located on Highway 97, the Alaska Highway
Alaska Highway
The Alaska Highway was constructed during World War II for the purpose of connecting the contiguous U.S. to Alaska through Canada. It begins at the junction with several Canadian highways in Dawson Creek, British Columbia and runs to Delta Junction, Alaska, via Whitehorse, Yukon...
, approximately 15 miles (23 kilometers) southeast of Watson Lake, Yukon
Watson Lake, Yukon
Watson Lake is a town at historical mile 635 on the Alaska Highway in the southeastern Yukon close to the British Columbia border. Population in December 2004 was 1,547 ....
. Its historical mile designation is Mile 620. It is located near the confluence of the Dease
Dease River
The Dease River flows through northwestern British Columbia, Canada and is a tributary of the Liard River. The river descends from Dease Lake, though its ultimate origin is in the headwater of Little Dease Creek at Snow Peak, approximately 50 km to the west of the lake...
and Liard River
Liard River
The Liard River flows through Yukon, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, Canada. Rising in the Saint Cyr Range of the Pelly Mountains in southeastern Yukon, it flows southeast through British Columbia, marking the northern end of the Rocky Mountains and then curving northeast back...
s.
Early fur traders named it Lower Post to distinguish between the upper and lower Liard trading posts.
Lower Post, or Fort Liard (its original name), had been established by an American, Robert Sylvester, in 1872. Four years later the Hudson’s Bay Company took it over and a couple of years afterwards two of its officials brokered peace between the local Kaska Dena and a raiding party of two hundred Taku
Taku people
The Taku are an Alaskan Native people, a ḵwáan or geographic subdivision of the Tlingit, known in their own language as the Tʼaaḵu Ḵwáan or "Geese Flood Upriver Tribe"...
Indians.
Before Lower Post became a community, it served as a fishing spot, a crossing and a meeting place. Because many different indigenous people stopped here for trading, the community still has a diverse ethnic make-up today. In the early 1940s, it served as a stopover for scheduled airline passenger service between Whitehorse and Edmonton via Fort Nelson .
One of the aboriginal languages spoken in Lower Post is Kaska
Kaska language
Kaska is a Northern Athabaskan language spoken by the Kaska people in the southeastern Yukon territory and northern British Columbia in Canada.-References:***...
, of which there are very few fluent speakers.
There are no services provided at Lower Post, with residents using services at nearby Watson Lake, Yukon
Watson Lake, Yukon
Watson Lake is a town at historical mile 635 on the Alaska Highway in the southeastern Yukon close to the British Columbia border. Population in December 2004 was 1,547 ....
.
The local school, Denetia School, is a K-7 elementary school that is British Columbia's most northern school and part of the School District 87 Stikine
School District 87 Stikine
School District 87 Stikine is a school district in British Columbia. It covers the northwest corner of the province along the Alaska and Yukon borders. This includes the communities of Dease Lake, Lower Post, Telegraph Creek, and Atlin.-Schools:...
. The school has between 9 and 12 students and currently operates as a one room school focusing on outdoor experiential education called P.A.C.E.S..
In 2006, approximately 113 people live in Lower Post, up from just 28 in 2001, according to the 2006 Census.