Dewdney Trail - Moyie, BC - Wagon Roads and Trails on Waymarking.com

From the stop of interest sign:

Kootenay gold discoveries attracted thousands of prospectors from Washington Territory in the late 1850s and 1860s. In those years all trails led south into Washington and Idaho and the vast bulk of the treasure and commerce enriched those regions. The need for an all-British route to the distant corner of the province was realized when Edgar Dewdney was commissioned to extend his famous trail from Rock Creek.

By 1865, this historic trail was completed. Although it followed the shores of this lake, it was not until 1883 that the town of Moyie came into being, after a magnificent body of silver ore was discovered. Today the Dewdney Trail has all but vanished but Moyie lives on.

From Wikipedia:

The Dewdney Trail is a 720-km (447-mile) trail in British Columbia, Canada that served as a major thoroughfare in mid-1800s British Columbia. The trail was a critical factor in the development and strengthening of the newly established British Colony of British Columbia, tying together mining camps and small towns that were springing up along the route during the gold rush era prior to the colony's joining Canadian Confederation in 1871. The route's importance and urgency was prompted because many new gold finds were occurring at locations near the US border that were much more easily accessed from Washington Territory than via any practicable route from the barely-settled parts of the Lower Mainland and Cariboo. Today, approximately 80 percent of the former trail has been incorporated into the Crowsnest Highway.

Road of Trail Name: Dewdney Trail State: Moyie Lake - Moyie, BC County: British Columbia Historical Significance: This trail did much to help form what would become the Province of BC and the work put into building this trail would evolve into becoming a major highway route (Highway 3) from the Coast to the Alberta border, Years in use: 15 years How you discovered it: The Dewdney Trail is mentioned in several history articles about the Crowsnest Highway. Why?: This trail was built by the early government of what would become the Province of BC to control the movement of goods and natural resources and prevent this movement of materials from using the routes to the United States. Directions: This marker is along side Highway 3, The Crowsnest, and has parking within metres of the sign. Book on Wagon Road or Trial: Not listed Website Explination: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   04/23/2023 biscuitt bunch visited it 09/17/2015 gypsie2 visited it

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