Giscome Portage - 1800s

1800s

The Lheidli T'enneh called the trail "Lhedesti" meaning "the shortcut". In 1862, two men, John Giscome and Harry 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.