Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 26

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Lake Bennett, British Columbia

by Margaret Carter

Inseparable Destinies

Part of the reason for the importance of the church in Bennett by late 1899 and early 1900 was the changed nature of the town. During 1899 many men brought their wives and children north¹ (Fig. 63), and their presence had an undeniable effect in drawing community life closer to the church.

63 Bennett, 1900. (Hazel Hartshorn [Gloslie].)

The hotel, the church's major contender as a social centre, was also undergoing substantial change. In the spring of 1898 when Martha Black passed through Bennett, she commented "there were two or three so-called hotels, canvas roofed, wooden affairs, each of which had a kitchen, dining room, bar and dance-hall in one room."² These hotels also provided sleeping place on the floor at night, and gambling was certainly a preoccupation in some of them. Any traveller who wanted a place to eat, drink, sleep, or meet his fellow man was forced to spend some of his day there. As time passed, the hotel's role as hub was gradually reduced. Mounted Police enforcement of a no-work Sunday regulation assisted the division of functions.³ Before long, respectable hotels which provided food and accommodation appeared, and all other activities were relegated to a separate institution, the saloon.⁴ As the saloon's entertainments could only be reached by deliberate intention, participation in its activities often caused moral indignation and by 1900 gamblers were even asked to leave town. All of these things, of course, are signs that Bennett was forgetting it was a northern boom town and adopting southern "civilization."

By 1899 when Sinclair began to build the church, the town was thriving on what many thought would be a permanent base. After the throngs of gold-seekers disappeared in 1898, Bennett became the transshipment centre for goods moving to the gold-fields at Dawson and Atlin (Fig. 64). Fleets of sternwheelers (Fig. 65) and scows (Fig. 66) carried goods away from Bennett to their destinations. The goods arrived in Bennett from the south in a variety of ways. They were carried over the Chilkoot Pass on aerial tramways (Fig. 67) to Crater Lake where they were put aboard crude carts on rails that took them to Bennett (Fig. 68). They came over the White Pass first in wagons on the Brackett Wagon road that was completed to Bennett in 1899⁵ (see Fig. 69), then as far as possible by train as stages of the White Pass and Yukon Railway were completed. Some of these companies headquartered in Bennett: most of them had warehousing facilities there. As soon as the railway reached the summit of the White Pass it became the preferred route for passenger traffic (Figs. 70, 71).

64 Bennett, 1900. (Provincial Archives of British Columbia.)

65 The Steamer Gleaner that ran from Bennett to Atlin. (Hazel Hartshorn [Gloslie].)

66 W. B. Copping's party arriving in Dawson, October 17, 1900 with 5 scows and 100 tons of merchandise. These goods were transshipped at Bennett. (University of Washington.)

67 The aerial tramway that operated on the Chilkoot Pass. (Sinclair Papers.)

68 The cart that completd the tramway operation between Crater Lake and Bennett before completion of the railway. (Sinclair Papers.)

69 Freighting goods by waggon. This is probably one of the Red Line waggons that operated out of Bennett. (Sinclair Papers.)

70 Driving the golden spike at Bennett, 6 July 1899. (Sinclair Papers.)

71 First passenger coaches into Bennett, B.C. (Washington State University, Pullman.)

Passengers stayed in Bennett hotels, banked in Bennett banks, and often they outfitted in Bennett stores. Employment in these industries provided a constant reason for five to six hundred people to remain in the town.⁶

Although there was a fairly high turnover in the bodies that comprised this figure,⁷ between 1899 and 1900 most Bennett residents remained long enough for a sense of community to develop. Concern for the industries that fed the town's prosperity was common to all, and they took pride in noting the physical manifestations of success. Every time a two-storey hotel sided with corrugated iron was constructed (Fig. 72), the event was heralded in the pages of the town's most enthusiastic booster, the Bennett Sun. The Sun also delighted in recounting the shock new improvements caused men who had not been to Bennett since 1898.⁸ St. Andrew's Church, Lake Bennett, profited from this growing community spirit in the support and encouragement it received, for the period of its construction capped the height of Bennett's prosperity.

72 Tuf of War, 1900 — a sign of Benntt's new community spirit. The Dawson Hotel and the warehouses in the distance on the left are covered with corrugated iron. (Sinclair Papers.)

In fact, the condition of the Presbyterian mission at Lake Bennett parallels gold-rush developments at that centre closely. The mission was established early in 1898 just before a throng of gold-hungry men arrived to await spring breakup on their way north. At that time the church building was temporary, a log shack similar to those used by old-time northern miners. It was sufficient because the church received so little support that it was all that was required. The few men it was attempting to serve were preoccupied with their push north over the ice in a single-minded drive to meet worldly ambitions. This attitude moderated as more men were trapped in Bennett waiting for the spring breakup of 1898. A proportion of such a large crowd of southern men would inevitably be interested in the church, and this is reflected in increased financial support and attendance at services. A canvas church was constructed to accommodate them. After the Klondikers left, Bennett itself hung in a limbo of little activity until the railroad reached the summit of the White Pass and it became an easy matter to ship goods north in quantity. During this period the Bennett missionary, Sinclair, spent most of his time in Skagway and in the railway camps, devoting little selective time to town. Such services as were held, took place in Bennett's hotels on an irregular basis. Once Bennett began to fulfill a major role in the territory's transportation network, however, the town showed signs of becoming better established. It was then that Sinclair built a permanent church with the assistance and approval of its residents.

The close relationship that existed between the church and the town of Bennett provides the inevitable explanation for the end of church activity. As has already been indicated, by 1899 Bennett had become the transshipment hub for goods moving north. During most of 1900 it thrived on this role; however, late in that year the White Pass and Yukon Railway was completed to Whitehorse. This event alone relocated the transportation centre for the Yukon in Whitehorse, and along with it went most of Bennett's population.⁹

The Reverend J.A. Sinclair participated in the exodus. As early as 1899 he had identified "Closeleigh," or Whitehorse, as a possible area for development and had obtained a church lot there.¹⁰ Late in 1900, when it became evident that some development would shift to that point, he moved there to establish a church. At the time he left, Sinclair felt "the future of Bennett is somewhat problematical."¹¹ Earlier he had speculated that the scow and sailboat trade that operated from the town would keep it alive.¹² This trade quickly supplied the Dawson market with fresh produce and filled its food shortages. Sinclair's predictions might have come true if developments at Dawson had continued to expand, and if railway rates had been high. As it was, not only were the rates competitive, but mining in the Dawson area was mechanized and "the Eldorado" stabilized at a population below that of 1900. This precluded the demand for an extensive scow and sailboat trade.

This situation was not clear when the Reverend R. James Russell arrived from Schreiber, Ontario, to take Sinclair's place in Bennett in the fall of 1900. Russell continued church functions in Bennett until 1902 when the population had shrunk to a handful because there was no employment. At this point he moved to take John Pringle's place in the mining area at Atlin where his services were required.¹³ With his move, the church was abandoned.