Yale Historic Site
Did you know that just a short drive from Vancouver, there once existed a town straight out of the Wild West, complete with rowdy saloons and frequent gunfights? During the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush during the 1850s, Yale, which is only 175 kms from Vancouver, used to be a hub of lawlessness and violence. Today its a little town of around 150 people but at its peak during the gold rush its population was around 15000. The reason for its prominence at that time was because of its excellent location. It was situated at the head of river navigation and was also the start of the Cariboo Wagon Road, which is equivalent of todays Highway 1. One fine sunny day in September, I drove over to see for myself the excellently preserved historic site here.
I first heard about Yale during my Masters in 2019. Ever since, I wanted to visit it since I love history and Yale played a significant part in the history of British Columbia. The visit could only materialize now in 2024. These thoughts were swirling in my mind as I parked my car in the small 3 car parking lot of the Yale Historic Site and made my way over to the quaint cottage, called the Creighton house, hosting the reception. Inside I met a man who welcomed me warmly and gave me a brief overview of the place before letting me go to explore the place on my own. The first place to look around was Creighton House itself. This heritage building which was built in the 1870s has several rooms which now host various kinds of exhibits and information boards related to the time period of the 1850s to 1900s. One of my favorite exhibit was a Victorian era lady’s cloak which instantly reminded me of Mina from the novel Dracula. Either the 1992 movie or the book I read as a kid, I don’t remember exactly which, had her wearing this kind of a cloak.
Coming out of this cottage, I made my way over the grassy field, to a set of three tents. Each of these had one type of setup inside. The first one was a saloon. It had all the items one could find in a saloon with a couple of chairs and tables, a shelf of alcohol, and a piano in the corner. The next tent was a doctors office and the third one was a kitchen, if I remember correctly. One interesting item I found was an entry in a register made by a visitor to a nearby attraction. See pic below.
Next was a church, which my homework told me was the highlight of the site. This was the Church of St. John the Divine. Indeed, it looked beautiful from the outside with a copper beech tree providing shade near the entrance. This church, built in the the Gothic Revival style, has the distinction of being one of the oldest surviving churches in British Columbia. The inside was beautiful as well with standard rows of seats and the main area at the front. There was complete silence as I walked inside as there were no other visitors anywhere in the complex. Outside the fenced off area, the silence was only broken by a passing car or the distant rumblings of a train passing by. But apart from that there was no other sound to break the stillness. I sat on one of the benches and wondered how this area in general and this church in particular would have looked during its hey days. I wondered what prayers and what wishes of men and women, the walls of these church was witness to. I spent some time here taking in the atmosphere of solitude before leaving.
From the church I wandered outside on the grassy field a bit just aimlessly looking around and spending time after which I wrapped up my visit. I had heard about an old cemetery nearby and I wanted to check it out. I asked the man at the reception, who was at that time chatting with an old man, about the cemetery. They guided me to the location and advised about the parking. Following their directions I reached the spot and having parked my car near the highway, walked over to the cemetery. Its set in a beautiful location with a big white cross declaring the place. There was no one here. Just me and the silence. I wandered here for a while only looking at the tombstones situated at the periphery of the layout as I was hesitant of going further in. I soon decided it was better to turn back as I was unsure of the protocols to be followed while visiting a cemetery and did not want to unintentionally cause any offence to other visitors if someone came up.
From here, I drove back to Yale and aimlessly drove around here looking at the town. As this was an old historic town and old towns have a different charm to them I wanted to casually look at the non touristy side as well. I found a little thrift store open which I visited and bought a nice little box for my brother who loves thrift store finds.
Hells Gate
Before I started my visit to the Yale Historic Site, I had some time so I drove over to Hells Gate Airtram. I had heard so much about this so I finally thought Ill check it out. This is basically an Airtram, which is just another term for aerial cable car, which crosses the Fraser River at a point called the Hells Gate. It is called so because the Fraser river is unusually rough and ferocious here. Simon Fraser, the explorer and fur trader who is famous for charting much of the British Columbia in the 1800s, described this narrow passage as the following:
a place where no human should venture, for surely these are the gates of Hell.
Construction of the airtram, built by a Swiss company, began in the 1970s and since then generations of people have been able to enjoy the crossing of the mighty Fraser River through an aerial route while gazing in wonder the ferocious water in the narrow passage. It was my turn now, and after buying my tickets I was escorted to the cable car which in terms of looks definitely reminds one of Switzerland and their many cable cars. Its bright red on the outside and quite spacious inside. Me and the attendant waited for a while for other passengers to come but no one did so it was just me. The ride to the other side is short but the views of the river are amazing. I could see the tumultuous brown river crashing on the rocks on the sides and creating a loud noise. The attendant gave me a nice overview of the history and geography of the place. The ride was over in around 10 mins.
The other side has a small complex of buildings including a café, a fudge factory, a gift shop, a fisheries exhibit and multiple observation decks. There is also a suspension bridge on which I spent most of my time. As it was pretty early in the day there weren’t too many people around and I had most of the places to myself. I looked at the fisheries exhibit and spent some time on the observation decks before I took the return tram back to the other side. I got to enjoy the tram ride for the second time. Overall, the cable car is a decent experience.
