Carcross | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Carcross

Carcross, Yukon, settlement, population 301 (2016 census), 289 (2011 census). Carcross is a major Tagish and Tlingit community located at the north end of Bennett Lake, 74 km south of Whitehorse.

History

The White Pass and Yukon Raliway pre-empted the townsite in 1898 and made it a stopping point on the line to Whitehorse. Originally Caribou Crossing, the name was changed (1904) to a combination of the two words to end confusion with places of the same name in Alaska and British Columbia. William C. Bompas, who established a residential school for Indigenous children here (1901), is buried at Carcross. Kate Carmack, “Skookum Jim” Mason and Tagish Charley, who were associated with the Klondike gold discovery, are also buried here.