48°43′49″N122°18′31″W / 48.73028°N 122.30861°W /48.73028; -122.30861
TheWhatcom Trail was an overland trail from thePuget Sound area ofWashington Territory during theFraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858. The trail began onBellingham Bay, at Fairhaven (now aBellingham neighbourhood), the route used went via a route known as the Columbia Valley, which is a lowland route connecting the mid-Nooksack River area withCultus Lake and the lowerChilliwack River in the UpperFraser Valley, about 80 km east of today'sVancouver. In 1858, T. G. Richards built thefirst brick building in Washington as an outfitter for those using the Whatcom Trail.
The name "Whatcom" comes from theLummi place namex̣ʷátqʷəm, probably meaning "noisy" with reference to a waterfall.[1]
A more westerly route now in use for a major border crossing (atSumas) was not usable due to the presence ofSumas Lake, a large shallow lake, now drained and turned into agricultural land. An alternate route to the main Whatcom Trail was the Skagit Trail, which went up the river of that name to its headwaters, from which another "back valley" emerges on theFraser nearHope, then theHBC fur trading postFort Hope.
There are no known statistics for the number of goldseekers who travelled the Whatcom Trail during the gold rush, although certainly they may be counted in the thousands. Its existence was in open defiance of the edict from theBritish Governor onVancouver Island that access to theFraser goldfieldsmust be made fromVictoria, and then from there via theFraser Riveronly. In part this measure was intended to prevent the entry of large parties of armed Americans, and also to strip them of any handguns and any goods for trading with the Indians (still aHudson's Bay Company monopoly during the gold rush).
The route's ongoing use was demonstration of the early colony's essential inability to prevent unregulated intrusion by US citizens, as was also the case with theOkanagan Trail. US troops of the Border Commission who were stationed near the route's southern US end were put on alert during theMcGowan's War crisis, and were also stationed there during theSan Juan Islands Dispute (thePig War).
Similarly, on the Canadian side, the large tract of land inSardis that for many years wasCanadian Forces Base Chilliwack was laid aside as a military reserve during the scare over potentialFenian Raids in the 1870s and 1880s. That allocation, however, was as much a response to localStó:lōFirst Nations numbers as it was to potential American aggression.
There is no border crossing at the Columbia Valley today, only a fence across farmland.