Population: 1,600
Driving Time: 5 hrs
Room Inventory: ? Winter
Room Inventory: ? Summer
Meeting Space: ? Sq. Feet
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Francis (Frank) Watson, whom the town is named after, was
born in 1883 in Tahoe City, Placer County, California and
died in
1938 in Ft. Saint John, B.C. In 1897, at the age of 14, Frank
and his father set out for the Yukon in search of gold. Fighting
their way through unmapped country, they arrived on the upper
Liard River in the spring of 1898. The Watsons found themselves
on the shores of a lake rumoured to have been named "Fish
Lake" by the native Kaska Indians for its abundance of
fish. When his father returned to California in 1900, Frank
stayed
behind to work their claims. He later married an attractive
Indian girl from Lower Post and from then on led an unrestricted
and
unhurried life. The upper Liard and its tributaries were his
trapping and prospecting grounds while his home was on the
shore of Watson Lake. The lake retained his name when constuction
began
on the military airport in 1941 and the Alaska Highway, completed
in 1942.
Today, the town of Watson Lake is the key transportation,
communication and distribution centre for mining and logging
activities in southern
Yukon, northern B.C., and
a portion of the N.W.T. It also serves as a major service area for tourism
and is the site of regional Territorial Government administration
services.
Tourism: Northern Lights Space & Science Centre, Alaska Highway Interpretive
Centre, Watson Lake Signpost Forest, Heritage House Wildlife & Historic
Museum, Lucky Lake, The Liard Canyon, Greenway's Greens Golf and Country
Club, Wye Lake
Park.
Fishing: arctic grayling, dolly varden trout, lake trout,
and northern pike in the Liard river, Albert Creek, and Watson
Lake.
Wilderness Adventure: local outfitters in the area offer
guided trips for hunting, fishing, photo safaris, horseback
rides and hiking and camping.
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Golfing under the Midnight Sun |
The Northern Lights Centre |
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4133 Fourth Ave, Suite 205
