Mile 233 Prophet River / Lum ’n’ Abner’s
Mile 275 Hilltop
Mile 295.5 Auto Service
Mile 351 Steamboat Mountain
Mile 363 Silver Tip Lodge
Mile 375 Tetsa River Lodge
Dawson Creek, British Columbia, is a city with a population of eleven thousand–plus that is just west of the border with the province of Alberta and 739 miles north of the city of Vancouver. Highway 49 approaches Dawson Creek from the east, and Highway 97 from the west, and just a few miles northwest of where these two highways meet, you’ll find Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway: the start of the route north.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the area around Dawson Creek was known as the Pouce Coupe Prairie, a name said to be derived from that of Chief Pouskapie (sometimes spelled Pooscapee) of the Beaver First Nation. The Beaver and Cree First Nations had been living in the region for centuries, with a constant rivalry between them and the Unjegah River (Peace River) dividing their territories. The prairie included present-day Pouce Coupe, Rolla and Dawson Creek. Just about every Dawson in Canada is named after George Mercer Dawson, the legendary surveyor, geologist and scientist from Nova Scotia.
Many of the entrepreneurs who started lodges along the Alaska Highway in the 1940s made use of the army and construction buildings left behind, such as the snow load–shedding Quonset hut.
Yukon Archives, Bloomstrand Family fonds, 98/73, #18.
The first Europeans found their way into the region in the late 1700s, and they were followed by the European fur traders. By 1891, the first settlers—members of the Thomas family (an anglicized version of “Tomas”), who were Métis—had begun farming. Then, in the late 1800s, came the large in-migration of non–First Nations people who were trying to take the extremely difficult overland route from Edmonton to the Klondike gold rush.
Bottom: Mile 106 in 1948—Alaska Highway lodge culture was born of an era of unpaved roads and slower, less fuel-efficient vehicles.
Yukon Archives, Elmer Harp Jr. 2006/2, #17.
In 1912, the Canadian government put parcels of land for homesteading for sale, prompting the growth of a non–First Nations population in the region around Dawson Creek. A post-war land offer was made to veteran British subjects, and that increased even more the settler population of the hamlet of Dawson Creek. When the Northern Alberta Railway line came to halt a few miles east of the hamlet in 1931, community members slowly moved to be closer to the depot. By 1936, the population was just over five hundred, and the village of Dawson Creek became incorporated. Then, in 1942, everything changed, as the US Army, very friendly-like, invaded the town. The construction of the Alaska Highway began. It wasn’t long, though, before people began to see the potential for the highway after the war: tourism, travel, trade. If people were travelling up that rough road into the North, they would need services.
Soon after the end of the war, public transportation companies such as Canadian Coachways and the British Yukon Navigation Company fulfilled the mutual needs of their own businesses and highway travellers by building lodges that provided accommodation, meals, fuel and vehicle repairs. (Fuel companies later jumped in on the action too.) In some cases, prospective lodge owners could lease or buy a property and pay back what they owed to the company for a few cents on every gallon of fuel sold.
The BYNC, which had been busing people up and down the highway between Whitehorse and Dawson Creek under contract with the military, constructed lodges to serve its customers and hired people to run these businesses. Mile 710 Rancheria Lodge, built in 1946, was one of those lodges, and the first managers, Bud and Doris Simpson, ended up taking over ownership of the lodge and running it for thirty years. There was anticipation that the highway would be opened to tourists imminently, but it remained closed for more than two more years; a military permit was still required for travel.
Finally, the highway opened to the public in 1948. To coincide with the anticipated influx of tourists, on February 16, 1948, the Canadian Department of Mines and Resources published a list of available accommodations and roadside facilities. There were some free campgrounds, but accommodations were scarce. Of the lodges included in that list, only Mile 710 Rancheria and Mile 533 Coal River still operate today (though the buildings at Coal River are not the originals, most of which were burned to the ground in a fire in 1969).
Mile 72 The Shepherd’s Inn
North of Fort St. John, at Mile 72, lies the Shepherd’s Inn—a modern-looking building, clad in vinyl siding. Behind it, homes are neatly arranged with a suggestion of a communal feeling. The gas pumps are new, the restaurant bright. On the menu is standard diner fare (burgers, Caesar salad), but it’s the homemade pies listed on a chalkboard on glass-fronted double-door fridges that are the standout items. Depending on the day and season, the selection could include berry medley, apple or pumpkin, or all three.
The air in the inn resounds with positivity, and the thirtysomething general manager, Ryan Hotston, and his octogenarian predecessor, Don Rutherford, are friendly and open in their approach to strangers. The non-denominational Shepherd’s Christian Society purchased the property in 1982 after the previous owners went bankrupt, hence the name “The Shepherd’s Inn.” These founders had been living at a religious community farther north and decided they needed to move to a property where they could be self-sufficient. They knew nothing about running a service industry business; they opened the inn with “a belief that God would take care of us,” says Don.
The Shepherd’s Inn “opened its doors with a bunch of rank amateurs to run the place, with no experience,” he says, his words lively with laughter. “All we had was a high hope that it was going to go—sometimes you have to make a sacrifice when you’re starting something.”
The Shepherd’s Inn is an unusual business along the Alaska Highway, as it’s run by a non-denominational religious society, the Shepherd’s Christian Society, and the business supports the adjacent community.
The on-grid community of about forty people lives on twelve hectares (thirty acres). It supplies its own water from three wells and grows its own food in greenhouses and gardens; unfortunately, that garden-fresh produce is used to feed the community and not the inn’s guests. The inn includes a restaurant, a “C-store” (convenience store) and a twenty-four-room motel.
“Our church building is behind the restaurant and everyone that lives here is part of the community,” says Ryan. “There’s a school, church, the business, and the community is private. Not everybody can live there.”
“There are about twenty people employed, mostly full-time,” says Ryan. The majority of the staff is from the community. “Some of the seniors that live here are part time, and we’re open all year round.”
Staffing has been a constant challenge, because the inn is twenty-five miles from Fort St. John, which is a long commute for someone earning minimum wage ($10.55 an hour in BC). The Shepherd’s Christian Society is committed to the long-term viability of its community and the business that supports it.
Don Rutherford (right) managed the Shepherd’s Inn with his wife, Dorothea. In 2016, Ryan Hotston (left) took over as the manager and is looking to the future of the business and the community it supports.
“The vision is to provide work for the members of the community—whether