290415 - The Spell of the Yukon

I have "The Spell of the Yukon" as the title given to this episode of Empire Builders, but it's not clear to me why they chose that title. There were a couple of changes to stories used in April of 1929, but there's no indication that another story - aired or only planned - had the Yukon as a prominent theme.

 

I have not located the continuity for the Empire Builders broadcast of April 15, 1929, although I do have a press release that describes the content of the show. Also, the April, 1929, issue of the Great Northern Railway’s Goat magazine explained the show would tell of:

 

“… the discovery and exploration of Puget Sound. During the greater part of the eighteenth century this inland sea was featured in story and legend. It was thought to be the much sought after Northwest Passage and in many a tossin fo’c’sle, during many an idle hour, tales were told by grizzled mariners of this, then, imaginary sea whose shores were ever green, of its fabulous cities and of its legendary king – Tantarrax. Gradually this blank spot on the map became better known. First the Spaniards pushed their way north from California, then the English and the Americans, each adding a little to the world’s store of knowledge. Finally, near the end of the century, came Captain Vancouver of the British Navy to make a thorough survey of this inland sea and to stop for all time the rumor of its northwest passage. He is the principal character of this evening’s entertainment.”

 

This episode addressed the exploration by Captain George Vancouver of much of the Puget Sound region. Those who are familiar with the Pacific Northwest are well-acquainted with the fact we have not one but two cities bearing the name Vancouver – one in the state of Washington, the other north of the international border in Canada.

 

In 1792, George Vancouver and his crew sailed around the Pacific Northwest coast and explored some of the inland waters, bestowing many locations and geographic features with British names – frequently the names of members of the crew. These areas began to draw trappers of such organizations as the Hudson Bay Company and their rivals.

 

In 1824, HBC established a fort in present-day Washington state on the Columbia River, across from what is now Portland, Oregon. On March 19, 1825, Sir George Simpson named the facility Fort Vancouver. A settlement grew near the fort, and it adopted the fort’s name. By act of the territorial legislature, the name was briefly changed to Columbia City, but only a year later, in 1855, the second session of the legislature changed the name again, this time simply to Vancouver.

 

It was three years later, in 1858, that a gold rush ensued on the Fraser River in British Columbia. A settlement first named “Gastown” evolved by the late 1860’s. With time, this settlement grew into a Townsite that took the name Granville, but with the approach of a transcontinental railroad, the City of Vancouver was incorporated in 1886.

 

If someone in Western Washington says “I’m going to Vancouver,” the response is likely to be “which one?”

 

The press release for the April 15 broadcast states that on June 4, 1792, Captain Vancouver tied up at the mouth of the Snohomish River (at the site of what eventually became the city of Everett, Washington) and with his men celebrated the 54^th birthday of King George III. Vancouver declared possession in the King’s name of all the lands he had explored. He called the region “New Georgia.” Many of the names established by Vancouver are still in use today (Puget Sound, Mount Baker, Port Townsend, Hood Canal, Mount Rainier, etc.), but New Georgia did not stick.