# Telegraph Creek

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Place in British Columbia, Canada

Telegraph Creek Coordinates: 57°54′N 131°10′W / 57.900°N 131.167°W / 57.900; -131.167[1] Country Canada Province British Columbia Regional district Kitimat–Stikine Area [2] • Total 1.46 km2 (0.56 sq mi) Population (2016)[2] • Total 53 • Density 36/km2 (94/sq mi)

**Telegraph Creek** is a small community located off [Highway 37](/source/British_Columbia_Highway_37) in northern [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia) at the confluence of the [Stikine River](/source/Stikine_River) and Telegraph Creek.[3] The only permanent settlement on the [Stikine River](/source/Stikine_River), it is home to approximately 250 members of [Tahltan First Nation](/source/Tahltan_First_Nation) and non-native residents. The town offers basic services, including Anglican and Catholic churches, a general store, a post office, a clinic with several nurses on-call around the clock, two [Royal Canadian Mounted Police](/source/Royal_Canadian_Mounted_Police) officers, and a K-9 school. Steep river banks and rocky gorges form the terraced nature of the geography.

The community includes **Telegraph Creek Indian Reserve No. 6**, **Telegraph Creek Indian Reserve No. 6A**, and **Guhthe Tah Indian Reserve No. 12**[4][5][6] which are under the governance of the Tahltan First Nation of Telegraph Creek. **Stikine Indian Reserve No. 7**, which is one mile west (downstream) and on the opposite side of the Stikine River, is under the governance of the [Iskut First Nation](/source/Iskut_First_Nation) of the settlement of [Iskut](/source/Iskut%2C_British_Columbia), which is on the [river of the same name](/source/Iskut_River). The two bands together comprise the [Tahltan Nation](/source/Tahltan_Nation).

[Tahltan](/source/Tahltan) (or Nahanni) refers to a [Northern Athabaskan](/source/Northern_Athabaskan) people that live around Telegraph Creek, [Dease Lake](/source/Dease_Lake%2C_British_Columbia) and [Iskut](/source/Iskut%2C_British_Columbia).

## History

The [Stikine region](/source/Stikine_Country) is the traditional home of the [Tahltan](/source/Tahltan) people, who have lived there for generations. The modern history of the Telegraph Creek and Dease Lake area dates back to the 1860s and 1870s with the [Stikine](/source/Stikine_Gold_Rush) and [Cassiar Gold Rushes](/source/Cassiar_Gold_Rush). Telegraph Creek witnessed the discovery of gold by prospectors on the Stikine River in the 1860s and was the head of navigation. In 1866, the construction of the [Russian-American Telegraph](/source/Russian%E2%80%93American_Telegraph) line to the [Yukon](/source/Yukon) gave Telegraph Creek its name.

As early as 10,000 years ago, the Tahltan people used [obsidian](/source/Obsidian) from the [Mount Edziza volcanic complex](/source/Mount_Edziza_volcanic_complex) to make [tools](/source/Tool) and [weapons](/source/Weapon) for trading material. This is the main source of obsidian found in northwestern British Columbia.[7][8]

In 1874, [Nellie Cashman](/source/Nellie_Cashman), nicknamed "the Angel of Cassiar", opened a boarding house for miners in Telegraph Creek during the [Cassiar gold rush](/source/Cassiar_Country#Cassiar_Gold_Rush).[9]

Author [Edward Hoagland](/source/Edward_Hoagland) wrote extensively about Telegraph Creek in his 1969 book *Notes from the Century Before: A Journal from British Columbia* in which he reveals the presence of a high level of ghost activities.[10][11]

## Recreation

Telegraph and its surrounding areas are known for their hiking, riverboating, camping, hunting and fishing. There are organized tours lasting from half a day to several days.

The area surrounding Telegraph Creek holds five British Columbia Provincial parks:

- [Stikine River Provincial Park](/source/Stikine_River_Provincial_Park) and [Mount Edziza Provincial Park](/source/Mount_Edziza_Provincial_Park) (both located near Telegraph Creek)

- [Great Glacier Provincial Park](/source/Great_Glacier_Provincial_Park) (100 km (62 mi) to the southwest)

- [Choquette Hot Springs Provincial Park](/source/Choquette_Hot_Springs_Provincial_Park) (southwest of Telegraph Creek)

- [Border Lake Provincial Park](/source/Border_Lake_Provincial_Park) (180 km (110 mi) to the south)

## Access

The road between Dease Lake, BC and Telegraph Creek is beautiful but rough, with 113 km (70 mi) of gravel, steep gradients (up to 20%), narrow passages along canyon walls with no guardrails, and sharp-angled switchbacks. Only the first 4.7 km (2.9 mi) stretch is paved.[12]

Telegraph Creek Road (also called Hwy. 51) should be driven with caution and awareness; it is suitable for most vehicles but is not recommended for large RVs and travel trailers. One source indicates that "the road is prone to washouts and rock slides".[13][14] At times when the road is closed, the government of BC provides warnings on its www.DriveBC.ca Web site.[15]

The community can also be reached by water, via the Stikine River from Alaska and by air.

## Notable people from Telegraph Creek

- [Dempsey Bob](/source/Dempsey_Bob), carver

- [Dale Campbell](/source/Dale_Campbell), carver

## See also

- [Telegraph Creek Airport](/source/Telegraph_Creek_Airport)

- [Telegraph Creek Water Aerodrome](/source/Telegraph_Creek_Water_Aerodrome)

- [Iskut, British Columbia](/source/Iskut%2C_British_Columbia)

- [Glenora, British Columbia](/source/Glenora%2C_British_Columbia)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Telegraph Creek"](https://geonames.nrcan.gc.ca/search-place-names/unique?id=JCLCW). *[Geographical Names Data Base](/source/GeoBase_(geospatial_data)#Geographical_Names_Data_Base)*. [Natural Resources Canada](/source/Natural_Resources_Canada).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-census2016_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-census2016_2-1) Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (February 8, 2017). ["Census Profile, 2016 Census - Telegraph Creek, Indian reserve \[Census subdivision\], British Columbia and Kitimat-Stikine, Regional district \[Census division\], British Columbia"](https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=5949847&Geo2=CD&Code2=5949&SearchText=Telegraph%20Creek&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&TABID=1&type=0). *www12.statcan.gc.ca*. Retrieved September 21, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Telegraph Creek (community)"](https://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/35678.html). *[BC Geographical Names](/source/BC_Geographical_Names)*. Government of British Columbia – B.C. Geographical Names Office (BCGNO).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Telegraph Creek Indian Reserve 6"](https://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/32497.html). *[BC Geographical Names](/source/BC_Geographical_Names)*. Government of British Columbia – B.C. Geographical Names Office (BCGNO).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Telegraph Creek Indian Reserve 6A"](https://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/32499.html). *[BC Geographical Names](/source/BC_Geographical_Names)*. Government of British Columbia – B.C. Geographical Names Office (BCGNO).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [BCGNIS entry "Guhthe Tah Indian Reserve 12"](https://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/60002.html)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Journey & Transformations: British Columbia Landscapes](http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/exhibits/journeys/english/mountain_1_4a.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20071011185251/http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/exhibits/journeys/english/mountain_1_4a.html) 2007-10-11 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) Retrieved on 2007-10-13

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [Catalogue of Canadian volcanoes - Stikine Volcanic Belt: Mount Edziza](http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/volcanoes/cat/feature_edziza_e.php) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080610154204/http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/volcanoes/cat/feature_edziza_e.php) 2008-06-10 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) Retrieved on 2007-10-13

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Kathy Weiser (2017), ["Nellie Cashman – Pioneering the Mining Camps"](https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-nelliecashman/), *Legends of America*, Retrieved 20 January 2018

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ny_books_10-0)** Flint, R.W. (September 11, 1969). ["Ah! Wilderness"](http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1969/sep/11/ah-wilderness/). *[The New York Review of Books](/source/The_New_York_Review_of_Books)*. Retrieved August 29, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-bfp_june2011_11-0)** Johnson, Tim. ["Ted Hoagland: The making of an essayist"](http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110626/ARTS04/106260306/Ted-Hoagland-making-an-essayist). *Burlington Free Press*. Retrieved June 27, 2011.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["An Explorer's Guide to the Telegraph Creek Road"](https://explorenorth.com/library/roads/tel-ck-rd-photos.html). *Explore North*. Retrieved September 11, 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["The unpaved road to Telegraph Creek is a Canadian classic"](https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/canada/5751-telegraph-creek-road.html). *Dangerous Roads*. Retrieved September 11, 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Rock slide blocking northern B.C. highway; no detour available"](https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/rock-slide-blocking-northern-bc-highway-no-detour-available/). *CTV News*. November 6, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Telegraph Creek Road west of Dease Lake closed until further notice"](https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2021TRAN0056-000727). *Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, BC*. April 15, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.

## External links

- [British Columbia.com](http://britishcolumbia.com/plan-your-trip/regions-and-towns/northern-bc-and-haida-gwaii/telegraph-creek/) - Telegraph Creek

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Telegraph Creek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegraph_Creek) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegraph_Creek?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.