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Klukwan
 

 

Klukwan is located on the bank of the Chilkat River, about 22 miles north of Haines, off the Haines Highway. It lies at approximately 59° 24' N Latitude, 135° 53' W Longitude (Sec. 33, T028S, R056E, Copper River Meridian). The community is located in the Haines Recording District. The area encompasses 2 sq. miles of land and 0 sq. miles of water.

In 1880, the U.S. Navy reported the name of the village as "Chilcat of Klukquan," which is said to mean "the old town." The Chilkat controlled the trails to trade with Interior Indians. At that time, the Chilkat numbered approximately 1,000 among five area villages. In 1881, the Willard mission and school was constructed in Haines. Four canneries were built in the area by the turn of the century. In the late 1890s, the Dalton Trail from Chilkat Inlet to Whitehorse offered an easier route for wagons and cattle to the Klondike gold fields. However, the Chilkoot Trail out of Skagway was used by most prospectors. By the early 1900s, Klukwan was the last remaining Chilkat village in the area.

Originally a Tlingit Indian village the name of which, as reported by the U.S. Navy in 1880, was "Chilcat of Klukquan," which is said to mean "the old town." W. H. Dale (U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1883 p. 198), U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS), reported the inhabitants called the village "Klu-kwan." At that time it consisted of 65 houses and 560 inhabitants. Aurel and Arthur Krause (1883, map) reported the name as "Kloquan." It was listed in the 11th Census in 1890 as "Klakwan," and it had 30 houses and 326 inhabitants, of which only three were non-Indian. The spelling "Klukwan" was adopted by the Canadian Board on Geographic Names. Located on the north shore of Chilkat River, 2.6 km (1.4 mi) southeast of Glass Point and 34 km (21 mi) southwest of Skagway, Coast Mountains

 

 



 


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