Bennett Lake

2025-09-07T21:54:08Z

2600:8803:5E54:600:B14A:6A40:2380:72D: /* History */

{{Short description|Lake in Yukon Territory, Canada}}
{{Other uses|Lake Bennett (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name = Bennett Lake
| image = Bennett Lake.jpg
| caption = Bennett Lake and a part of the [[Carcross Desert]] after sunrise
| pushpin_map = Canada Yukon
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Yukon
| image_bathymetry =
| caption_bathymetry =
| location = [[British Columbia]], [[Yukon]]
| coords = {{coord|60|05|30|N|134|51|56|W|region:CA-YT|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes = <ref name="CGNDB">{{cite cgndb|id= KAAMN|title= Bennett Lake|accessdate= 2014-07-28}}</ref>
| type =
| part_of = [[Bering Sea]] [[drainage basin]]
| inflow = Watson River, Wheaton River, [[Partridge River (Canada)|Partridge River]], Homan River
| outflow = [[Nares River]]
| catchment =
| basin_countries = [[Canada]]
| length = {{convert|41|km|abbr=on}}<ref name="Sinclair-Perry">{{citation|last1=Sinclair|first1=Cameron|last2=Pery|first2=Robert|date=2019|url=https://open.yukon.ca/sites/default/files/MR-19-02-Review-commercial-fisheries-Yukon.pdf|title=Review of the status of Yukon's commercial lake trout and lake whitefish fishing industry (MR-19-02)|page=8|publisher=Government of Yukon|location=Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada}}</ref>
| width = {{convert|3.7|km|abbr=on}}<ref name="Lindsey">{{cite journal|url=https://www.arlis.org/docs/vol1/DFO/TR/TR966.pdf|access-date=11 August 2024|title=Glaciation and the physical, chemical and biological limnology of Yukon Lakes|issn=1488-5379|journal=Canadian Technical Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences|publisher=Fisheries and Oceans Canada|location=Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada|date=1981|last1=Lindsey|first1=C. C.|last2=Patalas|first2=K.|last3=Bodaly|first3=R. A.|last4=Archibald|first4=C. P.|page=14}}</ref>
| area = {{convert|90.68 or 96.8|km|abbr=on}}<ref name="Sinclair" /><ref name="Millar" />
| depth = {{convert|61.9|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Millar" />
| max-depth = {{convert|123|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Sinclair" />
| volume =
| residence_time =
| shore =
| elevation = {{convert|656|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Sinclair" />
| islands = Bennett Lake
| cities =
}}

[[File:White Pass and Yukon Route bridge in Carcross, Yukon 2.jpg|thumb|The [[White Pass and Yukon Route]] rail bridge over the strait between Bennett Lake and [[Nares Lake]] in [[Carcross, Yukon]]. [[Mount Gray]] is in the background.]]

'''Bennett Lake''' is a [[lake]] in the Province of [[British Columbia]] and [[Yukon]] Territory in northwestern [[Canada]],<ref name="CGNDB" /> at an elevation of {{convert|656|m|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Sinclair">{{Citation |last1=Sinclair |first1=Cameron L. |title=Lake Trout and Lake Whitefish Monitoring Program: 2021 Program Update (SR-23-07) |date=2023 |pages=116 |url=https://emrlibrary.gov.yk.ca/environment/lake-trout-monitoring-program/2021-program-update.pdf |place=Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada |publisher=Government of Yukon |last2=Savage |first2=Pascale |last3=January |first3=Caitlin}}</ref> It is just north of the border with the [[United States]] state of [[Alaska]], near the Alaskan port of [[Skagway, Alaska|Skagway]]. The lake has an estimated area of about {{Convert|90.68 or 96.8|km2|abbr=on}} (sources differ).<ref name="Sinclair" /><ref name="Millar">{{Citation |last1=Millar |first1=Nathan |title=Angler Harvest Survey: Bennett Lake 2009 Yukon Fish and Wildlife Branch Report TR-12-02 |date=2012 |pages=1 |url=https://open.yukon.ca/sites/default/files/angler_harvest_survey_bennett_lake_2009_1.pdf |access-date=8 August 2024 |place=Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada |publisher=Yukon Department of Environment |last2=Barker |first2=Oliver |last3=Jessup |first3=Lars}}</ref> The average depth is {{Convert|61.9|m|abbr=on}} and the maximum depth is {{Convert|123|m|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Sinclair" /><ref name="Millar" />

The narrow-gauge [[White Pass and Yukon Route]] Railroad connects the community of [[Bennett, British Columbia|Bennett]] at the south end of the lake with Skagway further south and [[Whitehorse, Yukon]] on the north. It runs between Skagway and [[Fraser, British Columbia]] during the summer months.

The abandoned town of [[Bennett, British Columbia]], historically usually referred to as Lake Bennett or Bennett Lake and the town of [[Carcross, Yukon]] are on the shores of Bennett Lake.

==History==
During the [[Klondike Gold Rush]], Bennett Lake was where the gold-seekers who had crossed the [[Coast Mountains]] from [[Skagway, Alaska|Skagway]] or [[Dyea, Alaska|Dyea]], carrying their goods over the [[Chilkoot Trail]] or the [[White Pass]], purchased or built rafts to float down the [[Yukon River]] to the gold fields at [[Dawson City, Yukon]], Canada. A large tent city  sprang up on its shores, numbering in the thousands and offering all the services of a major city.

In late May 1898, the [[North-West Mounted Police]] counted 778 boats under construction at [[Lindeman Lake (Chilkoot Trail)|Lindeman Lake]] (located a difficult portage above Bennett Lake), 850 in Bennett and the surrounding area, and another 198 at Caribou Crossing (now Carcross) and [[Tagish Lake]] to help transport thousands of goldfield-bound travellers. It was further estimated that another 1,200 boats were built in these areas over the next few weeks.

==Name origin==
Named in 1883 by [[Frederick Schwatka]], US Army officer and explorer, after [[James Gordon Bennett Jr]] (1841–1918), editor of the ''[[New York Herald]]'', who was sponsor of Schwatchka's search for the remains of the [[Franklin Expedition]], 1878-81.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.yukoninfo.com/lake-bennett-yukon/|title=Bennett Lake - Yukon Territory Alaska Northern British Columbia|date=25 May 2020 |publisher=}}</ref>

==Hydrology==
The main outflow of the lake is the [[Nares River]], which flows to [[Nares Lake]]. Nares Lake empties into [[Tagish Lake]]; then via the [[Tagish River]] to [[Marsh Lake]], the source of the [[Yukon River]], which flows to the [[Bering Sea]].

===Inflows===
{{small|''Counter clockwise from Nares River outflow''}}
*Watson River
*Wheaton River
*Millhaven Creek
*Dry Creek
*MacAuley Creek
*[[Partridge River (Canada)|Partridge River]]
*Latreille Creek
*Homan River
*[[Lindeman Creek]]
*Dundalk Creek
*Knob Creek
*McDonald Creek

==Historical image gallery==
<gallery>
File:Bennett showing the White Pass & Yukon Railroad, British Columbia, February 13, 1900 (HEGG 546).jpeg|[[White Pass & Yukon Route]] train passing through Bennett on February 13, 1900
File:Lake Bennett boats.jpg|Photograph of boat building on the lake during the Klondike Gold Rush by [[Eric A. Hegg]]
File:Bennett on Bennett Lake, British Columbia, ca 1898 (HEGG 671).jpeg|Photograph of tent city of Bennett along [[One Mile River]] and Lake Bennett by [[Eric A. Hegg]] ca. 1898
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[List of lakes of British Columbia]]
*[[Bennett Lake Volcanic Complex]]
*[[Bennett Range]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{Cite bcgnis|id=3397 |title=Bennett Lake}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
{{British Columbia hydrography}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Lakes of Yukon|Bennett]]
[[Category:Klondike Gold Rush|Bennett]]
[[Category:Lakes of British Columbia|Bennett]]
[[Category:Atlin District]]

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Bennett Lake