On to the Northwest Territories - Yellowknife

The first thing I noticed was that I was back in the land of trees again - and fires.  Although we were still a far distance away from Yellowknife when I took this photo you can see the fires - apparently there's about 140 fires burning within the Territory right now.  Efforts are being made to contain the ones near communities, others like this one, are just burning.

Smoke from the fires is creating the haze and lovely copper colour in the air

Today was all about exploring Yellowknife and I must admit, a statue of a giant mosquito is not a bad symbol of what today was like at times!  Thankfully there was a bit of a wind that kept the bugs at bay for the most part but when they mozzies were out they were quick and vicious!

Many people think the name "Yellowknife" comes from gold but actually the name originates from a Chipewyan tribe who lived in the area and used copper-bladed knives.  In the Dogrib language the city is known as Sombe K'e - "where the money is".

Street signs in Old Town are all shown with a "yellow knife"

In the grand scheme of things Yellowknife is a young city, its roots go back to the early 1800s when members of three neighbouring Dene Nations - the Chipewyan, the Dogrib and the Slavey - moved from their adjacent hunting grounds and began what would become the burgeoning city's first settlements.
It was nearly 100 years later that gold was first discovered at Yellowknife Bay but because of inaccessibility of the Northwest Territories at the time it wasn't until the 1930s that Yellowknife's gold rush began.  The Royal Canadian Signals station at Fort Rae was moved to Yellowknife in 1938 and this further fuelled the area's growth and development.
Yellowknife became the capital of the NWT in 1967 and was officially declared a city in 1970.

While gold ruled Yellowknife's economy for more than 40 years, the mines eventually petered out, with the last one ceasing operations in 2004.  But, as gold production was ramping down, another era was in the making.
Diamonds were discovered north of the city in 1991, setting off the largest staking rush in Canada's history.  And so Yellowknife went from being the "City Built on Gold" to being the "Diamond Capital of North America".

Frame Lake is in the middle of the city and there is a 9 kms walking trail all around it.  At one part of the trail City Hall Park commemorates the importance of mining and mining exploration to the development of Yellowknife.  The claim post celebrates the role of the prospector,

while the surface diamond drill depicts the importance of exploration drilling in assessing properties.

This statue is called "United in Celebration" and sits along the Frame Lake trail, near where the trail passes by Yellowknife City Hall.

The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre has some lovely exhibits which really highlight the North and its rich culture and history.  One of the things I really liked here was the moose skin boat.

Yellowknife's original school was built in 1939 and had a class of 32 students.  The building was moved to this current site in 1987 and you can see the Yellowknife Education Office in the background.

Old Town and Latham Island are Yellowknife's historic lakefront district and the spot where the action all started.  On a hill overlooking Old Town, Pilot's Monument celebrates the aviators who helped explore and build the North.  From here there are excellent views to Old Town, the city centre and Great Slave Lake.

Looking out onto Great Slave Lake, you can see a few of the houseboat residences that Yellowknife is famous for

This is the channel that separates the mainland (on the right) from Latham Island (left)

The building with the red roof is Air Tindi's terminal - where Kate and Will took off from when they visited here

A houseboat residence - stocking up on firewood for the winter.  They're going to need MUCH more

Yellowknife Cultural Crossroads site is a testament to the close collaboration among Metis, Dene, Inuvialuit, English Canadian and French Canadian cultures and is dedicated to all peoples of the North.

"Ragged Ass Road" is a laneway in a neighbourhood known as the Woodyard, where people chopped wood for barges that crossed Great Slave Lake.  In the 1970s, local prospector Lou Rocher jokingly named it Ragged Ass Road, as the poorest place in the 'city' and the City eventually adopted it.  Now there's lots of money to be seen in the residences on Ragged Ass Road.

A Norseman - one of many, many, many float planes you see here.

This log structure served as Yellowknife's first branch of the Bank of Toronto from 1938 to the 1950s.    In the Dogrib language the building was known as Sqmbasheko ("house where money grows").  An early branch manager, Allan Lambert, eventually served as President and Chair of the Toronto Dominion Bank of Canada.

This building, built in 1945, was an original Hudson's Bay Company store and warehouse building.

The Wildcat Cafe is one of Yellowknife's earliest buildings, built in 1937.  Early patrons were served caribou meat and lake trout, and meals cost a dollar.  It closed in 1951 but was renovated and reopened again in 1979.

So that's a bit of an insight into the city of Yellowknife, if I can tomorrow I'm hoping to get out of the city and do some hiking on one of the many walking trails that are located just outside of the city.