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Geological History
Frances Lake is situated at an elevation of 730 metres within the
trough of the Tintina Trench, a 1500-kilometre-long
rift valley that extends from Prince George (B.C.) via Watson Lake up
to Dawson City. The trench began forming about 65 million years ago, as
a result of plate tectonic forces that shape the continents. This
caused various minerals to be washed out and accumulated in river
sediments, which eventually led to the massive deposit of gold that
sparked the famous Klondike Gold Rush at the turn of the last century.
Large-scale geological lines are also important wildlife and plant
migration corridors, both for the evolutionary spreading of species in
the course of time, as well as for short-term cycles such as the annual
bird migration. The unique combination of geological, topographic and
climatic factors mean that Frances Lake — the largest lake in the
southeast Yukon — is situated in one of the territory's most
biologically productive regions, resulting in a great diversity of
plants and wildlife.
However, today's appearance of the region was, from a
geological
perspective, shaped very recently. Heavy glaciations during the ice
age period of the past 2–3 million years have had a huge
impact on the topography of the southeast Yukon — countless glacial
advances and retreats carved out the valleys and shaped the surrounding
uplands. But only the debris and moraine deposits of the last glacial
period (peaking about 20,000 years ago) have formed today's detailed
topography. 
Frances Lake is a typical glacial lake whose basin has been scoured by
the flowing ice. The lateral and terminal moraines of the glacier built
up natural dams along the margins and at the glacier snout, today's
terminus of the lake. Small glacial advances during the overall retreat
towards the end of the last ice age (10,000 years ago) mark the various
narrows of the lake, including the distinctive peninsula near the
lodge. Massive sand and gravel deposits of the dwindling glaciers —
particularly extensive on the lower part of the East Arm between the
Narrows — have created today's attractive, winding shoreline with its
countless bays, secluded ponds, hills and islands.
Time hasn't stopped yet, and still today the lake continues to be
reshaped. Most striking, perhaps, is the delta formation of various
feeder rivers (e.g. at the boat ramp) which due to sediment transport,
eventually will cut the big, long lake into a chain of various smaller
lakes. The Finlayson River has already completed this step cutting the
upper Six-Mile Lake off from the rest of the West Arm.
Today, the Frances Lake region is characterized by extensive boreal
forests (spruce and pine species) and, particularly in shady
locations,
permafrost (permanently frozen ground) is
widespread. This leads to a
very diverse vegetation cover, with everything from 30-metre-tall
spruce trees along sunny shorelines, down to crippled dwarf trees on
steep shady slopes. Periodically occurring bush fires
add to the
diversity of the forest. After a fire, it is mostly deciduous trees
(aspen, birch, poplar, willow) that come up first — only in the course
of time does the mature spruce forest take over again.
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Early
people
Various archaeological findings attest to human
occupation in the area
for at least 1500 – 2000 years. These early people who lived at Frances
Lake were the Tu Cho, a tribe of the Kaska
First Nations. «Tu Cho»
means «Big Water», which was the traditional name
of Frances Lake. Frances River was called «Tu Cho Tua», meaning «Big
Water River». For the Indians (today called First Nations) the lake was
an important fishing and hunting area. They didn't maintain a permanent
village at Frances Lake, but visited
here their traditional fishing
camps. In the course of the year, they followed the animals and
subsisted on edible plants and berries. They used a well-established
set of hunting and walking trails along Frances River to Frances Lake,
and on to Finlayson Lake. In summer and in winter, they stayed at lower
levels along the waters in order to fish and to trap. In fall, higher
regions in the MacKenzie Mountains were visited in search for caribou,
mountain goats and sheep. This nomadic lifestyle was characteristic for
the Natives before the white settlers arrived. However, as a result of
the increasing fur trade and growing dependency on trading goods, they
began taking up residence near trading posts and in permanent
settlements.
1840 White explorers
In search of a trading route through the interior
of the Yukon, the sturdy Scotsman Robert Campbell
(1808-1894) and his
explorer team were the first white men to reach Frances Lake. On behalf
of the Hudson's Bay Company, a large English fur trading enterprise,
the adventurers followed Dease, Liard and Frances rivers up to the
Pelly River and down the other side to the Yukon River. Along this
newly discovered route, Robert Campbell named many lakes, rivers and
mountains whose names still show up on today's maps. He also first
described Frances Lake and named it after Lady Frances Simpson, wife of
the long-time Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, Sir George Simpson.
1842 – 1851 First trading post in the Yukon
Two years later (1842), Robert Campbell established the first trading
post in today's Yukon Territory for the Hudson's
Bay Company (HBC) at Frances Lake. The post on
the western side of the Narrows at the confluence of East and West Arm
was named Glenlyon House or Fort
Frances. The Natives provided fur in trade for ammunition, tools and
cloth. 
For 10 years, Frances Lake was part of the HBC trading route
into the Yukon's interior. However, the route was soon abandoned
because the fierce rapids along the Liard and Frances River claimed
many lives, the logistics to supply the post with provisions was
extremely difficult, and other easier trading routes (Mackenzie – Rat –
Bell – Porcupine – Yukon River) were discovered. Also, differences with
various Native groups that were afraid of losing their established
trade monopoly in the region led to the closure of the trading route.
1887 Scientific expedition
George Mercer Dawson (1849-1901) was a
talented Canadian scientist (geology and palaeontology) and
extraordinary human being. During the 1870s, extensive survey
expeditions to determine the international border between Yukon and
Alaska saw him up north for the first time. Foreseeing that there would
soon be a major strike of gold in the Yukon, in 1887 he led an overland
government expedition up north in order to compile information to
produce detailed maps. In large part, he followed along Campbell's
trading route and passed by Frances Lake. His detailed scientific
observations about geology, mineral resources, plants, animals, and
human occupation are recorded in the famous Dawson Report,
where he
writes:
«Few
lakes which I have seen surpass Frances Lake in natural beauty, and the
scenery of the east arm, bordered on the east by the rugged masses of
the Too-tsho Range, is singularly striking.»
1898 Stampeders in transit
During the Klondike Gold Rush, several hundred stampeders passed by
Frances Lake on their way to Dawson City. The route, from Dease Lake,
up the Liard and Frances rivers to Frances Lake, across the divide to
the Pelly River, and down to the Yukon River was also referred to as
the
«All Canadian Route».
1930 Discovery of gold by Anton Money
Anton Money was an English adventurer and prospector that came around
1930 to Frances Lake, where he found gold. He lived there for a couple
of years with his young wife and a baby boy. In his book, This
was the
North, he depicts their simple life and praises the glory
and the
peacefulness of the wilderness. He describes his feelings of freedom,
independence and the great satisfaction he took in accomplishing his
plans without any outside help.
1934 – 1949 Second HBC trading post
A second trading post was established on the opposite (eastern) side of
the abandoned earlier post. Besides trading with fur and various
merchandise, the post served as a weather and radio station for air
traffic during the Second World War. However, with the construction of
the Alaska Highway in 1942 the trading post soon lost its importance. 
Also, the Natives
interest in trapping — the
basis for trading with the
HBC — waned considerably. Road construction and the general evolution
of the area after the war generated plenty of employment, and the
living conditions, both for Whites and First Nations, improved
considerably. With the closure of the trading post, most people moved
away and the place deserted. Today, some remaining parts of buildings
and gravesites from this era can still be seen at the site.
1942 Travelogue of a family
William Hamilton and Ruth Albee write in their paper, A
Family Afoot
in Yukon Wilds, published by the National
Geographic
Magazine, about
their foot journey from Watson Lake to Frances Lake and back. On their
trip, which lasted several months, they were joined by their children,
Billy (8 years) and Jo-Evelyn (5 years), and lived largely off the
land. The text and photos display a very interesting picture of the
area from 70 years ago.
1968 Completion of the Campbell Highway
With the construction of the Campbell Highway, which runs parallel to
Robert Campbell's discovered route of 1840 and is named in his honour,
Frances Lake became accessible by road for the first time. The highway
provided access to explore the various mineral deposits at and around
the lake. Fortunately for us, commercial mining never happened in the
area, mainly because of high transportation costs. During this time,
several people settled in the area. Notably in the early 1970s, there
was a lot of traffic on the lake — something we can't imagine today:
except for ourselves, there are no permanent residents at the lake
anymore.
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Lodge
history
In 1968 Danish-born Kurt Hansen and his wife,
Yoshi, arrived at the
lake. They laid the foundation of today's lodge and built three
structures for their private use: the main lodge, the neat little
A-Frame Cabin and the historic Bay Cabin. 
In fact, the latter one was
an original Hudson's Bay cabin at the abandoned trading post — they
dismantled it log by log, rafted it across the lake to the lodge site,
and rebuilt it at its new place. The nicely renovated Bay Cabin serves
today as one of our most popular guest cabins.
In 1985, Swiss ex-pat Ed Festel took over the place and started up a
tourist business. Frances Lake Wilderness Lodge, as well as guided
canoe and hiking trips in the area, was among the very first wilderness
tourism products offered in the Yukon. Elfie and Markus Lenzin, the
lodge's long-term managers at that time, also contributed to the unique
character of the lodge that still persists today. It was a bustling
time and various employed contractors helped construct three more guest
cabins and several other buildings (sauna, workshop, employees and
owners residence).
From 1999 until 2007, two more Swiss immigrants, Andrea and Christoph
Altherr, together with their young daughters, were owners of the lodge.
They continued to run the well-established lodge operation along the
proven path and intensified international marketing relations. 
In their
era, satellite communication was introduced at the lodge and an
Internet website was launched. The 2004 forest fire that dangerously
approached the lodge was also a major event in the lodge's history.
Since 2008, the lodge has been owned and operated by Andrea and Martin
Laternser, yet another Swiss-born couple who continue to run the lodge
in a tried and true tradition. The construction of a self-contained
cabin at the other side of the peninsula expands the offerings for
guests of Frances Lake Wilderness Lodge — a comprehensive picture story
shows the entire construction process of the spacious log house, from
felling the trees to the installation of interior fittings.
More information and imagery illustrating the lodge history is
available in the April 2015 newsletter
featuring the 30-year lodge
anniversary.
References:
Campbell of the Yukon, Clifford Wilson, Macmillan, Toronto, 1970
Dawson Report, The Yukon Historical and Museums Association, 1887
Prelude to Bonanza, Allen A. Wright, Studio North Ltd., 1992
This was the North, Anton Money, General Publishing Co. Ltd., Toronto,
1971
A Family Afoot in Yukon Wilds, The National Geographic Magazine, May
1942
Frances Lake Wildlands Study, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society –
Yukon, 1997
The Yukon Fact Book, Mark Zuehlke, Whitecap Books, 1998
Yukon – Places and Names, R.C.Coutts, Moose Creek Publishing, 1980
Yukon Heritage (http://www.yukonheritage.com)
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