Watson Smarch (b. 1911)
Watson Smarch was born at Teslin into the Deisheetaan clan and became the leader. He trapped in the Teslin area for most of his life. Before the Alaska Highway was built, he worked in Carcross for fisherman and guided for Johnny Johns. He went to Johnson's Crossing to try and get a job on the highway, was examined in Whitehorse, and hired on as a guide for the survey crew. Bob Watson and Johnny Johns from Tagish blazed a trail to Teslin. Watson guided from Teslin to Watson Lake.1) He, David Johnston, and John Thom took their horses across on a raft where the Nisutlin River Bridge is now.2)
After the highway job, Smarch helped survey the Canol #1 pipeline and road from Norman Wells. He used dogs on the CANOL project as it was winter. The plane would drop supplies on the frozen lake and the crew built a high cache to store the supplies.3)
In May 1992, a Native Guide Survey Reenactment was held with twenty-one men, women, and youth travelling by horseback from Teslin and Whitehorse. Eighty-one-year-old Watson Smarch was the honorary guide. He was presented with a beaded Alaska Highway anniversary logo sewn by Margaret Rose Ross and given to him by the Carcross/Tagish Anniversary Society as a thank you for his participation. The horses were provided by Wilfred Charlie of Carmacks, Fred Brown, and Art Johns. The event was planned to recognize the role of First Nation people in the building of the Alaska Highway.4) Watson Smarch was inducted into the Yukon Transportation Hall of Fame in 1997 as a Transportation Pioneer.