On the Klondike Road



Dawson City as seen from the Dome Mountain.  Notice the dark color of the Klondike River as it merges with the lighter color of the Yukon River.  For thousands of years, the natives had fishing camps here, at the mouth of the Klondike.



It is clear that things are winding down in Dawson City.  The sternwheeler that gives rides on the Yukon is closed for the season. The campground we stayed at is closing down on the 15^th. The City Museum has switched to shorter hours and several businesses are closed for the season.

Still we managed to fill two days up with fun things to do and see. The Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation, which is a part of the Athabaskan Native group has a wonderful cultural center. The exhibit focused on storytelling and we were treated to several oral stories that have been passed down through the generations.

The whole downtown is a historic site with Parks Canada taking the lead role in restoring the buildings.  We took a self-guided audio tour which was first class. Ate lunch at a restaurant that was established around the turn of the century. And visited the City Museum which was housed in the territorial government building.

Moosehide slide behind Dawson City. This has been here for centuries.

An example of the restoration work that has been done to the city.

This is what happens to buildings built on permafrost.

Robert Service's cabin.  He wrote "The Cremation of Sam McGee", among other poems. Our drive to Whitehorse took us right along many of the places mentioned in his poem.

One of the trains used to service the mining claims in the area. Isn't it cute?

An exhibit in the City Museum.  They seemed inordinately proud of their mannequins, especially the hands.  Each display credited some prominent citizen for donating the use of their hands as models for the mannequins.  Personally, I didn't think the mannequins were too impressive.

Saw a very nice 1890's vaudeville show at Diamond Tooth Gerties which is a casino in town run as a non-profit for the town.

A miner found these moose antlers.  They are two bull mooses who got their antlers tangled so badly when they were fighting, they could not be dislodged. 

The Klondike Rush started in 1898 when gold was discovered on the Bonanza Creek. 100,000 people rushed to the Yukon, 30,000 made it to Dawson City and almost none of them got claims because the creek had been staked long before the stampeders got there. The growth of Dawson City lasted only 3 years, by 1901, gold had been discovered in Nome and off the crowd went. Dawson remained the capital of the Yukon until 1953, when Whitehorse became the capital.  Dawson is now a town of about 1500 relying on tourism and not much else. But it seems to do quite well.

This is the largest wooden dredge in North America.  The machine acts like a worm, digging up the earth and ingesting the small stuff (which contains the gold) and pooping out the big stuff.  It moves along a creek leaving behind castings which look just like giant worm castings.

This old mining claim and cabin are being devoured by more modern techniques of mining.  Mining is still very active in the area although the big companies have left.

You can see where the hillsides have been mined and the tailings left behind on the floor.  This valley type area is a trench, the largest fault line in North America.  Gold is found north of the trench and silver/lead/coal are found south.

The Yukon River from above Dawson City.

 It was 35 degrees the morning we left Dawson City – definitely the frost is on the pumpkin.  The road down to Whitehorse was paved and smooth – a nice change of pace.  It passes through the Yukon River Plateau where the scenery is pretty but not spectacular.  Either that or I am getting used to the beauty.  We saw two black bears on the road!!!! On one stretch of the road, saw a white ash line running through the earth. It came from a volcanic eruption about 700 A.D.  This is the same eruption we read about when we were down in the Wrangell’s – the eruption that drove Athabaskans down into Canada and the lower 48.  Pretty neat to see what we read about in real life!

One of the two bears we saw on the road to Whitehorse.

Five Fingers Rapids.  This was a major obstacle for stampeders coming down the Yukon at the turn of the century.

A statue in Dawson City dedicated to the miners from 1898.