Dawson City, Yukon Territory.
Dawson City and the Yukon River |
Liz and Anders in Dawson City, Yukon. |
Inside the Dawson City Museum. |
Sluice box demonstration at the museum. |
The RV Park is a pretty well run place that has a truck wash, laundry and a friendly and accommodating staff.
When we drove the Dempster Highway we left our trailer at the campground (for a fee). Very handy.
I would not bring a trailer up the Dempster Highway. It's not that you can't, but the dust and the mud would make a mess out of your rig.
If you drive the Dempster, and it is dusty, use your A/C. It will pressurize the cab and keep the dust out.
After breakfast we decided to make it a slow day.
After all we drove all the way from Inuvik to Dawson the previous day, 700+ km.
Liz did some laundry, and I washed the truck. Incredible how the mud sticks to the truck like cement.
In the afternoon we went downtown Dawson City and visited the City Museum. It is really nice with a lot of interesting information.
Anders having a drink at the local saloon. |
At the museum they also had a sluice box demonstration showing how they searched for gold in the olden days.
We went to the local saloon for a glass of brew then back to camp for supper and an early evening.
9th of July 2015, more of Dawson City, Yukon
Liz in front of the SS Keno. A Canadian National Historic Site. |
Anders and one of the people working at the SS Keno. Boiler in the back ground |
It was a big event the the SS Keno arrived in Dawson City. |
The SS Keno going through the "Five Finger Rapids" |
Liz in a state room. Pretty small beds. |
Liz in the kitchen of the SS Keno. |
After a nice breakfast in our trailer we headed in to town again. We visited the SS. Keno.
The SS Keno was the last "Sternwheeler" to navigate the Yukon River.
In the late 1899 there were 60 Sternwheelers, 8 tugs and 20 barges operating on the Yukon River.
The SS Keno was constructed in 1922, in Whitehorse, by the British Yukon Navigation Company.
This company was a subsidiary of the White Pass and Yukon Route railway company.
The SS Keno mostly transported silver, zinc and lead ore from mines in the Mayo district to the area where the Yukon and Stewart river meet at Stewart City.
The SS Keno was retired from commercial service in 1951 due to the extension and improvement of the Klondike Highway in the years after World War II.
Following its withdrawal from service, the SS Keno was laid up at the BYN Co. shipyard in Whitehorse, before being selected for preservation and donated by the company to the Canadian Government in 1959.
On 25 August 1960 the SS Keno left Whitehorse to sail downstream to Dawson City.
In doing so she became the last of the Yukon's sternwheeler steamers to navigate the Yukon River under her own power.
Three days later she arrived in Dawson and was subsequently installed as a tourist attraction and a permanent memorial to the approximately 250 sternwheelers that provided a vital transport service on the Yukon River and its tributaries during the latter half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries.
The SS Keno is now a National Historic Site. Make sure to bring your National Parks Pass and you go in for free. For more information on the SS Keno go to Wikipedia.
Liz in the old post office. |
Sign in post office. |
Colleen in the old Saloon. |
Commissioner's house. |
Inside the Commissioner's house. |
During the walking tour we visited many old buildings; post office, bank, bordello, print shop etc...
After the tour we walked over to the Commissioner's residence, the grandest home in Dawson, on Front Street.
Only the first floor is renovated and that part is very posh indeed. Must have been a special place to live.
The commissioner's job was not only to be the representative of the crown, he was also the public and commercial guru for attracting big business.
After the initial gold rush for the big placer nuggets, it became evident that gold digging for the smaller stuff had to be mechanized.
The Rockefellers and the Guggenheims were wooed to invest in the large dredges. And they did.
The plan for the next day was to go gold panning.
For more pictures from in and around Dawson City, click here.
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