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Outdoors

; NOW OPEN FROM 11:00 A.M.
TheReview Wednesday, August 1,1990 — Bll

Dawson alive with tales of gold rush

The 327-mile stretch of the
Klondike Highway from its junc-
tion with the Alaska Highway
north of Whitehorse to Dawson
City began as a trail used by
miners and trappers at the tum of
the century.

By 1901, this Winter Trail
between Whitehorse and Dawson
featured no fewer than 52 stopping
places, a typical one of which was
Montague House featured in our
photo today.

These elegant log lodges were
built at 20-mile intervals along the
route, offering meals and lodging
for stagecoach travelers. Now,
sadly, most of them are deteriorat-
ing relics of a rich and colorful
past.

The enormous old kitchen stove
Tusts away in one comer while the
remains of a wine cellar is reduced
to little but a slumping hole in the
floor nearer the centre.

The roof has long since parted
company with the supporting
walls while an optimistic squirrel
many years ago planted a conifer
cone in the decaying floor.

The resulting sturdy tree is now
fully 25 feet high and obviously
flourishing in the absence of com-
petition. The thoughtful human
visitor leans lightly against a
decaying wall, wishing that it were
possible to rekindle and capture
some of the scenarios which must
have occurred here almost a cen-
tury ago.

For how many years did a
Christmas tree occupy the place of
this living tree? Who were the host

and hostess; who, the merry fes-
tive revelers? But we must go on to
fabulous Dawson, still 245 miles
ahead.

You know that you are entering
Dawson when you strike mile
upon mile of great mounds of
gravel mine-tailings on either side

of highway — mute evidence of the
drive and industry of the hardy
sourdoughs who worked feverishly
here during the Rush.

Historically, Dawson dates from
the discovery of gold by Robert
Henderson on a Klondike River
tributary in 1896, later renamed
Bonanza Creek.

Henderson described his find to
George Carmack who immedi-
ately set out with Skookum Jim
and Tagish Charlie to see what
they could tum up.

Their gold strike occurred Aug.
17 and on filing their claims
officially, the great gold rush of

5

2 equipment taken is valued at $150.

Money taken

Sometime overnight July 18-19
the Slegg Lumber locked com-
pound was broken into and a small
quantity of money stolen, in the
2000-block Malaview Avenue,
Sidney RCMP said.

Police said the culprits tried to
open a safe in the business office
but were unsuccessful.

Zodiac stolen

A zodiac boat with a 10 horse-
power Johnson outboard engine
was stolen from the Marina Park
Marina sometime July 15-16, Sid-
ney RCMP said.

The make of the boat is a Yellow
Zed and the name on the side is
Tybre. Police are asking for infor-
mation.

Fishing gear gone

Two fishing rods and reels were
stolen from a boat parked in the
driveway of a home on Ocean
Avenue sometime overnight July
3-4, police said.

One rod was a Peetz and all the

1898-99 was front-page news and
the establishment of Dawson City
was assured. The city was named,
appropriately, for George Mercer
Dawson of the Geological Survey
of Canada and was declared a
national historic site in the 60’s.

Dawson. The very name con-
jures up the rich tapestry of the
Yukon’s past when gold fever
reached its climax.

Fortunately, various groups have
Striven mightily to retain as much
of the character of the Yukon’s
former capital as possible so that
we might appreciate its unique
place in the history of Canada.
Dawson was a boom town of all
boom towns.

A legion of its historic buildings
have been restored and preserved
while many of the associated
activities are still practised. The
restoration of its fine, characteris-
tic hotels is most impressive.

While the Klondike River in
spate undoubtedly flows just a bit
faster than did alcohol at the
height of the gold rush and there is
no longer a bar on every corner,
many other of the amenities have
survived. Dawsoners are rightly
proud of their town, its golden past
and present.

A Klondike Kate still performs
in the magnificent Palace Grand
Theatre.

Jack London’s Eldorado Hotel,
stands proudly, modelled after the
edifice written about in The Call
of the Wild. So does Jack Lon-
don’s restored cabin. And that of
Dawson’s bard, R.W. Service.

The old post office is there and
you can still gamble in Diamond
Tooth Gertie’s casino. Or you can
take bus tours or river trips to a
score of historic places. You can
even enter a gold panning contest
after taking free instruction from a
professional.

Who knows, you may return
with a nugget which would truly
grace the ring finger of your latest
lady-love!

MONTAGUE HOUSE
MARY HAMPSON photo

WE HAVE 850 VEHICLES IN OUR
FLEET TO CHOOSE FROM PLUS
RECONDITIONED TRADES

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COME ON IN

CHAT WITH JOE
AND SEE OUR VARIOUS
SELECTION OF FINE CARS

Bill & Michael
Publicans
are looking
forward
to serving you

and becoming

part of the
community.

H

NDS

‘4 os

RAs
Coils:

a He
Cente

<<

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