Writers and Poets

Robert Service, the famous poet (“The Cremation of Sam McGee”, etc.); Jack London, the famous writer (“Call of the Wild”, etc.) and Pierre Berton (a generally famous Canadian) all lived in Dawson at some point in their lives. Service’s and London’s cabins are open to the public while the Berton house has been restored and now houses a “Writer in Residence”.

This picture shows Robert Service’s cabin. He came to Dawson as a bank employee and lived here until 1912. It was made a virtual shrine from shortly after he moved away as his writing were already well-known.

This picture shows Jack London’s cabin. He was among the first stampeders crossing the Chilkoot Pass and on to the Klondike in 1897. However, he didn’t find gold in the ground but in his writings which are based on the stories he absorbed from the people and places he came across in the area. The London cabin is pretty basic and was from way out in the bush into Dawson to be displayed.

Pierre Berton’s family lived in Dawson form 1920 to 1932. Pierre has written many books regarding the Klondike goldrush and life in the Yukon. We were unable to tour the Berton home as it is a private retreat for Canadian writers now.

After seeing the writers and poets homes, we took part in a program put on by Parks Canada called “The Macabre Mystery of the Klondike Killers”. This was an interesting and fun tour around town, going into some of the historic buildings all in the framework of helping a NWMP officer solve a crime.

This picture shows a beautifully restored saloon:

And this is a church built in 1901 that hasn’t been restored. It’s starting to sag, poor thing.

These building have been left to demonstrate what happens when you put a heated building on permafrost without a ‘buffer’ zone. Over time, the permafrost melts and turns to muck and the building caves in. We had noticed most of the buildings are set on skids or cribbing with air circulating under them.

Imagine our surprise when we saw this bus sitting on one of the main streets:

(it’s from Regina and has the “Pats” logo on it!)

This is another shot I was happy to get. We were riding our bikes and heard lots of barking dogs and saw this truck coming by full of sled dogs hanging out their ‘windows’ and making all kinds of noise. I stopped my bike, whipped out the camera – and got the shot!

In talking to a woman who is a competitive sled dog racer (Yukon Quest and Iditarod), we found out that the ‘classic’ huskies and malamutes we see in movies are rarely used in racing. They generally use mixed-breed dogs. Interesting.

It was also Father’s Day today. Fran & I talked to our fathers and he received phone calls from all three kids. I took him out for breakfast and a Chinese Food supper so he had a good day, too.