Volume 24-25, 1976-7 - The Arctic Circle - Home

T2VOL. )O$/ NO. ITT{E ARCTIC CIRCUIARDAWSON JiIBIIEE, by Margaret Carterft was August L7, 1896 when the Klondike Gold Rush was sparked by thediscovery of gold at Bonanza Creek. Erzery year since, August 17 has beenEur occasion for celebration in the Yukon. Ttris year, Discovery DayrsSlst anniversary also marks thre 75th arrn-iversarlz of the incrcrSrcrationof Dawson City, ttrat vibrant offspring of the Gold Rush. Yukon sor:rdoughsand chreechako tor:ri-sts alike will be flocking to Dawson to share in ttrespecial jubilee hoopla.Threir crrning will swell the quiet tcnm until it br:rsts as it did in thre daysof '98. Indeedr drr evening in Diamond Tboth Certie's - Canada's onlylegalized gambling establishnent - does mudr to convince one that neitherhr-unan nature nor Dawson Citlz has changed at aII. Those who wish to testtheir luck on thre wheel of f,ortune still cone to Dawson. Ttre ghost ofpatron Arizona Charlie }4eadcws Iurks in the Palace Grand as aucllences hiss andboo scenes of raucous vaudeville and heartwringing nelodrama frqn tJ:e boxeswhere miners on€ sat. Behind the boxes tlre rocrn of a dance hall girlwaits wistfully for its long-departed occupant to return.Tbday Dawson City is rich in reminders of its history. Many of the beautifulbuildings crcnstructed after Dawsonites decidecr to rernain in the north stillst-and. Outside thre br,r"siness section, the streets are lined with residencesamazingly rich in architectr.rral detail for threir locatj-on on so rsnote afrontier. Robert Senzice's cabin stands on thre hillside welccrning visitorsto share his view of the land of the rnidnight sr:n. Here and there partialthawing of the pernafrost has had its effect, and structures tip dizzrlyto one side. Had it not been stabilized, Straitrs Store on t]le corner ofTtrird Avenue and Harper Street vlculd probably have toppled over.Ttre post office, evidenc-e of Dawson's tenuous tie to thre outside world, isopen for nrodern day visitors to mail their letters, franked by a specialcancellation. The a&ninistration builoing, seat of Territorial Goverrrnentfor more than 40 years , ncx,v holds thre Dawson City M:se'uun " There , relicssuch as the waterless cooker, Klondike Kate' s costr-rre, and Ure birth rec.ordsof forgotten St. l4ar1z I s Hospital are renr-inders of both lfie fantastic and thenormal in Dawson life. On Front Street the Banl< of Ccnmerce - built as ttreBark of British l.lcrth Anerica in l9ol still conducts business daily. Agold rocm on its second floor recalls the earliest days vflren the town tradedon nuggets from rninders' 1nkes, and the later times when its sustenamce wasLied to dredging and thre shipnents of gold bars.Next to the bark, the sternvfreeler Keno j-s drlz-docked. A synbol of tLreriver transport system that lirked Dawson to the outside world frorn L897to the I95O's, its presenc€ is a rsninder that Yukon sternwheelers wereIvlargaret Carter is an historian wittr Parks CanadaArticle reprinted courtesy of CONSER\A,TION CAIIADA (v. 3, NIc. 2, L917)