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

I5VOL. >O(\/ l$o. I.ITIE ARC1TC CIRCJIARof wtrich I got to Vt/hritehorse and gave to Larry Higgins, the goverrrnentagent. I''Iy photo of old Jack shows hirn with an arrnful of rhr:barb. Iwas wet to the waist all &y, vtrich the Indians Iooked on as normal, buthad a very interesting visit.C .Il . D. Clarke ,Agincourt, OntarioSTERN VilHEtr,ERS ON TI{E }TJKONTtre Casca and the Vihitehorse uere distinguished nenbers of rartrat was onc€a gre,il-river fleet. ft has been estjmated thclt betr,'reen 1898 and L952there \,vrere sorre 250 paddle wheelers plyilg thre Yr:kon Rirrer, for varlzingdistances, beh^reen Teslin Lake near t]le Yukon-British Colurnbia borderand the rirrcr's ncuth on the Beri-ng Sea. Scnre days as many as six sternraireel-ers left Whitehor:se for Dawson. Ttre dor^n stream \ncyage averagedthrree days, and the up stream f ive to six days. Cor:ntl-ess numbers ofpeople from tre many settlenrents rntrich grew up along tlre 460 miles ofshoreline between the t\,vo tolns made their livilg by cuttilg vnod forthe steamboats , or by senring as their crevrs. With the building of abranch rpad of tlre Alaska Highway betr,,ieen l^ilhitehorse and Dawson in 1953,and thus thre orning of cheaper, q:icker, and rnor"e reliable transport,river transportation carne to a virtual- halt, and the stern ufieelerswere haul-ed out of the water onto the banks and left to rot, the lastone in 1956. The people who wer:e once dependant on these boats forwork, Els well as sr:pplies, were forc'ed to leave the river too.Or:r cover picture is a drawilg nrade by Dr. Maurice Haycod< in 1971.ft shcnvs ttre Casca (Ieft) and the Vrlhitehorse (riqht) on the bank of theYukon River aEEiltehorse. Ttre Casca was lar:nchcrC in l-937. Ttre Vhitehorsewas much older, having been built in 1901; she was rebuilt about1930. Unforturrately, in June L974 both of these old river boats wereaccidentally burned, thus outting an end to threse tr,vo relics of abygone era.