Yukon See It Here: Jon Wilkie
The Thistle Creek Dredge in fog. This dredge was operated by Yukon Gold Placers and ran from 1949 to 1952.
Gold
A Tale of the Klondike Tailings
Despite the romantic image of the grizzled miner panning by the creek side in search of gold, that phase of the Klondike’s mineral saga was relatively short. Entrepreneurial minds knew of more efficient and less-labour intensive ways of getting gold from the ground, and it wasn’t long before the arrival of the dredges in the …
Discovery Days: Yukon’s Moveable Holiday
The Yukon’s Discovery Day Holiday is kind of hard to pin down. Likely the Monday closest to the day gold was discovered on Bonanza Creek.
An Inspiring Book, Found in a Unique Bookstore
MacLeod’s Books in Vancouver is a book lover’s dream. Books are piled up from floor to ceiling. Fortunately, the friendly staff helps you to navigate through the wide selection of books – some of them quite old and rare. When my partner and I visited this unique store last year, I found a book in …
There’s Gold in Those Buckets of Dirt
Canada Day will be exceptionally busy in Dawson this year. Combining our nation’s birthday with a roster of events that normally occur on the first Saturday after that celebration will make for a packed schedule. The Klondike Visitors Association decided a few years ago that having the Yukon Gold Panning Championships in the afternoon, following …
A Provocative Gold Rush Mystery From the Other Side of the World
“Mannering was in the august high noon of his life. He was prosperous, and well dressed, and he owned the largest and most handsome building on Revellstreet. There were gold nuggets hanging from his watch chain. He ate meat at every meal. He had known a hundred women — maybe even a thousand — maybe …
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Promoting the Klondike Experience
Not quite a year ago, Jesse Cooke was in Ottawa to receive the Parks Canada Youth Tourism Entrepreneur Award. He was being recognized for his business, Husky Bus, which he launched in the summer of 2012. Even then, as he announced at a subsequent meeting of the Dawson City Chamber of Commerce, he was already …
Gold Fever is Alive and Well
Panning for gold the old-fashioned way is an art and a science, though you don’t have to be an expert in either to take part in the annual Yukon Gold Panning Championships, held on Saturday, July 1 in Dawson City. “We’re trying to attract gold panning enthusiasts, competitive types, visitors, and first time gold panners,” …
Saturday at the Front Street Markets
Front Street is lined with vehicles and shoppers from late morning to midafternoon each Saturday during the summer, even on days when there’s a smoky haze or a bit of a drizzle. The biggest attraction is the traditional Farmers’ Market, which has been going on weekly for many years. The Klondike has a healthy crop …
Panning for glory
Yukon’s mining heritage will be celebrated this summer in Dawson City. On July 4, from 1 to 4 p.m., the Yukon Gold Panning Championships will take place at the Waterfront Park on Front Street, offering several levels of competition open to all ages and skills. The Klondike Visitors Association (KVA) puts on the event. Katie …
Dreams and Hopes
The great Klondike Gold Rush brought people to the Yukon in the pursuit of their dreams and hopes. To this day, many individuals continue to come to the Yukon like their predecessors over a hundred years ago. I’m the same; I am here to pursue my dream job and hope for a thriving community. It …
The Klondike Echoes Down through the Literary Years
The Klondike has been the inspiration for a great deal of fiction since the Gold Rush, beginning with Jack London, who came with the Stampeders and left with a mother-lode of inspiration that would make him the wealthiest name-brand author of his generation. A decade later, the same inspiration seized a quasi-hobo and reluctant bank …
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The Gold Show Blooms this Weekend
It’s Monday afternoon and Evelyn Pollock answers the telephone at the office of the Dawson City Chamber of Commerce. This catches me off stride as I had been expecting to be asked to leave a voice mail message. I know that Evelyn only works mornings at the Chamber office. Not this week, she tells me, …
All That Glitters in the Klondike
Dawson City was founded on the glitter of gold and, so, it is no surprise that the yellow metal gets mentioned a great deal here. We work it into other events that might have no natural connection to the stuff. But we’re in the Klondike, right? And just now, with the staking rush that has …
A Close Look at the Klondike’s Frozen Gold
While we are on the cusp of a new gold rush in the Klondike, an era of exploration that is seeing a gradual shift from placer mining to hard rock mining, we do well to remember that this is just another phase of a history that has been in the making since even before the …
How Scrooge Made his Fortune
Around this time of year I usually devote a few columns to some of the literary lions that have helped to make Dawson City famous since 1898. This year I’m going to diverge a bit and write about another bit of fiction. It is, perhaps, not known to the general public that the fortune of …