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Klondike National Historic Sites
Dawson City is a lively town that is passionate about its history and people. The Klondike National Historic Sites are scattered throughout the community and in the Klondike goldfields. Meet a variety of locals and hear why they love the Klondike and its historic places.
Klondike National Historic Sites, Where the Past is Present
Transcript
Parks Canada beaver logo
Title: Klondike National Historic Sites
Title: Where the Past is Present
fade from black to show panorama of Dawson City and the Yukon River
[Lisa Favron and her husband walking to Discovery Claim sign] Title: Discovery Claim National Historic Site
My name is Lisa Favron and I was born and raised in the Yukon.
[close-up of Bonanza Creek running] title: Discovery Claim National Historic Site
I’ve been living here in Dawson City since 1992.
Lisa Favron and husband running sand from the creek through their hands
close-up of their hands with sand in creek
There’s quite a bit of family history, my great grandfather came over from Finland on a boat
historic photo of many people climbing the Chilkoot trail
when he heard about the gold rush and they hiked the Chilkoot Pass and
historic photo of 2 miners goldpanning
historic map of the Klondike goldfields
When my great grandfather was mining, all of the mining was done by hand.
Any dirt that you moved, was moved with a pail and a shovel.
If you had to dig a trench, you dug it by hand.
historic photo of several miners on a claim
historic photo of 2 men goldmining
My name is Neil Loveless, I’m originally from the Yukon. I’ve got family that’s been here for over a hundred years.
Neil driving an excavator at a mine, scooping dirt into the bucket and dumping it
The excavator dumping dirt into a large dump truck
The mining over the past 100 years has adapted and changed lots.
It started as hand shafts and guys panning for gold
on big adventurous hopes that they were going to find lots at the bottom of deep holes.
historic photo of miner with a windlass
historic photo of 2 miners goldpanning
Then it changed over time as the gold became harder to find,
they went towards dredges which were the bigger, larger, more industrial setups.
historic photo of a dredge, tailing piles and a building
historic footage working dredge buckets scooping up dirt
The dredge was a very interesting machine, as it runs off water and gravity –
and it’s still very similar to the machines we use today.
Joe Boyle and the guys of the old, they would have been amazing thinkers
and great big schemers as what it took to get these dredges here.
The thought of even doing that today,
let alone with the roads and the infrastructure we have now… it’s still a mind-boggling feat that they were able to do that.
historic footage of man watching the dredge working
Neil Loveless with gold mine in background
Historically the mining done by the dredges was to simply go in and turn the creek upside down.
They knew that the gold was on the bedrock at the bottom of the creek.
So how do you get that is you dig out the bottom and put it on top.
historic photo of dredge
historic photo of buckets full of dirt
historic photo of a dredge in an icy creek
My grandfather was dredge master for years. He has stories for all of the fingers on his hands
because he broke every finger he had at a different time.
He had a shovel finger. He had a trommel finger.
I think I have more memories of the dredge than any other part of placer mining in the Yukon.
historic photo of men on the dredge
historic photo of the dredge
Lisa Favron with mine in background
And the fact that so much effort is being put into the preservation and
the restoration of these historic sites makes me want to be a part of that too.
It makes me proud to have that heritage behind me and to be a part of it.
Lisa and her husband standing in front of the dredge. Title: Dredge No.4 National Historic Site
group of workers with hard hats and safety vests walking deside the dredge discussing work being done
close-up of the wokers in safety gear discussing the work
view looking down the Yukon River
I’m Jesse Cooke and I’m from Windsor Ontario.
When the stampeders arrived in Dawson, I don’t think they had any idea of what to expect.
close-up of Jesse driving down Dawson street
I think my generation of people were coming here for the adventure also not knowing what to expect once they got here, and that was definitely the case for myself.
historic photo of people walking in the street
The guys that I most admire, well there’s lots of them from the gold rush.
historic photo of Joe Ladue
Joe Ladue is a great example of an entrepreneur I mean he was the first one, in that all the stampeders were rushing off to Bonanza Creek
to stake claims, and here’s this guy staking up a swamp with the idea of turning it into a town site.
historic photo of busy street during the gold rush, lots of banners, signs for businesses on buildings, people in the street
historic photo of early Dawson, tents and few buildings
map of Dawson city lots
And he subdivided town lots and sold them off and made his fortune that way. Not only making money
but responding to a serious need, which was where are we going to put all these people.
historic photo of Dawson from north
historic photo of Dawson from the south end
bow of S.S. Keno with Jim Williams on 2nd deck title: S.S. Keno National Historic Site
I’m Jim Williams and I’m from Southern California and I’m a carpenter here in Dawson City.
Jim's hands feeling the wood of the sternwheeler
Jim walking along the deck, feeling the wood grain
Parks Canada approached me and they were in the process of restoring the Keno and
they wanted somebody that had some experience.
A lot of the carpentry and stuff I found to be as light as possible, everything was scaled for weight.
pan of Jim walking through the interior of the boat
All the structural members would be fir but it would be scaled down to just the minimum size.
pan of freight deck of the boat, with supplies
These boats were primarily trucks, the primary thing was freight.
When you go to the Keno now, you’ll see that there are some rooms available but the main floor is really just freight.
pan of valves in the engine room
Because of the goldfields and the constant need for materials out there,
the shipping and freighting business was pretty organized early on.
pan of engine room
historic photo of Keno being launched into the river
historic photo of young men working on the Keno
historic photo of the dock in Dawson
And it was just a constant flow of materials during the summertime on those riverboats.
And if you look at old photographs of Dawson, you just see the docks are full of boats.
historic photo of sternwheelers and dock with crowds of people
Georgette McLeod with an Elder by the Yukon river
My name is Georgette McLeod and I’m from Dawson City.
Before the gold rush, the Tr'ondëk Hwëchin lived in this area along the
Klondike River here and then they lived further down along the Yukon River in various locations.
Georgette standing by the Klondike river
historic photo of tents by the river
historic photo of fish drying on traditional wooden racks with First nation girls
First Nation man with fish on a stick
They spent most of their time during the summer months fishing for salmon.
The salmon that ran through this area during that time period was like gold to them.
historic photo of a man holding a large salmon
When the gold rush started the Tr'ondëk Hwëchin had to change their way of life.
They switched from a traditional economy of trade and moved into a wage economy to be able to live the
the lifestyle that had changed. They weren’t self-sustaining in a way anymore.
historic photo of indigenous family in western clothes in front of canvas tent
historic photo of First Nation men in suits with supplies
historic photo of First Nation people at a wood camp
historic photo of First nation people at a gathering
Georgette and FN girls walking across the lawn in front of the cultural centre
From the time of the gold rush to now I think things have improved substantially.
close-up of Georgette talking to the girls
Even though there is a large part of our history and our culture and knowledge has been lost
there are great efforts to try and bring the language and the culture back.
Georgette and the girls sitting in front of the cultural centre
frames of wooden elements of the BNA bank
the Bank of British North America
gold rush era buildings leaning against each other
You could tell in the architecture that this was a frontier gold rush town.
I mean, there was the gaudiness of all the architectural details,
the mouldings and all that kind of stuff and the buildings, but at the same time
there was this kind of civilizing footprint on this wild wilderness
that was here.
pan of gold rush era St. Andrews church
close up of St. Andrews church
pan of the elegant Commissioner's Residence
pan of restored living room in the Commissioner's Residence
pan of Commissioner's office in the residence
Old Post Office
Thomas Fuller was a government architect sent up here, I think it was about 1902 or somewhere around there.
He was the designer of some of the major government buildings in the town,
the Post Office being my favourite of the Fuller buildings,
close-up of architecture on the old post office
pan wooden interior of the old Post Office with Jim walking through
close-up of post office boxes
you’re overwhelmed by the detail of the woodwork inside. The wickets and where you’ve got your
post office boxes and all that kind of stuff is just… the work is marvellous really.
close-up of old mail and packages
close-up of wood working tools
I started copying and imitating some of his combinations of mouldings
and different angles that he would use to accomplish what he was trying to do.
close-up of woodworking drawing
Jim working in his shop
My name is Maria Sol Suarez Martinez. I’m from Argentina originally.
I went to design school and then I specialized in millinery and
I ended up here and contrary to what everybody would think, I actually found
employment making hats in this tiny town of 2000 people.
Maria working on her hats
close-up of putting pins in the hat
close--up of her pin cushion
pan of hats
Maria fitting a hat on a woman
At some point in the gold rush era, Dawson City was called the Paris of the north.
Even though there were mud streets, people had beautiful clothes and beautiful shoes and hats.
historic photo of finely dressed shop keepers
historic photo of women in fancy gold rush era dress
And I guess it was a real need for luxury because some people were
making money and you are in the middle of nowhere, so where do you spend it?
historic photo of a group of people
historic photo of people in the street in hats
If I was to relate to somebody from the gold rush, a historical figure, it would be Madame Tremblay.
She had the vision to open a shop for all the ladies that ended up here.
historic photo of a woman in a room with a piano
historic photo of a woman and children outside the store
Maria looking in the window of Mme. Tremblay's store
She imported things from Paris, really beautiful, delicate things.
Maria Sol sitting on the verandah of the historic Commissioner's Residence with 2 interpreters in historic tea dresses drinking tea as one interpreter approaches
I see myself kind of reflected in that, just trying to make a little bit of room for myself and what
I like in my trade I guess… and even if we are in the middle of nowhere and there’s a lot of things
that make life a lot different from a city, there’s still certain luxuries that we can have.
And even if it seems a little bit weird, we can make room for it, we can make it happen.
close-up of Maria sipping tea
close-up of woman in period dress
close-up of woman in period dress sipping tea
pan of woman on verandah talking
My name is Halin de Repentigny, I was born in Montreal. I came up here in 1981.
close-up of paint brush painting
I’d never seen a picture of Dawson, I’d come to the Yukon without knowing anything about the Yukon.
I didn’t know about the gold rush.
close-up of Halin
close-up of paint pallette
Halin painting
paintbrush signing an H on a painting
One of the jobs I would do, I was probably better with a paintbrush that with a hammer, so I ended up doing sign painting.
photo of the Red Feather saloon in poor condition prior to restoration
I did the Red Feather Saloon, not just but, the whole corner –
the whole new building and there was quite a few signs there.
Halin walking in front of restored Red Feather Saloon
And what I discovered when I did the Red Feather Saloon… they would do most of the sign painting inside a shop, on paper,
and then send the labourer to put that paper on the wall and with a little wheel, a tracing wheel,
they would like make holes all through the letter and with a little pouch of chalk,
they would copy that pattern and the labourer would paint the thing.
Halin speaking
And when I did the Red Feather Saloon I could see in the old boards all those little holes that were left there.
And I said, this is so ironic – a hundred years later I’m the labourer now doing it.
pan of Red Feather Saloon sign on building
Pan of Palace Grand Theatre
I did the Grand Palace, I did the mural.
Halin standing on the stage of the Palace Grand Theatre while the backdrop he painted roles down
Dawson is… there’s a lot of energy in this town. I think the energy remained… something stayed in the
air from the gold rush. I mean you look at it, 40,000 people, it must have been a hell of a party and that still….
you still can feel it. You still can feel it. After that many years here I can probably paint
any corner of this town from memory… characters included.
close-up of Halin and painted backdrop
Halin walking back on stage to look at backdrop
I’ve never been really good at putting my thoughts and feelings into words and
sometimes when I read Jack London or Robert Service, I mean, their words are my feelings and
I didn’t even know I had them until I heard the words, and then it all makes sense.
pan of Robert Service's log cabin title: Robert Service Cabin
historic photo of Robert Service in front of cabin
So when you read Robert Service, when I read Robert Service, the subject matter was sort of
gold rush wild but the way he wrote it was more civilized, you know,
so you got this kind of contrast between what he was writing about and how he wrote it.
pan of items inside the cabin, including his typewriter
"There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales
" "That would make your blood run cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see
" "Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge I cremated Sam McGee.
"a painting of a winter scene
People used to read this stuff aloud in the family, because they didn’t have radios and televisions,
so you know the dad would read a poem in the evening or several poems in the evening. So it was common and I think that’s one reason why he wrote poems like he did,
in that kind of doggerel style. You know, it’s not very complicated, it’s not very esoteric, it’s sort of entertaining, kind of a song.
Jim sitting on the steps of the cabin
Our elders are our history and our university. They are the holders of the knowledge of the land and
it’s important to take it in and share it with others. Now that people my age and younger are getting educated about their history,
I think it’s helping them to reach back into their culture.
Georgette sitting on a bench by the river with Elders
close-up of Georgette and Elders talking
boat leaving shore in river as Georgette and children walk along
It’s important for me to raise my family in a setting like in Dawson and along the Yukon River.
It brings out the best in them in, exploring their own land. We can talk about things that I’ve done as a child.
I can talk about my family and I can share those stories with them and have those experiences with,
when we have a chance to be at places such as this.
historic photo of Dawson from the other side of the Yukon River
fade into modern Dawson from same view
The historic nature of this town is a big part of everybody’s life here.
What I like about it is that it’s a real life town, it’s not just a ghost town, it’s not just a museum with a façade.
>people talking on the street
These buildings are lived in, these old cowboy buildings that you see, they’re lived in, there’s real businesses and
real people and that’s a lot of fun, that’s a huge part of our culture here,
and that’s a huge part of the reason why I love it here.
Jesse talking in front of building
I think everybody feels very proud of the heritage;
even people like me who just came here a few years ago rather than was born here.
Everybody feels pretty proud of their town and it’s not hard to love it very quickly.
Maria and Intepreters talking and laughing
Maria talking to the camera
What I like in the summertime, is watching the people walk all over the place…
walk in the middle of the street and on the sidewalk
and stuff like that and it really makes me feel that all of a sudden I’m back in that gold rush time because,
if you look at the old photographs, there’s just people everywhere, in the middle of the streets and
Dawson gets like that, it really gives you a sensation that you’re…
you’ve stepped back in time in a way and with the old buildings it just adds a perfect backdrop for all that.
Jim sitting on steps talking
photo of Parks Canada guided tour in the street
photo of parks Canada tour outside an historic building
photo of people outside Robert Service's cabin
photo of Parks Canada guided tour in the street
Jim talking and sitting on the steps
man walking in front of the Dawson Daily News historic building
fade into historic photo of the same view of building with man
photo of Parks Canada guided tour entering the Red Feather Saloon
Halin and friend standing at the bar inside the saloon
fade into historic photo of the same view of building with people
photo of tour entering the Dredge
photo of child touching the machinery on the dredge
Neil in the winchroom moving a gear
fade into historic photo of man in the same position
photo of Parks Canada guided tour in front of the Cultural Centre
Georgette and Elders standing by the Yukon River
fade into historic photo of First Nation men in the same position
photo of people infront of the Discovery Claim sign
Lisa turning the windlass on Discovery Claim
fade into historic photo of man in same position
photo of Parks Canada guided with S.S. Keno in the background
photo of people walking aboard the S.S. Keno
Jim walking on balcony of the second deck of the S.S. Keno
fade into historic photo of man in the same position
photo of Mme. Tremblay's store
Maria walking in front of the store
fade into historic photo of Mme. Tremblay in the same position
Jesse walking across the street
fade into historic photo of a man in the same position
fade to black
credits
Dredge No.4 is a massive gold mining machine located in the gold fields near Dawson City, Yukon, which mined alluvial gold on the Yukon River from 1913 until 1959. Commemorated as a National Historic Site, for years shipwrights have been working to restore and stabilize this amazing piece of Klondike history. You can tour this incredible site commemorating the legacy of corporate mining history in the north from May to September each year.
The Restoration of Dredge No. 4
Transcript
Parks Canada beaver logo animation
pan of Dredge no. 4 with Parks Canada sign and dredge buckets in the foreground
Dredge No.4 is the only dredge in the Parks Canada family.
pan of dredge from the hull to the flag at the top 7 stories high
This massive machine represents the Yukon corporate mining history that followed the famous Klondike Gold Rush.
historic photo of a dredge floating in a pond
historic photo of several gold pans full of flakes of gold
These dredges floated in their own ponds like a boat and essentially acted as giant gold pans,
using water to wash gravel away and reveal tiny flecks of gold.
people standing by the bottom of the dredge wearing hard hats and safety vests
close-up of workers talking about the dredge
wide shot of workers walking towards the dredge
Parks Canada has made significant investment into the restoration and stabilization of this national historic site.
For the past 7 years a team led by certified shipwrights have worked to restore the wooden hull of this impressive vessel.
pan of knotches of old wood with new wood in the hull
So usually when we restore a boat when you pull the mast there’s always a silver dollar sitting underneath the mast which signifies good luck, right.
Terry Carlson talking to the camera title: Terry Carlson, Shipwright
worker rolling oakum in a long piece
So we’re actually finishing the project on the 150th anniversary for Canada so I went down and
got a three dollar silver coin and we basically installed it underneath the kingplank on the portside, so,
worker hammering the oakum into the seam between the wood on hull deck
workers spreading tar along the deck
worker hammering nails into deck boards on top of tar
whoever takes it up maybe 150, 200 – three hundred years from now, right, is going to find the coin, so.
photo of rotten wood on the bow deck before the restoration title: Bow deck before the restoration
pan of new wood on the bow deck after the restoration title: Bow deck after the restoration
I think that’ll be kinda special. Hopefully it gives the dredge good luck, right!
Terry talking to the camera
Parks Canada logo
Take an animated tour of Dredge No 4
Gold Path Animation - Inside Dredge No. 4
Transcript
soft peaceful music aerial view of Dredge No. 4 and the Klondike GoldfieldsDredge No. 4 National Historic Site
From 1898 to 1966 floating dredges dug through the creeks of the Klondike region searching for gold.
historic image of dredge tailing piles
You're about to go inside Dredge No. 4 and see how these giant machines worked
Medium shot in front of the dredge
Dredge No. 4 is a gold mine mounted on a floating barge
Camera moves forward to see a view of the front of digging ladder
Gold-bearing gravels are brought aboard with the digging ladder
The image moves up the digging ladder showing the chain of 66 buckets
that supported a chain of 66 buckets
A view on top of the digging ladder looking into the dredge interior
that could hold over 800kg of rocks each.
The bucket line was removed at the end of every season for maintenance
At the centre of the screen a large sprocket is visible at the top of the digging ladder
The big sprocket is attached to the motor that turns the bucket line
A large metal cross brace is visible as the view moves forward into the dredge interior
The bracing structure is a modern addition
The image moves down to show how rocks fall into a large opening called the hopper
The buckets empty into the hopper, which funnels everything into
The image moves down and forward to show a large rotating metal drum with holes evenly spaced
the trommel, a rotating screen that separates the gold from the gravels using plenty of water
The view moves through the trommel and slides sideways through the metal holes
Fine particles of gold pass through the holes in the screen
The view slides sideways through the long straight wooden structures called sluice tables.
and are caught in the riffles in the sluice tables here
The image moves forward through a long metal ramp and slides out the back of the dredge
The water and fine sand flow off the back of the dredge and into the pond
The view exits the dredge at the exterior of the vessel, the conveyor belt is visible in the top left corner
Rocks larger than the holes in the screen are carried off by the conveyor belt
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