End of June

Sunday, June 30th

The last day of June and it looks as if it will be a wet and dismal (weather wise) one.

Garry Wutzke flew into Dawson City yesterday, along with about 36 other planes.  He is staying at the Westmark Hotel.  Supper was at the Westmark last night as we were too lazy or tired or something to cook.  Before supper we stopped at the El Dorado Hotel looking for him but he was not there, although we were told he had been.  So after supper we drove back over to the El and he was ready to cross the street, armed with a map, on a mission to find us.  Went back to the house for a visit.  His group is going on a tour of Dredge No. 4 this morning.

More of Dawson City

The El Dorado Hotel

This is the neatest little shop in the entire City.  It is probably a good thing we are not staying until September or I would have no money to bring home.  The owners, Remy and Romy,  are originally from Switzerland and are the dearest of people.  It seems like I need a "Romy Fix" everyday to maintain my equilibrium.  That helped get the JK pill down.

This is one talented lady. 

Mme. Tremblay's Store

This is taken in the window of Mme. Tremblay's Store.  Mme. Tremblay was the first white woman to climb the Chilkoot Pass, which she did on her honeymoon.  Once she and her husband arrived in Dawson, they staked a claim on the Eldorado, which was the richest of the streams, where they mined for a few years.  Unfortunately the pay dirt was not much and they needed to find another means of income.  This building was purchased by Mr. Tremblay in 1914 and given to Mme.  which she operated as a woman's clothing store until 1938.  She carried a line of clothing, as the period dictated, which was ornate and decorated in sequins, beads and feathers, even bringing in Paris fashions for the more elite and for the "ladies of negotiable affections".  Due to the war - transportation and other unforeseen events,  Mme.'s desire for high fashions became unattainable, and in the end she had to settle for humble millinery and dry goods.

A restaurant and cabins.  Named after Kathleen Eloisa Rockwell, known as Klondike Kate. 

Palace Grand Theatre was built in 1899 by Arizona Charlie Meadows, a rodeo king who set out for the Klondike in 1898, hoping to make his fortune.  He had no plans in panning for gold.  His plans were to strike it rich by selling spirits from his portable bar.  His dreams didn't make it to the Klondike as his supplies were swept up in the Chilkoot flood.  He was determined and within four months of his arrival in Dawson City, Charlie made a small fortune.  In 1899 the Palace Grand was built from lumber from two beached sternwheelers.  It was said that this building was the most lavish dance hall of its kind and showed everything from Wild West shows to opera.

When the gold strike in Nome began in 1899, thousands of people left the Klondike to scope out greener pastures.  Charlie said he was going to leave and float the Palace Grand down the Yukon River.  This did not happen.  As the population began to dwindle the Palace Grand became the local meeting place--hosting Community events and visiting theatre groups.  By the early 1960's the Nugget Dance Hall, as it had since become known, was badly in need of repairs.  Frost damage had caused the building to sag and lean making it inhospitable for use.  The exact date is not known, but sometime in the 1960's the Klondike Visitors Association saved the PG from demolition and then donated the building to Parks Canada who completely rebuilt the Palace Grand.

Arizona Charlie Meadows

Palace Grand Theatre

Inside the Palace Grand Theatre

Inside the Palace Grand Theatre

Our Great Big Hardware Store

Note the decorative burls as posts and the sod roof.

Denise and Zaaron loading rafts.

Yukon Order of Pioneers
The Yukon Order of Pioneers (YOOP) is a Fraternal Organization which was created on December 1, 1894, at the town site of Forty Mile, YT before any law organization existed in the Yukon Valley. There was one requirement that they had to be in the country on or before 1888.  There were 68 present who signed the charter. At the December 7th meeting it was decided that the charter would be kept open so that those men out on the creeks that were in the country in 1888 would have time to sign and become Charter Members.

The order lived under the motto, "do unto others as you would be done by". This meant that if a miner was to strike gold, he would be obliged to tell any other member of the YOOP about his stake. If a fellow member ran out of supplies, YOOP's would share their supplies no matter how few they were.

At the present, two lodges remain, Lodge #1 in Dawson City and Lodge #2 in Whitehorse. This organization is still admitting members to its folds.  However, you must be a permanent male resident for more than 25 years.

Thanks for taking this stroll through the streets of Dawson City, YT

 Hope you are all having a great day.