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open to the public thereafter. For more information,
contact the Dawson City Museum at 867-993-529,
info@dawsonmuseum.ca or www.dawsonmuseum.
ca. A collection of historic fire fighting equipment is
on display at the Volunteer Fire Fighter’s Museum
located at the Fire Hall on Front Street and Duke.
Jack London’s original log cabin was located
on the North Fork of Henderson Creek, 120 km
south of Dawson City. London entered the Yukon
in September of 1897 as a 21-year old prospector
looking for gold. While he didn’t strike it rich, he later
turned his Klondike adventures into fortune with his
legendary short stories and books. London’s cabin was
abandoned after the gold rush. It was rediscovered by
trappers in 1936 who found his signature on the back
wall, and is now an interpretive centre featuring live
presentations, located near the Robert Service cabin.
Robert Service became famous around the world
for his poetry about Yukon gold miners, with works
like ‘The Shooting of Dan McGrew’ and ‘The
Cremation of Sam McGee.’ When his 1907 book The
Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses made Service a
wealthy man, he was able to quit his job and travel Taiga Wilderness and McQuesten River
to France. Service worked for the Canadian Bank of
Commerce and lived in a log cabin on 8th Avenue in
Dawson City, which Parks Canada has maintained as
a tourist attraction. Following a recitation of Service’s
poetry on the front lawn, visitors can view Service’s
home through the windows and front door.
Diamond Tooth Gertie’s is Canada’s oldest
casino and offers a unique entertainment experience,
including three different Can-Can shows nightly,
full bar service, food concession, slot machines,
blackjack tables, roulette wheels, and more. The
building was built in 1901 by the Arctic Brotherhood,
a fraternal organization dedicated to improving social
conditions in Dawson City and other northern mining
communities. Over the years, the building was the
center of Dawson’s most important social gatherings.
After the city obtained title in 1951, it operated as
a community hall until 1971, when the Klondike
Visitors Association transformed it into Diamond
Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall, named after Gertie
Lovejoy, one of Dawson’s most famous dance-hall
queens of the gold rush era. She got her nickname
from having a diamond inserted between her two
front teeth.
The Palace Grand Theatre was opened in gala
style July 1899 by Arizona Charlie Meadows, a Wild
West showman who came to Dawson City during
the Klondike Gold Rush. Structurally a combination
of luxurious European opera house and boomtown
dance hall, it is one of the most magnificent theatres
ever built. The Palace Grand played host to a variety
of entertainment, from wild west shows to opera, and
when the show got slow ‘Arizona’ himself would get
on stage and perform shooting tricks for the audience. junction with Haines Road Hwy 3 to Haines, and auto repair services are available. There is also
The building was saved from destruction by the Alaska; 160 km (97 miles) from Whitehorse. a modern recreation complex with an indoor heated
Klondike Visitor’s Association in 1959, then donated Population: approximately 800. Visitor swimming pool, showers, curling rink, hockey arena,
to the National Historic Parks branch of the Canadian Information: Parks Canada’s Kluane National baseball and softball diamonds,3 and playground.
government, who restored the theatre as a National Park Visitor Centre and Yukon Government’s Tourists should stop at the outstanding Kluane
Historic Site in the early 1960s. Summer tours are Visitor Information Centre in the Da Kų Cultural Visitor Reception Center for information and to view
offered daily.
The Klondike Spirit paddle wheeler can provide Centre. Phone: (867) 634-7207. Municipal the audio visual presentation about Kluane. The park is
a leisurely, history-filled Yukon River cruise in the Offices: St. Elias Convention Centre, Box 5339, a vast rugged wilderness composed of lofty mountains
Dawson area or a relaxing setting for a wedding or Haines Junction, YT Y0B 1L0; Phone: (867) and massive seas of ice. In recognition of its unique
other special event in unsurpassed, graceful style. 634-7100; Email: vhj@northwestel.net features, Kluane was designated as a UNESCO World
One of about two dozen gold dredges that worked Heritage Site in 1979.
the Klondike gold fields, the No. 4 Dredge is the Haines Junction is nestled at the base of the towering View Canada’s highest peak (Mount Logan) and
largest wooden hull, bucket-line dredge in North St. Elias Mountains in the Shakwak Valley near scenic the world’s most extensive nonpolar ice fields within
America. Kluane National Park. Wilderness recreation includes Kluane by helicopter. Flightseeing services are readily
river rafting, canoeing, glacier flights, hunting, fishing available in the area around the park and Haines
guides, horse rental, and bicycle tours. Junction. Mountain climbing and river rafting on the
NORTH TO WHITEHORSE
This bustling community had its beginnings in
JCT. KLONDIKE HWY 2 NORTH 1942 with the construction of the Alaska Highway. Tatshenshini and Alsek Rivers are very popular, and
miles of hiking trails for all levels of experience run
& ALASKA HWY 1 TO HAINES JUNCTION
Situated at the junction of Haines Road and the Alaska throughout the park, some of which are overnight;
Highway, it was to become an important supply and hikers must register with a park warden for these.
Haines Junction service center for construction workers. Today, a Guided hikes through Kluane National Park are
Milepost 1016 on Alaska Highway 1, at the variety of excellent restaurants, motels and lodges, also available during the summer months. Because
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