Dawson City, officially the City of Dawson, is a town in the Canadian

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–99). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest town in Yukon.

History

Packtrain carrying freight outside of the Bartlett Bros offices, Dawson, Yukon territory, 1899 (HEGG 624)

Prior to the

Late Modern Period In many periodizations of human history, the late modern period followed the early modern period. It began approximately around the year 1800 and depending on the author either ended with the beginning of contemporary history after World War ...

, the area was used for hunting/gathering by the Hän-speaking people of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and their forebears. The heart of their homeland was

Tr'ochëk Tr'ochëk is the site of a traditional Hän fishing camp at the confluence of the Klondike River and Yukon River. The site is owned and managed by the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation, and is operated by the First Nation's Department of Heri ...

, a fishing camp at the confluence of the

Klondike River The Klondike River (Hän: ') is a tributary of the Yukon River in Canada that gave its name to the Klondike Gold Rush. The Klondike River rises in the Ogilvie Mountains and flows into the Yukon River at Dawson City. Its name comes from the Hä ...

and

Yukon River The Yukon River (Gwichʼin language, Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq language, Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag language, Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän language, Hän: ''Tth'echù' ...

, now a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...

, just across the Klondike River from modern Dawson City. This site was also an important summer gathering spot and a base for

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

-hunting on the Klondike Valley. The current settlement was founded by

Joseph Ladue Joseph Francis "Joe" Ladue (July 28, 1855 – June 27, 1901) was a prospector, businessman and founder of Dawson City, Yukon, Canada. Ladue was born in Schuyler Falls, New York. His mother died when he was seven years old, and his father in 1874. ...

and named in January 1897 after noted Canadian geologist George M. Dawson, who had explored and mapped the region in 1887. It served as Yukon's capital from the territory's founding in 1898 until 1952, when the seat was moved to

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

3rd St, Dawson, Yukon Territory, ca 1899 (HEGG 88)

Dawson City was the centre of the Klondike Gold Rush. It began in 1896 and changed the

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

camp into a thriving city of 16,000–17,000 by 1898. By 1899, the gold rush had ended and the town's population plummeted as all but 8,000 people left. When Dawson was incorporated as a city in 1902, the population was under 5,000. St. Paul's Anglican Church, also built that same year, is a National Historic Site. The population dropped after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when the

Alaska Highway Robert Service Cabin

Pierre Berton Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, CC, O.Ont. (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a Canadian writer, journalist and broadcaster. Berton wrote 50 best-selling books, mainly about Canadiana, Canadian history and popular culture. He also wr ...

: Dawson City is home of the Berton House Writers' Retreat program, housing established Canadian writers for four three-month get-away-from-it-all subsidized residencies each year. Berton House was the childhood home of popular-history writer Berton. The program is now administered by the

Writers' Trust of Canada The Writers' Trust of Canada (french: La Société d'encouragement aux écrivains du Canada) is a registered charity which provides financial support to Canadian writers. Founded by Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, Graeme Gibson, Margaret Laure ...

. Berton narrated the 1957 film '' City of Gold'' which describes the excitement of Dawson City during the gold rush. He also wrote the book ''Klondike'', an historical account of the gold rush to the Klondike in 1896–1899. *

Martha Black Martha Louise Munger Black OBE (February 24, 1866 – October 31, 1957) was a Canadian politician. Black was the second woman elected to the House of Commons of Canada. Biography Martha was born in on February 24, 1866 in Chicago, Illinois ...

, the second woman elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

, as a single mother in Dawson earned a living by staking gold mining claims and running a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

and a gold ore-crushing plant. She later married George Black,

Commissioner of Yukon The commissioner of Yukon (french: Commissaire du Yukon) is the representative of the Government of Canada in the Canadian federal territory of Yukon. The commissioner is appointed by the federal government and, in contrast to the governor gene ...

, and in 1935 was elected to the House of Commons for the riding of Yukon as an Independent Conservative taking the place of her ill husband. *

Joseph W. Boyle Joseph Whiteside Boyle (6 November 1867 – 14 April 1923), better known as Klondike Joe Boyle, was a Canadian adventurer who became a businessman and entrepreneur in the United Kingdom. In the First World War he came to see service assisting t ...

, "Klondike Joe," entrepreneur, hockey organizer and adventurer. *

Suzanne Crocker Suzanne Crocker is a Canadian documentary filmmaker from Dawson City, Yukon. She is most noted for her films '' All the Time in the World'' (2014), which won the award for Most Popular Canadian Documentary at the 2014 Vancouver International Film F ...

, documentary filmmaker. *

Lulu Mae Johnson Lulu Mae Johnson ( – October 25, 1918) was a dance-hall performer and hotelier in Dawson City, Yukon, Canada. Johnson arrived in the Yukon in 1899 or 1900, probably from Alabama. She may have arrived with a dance troupe or with a trumpet pla ...

, manager of Dawson's dance hall in the early 1900s. She died on the SS Princess Sophia.''Lulu Mae Johnson'' at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
/ref> *

Victor Jory Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in ''A Midsummer N ...

, actor of stage, film, and television, was born in Dawson in 1902 to American parents. *

William Judge Father William Judge (April 28, 1850 – January 16, 1899) was a Jesuit priest who, during the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush, established St. Mary's Hospital, a facility in Dawson City which provided shelter, food and any available medicine to th ...

, a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest who during the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush established a facility in Dawson which provided shelter, food and any available medicine to the many hard-at-luck gold miners who filled the town and its environs. *

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

spent part of the winter 1897–1898 in a cabin that was originally on Henderson Creek, a tributary of the Stewart River and is now just up the street. *

Micí Mac Gabhann Micí Mac Gabhann (22 November 1865 – 29 November 1948) was a seanchaí and memoirist from the County Donegal Gaeltacht. He is best known for his posthumously published emigration memoir ''Rotha Mór an tSaoil'' (1959). It was dictated to his ...

, an Irish language storyteller (

seanchaí A seanchaí ( or – plural: ) is a traditional Gaelic storyteller/historian. In Scottish Gaelic the word is (; plural ). The word is often anglicised as shanachie ( ). The word ''seanchaí'', which was spelled ''seanchaidhe'' (plural ''se ...

) who lived in Dawson in 1897-8 and whose memoirs of the Klondyke Gold Rush ''Rotha Mór an tSaoil'' were published posthumously in 1959. * William Ogilvie, a Dominion land surveyor, explorer and Commissioner of the Yukon, surveyed the townsite of Dawson City and was responsible for settling many disputes between miners. *

Alexander Pantages Alexander Pantages (Περικλῆς Ἀλέξανδρος Πανταζής , ''Periklis Alexandros Padazis''; 1867 – February 17, 1936) was a Greek American vaudeville impresario and early motion picture producer. He created a large and p ...

, impresario, had his start in Dawson City. He opened a small theatre to serve the city. Soon, however, his activities expanded and the thrifty Greek went on and became one of America's greatest theatre and movie tycoons. *

Robert W. Service Robert William Service (January 16, 1874 – September 11, 1958) was a British-Canadian poet and writer, often called "the Bard of the Yukon". The middle name 'William' was in honour of a rich uncle. When that uncle neglected to provide for hi ...

, known as The Bard of the Yukon for his famous poems "

The Shooting of Dan McGrew "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" is a narrative poem by British-Canadian writer Robert W. Service, first published in ''The Songs of a Sourdough'' in 1907 in Canada. Details The tale takes place in a Yukon saloon during the Yukon Gold Rush of the l ...

", "

The Cremation of Sam McGee "The Cremation of Sam McGee" is among the most famous of Robert W. Service's (1874–1958) poems. It was published in 1907 in '' Songs of a Sourdough''. (A "sourdough", in this sense, is a resident of the Yukon.) It concerns the cremation of ...

" and many others which depicted the Gold Rush and the culture of the Klondike. Service was transferred to the Dawson branch of the Canadian Bank of Commerce in Dawson City in 1908. Then, he dwelt in a log cabin where he would pursue his writings with ''

The Trail of 98 ''The Trail of '98'' is a 1928 American silent action-adventure/drama film featuring Harry Carey and Dolores del Río about the Klondike Gold Rush. The film was originally released by MGM in a short-lived widescreen process called “Fantom Sc ...

''. *

Jan Eskymo Welzl Jan Welzl (15 August 1868, in Zábřeh, Moravia, Austria-Hungary – 19 September 1948, in Dawson City, Yukon, Canada) was a Czech of Moravian ethnicity who was a traveller, adventurer, hunter, gold-digger, Eskimo chief and Chief Justice on New ...

was a Moravian adventurer, hunter, gold prospector, Eskimo chief and Chief Justice on

New Siberia New Siberia (russian: Но́вая Сиби́рь, ; English transliteration: ''Novaya Sibir'', ; sah, Саҥа Сибиир, translit=Saña Sibiir) is the easternmost of the Anzhu Islands, the northern subgroup of the New Siberian Islands ...

island and later a story-teller and writer. During his life in Dawson City he was called Perpetual Motion Man and was also known as an inventor. Books based on his stories were published in many countries all over the world. Buried in Dawson City. * Black Mike Winage, a Serbian-Canadian miner, pioneer, and adventurer, who lived to be 107 years old, lived in Dawson City. *

Weldy Young Weldon "Weldy" Champness Young (October 4, 1871 – October 27, 1944) was a Canadian businessman and athlete. Young was an ice hockey player for the Ottawa Hockey Club, playing in its founding years in the 1880s and in the 1890s. Young later beca ...

, professional hockey player for the

Ottawa Silver Seven The Ottawa Senators were an ice hockey team based in Ottawa, which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League (NHL) and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934. The c ...

Freedom of the City

The following people and military units have received the

Freedom of the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

of Dawson City.

Military Units

* The

Canadian Rangers , colors =Red and green , march = , mascot = , battles = Second World WarCold War , anniversaries = , notable_commanders = , identification_symbol_2_label = , current_commander = Lieutenant-General Jean-Marc Lanthier, Commander of th ...

: 22 August 2022.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1896 establishments in Canada Former cities in Yukon Klondike Gold Rush Mining communities in Yukon Populated places established in 1896 Towns in Yukon Yukon River

History

Freedom of the City

Military Units

See also

References

External links