Consequently, most of the stores are closed, including the hardware store that was my hope for a fix
Ah, but just like American towns of this size, there's a trusty, dusty Walmart, and next to it is the Canadian equivalent of Home Depot.
To my relief, Canadian Tire doesn't observe Discovery Day, and it was doing a gold rush of a business (sorry about that). They had some hardware that worked perfectly for a fix and I've even made some improvements by adding tie down straps as a safety net for the turnbuckles.
Back to Discovery Day. One hundred and fourteen years ago today, on August 16, 1896, gold was discovered in the northwestern Yukon territory near Dawson City. It just so happens that on that day, an aboriginal member of the First Nations (a Canadian Indian) by the name of Keish (aka Jim Mason, when he was among Englishmen) was headed down the Yukon river looking for his sister, Shaaw Tlaa (aka Kate Carmack) and his brother-in-law, George Carmack. He found them fishing for salmon at the mouth of the Klondike River. Some say it was Kate who made the original dicovery of gold, while others attribute it to her brother Jim. Nevertheless, on the next day, August 17th, a claim was made in the name of Kate's husband, George Carmack. The party agreed that other miners might not recognize or honor a claim made in the name of an Indian, which speaks volumes about the racial attitudes of that time. It took nearly a year for the news to reach the United States, but it couldn't have come at a more opportune time. In July of 1897, there was a full scale recession in place in America, accompanied by bank failures and high unemployment. What better time for down-and-outers to get the fever, head out for San Francisco to stock up with supplies and tools, and then continue north to the Klondike for the fortunes that surely laid in waiting for them to unearth.
And it wasn't just laborers who took the leap. Schoolteachers, professionals, doctors... heck, even a future president of the United States, William Howard Taft, made the trip. At the height of the rush, Dawson City had a population of 30,000, making it the most populous city north of Seattle and west of Winnipeg. You know what happened--the gold didn't pan out (again, sorry) and today the Yukon Territory is one of the most remote, underpopulated regions on our planet. I haven't reached Dawson City yet, but I hear it has a population of around 1,300 people.
Making a couple of trips by motorcycle into town for parts this morning, I did notice an interesting object. The Whitehorse airport has a huge windsock that actually works. I could prove this by taking another picture tomorrow when the wind changes--but just trust me on this one.
It was nice to take a day off from driving. In a few minutes, I'm going to fire up the Coleman and attempt to grill a steak and cook potatoes and onions in a pan. It will be the first time I have ever cooked a complete meal by myself, other than toast and oatmeal. A fellow motorhomer warned me that the road ahead is much worse than anything I've seen thus far. I'll soon know if he was exaggerating...
Best you heed your fellow motorhomer's warning and watch the road ahead very carefully. You've had to make enough repairs already on this trip. (Get online and check out the fake potholes that they use as speed bumps in eastern Canada). Yours will be for real.
ReplyDeleteSorry about your dinner - you should have had toast and oatmeal.