History Hunter

During our recent conversation, John Nicholson showed me snapshots of his time working on the Yukon riverboats 70 years ago. (Michael Gates)

History Hunter: Yukon man relives the riverboat days after seven decades

John Nicholson took summer work on Yukon steamers in the 1950s

During our recent conversation, John Nicholson showed me snapshots of his time working on the Yukon riverboats 70 years ago. (Michael Gates)
Yukonomist Keith Halliday

YUKONOMIST: The election jumps the shark

“The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the…

Yukonomist Keith Halliday
After many years of service on the the Yukon River as a multipurpose workhorse, The SS Klondike was converted into a luxury cruise ship for its last two years of service. She is now a national historic site in downtown Whitehorse. (Gates collection)

“Penny Wise” and her SS Klondike Cruise

In the first half of the twentieth century, sternwheel riverboats were the…

After many years of service on the the Yukon River as a multipurpose workhorse, The SS Klondike was converted into a luxury cruise ship for its last two years of service. She is now a national historic site in downtown Whitehorse. (Gates collection)
Black soldiers of the 97th Battalion cutting and clearing timber from right-of-way during the summer of 1942. (Photo courtesy of Christine McClure)

History Hunter: A Different Race: Hardship, Racism and a Court-Martial on the Alcan

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the American…

Black soldiers of the 97th Battalion cutting and clearing timber from right-of-way during the summer of 1942. (Photo courtesy of Christine McClure)
The first edition of a newspaper sold in Dawson City was the Yukon Sun, June 11, 1898. The honour of the first newspaper ever published in the Yukon goes to a single issue of the Caribou Sun, published May 16 at Caribou Crossing (Carcross). (Photo courtesy the Gates Collection)

And the Yukon’s first newspaper was ….

In 1898, there was no radio, no television, no Facebook or Twitter,…

The first edition of a newspaper sold in Dawson City was the Yukon Sun, June 11, 1898. The honour of the first newspaper ever published in the Yukon goes to a single issue of the Caribou Sun, published May 16 at Caribou Crossing (Carcross). (Photo courtesy the Gates Collection)
(Submitted)

History Hunter: Kwanlin Dün — a book of history, hardship and hope

Dǎ Kwǎndur Ghày Ghàkwadîndur: Our Story in Our Words is published by…

(Submitted)
Archivist Lesley Buchan recently laid out a selection of documents from the large Roy Minter collection held at the Yukon Archives. Similar collections, large and small from thousands of donors, are part of the Yukon’s “memory bank,” now carefully stored in climate controlled vaults on the Yukon University campus. (Gates collection/Submitted)

History Hunter: Exploring Yukon’s history attic

Do you have some valued family heirloom — a photo album, a…

Archivist Lesley Buchan recently laid out a selection of documents from the large Roy Minter collection held at the Yukon Archives. Similar collections, large and small from thousands of donors, are part of the Yukon’s “memory bank,” now carefully stored in climate controlled vaults on the Yukon University campus. (Gates collection/Submitted)
In this illustration, artist-journalist Charles Fripp reveals the human side of tragedy on the Stikine trail to the Klondike in 1898. A man chases his partner around the tent with an axe, while a third man follows, attempting to intervene. (The Daily Graphic/July 27, 1898)

History Hunter: Charles Fripp — gold rush artist

The Alaskan coastal town of Wrangell was ill-equipped for the tide of…

In this illustration, artist-journalist Charles Fripp reveals the human side of tragedy on the Stikine trail to the Klondike in 1898. A man chases his partner around the tent with an axe, while a third man follows, attempting to intervene. (The Daily Graphic/July 27, 1898)
The Commissioner’s Levee was celebrated in the Commissioner’s residence in Dawson City when it was the capital of the territory. Here, shown in 1903, it was the most opulent home in the Yukon. The building was restored in the more classical form that we see today, after it was gutted by fire in 1906. (Gates collection/Yukon News)

History Hunter: The Commissioner’s Levee — a tradition for more than a century

Hello and Happy New Year to you all. My first official function…

The Commissioner’s Levee was celebrated in the Commissioner’s residence in Dawson City when it was the capital of the territory. Here, shown in 1903, it was the most opulent home in the Yukon. The building was restored in the more classical form that we see today, after it was gutted by fire in 1906. (Gates collection/Yukon News)
Flora Boyle Frisch stands in front of Dredge Number 4 on Bonanza Creek, which had originally been built by her father, Joe Boyle, in 1913 at the mouth of the Klondike River. (Kathy Jones-Gates/Submitted)

History Hunter: When Joe Boyle’s daughter came to visit

When Flo Whyard, former mayor of Whitehorse, called me on the telephone…

Flora Boyle Frisch stands in front of Dredge Number 4 on Bonanza Creek, which had originally been built by her father, Joe Boyle, in 1913 at the mouth of the Klondike River. (Kathy Jones-Gates/Submitted)
In 1909, Joseph Kavetzki took over Brown’s Harness Shop, depicted here, reconstructed, 90 years later. Third Avenue in Dawson, south of Princess Street, was the heart of the blue collar industrial section of gold rush Dawson. (Michael Gates/Yukon News)

History Hunter: The Yukon is rich in hidden history

I had worked for a few months in my new position as…

In 1909, Joseph Kavetzki took over Brown’s Harness Shop, depicted here, reconstructed, 90 years later. Third Avenue in Dawson, south of Princess Street, was the heart of the blue collar industrial section of gold rush Dawson. (Michael Gates/Yukon News)
Beatrice Lorne was always remembered by gold rush veterans as the ‘Klondike Nightingale’. (Yukon Archives/Maggies Museum Collection)

History Hunter: Beatrice Lorne — The ‘Klondike Nightingale’

In June of 1929, 11 years after the end of the First…

Beatrice Lorne was always remembered by gold rush veterans as the ‘Klondike Nightingale’. (Yukon Archives/Maggies Museum Collection)

History Hunter: Fake news is old news in the Yukon

If you haven’t heard of the allegations of “fake news” being thrown…

History Hunter: How the Yukon was spared the influenza pandemic of 1918

The isolation of the Yukon then afford the territory some protection that it doesn’t have today

History Hunter: The long — but satisfying — search for truth in history

Getting it right takes time

History Hunter: Yukoners honoured for their contributions to Yukon history

The Yukon Historical and Museums Association handed out the 36th Annual Yukon Heritage Awards

History Hunter: Will Rogers and Wiley Post: Their historic visit to the Yukon

The story of the American pilot and the film star has a Yukon connection

History Hunter: Martha Black was an ambassador for the Yukon

Michael and Kathy Gates In her autobiography titled My Seventy Years, Martha…

  • Jan 30, 2020

History Hunter: Old scrapbook tells story of Yukon tourism in the early days

It was quite the Christmas gift

History Hunter: New book tells old story of nursing in the Yukon

Author Amy Wilson was a registered nurse in the Yukon from 1949 to 1951