We spent two days in Dawson City whose streets are still unpaved because of the permafrost.

Parks Canada has declared Dawson City a historic district similar to Skagway. We took a walking tour which included the paddle wheeler Keno, the bank, post office, mortuary and several clothing stores with their supplies intact. It was very expensive supplying Dawson City because of its location. As a result when the gold rush ended and the population decreased the stores were closed and their contents abandoned. The cost of taking it with them was higher then replacing everything at the new location.We did not board the Keno as that was a separate tour and we preferred to go to the gold dredge instead. We also attended a talk at Robert Service's cabin and learned about the famous poet. Robert Service a poet and Jack London a novelist recorded the happenings of the klondike gold rush and are favorite topics of area interpreters. I have purchased several books of Robert Service's poetry and enjoy it but I never liked Jack London's style.

Gold Dredge Number 4 the largest wooden hull bucket-line dredge in North America was frozen in the lake for over 50 years and salvaged by Parks Canada. With giant scoops the dredge picks up the rocks and sand which it sifts out while the gold falls to the bottom of its trays much like a placer miner* but on a massive scale. This way the corporations were able to take out millions of dollars while leaving the surrounding area a waste land of river rocks.

Check out the slide show of our visit to the Gold Dredge.

That night we went to the show at Diamond Tooth Gertie's the local non profit (community owned) casino. Debby gambled, we watched the 8:30 and 10:30 shows and spent time talking to people who we had met earlier in our trip. Debby and I may have been the only Jewish people in the audience and many of the people gambling were first nation Canadians non the less the singer closed the 8:30 show with LChiam from Fiddler on the Roof and the two accompanist played Hava Nagila while the dancing girls danced. I was going to check the cast names when we left but it slipped my mind.

The next day we left Dawson City heading for Whitehorse.

*Placer Mining occurs when the miner puts some sand in a pan and splashes water into the pan. The gold being heavier then dirt falls to the bottom while the sand, pebbles and rocks washes out.

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