Dawson City (not to be confused with Dawson Creek in BC) is in the northern Yukon. It was the location of the largest gold strike in Canada in 1897. The discovery of gold on El Dorado Creek ( it was renamed after the discovery) set off the largest gold rush of the 19th century. At first the miners had to go over Chillcoot Pass outside Skagway in the US to reach the gold fields, but a railroad was built from Skagway to Whitehorse to make the trek easier. Dawson city once had 30,000 people in it. The population is now about 1700 and gets 60,000 tourists a year. Most miners got there too late and when all the claims had been staked out. The mining is placer mining, which means the gold is in the gravel above the bedrock. Dredges were used to extract the gold after the easy gold was retrieved. Sharon was able to pan for gold 100 yards from the big strike. Now gold was found.
Dawson City is where our fuel pump on our 1996 Lumina failed. We were towed to a garage by a offduty RCMP patrolman. The next morning the diagnosis was made on the fuel pump, but the store didn't have a pump in stock. The pump came from Whitehorse (325miles away) and was replaced the next day. The extra day was used to more thoroughly explore Dawson City.
Downtown Dawson City Sternwheeler on day land. The second remaining one.
At the helm Downtown
Dawson City from Midnight Dome Miners house in town
Graveyard Old house
Free ferry across the Yukon river Mining tools
Dredge number 6 operated until 1966 Front end of dredge with buckets missing
output of the dredge
Sharon panning for gold using wok. Only 100 yards from the original strike. No gold was found.
