Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2013 – Road Trip! {Letter “D”}

A to Z Challenge

I am very excited to be taking part in the Blogging A to Z Challenge 2013.  This is actually my third challenge; the first year I featured a recipe for each letter and last year I drew on  my nursing background and uses “parts of the human body” as my inspiration!

This year I have decided to change things up a bit.  I live in Canada and believe it is one of the most beautiful countries on the planet; so I have decided to feature a different Canadian “place”, for each letter of the challenge.

I am very much looking forward to seeing how everyone interprets the Challenge and I would love to have you join me, as I crisscross this vast country on my Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2013 – Road Trip!

So, without further ado,   “D” is for Dawson City, Yukon

The far north of Canada has always held a fascination for me and has long been a place I have wanted to visit.  The climate, terrain and culture is so different from much of Canada, I think it would be such a wonderful place to travel to and to learn more about.

A to Z Challenge

Population: 1,319 (2011 census)

Notable Residents:

  • Pierre Berton,  Canadian author of non-fiction, especially Canadiana and Canadian history, and was a well-known television personality and journalist.
  • Robert W. Service, Poet – best known for his poems “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee”. {My personal favourite!}
  • Martha Black, the second woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons.
  • Alexander Pantages, opened a small theatre to serve the city. A vaudeville and early motion picture producer he created a large and powerful circuit of theatres across the western United States and Canada.
  • Victor Jory, actor of stage, film, and television, was born in Dawson in 1902 to American parents.
  • Jack London is an American author, journalist, and social activist who spent some time in Dawson City and is the author of  The Call of the Wild and White Fang.
  • In fiction, Scrooge McDuck went to Dawson City in his quest for gold.

Dawson CityHistory:

Dawson City, often referred to as Dawson by locals, is actually a town.  The townsite was founded by Joseph Ladue and named in January 1897 after noted Canadian geologist George M. Dawson. However, Dawson City has a much longer history as an important harvest area used for millennia by the Hän-speaking people of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and their forebears.

Dawson City was the center of the Klondike Gold Rush which began in 1896 and changed the First Nations camp into a thriving city of 40,000 by 1898. By 1899, the gold rush had ended and the town’s population plummeted as all but 8,000 people left.  The population dropped again after World War II when the Alaska Highway bypassed it 300 miles to the south. The damage to Dawson City was such that Whitehorse, the highway’s hub, replaced it as territorial capital in 1953.

Once referred to as the “Paris of the North”, its name will always be synonymous with the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush. Dawson City is a well preserved, living and breathing cultural and historic oasis tucked away in the middle of the Yukon wilderness.

Climate:

Like most of the Yukon, Dawson City has a subarctic climate. The average temperature in July is 15.6 °C (60.1 °F) and in January is −26.7 °C(−16.1 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded is 34.7 °C (94.5 °F) on May 31, 1983 and the lowest temperature ever recorded is −55.8 °C(−68.4 °F) on February 11, 1979.

A to Z Challenge

Historic buildings in downtown Dawson City, Yukon, taken on June 11, 2007 by Michael Edwards.  {Photo Attribution: Dawsonesque at en.wikipedia(CC)}

A to Z Challenge

Aerial view of Dawson City with the Yukon River  {Photo of Dawson City, Yukon, taken by Michael Edwards on June 10, 2007. Attribution: Dawsonesque at en.wikipedia (CC)}

1:00am Dawson City

Dawson City, 1:00 AM, June 17, 2009 {Photo Attribution: Dave Bezaire & Susi Havens-Bezair (CC)}

It’s been a very long day of driving and it’s time to check into our room at the Best Western.  Let’s grab and early supper and get a good nights sleep, tomorrow is going to be another long day.  Next stop on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge – Road Trip  is a surprise, but I will tell you, we’re in for a very, very long drive and we will arrive at somewhere that starts with the letter “D”.

Have you ever visited Dawson City or any other community in Canada’s far north?

If you have, I would love to hear all about your visit; I will be living vicariously through you!

I will see you tomorrow and get a good nights sleep! We have another long day before we reach our next destination…someplace that starts with the letter “E”.

Past visits on the A to Z Challenge 2013 – Road Trip:

Complete listing of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2013 participants.

CREDITS – Map source – File:Location map Yukon.png (Wikimedia Commons) (altered to add place name).  Information contained in this post was obtained from the Dawson City Visitors Association and Wikipedia.

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Comments

  1. Catherine White - Oak Lawn Lady says:

    Wow, Dawson City is off the beaten path alright. What a quaint town it is. Thought it looks pretty populated from the aerial shot. I’ve never been there, but have a niece living a present in Yellowknife, so I could visit her, if I went to see Dawson.
    Looking forward to your E selection.
    Kathy at Oak Lawn Images

  2. Sugar & Spice & All Things ? Nice says:

    While trying to imagine what city you would pick for the “D” part of the challenge, Dawson City was not one of them. It is, however, and excellent choice. A totally different environment than the last couple of stops on your road trip.
    I remember Victor Jory from the old movies and Pierre Burton reminds me of a Peter Mansbridge of his time.
    Enjoy your rest and drive/fly safely to your next destination.
    http://sugarspiceallthings-nice.blogspot.com/

    • Pat, we are heading on a girls trip….Dawson City, then to visit Kathy’s niece in Yellowknife, then we’ll visit with Krista and then Jarod before heading home…girls trip!! Pack your bags :)

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