Not long after gold was discovered in the central Yukon, dredges were introduced to the region. One of two dozen dredges that worked this area, Dredge No.4 rests on Claim 17 Below Discovery on Bonanza Creek near the spot where it ceased operations in 1959. Dredge No.4 is the largest wooden hull, bucket line dredge in North America and is a significant example of corporate industrial mining in Canada.
This two-room log cabin, set amidst the willows and the alders on the lower slopes at the eastern end of the town, has long been a tourist attraction. Here, Robert W. Service, bard of the Klondike, lived from November 1909 to June 1912. During this time he wrote his melodramatic novel, The Trail of Ninety-Eight, and composed his third and final volume of Yukon verse, Songs of a Rolling Stone.
In Dawson City, you can see the one-time homes of writers Jack London, Pierre Berton and Robert Service all on the same street. The Jack London Interpretive Museum houses both a replica of the author’s cabin and his original, restored food cache. The center contains photos, documents, newspaper articles and other London memorabilia.
The only way to cross the Yukon River is to take the ferry across in order to continue on The Top Of The World Highway and get into Chicken, Alaska.
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