Dawson City

Our second day in Dawson (for us experienced travelers that's short for Dawson City) we took two tours - first, the sternweeler SS Kino (the smallest ship of the 60 operated by the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad) then Barge #4 - the largest wooden-hulled bucket dredge in North America.

The SS Kino made its last ceremonial voyage in 1960 from Whitehorse to Dawson, where it is now a historic site. The Keno was a small vessel (only 130 feet in length) specifically designed for the smaller Stewart River, its major cargo was silver, lead and zinc ore concentrate - having been constructed in 1922 after the gold rush had all but ended.

 

Next we toured Bardge #4 - a gigantic wooden vessel which recoverd more than 2000 tons of gold from Bonanza Creek before it ceased operation in 1959. The dredge moved along in a pond of its own making, digging up gold bearing gravel (plus anything else it encountered) - it operated 24 hours a day during each of its 200 day seasons (moving forward a half mile per season) and left large tailing piles (leftovers) in its wake that are still part of today's landscape.

 

This in "downtown" Dawson.