The reality of the Yukon gold rush.

Pioneer RV Park, Whitehorse YT (1 star)

After an aborted visit to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve due to the smoke from the Ibex Valley forest fire, we decided to visit the MacBride Museum in Whitehorse.

This is an impressive place which took us all day to see. It has endless displays and artifacts of Yukon life and people. Lee notes that it does a superb job of describing the real Yukon Gold Rush, the development of life in the Yukon and the impact of the Alaska HIghway in 1942. They have a thorough collection of photographs and maps to support their stories.

Among the unusual things to see - the actual cabin built by Sam McGee (made famous by Robert W. Service), a historical film from the National Film Board of Canada narrated by Pierre Berton and a set of paintings by Ted Harrison, who lived and painted in nearby Carcross.

Lee continues to be fascinated by the age of stern wheelers. There is a photo in the museum showing eight sternwheelers tied up on the shore in downtown Whitehorse. The museum also has a separate building housing one of the original White Pass and Yukon Railway locomotives.

The fires in the region are filling our air and lungs with smoke. The daytime high was in the 30 C's. In spite of the air, we headed into Whitehorse to visit the MacBride Museum. The info on the internet notes it is home to 40,000 objects. We observed as much as we could via the several galleries illustrating Yukon First Nations, the Klondike Gold Rush, a colletion of artwork from Ted Harrison, a display hanging from the roof depicting Northern Lights icicles. The diplays are captured in 367 photos taken. Lee is busy picking out the ones to share! I have not seen a museum quite like it. Feet are tired. We will sleep well.