Sternwheelers once carried prospectors—and their mandatory ton of goods—740 kilometers (460 miles) between Whitehorse and Dawson City. The downstream run took around 36 hours, but battling back against the current could consume four to five days. Built in 1929, the original ss Klondike was the largest of the 250-strong fleet, which anchored regional transport for nearly four generations. After it sank, shipwrights built an identical vessel—the Klondike II—that became the last sternwheeler to work the Yukon River, before it retired and began welcoming visitors instead of passengers.
The S.S. Klondike National Historic Site of Canada, Whitehorse, Yukon _ the original S.S. Klondike was launched in 1929 and sank in 1936, S.S. Klondike II was launched in 1937 and has been recently been restored
Ron Erwin/© Ron Erwin
