No fun but cold weather taken in stride by old-timers in early days
Bouts of cold weather seem to bring out lots of tall tales but in reality the people who live through extreme temperatures just sort of tough it out. Longtime Yukon resident Emil Forrest recalls the winter of 1908 when it was 72 below in Dawson City.
Bouts of cold weather seem to bring out lots of tall tales but in reality the people who live through extreme temperatures just sort of tough it out. Longtime Yukon resident Emil Forrest recalls the winter of 1908 when it was 72 below in Dawson City.
He kept on attending school and even delivered papers on the coldest day. His brother had the route for the old 'Klondike Nugget.' Emil remembers but for some reason he got the job that time. After he finished his route he just went home, like any other day.
White Pass railroader George Barry recalls one winter he froze his face 15 times before he could grow a beard for protection.
One of the coldest years in the Yukon was 1917. At Christmas that season it was 75 below in Whitehorse. According to a report written at the time, the fog that day was so thick a person could almost separate a chunk of it with a circular motion of the hand. W.D. MacBride was here then and he remembers if a cup of water was thrown high in the air, it would come down with a rattle.
It was even colder that year in Dawson, but Yukon-born Johnny Hoggan tells a story of going out on a hike with another youngster and getting almost halfway to Fort Macpherson before turning back. They were 28 days out on the trail.
The coldest trip he ever made came many years later for Johnny, when he travelled from Dawson to Mayo in 1954. He started out December 9 at 40 below. As it turned out, that was the warmest temperature the whole trip. Driving a small cat, which had no cabin, Johnny got to Mayo to find it 67 below.
On boxing day it warmed up to 58 below so he left with a companion to head for the junction, 34 miles away. It was -72 there and on the next lap of their journey to Clear Creek, the mercury stayed at 72 below all the way. When he finally got home to Dawson January 5, 40 below seemed like summer time.
While he was away that month, Mrs. Hoggan remembers she burned four cords of wood to keep a small cabin warm.
In spite of all his experiences in cold winters, Johnny says he still isn't used to the cold.
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