BOBILLIER, MARCEL (1A) (104 ENG -- 103 fran)

    BOBILLIER, MARCEL (1A)  (104 ENG)

My first trip on the Yukon, from Whitehorse to Dawson

By Father Marcel Bobillier,  o.m.i.

We were at the beginning of June 1942.

I had just been sent to Fort Selkirk, the first capital of the Yukon to re-open the Catholic mission which had been closed for over forty years.

At this time in history, there was no road between Whitehorse and Dawson.  For the past month the first miles of the great road to Alaska had been opened in the northern bush, hence the only way to get to an isolated village on the river was to take a steamboat.

By steamboat from Whitehorse to Fort Selkirk

Thus, this is how I left Whitehorse on the CASCA, one of the five or six steamboats navigating on the river and some of its tributaries. Compared to the little boats employed on the Liard the previous summer, this steamboat was truly impressive. It measured more than 175 feet in length and had two bridges superimposed and a warehouse between decks for the merchandise, the machinery, the kitchen, and the wood provision for the steam boiler. The entire boat was supervised or topped by the pilot. The boat itself was "propelled" by an enormous wheel, 7-8 feet in diameter and 25 feet in length. It functioned on the same principle as the wheels of a locomotive.  On this steamboat, one could accommodate about one hundred passengers a night with a big dining room, and an observation deck which reminded one of the big transatlantic ships.

In peacetime, many tourists came down the river on these steamboats to visit the Klondike, but this summer of 1942, the tourists had disappeared; however the boats worked more than ever for the defense of the nation and to provide fresh provisions to the citizens of the Yukon.

It was past midnight when the CASCA, pushing ahead of itself a long barge with drums of gasoline, left the wharf and started to sail up the river, then turned on itself and let itself be carried by the rapid waves of the Yukon.

The night was clear because at this time of the year, darkness does not exist.  The sun which had gone beyond the gold-gilded mountains had reappeared in the east.  Even as a river of 1000 loops and bends, the steamboat could travel night and day  nearly the whole season without stopping.

Fort Selkirk was about 300 miles by river from Whitehorse. I'd have all the time in the world on the next day to admire the scenery.  So after a light lunch I went to my cabin and spent an excellent night while the steamboat descended the first miles and crossed the 30 miles of Lake Laberge.

In the morning, I awoke beyond the lake, along another arm of the river where the ice had not yet entirely disappeared along the shores.  At this spot, the river was so narrow and winding that the steamboat could not get around the narrow tongue before getting underway on its normal run. The high mountains had disappeared and we found ourselves caught tight between small hills.  The day was splendid but the wind was cold.

ref: Marcel Bobillier (first part)