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INTRODUCTION
However, the mail service during the 1890s in the Yukon was rudimentary, at best:
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Communications between the interior and the outside were tenuous, depending largely on one scheduled mail delivery and individual voluntary messengers. The mail service would need improvement as letters not on their way north by May from eastern Canada would not arrive until May of the following year and the answer would take another year.3
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The mail so eagerly anticipated often brought answers to questions long forgotten.
The late 1890s witnessed the establishment of a modern postal service in the Yukon. At the outset, mushers4 and their dog-teams were brought in to carry the mail. The story of their work – and their achievement – follows.
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First Dog-Team Used Between Dawson and White Horse, Yukon, December 6, 1901
© Public domain
National Library and National Archives
of Canada, PA-122807
In 1902, construction of the route known as the Overland Trail marked the end of dogsled mail delivery between White Horse and Dawson. However, mail carriers using dog-teams continued to serve settlements around Dawson and in outlying areas. |
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Street Scene, Dawson, Yukon, Looking North
© Public domain
National Library and National Archives
of Canada, PA-013388
Two dog-team drivers preparing to leave Dawson. Two men usually accompanied each team: one was in charge of keeping the sled in position, while the other went ahead on snowshoes to blaze a trail. |
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