Keys to History

Over a century ago, there were no modern fabrics to wear in the bush. Summer and winter, the miners wore clothes made of wool, hot in the summer, barely warm enough in the freezing Yukon winters. Some miners from Ohio reported that winter clothes cost $250 per man. That was two thirds of a year's wages for an industrial worker in that period. There were no dry cleaners or washing machines at the gold mines. You can imagine what it must have smelled like in a winter cabin with a woodstove roaring hot to keep out the frost. Dogs, of course, have always been important to the Yukon, first as working dogs, and now for winter sports.

Source : Off to the Klondike! The Search for Gold [Web tour], by William R. Morrison, University of Northern British Columbia (see Links)