1996 Historical Photos

YUKON GOLD: Al Oster

These notes are from Al Oster L.P. record cover of Yukon Gold

YUKON GOLD – Al Oster

Hello Folks,

It all started many years ago I’m sure. Ever since I can remember I was reading everything that was available concerning the North Country. Many strange, unusual and fascinating tales of the Mountie, trapper, Indian, Eskimo and of course – the Klondike Gold Rush – were read and they helped to arouse my curiosity to a point of action.

So it was that on June 27th, 1957, our car left the yard of our country home in the Fraser Valley of B.C. loaded to the top and pulling a trailer – bound for Whitehorse in the Yukon – 1700 miles away. There was Mary my wife, our son Lorne, and our daughter Donna – and they were all eager to be off to The Land Of The Midnight Sun. They were most anxious to meet a real honest to goodness live Eskimo.

The trip up the Alaska Hi-way was a real adventure in itself. There were dozens of creeks to fish in and equally as many camping locations – but we wondered where the Yukon was. We began to doubt the integrity of the Americans who had built the Hi-way and wondered if somehow they had forgotten to put a town in it someplace. One thing certain – it was hard to believe that this Hi-way was constructed in only 9 months – winding through a vast untamed wilderness for over 1500 miles and ending at Fairbanks in Alaska. At last we arrived in Whitehorse nestled beside the green waters of the Yukon River – and a song was born. I sat down a few evenings later and wrote 918 MILES – which is the Alaska Hi-way Milepost number for Whitehorse.

The things I had read about the Yukon saying it was covered with ice and snow and always cold were far from the truth. The temperature was 75 when we arrived on the 1st day of July and it continued that warm for at least 2 months. We found the people to be the friendliest we had ever met and it wasn’t long before the North – “got into our blood” – so to speak – and we decided to stay.