Montague Roadhouse
The Montague Roadhouse is one of the last remaining of the former 52 rest houses between Dawson and Whitehorse in the Yukon , in the far northwest of Canada .
A previous building was built in 1900 to supply the gold seekers with equipment, food and other goods as part of the Klondike gold rush . But he fell victim to a fire. The successor building, which was built not far from the old location, burned down in 1909. The roadhouse that still exists today, which forms the Montague Roadhouse Historic Site , was built in 1915 and served until the 1950s as a supply base along what is now the Northern Highway that connects Whitehorse with Dawson.
In 1902, the Yukon Territory government signed a contract with the White Pass and Yukon Railway that required the railroad to build a winter path to Dawson and distribute mail in winter. Roadhouses were built about every 30 to 40 km along the Overland Trail, the Montague Roadhouse is at 322.4 km.
Not only travelers who traveled on their own used such roadhouses, but also the post office with its carriages. Her passengers paid $ 1.50 for a meal and $ 1 for an overnight stay. The carriages drove along the 530 km long road from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. They could be converted from wheels to runners as required. The trip was $ 125 each way. For this purpose, the railway company maintained up to 275 horses, which were provided with a type of metal shoe in order to find support on the often smooth surface. On particularly cold days, not only did the coachmen wear furs, but some of the horses were also wrapped. The journey took around five days in snow and around seven and a half days without snow.
The kitchen and dining room were on the ground floor and the bedrooms on the upper floor. Two wood-fired stoves heated the house, which was lined with linen on the inside to lighten it up and catch falling moss.
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- ↑ The outer skin of the Carmacks Roadhouse was restored in 1996-97, the roadhouse at Yukon Crossing is still on the Yukon River, halfway between Whitehorse and Dawson. Other ruins can be found at Bishop Creek, Calder Summit, and Minto.