News from the outside world wasn’t always easy to get in Dawson City in the 1910s. In the summer of 1914, little attention had been paid to the growing tensions in far-off Europe. On Aug. 5, Yukon Commissioner George Black and his wife Martha were attending a show at the Auditorium Theatre when he received an urgent telegram.

After reading it quickly he went to the stage and read aloud his message from the undersecretary of state in Ottawa informing him that Britain had declared war on Germany. After a brief silence, a couple of members of the Northwest Mounted Police rose to their feet and began singing God Save The King. The rest of the room joined in, followed by Rule Britannia and other patriotic songs.

Relaxing on the veranda of Dawson City Branch are members (from left) Chris Collin, Myrna Butterworth, President Diane Baumgartner and John Mitchell.

PHOTO: Tom MacGregor

That scene was recreated in August to mark the centennial of the beginning of the First World War. The Auditorium Theatre is now known as the Palace Grand Theatre and the current commissioner, Doug Phillips, read the telegram.

The re-enactment was co-ordinated by organizer Max Fraser, the Yukon Historical and Museums Association, Parks Canada, Klondike National Historic Sites and Dawson City Branch of The Royal Canadian Legion.

“A lot of us were in period costume and we had RCMP and others there,” said Dawson City Branch President Diane Baumgartner.

Dawson City Branch is one of only two Legion branches left in the Yukon. With a membership of just over 30, and no licensed lounge to generate revenue, the members stick together ensuring that there is a poppy campaign every year and other events in the community.

Not having a bar does not mean the branch does not have an attractive home. The branch has its own building beside a post office in the main section of Dawson City. It was opened up in September one afternoon where Baumgartner, executive members Chris Collin, John Mitchell and Myrna Butterworth and Mayor Wayne Potoroka gathered to show Legion Magazine its artifacts.

The walls are lined with photographs from Dawson City’s heyday following the discovery of gold in 1896. The town on the Yukon River at the mouth of the Klondike River swelled to a city of 30,000 in 1898 and was the largest city north of Seattle.

A photo of mining tycoon Joe Boyle in military uniform is part of the branch’s memorabilia.

photo: Tom MacGregor

“They were mostly Americans but we had the NWMP,” said Collin. “There was no claim jumping or gunfights.”

Now down to a population of about 2,000, the town of the City of Dawson, as it is officially designated, retains its historic look with many businesses preserving facades from the gold rush era. The streets are not paved and board sidewalks keep visitors out of the mud. In the summer that era is recalled as Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Gambling Hall operates a casino and puts on three shows a night featuring music and dancing girls.

The literary side of Dawson City is preserved in the Robert Service Cabin, where the poet lived after his first success. Just down the street is the Jack London Museum which preserves the memory of the American writer’s time in the Klondike, including a recreation of the cabin he lived in on Henderson Creek. The Berton House, where a young Pierre Berton lived for 12 years is also preserved and now acts as a writers’ retreat operated by the Writers’ Trust of Canada.

Dawson City Branch leases its building from the town.

photo: Tom MacGregor

The town was still a going concern when the First World War broke out. It is believed that approximately 620 men from the region signed up and served overseas. The government issued special permits which would protect the land claims while the men were away.

The Legion branch has its origins in the War Veterans Dawson Club which became a branch of the Great War Veterans Association (GWVA) in 1918 with a ladies auxiliary added that same year.

According to a brief history put together by member John Gould, the branch moved into the Kenwood Hotel in 1919 where there was room to seat 80 and an office. Then in 1927 the branch agreed to join the newly formed Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League.

The branch moved several times until taking residence in the current wood-frame building which was constructed by the city as an office for the 1996 centennial of the first gold strike and then the gold rush in 1898. Having served its original purpose, the building was empty, so the city agreed to lease it to the branch. The building has one room but it is large enough to host a reception after the Remembrance Day service, usually held in a local auditorium.

“There are not many military people here,” said member Collin. “There are some RCMP and we are very close with the Canadian Rangers.”

There are 39 rangers in the Dawson Patrol. “The rangers are a dynamic part of the community,” said Mitchell. The branch gives the rangers a place to meet and to store their equipment and memorabilia.

On top of their duties in search and rescue and defending Canada’s sovereignty, the patrol is responsible for a unit of junior rangers which is also supported by the branch. Mitchell said there are 25 junior rangers. “I’m just back from taking 20 kids into the woods for four days to learn bush skills,” he said.

The branch is also very supportive of the local food bank, Meals on Wheels and the Alexander McDonald Home for Seniors.

“People think of the Legion as a place to go on Friday night. We are more of a charitable organization,” said Baumgartner. “At one point we almost gave up on the Legion but we gave it a good look and decided to carry on.”

“We had a [liquor] licence for one year but we couldn’t get volunteers to work the bar on a regular basis,” explained Butterworth.

Mayor Potoroka, who is also a member, said, “We wanted to make sure Remembrance Day ceremonies took place and be sure that there was a poppy campaign. There is a lot that is done quietly with the poppy fund. We find that we are helping individuals who are having difficulty a lot more than we used to.”

The branch also keeps an eye on the cenotaph in the Victory Garden that was unveiled in 1925 in an impressive ceremony attended by 150 schoolchildren and members of the GWVA and the Independent Order of the Daughters of the Empire. Two captured German Krupp guns flank the cenotaph.

The Dawson City Volunteer Firefighter Association recently upgraded the monument with donations from a local trucking company and landscaping firm at no cost to the town or Legion. The branch recently replaced the flags and bought one commemorative bench. “We’ll be buying another bench this spring for a matched set,” said Baumgartner.

While there was much construction around the Victory Garden this summer as a new seniors extended care facility is being built which will have a fresh air veranda stretching the length of the building and looking out at the Victory Garden.

It is a peaceful setting to remember the sacrifices that followed the news that fateful night in 1914.