Whitehorse

This is an extract from my newest book called

9 Canadian Cities: Victoria to Montreal via Whitehorse and Yellowknife

The Old Log Church Museum (OLCM) collects material connected with or related to the history of the Anglican church in the Yukon. That history goes back to 1861 — fully 35 years before they discovered gold in the Klondike. The Old Log Church Museum’s mission is to stimulate interest in that history and in the significant role the church played in the Yukon for over 150 years. The permanent collection of the OLCM has over 4500 objects, which range from archival materials to ecclesiastical vestments and artifacts. Just as fascinating are the stories they tell of the pioneers, like that of Isaac O. Stringer, a bishop of the Yukon for 26 years.

Even today people refer to him as “the Bishop who ate his boots.” Bishop Stringer and a missionary worker, Charles Johnson, got stranded in 1909 when an early winter storm froze the river they were following by canoe. They were travelling from Fort McPherson to Dawson City, between two of the bishop’s dioceses. They spent 51 days trudging through the wilderness before getting back to civilization. Nearing starvation during the ordeal, the two men boiled their sealskin and walrus skin boots to suck the nutrients from their shoes.