John Firth

The Caribou Hotel John Firth

Navigating the fine lines between historical documents and local lore this frank, funny, insightful and well illustrated book brings to life in a lovingly told story the experiences, events and personalities of one of the most historically rich buildings in the north. The Caribou Hotel played a central role in history making events ranging from hosting the last living link to the Klondike Gold Rush (Polly the "mean bird with the foul mouth"), to North America's worst Pacific coast marine disaster, to being headquarters for the contractors building the world renowned Alaska Highway and the U. S. Army's CANOL pipeline debacle that put Harry Truman in the White House. Playing host to the rich and famous of the early 20th century, it gave them an unforgettable life experience far from the pretensions and social parlors of their Hollywood, New York and London, England homes. One of Canada's most famous haunted hotels, it was featured on a "ghostly" stamp released by Canada Post in 2015 and designated as a historical site by the Government of Yukon in 2008.