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It was the inspiration that poet Robert Service found in the Yukon that eventually brought him the riches and fame that led him to leave. Service referred to the eight years that he spent living in the Yukon as the most momentous of his life.

Service was transferred to Dawson City from Whitehorse by the Bank of Commerce, where he had been employed as a teller. The solitude of the ice and snow, and the hopefulness and realities of the thousands of miners inspired some of his most famous work. He settled into a rustic cabin and spent his time walking and writing. It was on one of these walks that the vision for one of his most famous poems, The Shooting of Dan McGrew, came to him.

In his two-room rented cabin, Service wrote many other poems and his first novel, The Trail of 98, which was made into a Hollywood motion picture in 1924 ― the first talking picture about the Klondike gold rush.

His literary success resulted in monetary success as well and in 1912, after becoming financially secure and independent, he left the Yukon never to return, although he has since been considered one the most famous and inspired voices of the Yukon.

Learn more about Robert Service