The well-known poem by Robert Service, titled The Cremation of Sam McGee , describes vividly the real sufferings of gold miners attracted to the Klondike gold rush beginning in the late 1890s, and muses about the strange things happening in the midnight sun on the marge of Lake Labarge during a Klondike gold rush era winter storm. Is it possible that the cremation was accompanied by recorded music from a passing steamboat?
In 1897, a small sternwheeler, the "A.J. Goddard", was placed into service during the gold rush on the lakes and Yukon River system leading to Dawson City. The small iron steamboat was manufactured in San Francisco, and sailed to Alaska. There, the boat was dismantled and hauled over mountain passes to Lake Labarge where it was reassembled. Val Monahan, Conservator of Yukon Museum Collections says, "The A.J. Goddard was very small and much less fancy than most boats. A real rough and ready little vessel, the deck had only a canvas cover. It was used to move people at first, but its main role was to haul firewood, freight and supplies and to tow scows."
During an October 1901 storm on Lake Labarge, the boat sank. Two passengers clung to wooden debris and were rescued the following morning. The three crewmembers drowned and their bodies were recovered the following spring along a shoreline.
The exact location of the sunken boat was unknown until 2008, when a sonar survey of Lake Labarge conducted by the Yukon Transportation Museum located an unknown vessel. Subsequent follow-up in 2010 confirmed that it was the A.J. Goddard, extremely well preserved and remarkably undisturbed at the bottom of the lake in 40 feet of very cold water.
In June 2010, an international archaeology team supported by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Ocean Gate, the Government of Yukon, the Yukon Transportation Museum and others worked to document the vessel and its contents.
A crew member’s jacket and boots still lay on the deck, there were scattered dishes and tools, and even the fire-box of the boiler was still open. It was clear that the ship’s fireman had been trying to throw in firewood to get more steam in a hurry. An axe was also resting on the deck where it had been abandoned by a crewmember.
But .. most interesting, and not identified at the time of recovery from the wreck in 2010, was a small wooden box and several associated parts and discs. Proper forensic procedures were followed. Artifacts recovered in water must remain in water until the time for examination. This means transporting and storing those items in suitably sized containers filled with water. Exposure to air can cause considerable damage in a hurry.
These items were forwarded to Tara Grant, a conservationist at the Canadian Conservation Institute in Ottawa, Ontario, to be examined. It was immediately evident that the found items were an old external-horn wind-up gramophone of some sort and three disc records. As the horn was not among the recovered items, a further dive was conducted to search for the horn and any other possible parts and pieces, without success. been abandoned by a crewmember.
"It is likely still on the floor of Lake Labarge", said Val Monahan.
Lindsay Thomas, lead archaeologist at the time of the finds, said, "Finding the gramophone was a really big shock. Most of the other items were what you would expect to find at a shipwreck. It demonstrated that music was really important to the people of the gold rush."
The gramophone likely belonged to one of the crew members of the ship! It would have been dismantled, packed with the records and carried along with other belongings over the icy mountain passes, and by steamship or dog-sled to the Klondike, in much the same way that the AJ Goddard had arrived!
Although no nameplate or tags were found on the gramophone, examining the case, components, and placement of spring mechanism and crank identified it as an 1897-1899 Berliner Style 5 –Trademark or Trademark-Late Model hand-crank gramophone.
Further examination was conducted on the records, one of which was broken. Disc records at that time did not have paper labels, but the information was stamped into the hard rubber discs. The three recovered discs were gently brushed to reveal the stamping. The records have been identified as:
Ma Onliest One was the last song to be played by the crew, as it was still on the gramophone turntable. The discs will likely never be able to be played, as the grooves are filled with iron oxide that is almost impossible to remove without damaging the artifacts.
Interestingly, during her research, Lindsay Thomas found an advertisement in the Canadian Music Trades Journal in 1901 showing a similar, if not identical, gramophone and three records selling as a package for $15. (Canadian Music Trades Journal 1901:3; Library and Archives Canada).
It is clear that music was an incredibly important part of surviving in and documenting of the Klondike gold rush. Most popular music at that time included minstrel songs, old Irish tunes and waltzes, all of which are represented in the A.J. Goddard recovery. For the most part they were simple songs which could be easily performed by amateur musicians who may have brought along their own instruments.
Lindsay Thomas, also a Masters student at Texas A&M University (Nautical Archaeology Program), summed up: "The gramophone was the most surprising find of the season, and by far the most interesting. Found on one of the smallest and most utilitarian Yukon River steamboats, this small luxury provides an insight that is incredibly valuable to understanding life on board."
This past year, the A.J. Goddard shipwreck was designated an historic site. The gramophone and discs will be returned to the Yukon Archaeology Program once full examinations have been completed. A future exhibit of the A.J. Goddard recovery is presently being designed by the Yukon Transportation Museum, at which time the gramophone and discs will be on display for the public to view.
"There are strange things done in the midnight sun, by the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales …….."
Yes …. it is possible that, as Sam McGee roasted on the marge of Lake Labarge ….the faint strains of recorded music from a Berliner Gramophone may have been heard blowing with the wind that night.
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