Whitehorse Rapids, Yukon River circa 1898
“Geography has kept the Yukon to a slower pace, so that if I wasn’t exactly traveling backward in time, I often had the illusion of drifting more slowly in the present.”
—John Hildebrand – “Reading the River”
From the mailbag:
Mercury produced a line of pickups between 1946 and 1968. They were almost solely available in Canada. Many areas in Canada had a Ford/Monarch dealer or a Lincoln/Mercury/Meteor dealer, but few areas had both. In order for those Lincoln/Mercury dealers to sell trucks, Ford pickups carried the Mercury badge. Instead of the “F” designation, the Mercury line had an “M” designation. For the most part, the differences were cosmetic. If anything, the Mercury line was a bit more upscale, with a different grille or bumpers, often chromed compared to the plain Fords.
A 1957 Mercury Meteor Ranchero
The Automotive Trade Agreement signed between the United States and Canada in 1965 would bring about the end of the Mercury line of pickups. With the automotive manufacturers now being able to freely bring models across the border, the need for the separate line of Mercury M-Series ended, and the trucks were phased out by 1968.
Photo credit: Geographic Information Network of Alaska/Jessica Cherry
Residents of Eagle, Alaska are once again upstream of a significant ice dam on the Yukon River. The ice dam is at 6 Mile Bend, and that is causing water to back up over the banks near Eagle and Eagle Village. In 2009, a major ice dam caused severe flooding in Eagle, with many buildings being swept right off their foundations by huge chucks of river ice.
The Yukon River went out at Dawson City last Saturday morning, the earliest on record. With Tuesday’s ice movement at Eagle, that was within one day of the all time record for the ice going out at Eagle.
“At length the Rocky Mountains came in sight like shining white clouds on the horizon, but we doubted what our guide said; but as we proceeded,
they rose in height, their immense masses of snow appeared above the
clouds, and formed an impassable barrier, even to the Eagle.”
— David Thompson
Photo credit: Michael Davies
A shoutout to Canadian photographer Michael Davies, who took this shot outside Pangnirtung, Nunavut, which is just south of the Arctic Circle.
At -40F the hot tea freezes almost instantly, and Davies captures the moment as the tea is flung from the container. I do not know how many times I showed this stunt off to the few tourists who braved Fairbanks, Alaska in the winter, but it was more often than I care to admit.
Kudos. That is one beautiful shot.
St Paul, Minnesota
St Paul’s Xcel Energy Center
Hockey returned to the schedule Tuesday night. This time for an NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and the Vancouver Canucks at the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul.
Warmups at The X
Ryan Miller would be starting in goal for Vancouver. I have watched Miller play since he was a Spartan, in fact I’ve been at more games when he was in net for Michigan State, than I have seen him play as a pro.
It would be a tough night for Miller, as his teammates seemed to do a lot of standing around and watching the Wild skate.
Thomas Vanek, the former Golden Gopher, opened the scoring with a power play goal. Jason Zucker followed with an even strength goal to go up 2-0 after one period.
The second period was all Minnesota, as the Wild scored four more goals, throwing a total of 36 shots at Miller. Vancouver did get one behind Darcy Kuemper, who started his fifth consecutive game in place of the injured Devan Dubnyk. The score was 6-1 after two.
Players taking the ice for third period
Ryan Miller was mercifully pulled for the third period, and the Canucks managed to get one more behind Kuemper. However, at this point, both teams seemed to just be trying to wind down the clock and get out of the arena.
Final score: 6-2 Wild win. Vanek had his first 4 point night as a member of the Wild. Captain Mikko Koivu also had a 4 point night, with Zach Parise picking up 3 points. Those were the three stars of the game. Attendance was 18,804.
Courtesy of The Daily Gopher
Minnesota hockey legend Glen Sonmor passed away on Monday at the age of 86. Sonmor, a native of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, had a pro career in the AHL and played 28 games with the NY Rangers before his career was cut short when he was hit in the eye by a snapshot from teammate Steve Kraftcheck.
Glen Sonmor as a New York Ranger
After Sonmor lost his left eye, John Mariucci hired Sonmor to coach the freshman hockey team at the University of Minnesota, eventually becoming the Golden Gophers’ varsity head coach in 1966 after Mariucci left the program. Sonmor led Minnesota to the WCHA title in 1970, becoming the conference coach of the year that season. In 1971, despite a 14-17-2 record, Coach Sonmor led Minnesota to a runner up finish in the NCAA Tournament.
In 1972, Herb Brooks took over the Minnesota program, when Sonmor left the Golden Gophers to become the coach & GM of the new Minnesota Fighting Saints.
Sonmor as the North Stars’ head coach. Photo credit: Minneapolis Tribune
In 1978 Sonmor took over as coach of the Minnesota North Stars, leading the team to their first Stanley Cup finals in 1981 against the NY Islanders.
In the late 1990’s, Glen Sonmor returned to the Golden Gophers, when he teamed up with Wally Shaver for radio broadcasts of Gopher hockey. Sonmor was 81 when he retired from the airwaves in 2011 after 15 seasons of broadcasting.
The steamer Clifford Sifton shooting Miles Canyon circa 1900. Photo credit: Major James Skitt Matthews
“Through this narrow chute of corrugated rock the wild waters of the great river rush in a perfect mass of milk-like foam, with a reverberation that is audible for a considerable distance, the roar being intensified by the rocky walls which act like so many sounding boards. Huge spruce trees in sombre files overshadow the dark canyon, and it resembles a black thoroughfare paved with the whitest of marble.”
— Frederick Schwatka
“I demand that neither hardship, suffering, privation, nor fear of death should move you by a hair’s breadth from carrying out your duties.”
— Inspector George French … Royal North-West Mounted Police
“…on the opposite side of the ford was a large polar bear feasting on a beluga; we boldly took the ford thinking the bear would go away, but when halfway across, he lifted his head, placed his forepaws on the beluga, and uttering a loud growl, showed us such a set of teeth as made us turn up the stream, and for fifty yards wade up to our middle before we could cross, during this time the bear eyed us, growling like a mastiff dog.”
Narrative by David Thompson (b1770-d1857)
