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Robert Service was a British-Canadian poet and writer who has often been called "the Bard of the Yukon". He is best known for his poems "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee", from his first book, Songs of a Sourdough.
Although he intended for his first booklet to be printed merely as gifts for family, his father saw the "gold" in Service's writing and sent his work to a publisher. "Songs of a Sourdough" was an immediate success.
Much of Service's career was working for the bank in Whitehorse in the Yukon territory and where he was far from the action in Dawson. He did not set foot in Dawson City until 1908, arriving in the Klondike ten years after the Gold Rush when his renown as a writer was already established.
In 1908, the bank transferred Service to Dawson where he met many veterans of the Gold Rush and their stories inspired a second book "Ballads of a Cheechako" which was also an instant success.
Eventually, the bank wanted Service to return to Whitehorse, but he refused. He rented a small two-room cabin where he created his first novel "The Trail of '98" which immediately became a national best seller.
Service died a rich man in Paris on September 11, 1958.
Portrait: 700GR FQ0009D001 © Carrie McLain Museum / Alaska Stock
