An Explorer's Guide to Carcross, Yukon

Canada's Historic Places: Caribou Hotel, Carcross

THe Caribou Hotel today

Dateline: February 3, 2026.

This page is Under Construction

The history of the Caribou Hotel: a summary:

    "Dating to 1910, the Caribou Hotel is one of the oldest buildings in the Southern Lakes region. The original building was moved here from Bennett City on a scow by the owner, W. A. Anderson. In 1903, Dawson Charlie (Káa Goox) purchased the hotel from Anderson. Charlie was a member of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation and one of the co-discoverers of gold in the Klondike. He named it the Caribou Hotel and the business prospered under several different managers. Dawson Charlie died in 1908 and his heir, Annie Auston, leased the hotel to Edwin and Bessie Gideon, until it burnt to the ground on Christmas Eve, 1909. The Gideons rebuilt the hotel using material salvaged from a building in Conrad City. They continued to run the hotel until Mrs. Gideon died in 1933. Her ghost is said to roam the third floor.

    Over the years, the hotel has provided accommodation for locals, miners, tourists and visiting dignitaries. Johnnie Johns, a world renowned big game hunter, had a long relationship with the hotel and many of his clients stayed here. The hotel was also known for Polly the parrot, who lived here from 1918 to 1972 and entertained the guests with his renditions of "I Love You Truly" and "Springtime in the Rockies".

    The Caribou Hotel is a designated Yukon Historic Site. The current owners are undertaking restoration work." (from the Carcross Walking Tour brochure)

    The hotel as we see it today was built in 1910 following a fire that destroyed the original building on December 24, 1909. Here is what happened before 1910:

• may have been the Yukon Hotel in Bennett, which was going to be moved to Caribou Crossing in May 1901 by William A. Anderson. At that time, William Walmsley's Caribou House was the only hotel in town.
• May 19, 1901, Anderson applies to Hugh McKinnon, on Vendone Hotel (Bennett) stationery, for a hotel licence at "Carriboo Crossing." Opened as the Anderson Hotel.
• Christmas 1901, Anderson sponsored a Turkey Shoot; "Caribou can boast of more crack shots than any other town of its size in Canada, and the entire population turned out to take part in and witness the contest. A noticeable feature was the entire absence of drunkenness, not an intoxicated person being present. The Indians took an active part in the proceedings, and every turkey was hotly contested for. Paddie, of Tagish, carried off the honours for the day" (Star, Dec.27).
• January 1903, Anderson's bar, hotel and store were sold to Dawson Charlie for a reported $9000. Renamed the Caribou Hotel and extensively remodelled. "Mr. Scott will manage the hotel in the interests of Dawson Charlie" (Star, Jan.10).
• May 23, 1903: "We call the attention of our readers to the advertisement of the Anderson hotel, at Caribou, which appears elsewhere in our columns. This hotel has been recently purchased by Dawson Charlie who has spared no expense in refitting it so that this well known hostelry is npw one of the finest hotels in the north. Special attention is paid to travelers who maybe enroute to or from Atlin and to those who may have occasion to visit Caribou. The hotel is under the able management of T. M. Watson." (Star). Theodore M. Watson went on to join his father Charles at the Windy Arm Hotel in Conrad in 1906.
• in July 1904, managed by Mrs. E. Ready
• October 1906, leased (?) by R. J. Brittain.
• following Dawson Charlie's death on January 26, 1908, Edwin W. and Bessie Geraldine Gideon rented it from his estate (starting September 1, 1908)
• burned on December 24, 1909; Colonel Conrad's house, just around the corner on the Lake Bennett waterfront, was used as temporary hotel until new one built. Read the article from The Weekly Star of December 31st - Fire at Carcross.

June 10, 1910: "The new building opposite the new depot of the White Pass Company, which cheechacoes mistake for the Waldorf-Astoria, is the new Caribou Hotel, designed by Mr. G. C. Killam, which is being fitted up with all the newest appurtenances of expert builders and outfitters, to enable Mr. and Mrs. Gideon once more to dispense their old-time hospitality in an old-time way."
Read more about the rebuilding since the fire - Carcross rises from the ashes....

August 19, 1910: "The Caribou hotel, just completed by the proprietor, E. W. Gideon, has not an equal in the territory for solidity of structure and permanency of appearance. The main building is 30 by 60 feet, three stories, and the wing in which are the kitchen and dining room is 24 by 30. The building comprises fine sample room, billiard and pool room, large parlor and 22 bedrooms in the main structure. It is plastered and finished in hardwood, all the rooms are papered and provided with everything that will give comfort to guests. It is heated throughout by furnace in the basement. The hotel has been occupied only a week. It is an ornament to the town and a monument to the confidence and enterprise of the owner - a vast improvement on the original Caribou hotel which went up in smoke and down in ashes the day before Christmas of last year."

• Polly the Parrot moved into the hotel in 1918, when Captain James Alexander, owner of Engineer Mine (BC Mininster of Mines, 1913) asked the Gideons to take care of him (Polly was a male) while he and his wife went Outside; they were killed in the wreck of the Princess Sophia
• June 17, 1921: "E. W. Gideon has the Caribou hotel in excellent shape to meet the expected rush of tourists and has remodelled and completely redecorated the Seott hotel, which will be used as an overflow to accomodate the heavy travel this year."
• December 1926, beer licence held by Mrs. E. W. Gideon.

• October 27 1933, Bessie Gideon died; although she was reported to have been buried in Carcross, a 1998 cemetery survey has been unable to locate her grave. The hotel has been reported by many people to be haunted by Bessie's ghost, a shy spirit who is neither friendly nor unfriendly. Bessie's sister, Louise V. Dawson, had been helping her manage the hotel, and was executrix of her estate. The hotel was on a lot which was rented from Annie Austin, for $75 per year.
• rented by Jack McMurphy ca. 1939-1940
• n.d., owned by May Florence Ross for 9 years; she died in Chilliwack, BC, February 3, 1991, at 92 years old.
• operated by Dorothy Hopcott from 1959 until ?

• owned and operated by Bob Olson from the early 1990s until December 24, 2004, when he was murdered in the hotel. Mark Lange and Dean Boucher were convicted of second-degree murder on August 31, 2006.
• 2006, complete reconstruction by new owners Jamie Toole and Anne Morgan began.

                                                                                Caribou Hotel Historic Site
    The Caribou Hotel is one of the oldest buildings in the Southern Lakes Region and is one of Yukon's longest operating hotels.
    The Yukon Hotel was moved here from Bennett City and named the Anderson Hotel. Carcross/Tagish First Nation citizen Dawson Charlie, one of the discoverers of Klondike gold, renamed it the Caribou Hotel after he bought and remodelled it in 1903.
    The hotel and neighbouring buildings burned down on Christmas Eve 1909, soon after Dawson Charlie's death. The current Caribou Hotel was immediately rebuilt in the same location. Its size and simple design are representative of large hotels of the period and illustrate typical design elements, construction materials and building techniques.
    Over time, the hotel has provided accommodation and services for locals, miners, tourists, visiting dignitaries and the RCMP. Johnnie Johns, a world renowned big game outfitter and member of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation, had a long working relationship with the hotel. Many of his clients stayed here. The United States Army and private road construction crews used the hotel for housing and a mess hall when Carcross was a major operational centre during the construction of the Alaska Highway and Canol Pipeline.
    The Caribou Hotel has been an important community meeting place and venue for special celebrations.