Chuck Morgan
Chuck Morgan grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan during the depression and the Second World War. His father served in the military and Chuck helped run the family farm and then joined the Canadian Airforce at age eighteen. He came to the Yukon in 1957, hauling freight from Cassiar, British Columbia and taking microwave towers to mountain tops for the CN Telephone. He founded Morgan’s Moving and Gunrunner Truck Service fixing busses and heavy equipment.1)
In 1966, Morgan managed the Kunze and Olsen construction company’s project to move the S.S. Klondike from the Whitehorse boat yard to Whisky Flats.2) Chuck Morgan and his crew moved the sternwheeler Klondike using eight tons of Palmolive Princess Snow Flakes on the “butter boards.” The soap did not squash out like grease. The boat rode on a carriage of long steel rails taken from the collapsed Peace River bridge (1956). These rails slid over the butter boards. The boat was pulled by three TD-24 tractors and a Caterpillar D-8. The lead tractors anchored the other two which used their winches to drag the boat along. Tires were placed under the tracks to protect the road surface. The move started on 10 June 1966 and took fourteen days with a month preparation. During a five-day period, the phone and power lines were down, and Chuck's crew worked twenty-four hours to keep the boat moving. There was so much opposition to the move that Chuck hosed the boat down to stop anyone setting fire to it. People complained about the change of location and the cost of the move. Some said Dawson was just starting to restore its buildings and the money could have been better spent there. Cal Miller, the owner of the Capitol Hotel, was a supporter and supplied beer to the crew every day as they dragged the boat along the streets of Whitehorse. The boat weighed 1042 tons, the carriage 100 tons, and the soaking adding more weight. The Klondike is 247' long, 49' wide and is 70' to the top of the wheelhouse.3)
Chuck Morgan received a citation for his job of engineering the last voyage of the Klondike and he was awarded the title of Captain Morgan. On 16 July 1966, Chuck Morgan was presented with a gold replica of the Klondike by the mayor of Whitehorse (and previously Dawson), Howard Firth.4) Bud Fisher and members of the “Morgan’s Movers” crew looked on. A certificate of merit from the citizens of Whitehorse and some appropriate liquid tokens of esteem were part of the deal, as Chuck Morgan was named “Captain Morgan, Royal Yukon Navy,” and the old riverboat whistle blew once again, thanks to Bobby Jacob's efforts. Dave Judd of the Midnight Sun Pipe Band piped the captain and crew aboard for the occasion and Bud Fisher acted as M.C.5)
Chuck Morgan was inducted into the Yukon Transportation Hall of Fame in 2000.