fort yukon
lunch and learn
welcome to fort yukon
During the Klondike Gold Rush, in the winter of 1897–1898, Fort Yukon received two hundred prospectors from Dawson City, which was short of supply.
A post office was established on July 12, 1898, with John Hawksly as its first postmaster. The settlement suffered over the following decades as a result of several infectious disease epidemics and a 1949 flood.
Population = 428
Fort Yukon serves as the Cyber Sled Race: Mine for Gold checkpoint: Lunch and Learn. Below you will find recorded videos about history of the Alaskan Gold Rush and how to prepare food outdoors.
The content below is for participants of all ages, unless otherwise noted. Utilize your connected worksheets and tracking tools to find the specific information for your rank.
EXPLORE MORE ABOUT the gold rush
Take a break at Fort Yukon! Here you will watch a documentary about the Klondike Gold Rush while having lunch. Below you will also find information about how to prepare your lunch in the same way prospectors would have made it along the trail in Alaska.
The Klondike Gold Rush tells the legendary story of the Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush. Over 100,000 people voyage to the far North intent on reaching the Canadian boom-town Dawson City and striking it rich.
Historians and authors bring insight and perspective to the event that changed the lives of thousands. Present-day characters reveal that the frontier spirit is still alive in the Klondike.
take virtual tours of underground mines
plan your meal
Great meals don’t just happen. Somebody has to plan them. Work with your family or other members of your family (or den) to plan a delicious breakfast, lunch, or supper. Remember to include three different food groups if possible.
Make a shopping list, and decide how much money you can spend. Then head to the grocery store and start shopping. Work to stay within your budget by checking prices as you go. If you need to make adjustments, that’s OK: a Scout is flexible. (OK, that’s not in the Scout Law, but it’s still true.)
A Scout is thrifty. You can show that you are thrifty by finding ways to save money when shopping.
Here are some things to consider when you go shopping:
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Store brands are often less expensive than brands you see advertised on TV or online.
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Foods you make from scratch usually cost less (and are tastier) than processed foods.
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You should compare the price of fresh, canned, and frozen fruits and vegetables to find the best price.
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To really be sure you’re getting the best deal, compare the price per ounce of different products.
Sample Campsite Menu
BREAKFAST
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Eggs in a bag: For each person, crack one or two eggs into a sealable, quart-sized plastic bag. Add 1 tablespoon milk and other ingredients—bacon bits, cheese, chopped green pepper, chopped onion, salt, pepper—to taste. Seal the bag, removing excess air, and then shake it. (Don’t shake it before you seal it!) Place the bag into boiling water and cook for 3–4 minutes or until fully cooked. Use tongs to remove the bag from the hot water.
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Fruit salad: Cut up apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, or other favorite fruits. Mix together and toss with a little lemon juice to prevent browning.
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Biscuits: Arrange canned biscuits on a metal plate or pie pan. Carefully place the plate on several rocks in the f loor of a preheated Dutch oven. Cook until golden brown.
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Juice and milk
LUNCH
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Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (or another type of sandwich!)
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Carrots, apples
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Juice boxes
DINNER
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Dutch-oven pizza: Spread pizza dough on a metal plate. Cover with pizza sauce, sautéed vegetables, cooked meat, cheese, and other favorite toppings. (Anchovies, anyone?) Carefully place the plate on several rocks in the f loor of a preheated Dutch oven. Cook until cheese is melted and crust is golden brown.
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Salad
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Drinks
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S’mores: Roast a large marshmallow on a skewer over hot coals. Add a square of chocolate, and sandwich between two graham crackers. Delish!
PREPARE A MEAL OUTDOORS
During the Klondike Gold Rush, prospectors prepared their food outside over a fire. Over the years, methods like box ovens, charcoal, and camp stoves have been created and used to cook outdoors.
Try preparing a balanced meal for yourself or family; utilize one of the methods below for preparation of part of your meal. Make sure to demonstrate an understanding of food safety practices while preparing the meal.
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Dutch Oven
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Camp Stove
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Box Oven
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Solar Oven
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Open Campfire
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Charcoal Grill
OUTDOOR COOKING METHODS
CAMP STOVE
A camp stove is a tabletop stove that uses liquid fuel or propane. Camp stoves work just like
your cooktop back home. Be careful, however, because some can tip over easily. Always have
an experienced adult help you light a camp stove.
DUTCH OVEN
A Dutch oven is a cast iron (or aluminum) pot that is heated by charcoal or hot coals. A camping Dutch oven has legs on the bottom and a rim around the lid. For baking, put 10–12 coals underneath and enough coals on top to cover the lid. For boiling, put more coals underneath. Either way, you can add or remove coals to adjust the temperature.
SOLAR OVEN
A solar oven is a pizza box that’s lined with aluminum foil and covered with black construction paper. It uses the sun’s rays to cook what’s inside. (Now you know why tents aren’t made of black paper and aluminum foil!)
BOX OVEN
A box oven is sort of like a homemade Dutch oven. It’s a foil-lined cardboard box that sits on top of a cookie sheet that is propped on four empty vegetable cans. Between the cans is a bed of coals, which provides the heat.
OPEN CAMPFIRE OR CHARCOAL
Open fires are good for roasting marshmallows and grilling things like burgers. For best results, wait until the flames die down and cook over the coals. If using charcoal, let it burn down until it is covered with white ash. Charcoal is a good tool for learning outdoor cooking, because it is easy to light and keeps a steady, even heat.
Camp food is yummy, and camp cooking is fun. As part of this month's adventure, you’ll get to try some really cool ways to cook food. Just don’t try them all at home. Campfires in the kitchen are not a good idea!
However you cook, you need to do some things to keep from getting sick and making other people sick:
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Clean hands and surfaces frequently. Wash your hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after you handle food and after you use the bathroom. Wash your cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and countertops with hot soapy water after you prepare each food item and before you go on to the next food.
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Don’t cross-contaminate. That’s a fancy way to say you should keep raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs separate from other foods in your shopping cart, grocery bags, refrigerator, and ice chest. Also, never place cooked food on a plate that has held raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs.
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Cook to proper temperatures. Use a food thermometer, which measures the temperature inside cooked meat, poultry, and egg dishes, to make sure the food is fully cooked. Stick the thermometer into the middle of the food and don’t let it touch the pan. Most cookbooks include the correct temperatures for different kinds of food.
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Chill/refrigerate promptly. Never let food sit out for more than two hours before putting it in the refrigerator, freezer, or ice chest. Never thaw frozen food at room temperature. Instead, thaw it out in the refrigerator, in cold water, and in a microwave oven using the defrost setting. Food thawed in cold water or in the microwave should be cooked immediately.
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Maintain proper temperatures. Keep cold foods in an ice chest or refrigerator until you’re ready to use them. If you are going to use an insulated container to keep food warm, fill it with hot water, wait a few minutes, then empty it and fill it with hot food.
How to Build A Fire without Matches
NOTE: Lions, Tigers, Wolves, and Bears are prohibited to make a fire. However, an older Scout or an adult can demonstrate how to build a fire without using matches.
To start a fire, you need three things: heat, oxygen, and fuel. Heat comes from matches, oxygen comes from the air, and fuel comes from wood. Not just any wood will do, however. It needs to be dry and well seasoned—never freshly cut. Also, you can’t just hold a match to a big log to start a fire. Instead, you must build your fire slowly using tinder, kindling, and logs.
Tinder is anything that burns as soon as you light it. It can include small twigs, dry leaves, pine needles, tree bark, wood shavings, paper, or even dryer lint you bring from home. (Really!) Kindling is small sticks, no bigger than a pencil, that will burn easily but not as fast as tinder. Fuel wood is bigger pieces of wood that will burn a long time. You don’t need huge logs, by the way; look for pieces no thicker than your wrist.
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To help protect the earth, never cut live trees for firewood. (Green wood doesn’t burn well anyway.)
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Also, don’t bring firewood from home. Doing that can spread pests that hurt trees.
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Webelos Scouts should only light fires under supervision of an adult.
To make a quick fire starter, put dryer lint inside an empty toilet paper roll and close each end with a piece of masking tape.
To lay a fire, first gather all the tinder, kindling, and fuel wood you think you will need:
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Build a tepee out of kindling and put some tinder inside it. Add some fuel wood.
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Light the tinder and blow gently or fan, if necessary, to supply oxygen.
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As the kindling burns, have an adult help adding larger sticks and then small logs.
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When the fire burns down to coals, you’re ready to cook. Take plenty of time to let a good bed of coals form; it’s hard to cook over open flames because you can’t control the heat.
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After you’re done using the fire, be sure to put your fire completely out. You can cover a small fire with a metal can. For larger fires, you can use water or sand and stir the coals. Carefully feel for heat. It should be cold to the touch.
Take the suggested route to Dawson City to stake your claim or head back to the race course!
TRAVEL TO DAWSON CITY
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Travel to Dawson City
Fort Yukon
Lunch & Learn
