Don Barz

Yukon Wanderlust Don Barz

Seeking fortune & adventure, two young German Canadians, Art and Ernie Barz, were down to their last dollars when they reached Dawson City in 1937. A year later, aided by some of Yukon's leading citizens, the Barz brothers chartered four plane-loads of huskies, equipment, and supplies to the Territory's remote Bonnet Plume region. Seeking to avoid the expensive non-resident trapper's licence fees, the brothers convinced the authorities that they were miners. Instead, they set up one of the largest clandestine fur-trapping operation in the Canadian north. In time, they became legal trappers and ran Chappie's Trading Post near the confluence of the Bonnet Plume and Peel Rivers. During their five years in Yukon, they met some of the Territory's larger-than-life characters, and explored its vast, pristine wilderness. Yukon Wanderlust weaves the Barz brothers' stories, their photographs, and related historical events into a fascinating chronicle of a vibrant, yet overlooked period of Yukon history.