Bob Smart's Dream
Encyclopedia
"Bob Smart's Dream" is a poem written by Robert W. Service
while he lived in Whitehorse, Yukon
, Canada. He presented it on March 19, 1906 at a banquet held to honour J.P. Rogers, the superintendent of the White Pass and Yukon Route
. The real life Bob Smart had been the government assayer at Whitehorse since 1903.
Imagining that "fifty years had sped," as Service wrote, Smart discovered a vastly different Whitehorse from the frontier town he knew that merely supplied transportation to and from the Klondike
. It reflects a how technology and society
might advance in 50 years from the point of view of someone living at the turn of the 20th century.
Smart dreamt that in 1956 there were industrial manufacturing plants ("stamp mills") and a smelter up on the ridge where the city's airport actually is located today. The Whitehorse Rapids had been dammed to power other factories, but instead, a hydroelectric project has actually been built. No smelter was ever built in the Yukon.
Smart hears the roar of a trolley and steps out of its way; in actuality, there was no public transit in Whitehorse except during World War II
(for military personnel only) and then since 1976, in the form of buses.
Smart crosses the Yukon on a big steel bridge. While the Robert Campbell Bridge was originally steel
, it was damaged in 1973 and replaced with a concrete structure in 1975.
Smart visits Ear Lake Park, a garden spot to relax. Ear Lake was the location of a park, and actually, there have been occasional suggestions to make it into a suitable park and to run the waterfront trolley out that far. The waterfront trolley (actually a tram that pulls its own electric generator) is all that Whitehorse actually has for trolleys.
Smart stumbled along a cement sidewalk that had replaced wood, and looked up at a skyscraper where a tent had been before. An 18-storey steel building had replaced the White Pass Hotel. In fact, cement sidewalks replaced wooden ones in the early 1960s, and the "skyscrapers" of Whitehorse are no taller than four floors; one three-storey log cabin was built in the 1940s and is known as the log skyscraper, probably not what Service had in mind!
Smart saw beautiful suburbs with flower gardens, and at least here, Service/Smart are accurate.
Smart saw "Taylor and Drury's colossal department store." Alas, the Taylor and Drury mercantile chain has disappeared, and the largest department store, in the traditional sense, is now a Wal-Mart
store located some distance from the downtown core that Smart trod in his dream.
Smart saw "the flyer just starting for Dawson, the bullion express coming in," a reference to a fast passenger train departing for the heart of the Klondike, and a freight train bringing more gold brought up from the creeks. In fact, no railroad ever was extended past Whitehorse, and there has been no scheduled train service even as far as Whitehorse since 1982, although the faint hope remains of revived service in future.
Much of the poem's text is now part of a mural outside the council chamber in the city hall
in Whitehorse.
Robert W. Service
Robert William Service was a poet and writer who has often been called "the Bard of the Yukon".Service 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...
while he lived in Whitehorse, Yukon
Whitehorse, Yukon
Whitehorse is Yukon's capital and largest city . It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1476 on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas occupy both shores of the Yukon River, which originates in British Columbia and meets the Bering Sea in...
, Canada. He presented it on March 19, 1906 at a banquet held to honour J.P. Rogers, the superintendent of the White Pass and Yukon Route
White Pass and Yukon Route
The White Pass and Yukon Route is a Canadian and U.S. Class II narrow gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other railroad. Equipment, freight and passengers are ferried by ship through the...
. The real life Bob Smart had been the government assayer at Whitehorse since 1903.
Imagining that "fifty years had sped," as Service wrote, Smart discovered a vastly different Whitehorse from the frontier town he knew that merely supplied transportation to and from the Klondike
Klondike, Yukon
The Klondike is a region of the Yukon in northwest Canada, east of the Alaska border. It lies around the Klondike River, a small river that enters the Yukon from the east at Dawson....
. It reflects a how technology and society
Technology and society
Technology and society or technology and culture refers to cyclical co-dependence, co-influence, co-production of technology and society upon the other . This synergistic relationship occurred from the dawn of humankind, with the invention of simple tools and continues into modern technologies such...
might advance in 50 years from the point of view of someone living at the turn of the 20th century.
Smart dreamt that in 1956 there were industrial manufacturing plants ("stamp mills") and a smelter up on the ridge where the city's airport actually is located today. The Whitehorse Rapids had been dammed to power other factories, but instead, a hydroelectric project has actually been built. No smelter was ever built in the Yukon.
Smart hears the roar of a trolley and steps out of its way; in actuality, there was no public transit in Whitehorse except during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
(for military personnel only) and then since 1976, in the form of buses.
Smart crosses the Yukon on a big steel bridge. While the Robert Campbell Bridge was originally steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
, it was damaged in 1973 and replaced with a concrete structure in 1975.
Smart visits Ear Lake Park, a garden spot to relax. Ear Lake was the location of a park, and actually, there have been occasional suggestions to make it into a suitable park and to run the waterfront trolley out that far. The waterfront trolley (actually a tram that pulls its own electric generator) is all that Whitehorse actually has for trolleys.
Smart stumbled along a cement sidewalk that had replaced wood, and looked up at a skyscraper where a tent had been before. An 18-storey steel building had replaced the White Pass Hotel. In fact, cement sidewalks replaced wooden ones in the early 1960s, and the "skyscrapers" of Whitehorse are no taller than four floors; one three-storey log cabin was built in the 1940s and is known as the log skyscraper, probably not what Service had in mind!
Smart saw beautiful suburbs with flower gardens, and at least here, Service/Smart are accurate.
Smart saw "Taylor and Drury's colossal department store." Alas, the Taylor and Drury mercantile chain has disappeared, and the largest department store, in the traditional sense, is now a Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
store located some distance from the downtown core that Smart trod in his dream.
Smart saw "the flyer just starting for Dawson, the bullion express coming in," a reference to a fast passenger train departing for the heart of the Klondike, and a freight train bringing more gold brought up from the creeks. In fact, no railroad ever was extended past Whitehorse, and there has been no scheduled train service even as far as Whitehorse since 1982, although the faint hope remains of revived service in future.
Much of the poem's text is now part of a mural outside the council chamber in the city hall
City hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...
in Whitehorse.