Last Voyage of the SS Keno

Today, the SS Keno sits high and dry near Front Street in Dawson. She was built in Whitehorse in 1922 and was considered the little jewel in the crown of Yukon riverboats. The SS Keno was built to carry ore between Mayo and Stewart City at the mouth of the Stewart River. The Keno's draft was only three feet, allowing her to navigate the sometimes very shallow Stewart. She could carry 120 tonnes on board and another 250 tons by pushing a barge in front. The lead-silver-zinc concentrate was contained in bags, each weighing 125 pounds and each laid on the freight deck.
Above the freight deck, there was the passenger deck which could carry 32 people. Above this was the Texas deck, which housed the Captain and officers. Above that was the pilot house. The Texas deck was so named because it was really a "stateroom". The term stateroom came from the days of the great ocean-going liners which had "staterooms". These were expensive passenger quarters which were named after American states.
By 1937, ore production was growing faster than the boats could deliver it to Whitehorse. So the Keno was lengthened by 10 feet.
The Keno was taken out of service in 1951, when trucks began carrying ore on the newly built Whitehorse-Mayo road. She sat in the shipyards in Whitehorse until 1960, when the White Pass company donated her to the Canadian government. That year she made her final voyage to her resting place in Dawson City.
By 1960 a bridge had been built across the Yukon River at Carmacks. The Keno was too high to sail under the bridge. So the pilot house was taken off and the smoke stack was laid on the Texas deck. Even with these modifications, the Keno cleared the Carmacks bridge by just 18 inches. The Captain on that trip was Frank Blakely, a BC riverboat man, making his first trip on the Yukon River. Frank Slim was the pilot and Henry Breaden was the first mate. Terry Delaney and Ed Kerry of CBC Whitehorse were along to cover highlights of the journey for national radio broadcast.