In the museum world, January is a time for digging through boxes. The craziness of the holiday season has subsided, and our minds turn toward dreaming up new projects (and writing grants to make them a reality). Mostly, our staff finds only unremarkable nonprofit minutiae during these exhumations: accounts payable records, endless bank statements, discarded board meeting minutes. But every once in a while, we find something terrific. 

A few weeks ago, we uncovered a small but remarkable piece of Yukon Transportation Museum history: a draft newsletter from September 1991, written just after our first full year of operation. Yellowed pages, typewritten text, crossed-out phrases — it’s a snapshot of who we were at the very beginning.

‘The Transporter‘ was written by legendary Yukoner Flo Whyard, a former territorial minister and mayor of Whitehorse, editor of the Whitehorse Star, Order of Canada recipient, and YTM founding member. Her words capture both the pride and the uncertainty that characterized our early years.

In 1991, the museum was still finding its footing after opening on July 1st, 1990. Some of our earliest exhibits, including the Bush Pilot room and the Canol exhibit, were already drawing visitors, and plans were underway for a busy year celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Alaska Highway. What would they think of our Alaska Highway 80th Anniversary commemoration thirty years later?

Even more striking is the section describing “new” artifacts (at the time, not now!) Every one of the artifacts mentioned in the newsletter is still part of our collection: three are on display in the main hall, and one (the Coal Creek porter locomotive, our oldest artifact) stands proudly outside our front door.

Gratitude for community involvement and support is clearly felt throughout the newsletter. Flo remarks on the work of volunteers from the Yukon Art Society, who contributed their time and talent to the mural that now adorns the front of our museum.

Of course, volunteer and chief restorer Bob Cameron’s name appears several times in the document. In one section, Flo notes that Bob is asking for volunteers to help build a display case for the original ribs of the Queen of the Yukon. That project, as it turns out, took over 30 years to complete — but it was indeed completed! Today, those ribs and other Queen of the Yukon artifacts can be viewed in the mezzanine. Museum work can be slow sometimes, but it’s often worth the wait.

The newsletter also gives us a glimpse into museum life in 1991 by the numbers.

Memberships were $10 per person back then. According to the Bank of Canada’s inflation calculator, that’s about $19.90 in 2025. Looks like our $20 adult membership is a surprisingly accurate gauge of inflation…

Visitor numbers tell an equally compelling story. During our first full year, YTM welcomed 2,555 visitors, which is not a bad start for such a young institution. Since then, we’ve clearly found a few more transportation fans. Over 8,500 guests visited the museum last year, with thousands more taking part in events, programs, and rentals.

Finally, the newsletter expresses gratitude to Yukon taxpayers and the City of Whitehorse — a sentiment we still share today. While our revenues (and expenses…) have grown significantly since 1991, the support of our community remains the foundation of everything we do.

We recommend checking out the full text of the draft newsletter below. Starting and maintaining a museum isn’t easy, but 35 years later, we’re still here, still grateful, and still excited to do this work every day. As Flo says, “Next year should see the Transportation Museum really rolling!”