Jack London's Cabin

Noted American author Jack London (1876~1916) had strong ties to his hometown of Oakland, California. He spent his boyhood along the waterfront area now known as Jack London Square. It therefore seems fitting that the cabin he once lived in during his days in the Canadian Yukon should end up here. It has been carefully reassembled for visitation by generations of fans who love the adventure stories he composed.

In 1897, at the age of 21, London had gone north to the Yukon to seek his fortune as a prospector. Although he failed to find the gold he sought, he used the long hours he spent in this log cabin to write tales about his Klondike adventures, such as "White Fang" and "Call of the Wild."

The cabin originally stood on the North Fork of Henderson Creek, about fifty miles south of Dawson City. It was abandoned after the Gold Rush and not re-discovered until 1936, when trappers allegedly found London's signature on the back wall. In 1965, Yukon author Dick North took a search party to find the structure, which was subsequently dismantled. Some of its logs were shipped to an interpretive site in Dawson City, while the rest were used to recreate the cabin here at Oakland's Jack London Square.