There is a new library, where visitors leave their muddy boots at the door and stroll barefoot. Events such as the Dawson Music Festival this weekend draw big-name entertainers. While tourists flock to Gertie's, the locals hang out at the Midnight Sun or The Pit, where men take breaks from the gold tailings and women wear cocktail dresses with knee-high rubber boots. Dog-mushing has become a local wintertime obsession. They say Dawson has three dogs for every year-round resident, and one stroll through town is evidence.
Sled dogs doze on the boardwalks, in mud puddles and pickup beds.
Barroom chatter revolves around breeds and feed and racing strategies. Dawson lives and tourists help, but it is still gold that drives the local economy. The recent drop in gold prices is a major topic of conversation and worry. Even a few dollars per ounce makes a dent in this town's collective pocketbook. Either way, this place emits a sense of permanent pioneer spirit that will weather the inevitable downturns in either gold or tourism.