Our Next Adventure

We are off on another adventure on Saturday and here’s a clue a to our ultimate destination.

For those of you old enough to remember, it’s Sergeant Preston of the Yukon with his dog King. 

We’ll be in the Yukon in about four weeks time but we have some serious traveling to do before we get there. I’m looking forward to seeing some very remote country, spectacular scenery and plenty of wildlife ( I hope!).

Sgt Preston was one of my boyhood heroes. Originally titled ‘The Challenge of the Yukon’, the program was an early adventure series about Sergeant Frank Preston of the North-West Mounted Police and his lead sled dog, Yukon King, as they fought evildoers in the Northern wilderness during the Gold Rush of the 1890s. it was the classic ‘goodies vs baddies’ story. 

The serial first began on radio in America in 1938 and continued until 1947, after which the show moved to television.  It then ran until 1955 in the USA. The show starred Richard Simmons. I remember it being shown in black and white shortly after TV began in Australia in 1956.

Typical plots involved Sgt Preston and his dog arresting thieves, helping injured trappers, tracking down smugglers, or saving cabin dwellers from wolverines. Sergeant Preston’s faithful horse was named Rex. He appeared primarily in the summer months, but generally Yukon King and his dog team were the key mode of transportation (as signaled by Preston’s frequent command of “On, King! On, you huskies!)”.

Compared to today’s sophisticated police and crime shows now on TV (especially the British ones) Sgt Preston of the Yukon is almost slapstick. The storylines, quality of production and terminology are certainly those of a distant past, but to me as a young boy they were thrilling and exciting.

Some of the episodes are available on YouTube. Here’s one to show you what I mean.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VuzBIFzyv4&list=PLDGs4591mYqAwfG-EgI6MJv_yy3AIewSs

Stay tuned for my travel updated over the next few weeks.