During the early years of the Northwest Mounted Police (and later the RCMP) presence in Yukon the RCMP did perform some policing duties as was their mandate. But more importantly they also kept an eye on isolated cabins and their inhabitants (during the height of the gold rush in 1897 to 1898 there were over 40,000 people scattered around yukon) to ensure that people had enough food and were not requiring medical assistance. There was only one main means of transport in the winter months and that was by dog team. The original painting is in a private collection.