Robert W. Service, a bank clerk, began writing about the Yukon after he was transferred to the Whitehorse Branch of a Canadian bank six years after the Klondike Gold Rush. Inspired by the beauty of the Yukon wilderness, Robert Service wrote some of the most expressive poetry of his age. Many favorites from Service's poetry, which depicts the trials and tribulations of the Yukon gold mining life, are included in "Tales from the Yukon"-including such memorable poems as "The Shooting of Dan McGrew," "The Law of the Yukon," and "The Cremation of Sam McGee."