While waiting for the construction of the church to be completed, the community made do. Paul-Émile Mercier, son of the Quebec premier and an engineer on mission to the Yukon, married the daughter of his superior, Marie-Louise Taché, whom he met in Whitehorse. They celebrated their nuptials in a makeshift tent chapel in June 1901, a few weeks before the church was inaugurated. They were the first white couple to marry in the Yukon.
Photo: The tent chapel
Photo credit: Yann Herry Collection