Archivist Jenn Roberts’ excitement is clear as she looks over a sampling of a collection of old books, photos and papers that have been donated over the past year and a bit.

Roberts calls the collection an “amazing amount of Dawson records” that go back to the late 1800s. They had been left “under the stairs” of Ralph M. Troberg for years after the death of his father, Ralph E. Troberg.

Within the collection are materials that were assumed to have been burned in a fire – including the diary of Jack McQuesten.

Often called “The Father of the Yukon”, McQuesten, who lived from 1836 to 1909, was an accomplished explorer, trader and prospector in the territory and Alaska.

Speaking with the Star Thursday, Roberts said it was in October 2015 that (Ralph M.) Troberg first turned up at the Yukon Archives with early record books from the Yukon Order Of Pioneers (YOOP), detailing the minutes of meetings and so on.

The books had been part of Troberg’s father’s collection. The elder Troberg was a fervent collector, anxious to hold onto Dawson’s history at a time when many of the historical records were being shipped out of the territory.

“His dad really wanted to keep it for others,” Roberts said. The younger Troberg inherited the boxes and boxes of materials his dad had collected over the years.

The younger Troberg didn’t have the same interest in that history.

The boxes simply made their way from under the stairs in his father’s house to beneath the stairs in his house, where they remained until his recent decision to sell his property in Dawson.

That meant clearing out the house and deciding what to do with all those materials.

He showed up at Yukon Archives with the materials from YOOP – books upon books detailing the minutes of meetings and so on.

As the grand historian for YOOP, the elder Troberg had a slew of documents detailing the history of Dawson.

Archives staff worked with YOOP to have the material kept at the Archives’ premises.

“They were pleased,” Roberts said of the materials’ discovery.

Troberg has continued to bring in more boxes filled with history.

The items include photos of the gold dredges, Dawson assessments books dating back to the early 1900s, a short story entitled The Arctic Mixologist by Chester Whitman Tennant, and McQuesten’s diary.

While it’s labelled as a diary, it is more of a book of remembrances detailing his years in the Yukon from 1871 to 1885.

While it was published as a book in 1952 by YOOP, Roberts said the discovery of the original is significant.

As she explained, the published version is a more-readable version of what was written, but this gives Yukoners a chance to take in the writings as they were first done.

Initially, Roberts thought the diary was that of McQuesten’s daughter Mary, whose name appears on the first page.

As Roberts recalled though, fortunately for the Archives, archival assistant Pam Brown was on hand to work on transcribing the book.

It soon became clear it was that of Jack McQuesten. Had it not been for Brown’s transcribing work, she said that may have never been made clear.

“I was really excited,” Roberts said of learning that it was the original diary, thought to have been destroyed by fire years ago.

While Troberg was “pretty muted about” the discovery, Roberts said, he wants it known it was all his dad’s work collecting the materials over the years.

He also told Roberts that he has more materials from his father’s collection he plans to bring by the Yukon Archives after he returns to Dawson in the spring.

In the meantime, Roberts and other Archives staff will work on getting the pieces from Troberg’s collection organized so it’s easy for those interested in viewing them to do so.

As Roberts stresses, this collection is rare, given that much was thought to have been consumed by fire and the wide variety of materials in it.

Normally, a collection would be focused on one theme – perhaps family, perhaps records from an organization like YOOP or early-era Dawson.

This one has a lot of everything – and it’s fascinating to go through it all.

Roberts and her colleagues are now set to work on cataloguing the collection so it’s easier for interested viewers to find its materials.

She noted, though, that those interested need not wait the months it will likely take to do so – they’re welcome to stop by the Archives and speak to staff about viewing the pieces.

She cautioned it may take some additional patience before the items are catalogued, but they’re part of Dawson’s history, there to be shared with the public.

This donation is one of 40 the Archives has received in 2016 – the average number for recent years. Donations can range anywhere from a single photograph to the Troberg collection.