While I certainly appreciate bibliophage’s mention of “where the cotton blooms and blows”, shouldn’t that properly be Plumtree, TN, not Nashville?
Darn, you beat me to it.
But the other line is
so technically the cotton could bloom and blow anywhere in Tennessee, right?
No, the cotton blooms and blows in the part of Tennessee where Sam was from. Which the later line reveals was Plumtree. 
It’s nice to see other Service fans here.
That was the general idea, yeah. I was thinking along the lines of Nashville happens to be in “Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows.” I guess it didn’t come out as clearly as I expected.
I’ve seen pictures of the wreck of the Alice May, and when I was wee small, my parents had a fish camp on the marge of Lake Laberge.
They have cradled you in custom, they have primed you with their preaching,
They have soaked you in convention through and through;
They have put you in a showcase; you’re a credit to their teaching –
But can’t you hear the Wild? – it’s calling you.
Let us probe the silent places, let us seek what luck betide us;
Let us journey to a lonely land I know.
There’s a whisper on the night-wind, there’s a star agleam to guide us,
And the Wild is calling, calling . . . let us go.
Anyone with me?
You’re kidding, right? I thought he just made those names up!
Nope, ain’t kidding. They are very very real. As a matter of fact, if you call the Yukon Archives, you may be able to order a picture (or several) of the wreck of the Alice May. In fact, I vaguely recall seeing a picture of the steamer before it wrecked. The Yukon River goes through Lake Laberge - it happens to be one of the most deceptively deadly lakes in the North. You can see all the way across it, but damn, when that wind comes up, there’s no way to make it…depending on your boat, of course.
The wreck of the Alice May IIRC, happened just before Robert Service went to Dawson from Whitehorse. The boiler was kind of a landmark for a number of years - can’t remember if it was eventually removed as a hazard to navigation or if it was salvaged.
And yes, the Ice-Worm Cocktail is still a prized initiation rite amongst us, although you still have to have a Sour Toe Cocktail to be a True Sourdough.
Yeah, it’s a real toe.