He moved to Seattle, then California, before becoming a teller in the Bank of Commerce in British Columbia.
In 1904 he was transferred to Whitehorse, where he lived frugally with the bank manager and his wife. Service was a solitary man. Although he became an Anglican Church deacon and volunteer fireman, he preferred long walks with his dog to socializing.
He wrote his first Yukon poem, "The Shooting of Dan McGrew," in 1906 after Whitehorse Star editor Stroller:White requested a poem for the church concert. (The church didn't allow the poem to be read). Not long afterwards, Service began writing almost daily.
