Yukon who is who

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Martha Cameron, nee Ballentine (1904 - 1990)
	
Martha Ballentine was born in Dawson City and lived there until 1928 when she married Gordon Irwin (GI) Cameron. They left the Yukon for a period of two or three years and when they returned, Gordon was posted as an RCMP officer at Fort Selkirk. In 1935, they brought their little daughter, at a year and a half old, to live there. Martha lived at Fort Selkirk for fourteen years, raising her daughter, guarding the airport, and cutting firewood for the RCMP detachment.((“Fort Selkirk Oral History,” YTG Heritage Branch, 1984.)) Martha did police work when her Constable husband was on patrol for months, and he would sign the papers when he returned. She performed matron duties when there were female prisoners and received a token payment. Every week she would read the Dawson paper over the radio at Selkirk to the people in remote cabins. After the airstrip was built in late 1930s, Martha became the White Pass Airways agent.((G.I. Cameron Interview, April 13, 1993 with Bill Beahen of the RCMP Historical Branch. With video.))
	
During the cold winters at Selkirk, the Camerons nailed blankets over the doors to keep the cabin warm. There were four trappers' wives at Fort Selkirk. They played cards with Martha when the husbands were away. Constable Cameron was often away for two to four weeks on patrol and Martha took the contract to saw wood for the detachment. The police bought wood in four-foot lengths and she cut it into 16" pieces for the stove. After they got airplane service, Martha took a contract to keep the airport rolled. They had a 2-ton cat and a little roller. She kept her own hours and worked every day for $1.50 per hour. She did her own baking, and canned berries, jellies and jams. One year she canned 360 jars of wild fruit and put the jars in the cellar. The meat and baked goods were put outside in the winter to freeze. When a forest fire started to crowd in, sometime in the early 1940s, Martha built a break fire behind the village with the cat and a single blade plough.((Martha Cameron interviewed by Cal Waddington in 1978, Yukon River Aural History Project, Tape 8. YA 81/32.))