Yukon who is who

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Richard Sterling Finnie (1906 – 1987)
	
Richard Finnie was born in Dawson to parents Nellie Louise and Oswald Sterling Finnie. His mother was the daughter of Richard Roediger who founded the //Dawson Daily News// in 1899. Richard’s family moved from Dawson to Ottawa in 1909.((Anne Finnie, “Richard Sterling Finnie.” //Arctic// 40-3-236.)) Richard second wife, Anne Ackerman, was fourth generation San Franciscan. Her great-grandfather Louis Sloss was the founding president of the Alaska Commercial Company, and her grandfather Leon Sloss was founding president of the Northern Commercial Company. Both of these companies were important in the early history of the Yukon.((“Northern chronicler died.” //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 25 February 1987.))

Richard Finnie’s numerous northern expeditions led to his recognition as an authority on the history and geography of northern Canada. He was the radio operator with Captain Bernier in 1924 and 1925 on the last expeditions of the //C.G.S. Arctic.// In 1928, he received a commission from the Government Motion Picture Bureau to produce the film //In the Shadow of the Pole.// He served on the twelve-month Burwash expedition to King William Island and produced a series of films in 1930 and 1931. In 1939, he made a government film on mineral development in the Mackenzie District and produced the film //Treaty Time at Fort Rae// about the Dogrib First Nation. He published the books //Lure of the North// (1940) and //Canada Moves North// (1942) and wrote numerous articles on the north.((Yukon Archives, manuscript listing.))
	
During the Second World War, Richard Finnie was hired as a northern advisor and documentary filmmaker by the Bechtel-Price-Callahan (BPC) company building the CANOL pipeline. He was based out of the Edmonton BPC offices.((Kevin O'Reilly, "A Postal History of the Canol Project." Nd: pages 8-10.)) He was one of those on the first flight from Norman Wells to Whitehorse when he was the northern advisor and documentary film maker with the United States Army Corp of Engineers and civilian contractors building the Alaska Highway and associated CANOL Project.((Anne Finnie, “Richard Sterling Finnie.” //Arctic// 40-3-236.))

Finnie produced the film //The Alaska Highway// and served twenty-five years with Bechtel, producing numerous films, photographs, and articles on their construction projects all over the world. Documented Canadian projects included the Interprovincial, Transmountain, Westcoast Transmission, and Trans Canada pipelines in films such as //Canadian Pipeline, Oil Across the Mountains// and //Iron from Labrador.// His collection of works includes CANOL and ALCAN Projects Progress diaries and inspection reports. After his retirement, he visited the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Ontario, and Quebec and spoke at conferences. He was a witness in the Berger Inquiry on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.((Yukon Archives, manuscript listing.))