Yukon who is who

This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong.
Joe Ladue (mid-1880s - 1974)
	
Joe Ladue was born in Alaska to coastal Tlingit parents. His father, Old McGundy, was from Juneau and was a Christian shaman. His mother was from Dyea. The family moved to Tagish when Joe was a child. They travelled and lived at several places in the Yukon including the Rose Mountain and Glenlynn Lake areas. When Joe had to register with the government, he chose to be known as Joseph Francis Ladue, the founder of Dawson City, his employer in 1899. After the gold rush, Joe sometimes worked on the steam boats on the Pelly River and spent the winters trapping and Fishhook Creek, Rose Mountain, and Glenlynn areas.((“Ladue, Joe.” //Searching for Our Heritage,// YG Tourism and Culture database.))
	
Ladue and his wife Edith married at Ross River and had eleven children. Ladue had many skills. He worked for Taylor and Drury, hauling supplies by dog team between Whitehorse and Ross River and looking after their Little Salmon Village trading post, and he patrolled with the RCMP for a time.((Duke Lawson, "The Man I knew as Joe." //Madmen and Dreamers: History Repeats Itself.// The Pelly Historical Society, 1993: 17-20.))
	
During the Second World War, the United States wanted to build a railway from Prince George to Alaska in 1942 as the Japanese were in the Aleutians. The Alaska Highway was just finished but a railway could haul more cargo and troops. By July, there were twenty-four survey teams in the field including six Canadian teams. John A. Phelps and George Fairclough ferried men and supplies on the Pelly River using Fairclough’s boat, the Pelly #5. Five Ross River men: Soo Bill, Fred Tommy, Duck Johnny, Selkirk Billie, and Joe Ladue packed supplies, using ten or twelve dogs. Part of the survey went past Faro and Ross River, generally following the current Robert Campbell Highway route between Carmacks and Watson Lake.((Donald E. Taylor in Watson Lake, "Letters to the Editor: Railway wisdom." //Yukon News// (Whitehorse), 21 February 2001.))
	
By 1953, Ladue was working for prospector Al Kulan.((“Ladue, Joe.” //Searching for Our Heritage,// YG Tourism and Culture database.)) The Ladue family lived at Fishook, Carmacks, Glen Lyons Lake, Little Salmon, Faro, and Ross River. Ladue’s trapline was located where the Faro pit and mine was developed in the 1960s. He prospected the country and was one of those who discovered the Faro deposit of lead and zinc and other minerals for which he received a few dollars and little recognition.((Duke Lawson, "The Man I knew as Joe." //Madmen and Dreamers: History Repeats Itself.// The Pelly Historical Society, 1993: 17-20.))
	
In the 1960s, Ladue moved to Cowley Creek, He began carving totem poles, animals, and wooden toys for his grandchildren and he travelled to Whitehorse to sell his work.((“Ladue, Joe.” //Searching for Our Heritage,// YG Tourism and Culture database.)) Joe Ladue was killed in an accident at the Pelly River Bridge when his vehicle was hit by an ore truck.((Duke Lawson, "The Man I knew as Joe." //Madmen and Dreamers: History Repeats Itself.// The Pelly Historical Society, 1993: 17-20.))