Yukon who is who

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Jujiro Wada (1875 – 1937)
	
Jujiro Wada was born in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. In 1891 he stowed away on a freighter to San Francisco and then signed on to the whaling ship //Balaena.// The ship’s captain, H.H. Norwood, taught him navigation skills, and how to read and write in English. The Balaena overwintered at Herschel Island and Wada learned how to live on the land. He moved north after his contract on the ship was finished and at one time applied for American citizenship but was denied as legislation and attitudes discriminated against Asians. He returned to Japan once around 1896 and sent letters and money to his mother throughout her life. His daughter, Himeko, was born near San Francisco around 1900.((“Jujiro Wada.” Hidden History, 2019 website: http://tc.gov.yk.ca/archives/hiddenhistoryasian/en/wada.html))
	
In 1901 Felix Pedro and Tom Gilmore were prospecting in the Chena River area and Pedro found gold about twelve miles from E.T. Burnette’s new post. He and his friends staked about 110 claims on two dozen creeks. Burnette used exaggeration to draw customers and settlers to his post and, before the claims were proved, he sent Jujiro Wada to spread the news of the Tanana strike. In 1902 the Dawson newspaper //Yukon Sun// ran a headline “Rich Strike Made in the Tanana” which started a mid-winter stampede. The newcomers found little active mining and no work. However, many stayed until the spring of 1903 when the miners reported no big wins. Some angry miners at a miner’s meeting demanded that Jujiro Wada be hung. Harry Badger, who presided over the meeting, said later that they only wanted to scare him.((Dermot Cole, //Fairbanks: A gold rush town that beat the odds.// Fairbanks: Epicenter Press, 1999: 13,16-19, 20-21.)) 

Wada became famous for his endurance and skill in travelling by dog team, and his ability to carry important news over vast distances. In 1907 Wada won a thirty-five-mile foot race in Nome, Alaska to win a purse of $2800.((“Jujiro Wada.” Hidden History, 2019 website: http://tc.gov.yk.ca/archives/hiddenhistoryasian/en/wada.html)) In 1908 Wada staked a claim on the Firth River near Herschel Island.((“Jujiro Wada.” Hidden History, 2019 website: http://tc.gov.yk.ca/archives/hiddenhistoryasian/en/wada.html)) When he returned to Dawson he brought letters from the Royal North-West Mounted Police on Hershel. He broke through the ice on the Yukon River.(("Wada Is in City: Visited Whalers." //Dawson Daily News// (Dawson), 27 April 1908.)) He registered four placer claims on High Cache Creek for Beyer and Souther, plus he filed two other claims. High Cache is a tributary of the Firth River. It was a hard trip and he ran short of food. He soaked his clothes in whale oil to feed to his dogs.(("Discovery Located: Back of Herschel", //Dawson Daily News// (Dawson), 29 April 1908.)) In May he was planning to return to his claims by heading down the Yukon River to the mouth and catching a ride on a whaler heading to Herschel Island. He planned to get to his gold claims by following the routes of Amundsen and Funston.(("To Hit it Again: Long Journey Now." //Dawson Daily News// (Dawson), 12 May 1908.)) He was well on his way when the Dawson newspapers reported in May that he had again won a long-distance race in Nome.((“Cup Held by Wada: Is Fifty-Mile Man. //Dawson Daily News// (Dawson), 6 May 1908.)) Wada’s new announcement report of a gold strike convinced others to follow him. In 1908, about twenty-five prospecting outfits were taken up the Porcupine River into Canadian territory from Fort Yukon. A good many were going over the divide to the Firth River on the Arctic coast where Wada and Smith had staked. Others were headed for creeks to the west of Herschel Island. (Royal North-West Mounted Police Annual Report. Sessional Paper No. 28. 1909:199.) It would have been inconvenient for the miners to travel all the way back to Dawson to record their assessment work so in mid-May RNWMP officer Fitzgerald was given the duties of mining recorder at Hershal.((“For the Miners: Wada Makes Plans." //Dawson Daily News// (Dawson), 14 May 1908.)) Wada was on the Porcupine River in June 1908 when it was reported that he was snow-blind and had gotten lost near Rampart House.((“Close to a Finish: Blinded for Days." //Dawson Daily News// (Dawson), 15 June 1908.)) \\ 
	
Wada’s skills were recognized when the people of Seward hired Wada and Alfred Lowell to scout the trail to the Iditarod mining area. Wada was known for his long-distance dog mushing trips in Alaska and Canada.((The Golden Gamble, //Alaska Geographic,// Vol. 24, No. 2, 1997: 69.)) In February 1910 Wada looked at gold prospects in the Iditarod area and reported that they were not as good as first reported.(("Wada is Hitting the Trail." //Dawson Daily News// (Dawson), 1 February 1910; “Wada on the New District." //Dawson Daily News// (Dawson), 28 February 1910.)) In 1912 he was on the trail of another gold strike, this time on Aniak River and Bear Creek in the Tulasak and Kuskokwim districts. Jack Baird went with Wada to test the Bear and Marble creek areas.(("Wada tells of the Country to the West." //Dawson Daily News// (Dawson), 8 July 1912.)) In 1913 Wada received financial backing from Tobacco King F.A. McIlhenny with Jack Baird as a partner. They headed to Bear Creek in July to develop a mine.((Wada Forms a Company with a Millionaire." //Dawson Daily News// (Dawson), 11 January 1913.)) There is no indication that this ever happened. 
	
In 1919 Alfred Thompson reported that Wada was once again going north to look for gold.((“Wada on new chase after the gold." //Dawson Daily News// (Dawson), 2 October 1919.)) In the 1920s, Billy George of Edmonton came north to stake oil claims along the Mackenzie River and he was followed by the local residents and trappers of the area.  Wada was there with his team of white-haired, sharp-eared huskies. Wada matched his team in an outfit of mountain goat-skin, white trousers, white winter mukluks and a pair of polar bear skin mittens slung around his neck by a multi-coloured cord that matched the embroidery on his dog-tapis. Wada seemed to take better care of his dogs than himself and when there was no dog food available along the way, he purchased canned salmon at two dollars a tin for his dogs.((Philip Godsell, //Pilots of the Purple Twilight: The Story of Canada's Early Bush Flyers.// The Ryerson Press. 1955: 28-29.)) \\
	
In 1915, Wada was accused in Cordova of being a Japanese spy because he had a detailed map of Alaska and a few thousand dollars. He returned north and continued to find sponsors for his explorations.((Genesee Keevil, "Japanese adventurer battled racial prejudice and bitter cold." //Yukon News// (Whitehorse), 28 March 2007.)) In the early 1930s, he travelled from the Mackenzie Delta to Winnipeg, via Fort Norman, to promote the oil discovery at Norman Wells.(("Lillian Nakamura Maguire of the Yukon Human Rights Commission." //Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 19 September 2008.)) \\
	
In 2008, relatives and historians of the famous Japanese dog musher, prospector and adventurer met in Whitehorse. Toshio Wada, Jujiro’s grandnephew, was accompanied by his granddaughter Yuki Jujiro and Toshio Ochi, a member of the Jujiro Wada Memorial Association (Kenshoukai) in Matsuyama City of Jujiro Wada’s birthplace. It is estimated that Wada travelled 44,000 kilometres (26,000 miles) by dog team through Alaska, Yukon and the NWT.(("Lillian Nakamura Maguire of the Yukon Human Rights Commission." //Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 19 September 2008.))