George M. Allen (d. 1935)

George Allen was raised in Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington. He travelled north with his brother Gene Allen and Zach Hickman to set up the //Klondike Nugget// newspaper.((Ian Macdonald and Betty O'Keefe, //The Klondike's "Dear Little Nugget."// Victoria: Horsdal & Schubart. 1996: 149.)) According to author Pierre Burton, the //Nugget// was Dawson’s first newspaper as Allen borrowed a typewriter to produce the first issue on 27 May 1898. G. B. Swinehart’s eight-page //Yukon Midnight Sun// was published on a proper printing press on 11 June 1898. The //Nugget’s// plant was a small army press and it, plus a ton of paper, reached Dawson on 10 June 1898. The first printed paper was published on 16 June, and it became a semi-weekly on it third issue. The //Nugget// became the champion of the mostly American citizens who felt oppressed by Canadian officialdom. George took over the newspaper from Gene in 1899 and ran it until its demise in 1903. Without a goodbye, Allen announced that the //Daily Klondike Nugget// and the //Semi-Weekly Nugget// with its plant, stock and fixtures had been sold to the Record Publishing Company. The last issue was dated 14 July 1903. The editor of the //Dawson Daily News// paid tribute to Allen, saying the //Nugget// had never avoided a fight. Allen was bankrupt when he left Dawson.((Edward F. Bush, “The Dawson Daily News: Journalism in the Klondike.” Canadian Historic Sites No. 21 in //Canadian Historic Sites, Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History,// Ottawa, 1979: 75-77, 109-110.))\\ 

George Allen was the publisher of the //Toppenish Review// at his death in 1935. He was survived by his wife and four children.((Ian Macdonald and Betty O'Keefe, //The Klondike's "Dear Little Nugget."// Victoria: Horsdal & Schubart. 1996: 149.))