Alexander Coward (b. 1885)
	
Alex Coward was born in Cairo, Illinois. [Cowart seems to be a common family name in Illinois.] Alex came to the Yukon in 1914 with the intention of trapping, which he did with traplines in the MacMillan and Pelly rivers area. He made his headquarters at Fort Selkirk on the Yukon River across from the mouth of the Pelly River.((“For Hawaii.” //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 5 November 1959.)) 
In 1919, Coward teamed up with William Schofield and Art Zimmerlee to take over Pitt’s trading post buildings at Fort Selkirk.((“Fort Selkirk Trade & Travel.” Government of Yukon, Fort Selkirk virtual museum, 2019 website:  http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/fort_selkirk/english/index.html)) Coward and Zimmerlee established a trading post and several large cabins near Armstrong Landing on Russel Creek on the Macmillan River.((H.S. Bostock, "A History of Russell Creek, Yukon Territory. Taken from diaries, books and writings of Lt. Col. N.A.D. Armstrong."  YA H.S. Bostock Collection MSS 001 #82/35.)) Alex Coward was married to Alice McGinty, Peter McGinty’s daughter. Alice died on the Macmillan River where they were running Russel Post.((Charlie Johnson Interview Transcript, recorded by L. Stewart and H. Dobrowolsky. “Fort Selkirk Elders Oral History Project – 1985.”  Yukon Heritage Branch, 1985: 99.))In 1920, Coward transported Nevill Armstrong and his party to his claims and cabins at Russel Creek. Armstrong and Coward became friends and Coward used his launch to transport Armstrong’s party and their supplies for the rest of the years that Armstrong travelled to Russell Creek.((H.S. Bostock, "A History of Russell Creek, Yukon Territory. Taken from diaries, books and writings of Lt. Col. N.A.D. Armstrong."  YA H.S. Bostock Collection MSS 001 #82/35.)) Alex and Kathleen Martin were married in 1929. 

In 1932, Hugh Bostock visited Alex where he and George Devore were placer mining on a pup of Stoddart Creek in the Freegold Mountain area. Alex told Hugh Bostock that his real name was Cowart but ‘Coward’ was easier for others to pronounce and spell. Bostock described Coward as tough looking and clever; an ingenious, skilled craftsman and a philosopher. They became good friends.((H.S. Bostock, //Pack Horse Tracks – recollections of a geologists life in British Columbia and the Yukon 1924 – 1954.// Yukon Geoscience Forum, 1990: 70.)) In 1952, Alex and Kathleen left Fort Selkirk and established a trading post at McCabe Creek.((Yukon Archives, Kathleen Coward fonds.)) Alex Coward is listed in the Yukon Prospectors Hall of Fame. He prospected in the Mt. Freegold and Selwyn areas until the 1950s. Alex left the Yukon after After Kathleen’s death in 1958. His immediate destination was Vancouver and then he planned a trip to Hawaii for the winter.((“For Hawaii.” //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 5 November 1959.))