John “Johnnie” Dines (1877 - 1958)
	
Johnnie Dines was a violinist, studied instrumental and vocal music in Seattle and organized a string orchestra there at age 18. He travelled north in 1898 when he was 21 years old with a violist friend, Jack Skinner. They travelled by dog team from Skagway but the team was lost in the avalanche. They worked through the winter at Bennett to raise enough money to continue by playing in the saloons. They arrived in Dawson in the spring of 1898 and Johnnie volunteered for the Dawson Fire Department. He remained a member for twenty years and was the Fire Chief for some of that.((Andrew Baird, //Sixty Years on the Klondike.// Vancouver: Gordon Black Publications, 1965: 39-43, photo on page 38.))

When the Palace Grand was the Auditorium in 1909, Dines played in the orchestra. He also acted on stage with Marjorie Rambeau and others. He formed the first string trio in Dawson, with he and Jack as two of the three. He was good at recitation and impersonation. He played the saxophone for local bands in the early days. He tuned and repaired pianos and opened his own studio where he taught violin, cello, banjo, guitar, mandolin and saxophone. He formed a string quartet of his students. The first Dines orchestra in 1910 included Mr. Smith (NWMP), E. C. Adams (photographer), LaFontaine (Telegraph operator), Johnnie Dines (Dawson Fire Department), Barnes (NWMP), Professor Rhodes (Pianist and music teacher), C. Maltby (Cascade laundry), and C. Deering (Foreman City works crew). During WWI he played free of charge for all dances sponsored by the IODE. He was a lifetime member of the Arctic Brotherhood. He played for all the organizations in town as well as at the Friday night tourist dances. He staged twenty-six Minstrel Shows in Dawson and Mayo. Dines was affectionately called "Professor Dines."((Andrew Baird, //Sixty Years on the Klondike.// Vancouver: Gordon Black Publications, 1965: 39-43, photo on page 38.)) 
In 1926, a concert was given in Dawson by conductor John Dines and his orchestra. Mr. Dines played a violin solo of Moszkowsky's Serenade with tone and cadence. The program included a trombone solo with orchestral accompaniment. A. D. Cruikshank sang "Kashmiri Song."((//Dawson News// (Dawson),23 March 1925 quoted in June Cruikshank Lunny, //Spirit of the Yukon,// Prince George: The Caitlin Press. 1992: 79-80.)) Dines continued with the orchestra until he was in his 70s. He also taught music, composed music, and tuned and repaired pianos.((Yukon Archives, archival description for the John Dines fonds, 2018 website: http://yukon.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll/1539331462/1/0?SEARCH.)) 

John and Marit (Mary) Kviten from Norway married on January 13, 1912 and they had a daughter, Solway Mary (Dines) Fyke (d. 2009), and a son, John Dawson Dines II (d. 1973). John Dines II was the mining recorder in Dawson City and Yellowknife, NWT. He later moved up to Land Administrator in Ottawa with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. Mount Dines in the Yukon is named after him. John Dines Sr. died in Dawson City in 1958.((Yukon Archives, archival description for the John Dines fonds, 2018 website: http://yukon.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll/1539331462/1/0?SEARCH.))