William D. “Bill” MacBride (1888 - 1973)
	
Bill MacBride was born in Butte, Montana. He was an orphan and raised by relatives Nellie and Frank Miles. He graduated from teacher’s college in 1907 and taught school for two years. He attended Blair Business College in Spokane, Washington, and then worked for the Idaho & Washington Railway.((“Who was W.D. MacBride?” MacBride Museum of the Yukon 2018 website: http://macbridemuseum.com/about/history)) In 1912, MacBride was hired as the secretary to A. F. Zipf, traffic manager of the Northern Navigation Co., stationed at St. Michael. White Pass & Yukon Route (WP&YR) bought the company and MacBride was transferred to Whitehorse in 1914. From then on, he was district passenger agent, public relations officer, and general historian.((Delores Smith. “MacBride: a preserver of history.” //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 19 July 1995.))
From 1914 to at least 1949, MacBride was in the superintendent's office of the British Yukon Navigation Co., a subsidiary of WP&YR.((W.D. MacBride, "Saga of Famed Packets and other Steamboats of Mighty Yukon River", //Caribou and Northwest Digest,// fall issue, 1948.)) MacBride was the passenger traffic manager handling bookings and tours for WP&YR. The ticket agent job was a seasonal position and MacBride handled ticket sales as well in the winter months.  He got a new office in 1953 when the Whitehorse train depot was renovated.((Midnight Arts, “The White Pass and Yukon Railway Depot, Whitehorse and associated structures: A Structural History.” Whitehorse: Yukon Tourism, Heritage Branch, 1998. Appendix 3:1.))
	
MacBride and Fred Arnot led a group of thirteen men and women who founded the Yukon Historical Society in 1950. Arnot was soon posted out of the territory leaving MacBride as president. A growing collection of artifacts were displayed in the Old Telegraph Office, and it opened as Yukon’s first museum in 1952.((“Who was W.D. MacBride?” MacBride Museum of the Yukon 2018 website: http://macbridemuseum.com/about/history)) 
	
A three-ton slab of copper is on display at MacBride Museum and it is there thanks to the efforts of Bill MacBride and a committee of prominent Yukoners including Bill Emery, John Phelps, Dorothy Scott, Jim Whyard, and Roy Minter. An accompanying plaque is dedicated to the prospectors who staked claims in the White River area between 1900 and 1950 and MacBride’s adoptive father, Frank Miles, is on the list.((Les McLaughlin, “The Copper Slab,” a CKRW Yukon Nugget. Hougen Group of Companies 2018 website: http://hougengroup.com/yukon-history/yukon-nuggets/the-copper-slab/))
	
Bill and Eva MacBride moved to North Vancouver in 1961 but Bill continued to record the history of the Yukon until 1973.((“Who was W.D. MacBride?” MacBride Museum of the Yukon 2018 website: http://macbridemuseum.com/about/history)) Dorothy (Phelps) Scott was involved with the MacBride Museum and was secretary-treasurer of the Yukon Historical Society for several years when Bill MacBride was president. After MacBride left, John Scott, a local engineer and Dorothy's husband, became involved in the society. When the museum needed a new building, John Scott donated his time to draw up building plans and supervise the construction in 1967.((“Who's Who in Yukon Museums” [need source])) MacBride Museum opened to the public on 31 May 1973.((Hougen Group of Companies, “The Whitehorse Star Reports in 1973.”  2019 website: http://hougengroup.com/yukon-history/historical-facts/the-whitehorse-star-reports-in-1973/)) The new facility was named MacBride Museum to acknowledge MacBride’s role in preserving Yukon heritage.((“Who was W.D. MacBride?” MacBride Museum of the Yukon 2018 website: http://macbridemuseum.com/about/history))