William A. Puckett (d. 1940) 
	
William Puckett was born in Missouri and came to Atlin in 1898. He came on to the Yukon and operated a roadhouse at Upper Laberge and another at Takhini in 1902, the year the Overland Trail winter road was constructed from Whitehorse to Dawson.((Flo Wyard, “’40: glacier’s movement expands inlet.” //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 21 April 1997.)) Mrs. Anna Smith and William were married in 1902.((Dianne Green, //Exploring Old Whitehorse: Three Walking Tours of the Yukon's Capitol.// Yukon Historical and Museums Association 1996: 75-6.)) After they were married, the Pucketts moved to the Takhini Roadhouse.((“MacBride Museum’s Sourdough Stories: Grandma and Granddad Puckett.” //Yukon News// (Whitehorse), 9 May 2008.))
	
By 1905, the Pucketts were locally known as the "Roadhouse Magnets."((Dianne Green, //Exploring Old Whitehorse: Three Walking Tours of the Yukon's Capitol.// Yukon Historical and Museums Association 1996: 75-6.)) Pucket’s roadhouses had a reputation for being clean, well-stocked, and commodious. His Little River Roadhouse was managed by Ole Dickson, staker of the Rabbit's Foot Copper Mine and Puckett's partner in their copper properties.((Dick McKenna, "Roadhouses of the Northern Frontier." //The Yukoner Magazine,// Issue No.27. May 2004: 34.)) The 1902 //Dawson Daily News// called the Takhini Crossing roadhouse, Pucket's Roadhouse. In 1905, W. A. Puckett bought out his partner, G.I.C. Barron, to become the sole owner of the Takhini and Little River roadhouses.((Greg Skuce and Barbara Hogan, "Historic Resource Inventory and Trail Assessment of the Southern Section of the Whitehorse-Dawson Overland Trail: Takhini Crossing to Carmacks." Yukon Government Heritage Branch, 1998: 16.)) In 1905, the ferry at Takhini crossing on the White Horse - Dawson trail was again leased to Messes. Barton and Puckett, roadhouse keepers at that place.((Royal North-West Mounted Police Annual Report. Sessional Paper No. 28. 1906: 46.))  
	
Puckett staked the Anaconda claim in the Whitehorse Copper Belt in 1898.((E.D. Kindle, “Copper and iron Resources, Whitehorse Copper Belt. Yukon Territory”. Geological Survey of Canada Paper 63-41. 1964: 14-15.)) In 1914, two claims in the Copper Belt, the Anaconda and Rabbit Foot, were owned by a group of four Whitehorse men: Whitney and Pedler, William Puckett, E.A. Dixon, and Donald Ross.((T.A. Maclean, //Lode Mining in Yukon: An investigation of Quartz deposits in the Klondike Division.// Ottawa: Mines Branch, 1914: 164.)) The trail that led up from Whitehorse to the Copper Belt went through a gorge called Puckett’s Gulch.((Les McLaughlin, “William Puckett.” Hougen Group of Companies 2019 website: http://hougengroup.com/yukon-history/yukon-nuggets/william-puckett/)) W. A. Puckett had some interest in the Porter claim at Carbon Hill in the Wheaton Mining District south of Whitehorse. He was also involved with the purchase of the Mt. Stevens claims from Lottie Anderson in the late 1920s.((Colin Beairsto, "Today and Tomorrow Country: Wheaton Mining History." Prepared for Heritage Resources Unit, Yukon Government. March 2005: 20.))
	
William Puckett was the first to commercially develop the Takhini Hot Springs.((Delores Smith, "Gulch named after well-known pioneer." //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 7 September 1994.)) The Ta’an Kwäch’än used the hot springs in pre-colonial days. Chief Boss told Herbert Wheeler of White Pass about the hot springs in the early days. It was about three miles from Puckett’s Roadhouse on the Winter Trail. In the summer, visitors arrived by way of the Yukon and Takhini rivers.((Victoria A.B. Faulkner, “Herbert Wheeler – Victoria, B.C., Former President White Pass and Yukon Route.” National Historic Sites Division – National Parks Branch, Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources. December 1961.)) The land was purchased in 1907 by William Puckett and S.A. Simmons for $2 pr acre, and Puckett operated the “Tahkeena” hot springs from May 1907 to 1935 as well as his nearby roadhouse, a popular place for parties. The trip by river from Whitehorse took three hours.((Gabrielle Plonka, “Revamped pools ‘will be something totally new.” //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 23 October 2020.)) 

The assets of Takhini Hot Springs were sold in September 1947, seven years after Puckett’s death. In 1947, the property had a bath house, log construction 12'x24'; swimming pool, log construction 30'x60'; three green-houses each 12'x48' (one of double glass construction), and much more. At that time, the fifty acres of land the hot springs sits on could also be applied for from the Dept. of Mines and Resources.((//Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 19 September 1947.))
	
The Puckets sold the Takhini Roadhouse and used the profits from the sale to buy Unworth’s Hardware on Main Street.((“MacBride Museum’s Sourdough Stories: Grandma and Granddad Puckett.” //Yukon News// (Whitehorse), 9 May 2008.)) The hardware store sold everything from cake pans to Ford motor parts.((Delores Smith, "Gulch named after well-known pioneer." //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 7 September 1994.)) 
	
Mrs. Puckett passed away in 1934. Puckett sold the hardware store to the Northern Commercial Co. and retired in 1936.((Delores Smith, "Gulch named after well-known pioneer." //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 7 September 1994.)) He left the Yukon, for the first time in twenty-seven years, to live in California. He remarried but only lived another four years. William Puckett died after having surgery to remove one leg above the knee.((Delores Smith, "Gulch named after well-known pioneer." //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 7 September 1994.))