Katherine Ryan (1869 - 1932)
	
Katherine Ryan was born in Johnville, New Brunswick. She travelled to Seattle where she became a nurse in the Sisters of Nahomish Hospital.((“Mysteries of Canada.” 2019 website: https://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/yukon/klondike-kate/)) In 1898, she joined the Klondike gold rush. She was one of the rare women who walked into the north over the difficult Stikine Trail.((“Canadian Heroes of the Klondike Gold Rush.” //The Klondike Weekly,// 2019 website: http://yukonalaska.com/klondike/byprovince.html)) Ryan’s association with the Mounted Police may have started early, when she offered to cook for them if they would carry her supplies.((“Behind every good member is a dedicated civilian.” Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2019 website: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/behind-every-good-member-dedicated-civilian)) By 1900, she was living in Whitehorse, had opened a restaurant, and was invested in some local mines.((“Outstanding Yukon Women!” Yukon Archives, //Yukon Women and Children,// 2019 website: http://www.tc.gov.yk.ca/archives/wc/outstanding/outstanding3.htm))
	
A Canadian law passed in February 1900 required a woman special officer be hired to assist members of the NWMP with women prisoners. Kate Ryan was hired in February 1900 as the first woman special attached to the Whitehorse detachment. She earned two dollars a day and worked part time as a prison matron.((T. Ann Brennan, //The Real Klondike Kate.// Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, 1990; W.S. Dill, //The Long Day - Reminiscences of the Yukon.// Ottawa: The Graphic Publishers, 1926; //The Weekly Star// (Whitehorse), 25 March 1921.))
	
In 1914, Norman D. Macaulay did some improvements to his Whitehorse hotel including more electric lights, a card room and an up-to-date toilet. Ryan was in charge of the lodging department of the hotel.(("More Improvements." //Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 13 May 1914.)) In 1917, McFadden & Co. were working the Whitehorse area Empress of India copper mine owned by Kate Ryan.(("A Fine Showing." //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 2 March 1917.)) Ryan also acted as a gold inspector, searching women passengers leaving the territory if they were suspected of smuggling gold to avoid paying the gold export tax. Ryan did this job until 1919 when she left the territory and settled in Stewart, British Columbia. An RCMP honour guard attended her funeral.((“Outstanding Yukon Women!” Yukon Archives, //Yukon Women and Children,// 2019 website: http://www.tc.gov.yk.ca/archives/wc/outstanding/outstanding3.htm))