David Wesley “Big Bull” Ballentyne (1873 - 1956)

David Ballentyne was born in Saint John, New Brunswick. In January 1898, David’s father, Wesley, and his four brothers joined the rush to the Klondike. He was a strong man and, to win a bet, he carried a 250-pound dance hall piano over the Chilkoot Pass. He was a cabinetmaker by trade.¹⁾ He worked first as a carpenter in Dawson and helped to build the Palace Grande out of two wrecked riverboats for Charlie Meadows. During the reconstruction of the building, a beam was found with his signature.²⁾

Woodworking became his hobby. He was unsuccessful as a prospector, but he stayed in the north working as a garageman and Dawson’s fire chief. His wife, Elizabeth Jane Moreland, was born in Ireland and died in 1947. They had two children, a son and a daughter.³⁾ In 1948, Bull and his son Jimmy were running the fire hall, and Jimmy was the president of the Yukon Order of Pioneers.⁴⁾ There were many stories about Ballentyne’s exploits, and a Nanaimo newspaper called him one of Dawson’s most colourful characters.⁵⁾ He was the last living member of the Arctic Brotherhood.^{6) 7)}