James Breaden (1897 – 1971)
James Breaden came to the Yukon at age two when his family moved to Fort Selkirk. James moved to Mayo in 1911 at age fourteen and ran a taxi service using a Model T vehicle. In 1915, he was a driver for D.W. Ballentine who operated a taxi service between Dawson and Hunker Creek. After losing money a few times he insisted on being paid up front and earned the nickname “Spot Cash.” He enlisted with George Black’s company to serve in the First World War and was shipped overseas in February 1917. He and Bertha Kate Harding of Surry, British Columbia were married in November 1917. There is a photo of the newlyweds at Whitley Camp, south of London, England. The couple returned to Canada after the war, and daughter Audrey was born in 1919, daughter Vera in 1923, and son Henry in 1929.1) The family moved to Mayo in 1929 when James went to work for Greenfield and Pickering who had the mail delivery service between Mayo, Whitehorse, and Dawson.2)