Dan Coates
Otto Kastner [manager of the Dawson News] and Dan Coates became the Royal Mail contractors on the Dawson-Whitehorse Overland Trail in 1920. They formed a new stage line company in the fall and had a two-year contract.1) The company bought a new truck for the business in 1921.2) In late November 1921, there was a lack of snow, and the mail was being taken by auto from Whitehorse to the river and then taken from there by horse team.3) The mail delivery at the beginning of December (or end of November) 1921 broke all previous records for speed. The election ballot boxes were in the mail and had to reach Whitehorse within a certain time so eligible citizens could vote. The trip took from Dawson took just three days and sixteen hours.4) Greenfield and Pickering took over the Mayo-Dawson mail contract from Coates & Kastner when motorised transport took over the ore haul.5)
In 1924 or 1925 Coates was living in Dawson. He used a carriage and a pony to get around. He had horses and used them to haul freight and wood. He hauled freight out to the camps for White Pass & Yukon Route. They met the steamers and hauled to wherever with the wagon. Coates had a sawdust sledge. He cut ice and stored it in the sawdust. When the steamer came in, he would take the ice down and they would use it to keep the meat cool.6)