Frederick George Caley (1904 - 1989)

Fred Caley was born in Wilham, Essex, England. His father was a miller and carman in Essex and Fred was one of a family of four. He arrived in Dawson as an electrician in October 1922 coming directly from England and looking for his uncle, Stanley Good, who he never found. In November, the Dawson News called him a bright and energetic young man who will make good in the country. He worked as a restaurant dishwasher and set pins in the bowling alley. Before school, he had delivered milk to homes in Essex and he acquired two horses and started a water delivery business in Dawson. He worked for Joe Spence in his grocery business near Queen and Third Avenue, and when Spence retired, he worked for the Northern Commercial Company. Fred married Dorothy Skistad, daughter of Nels and Emma Skistad in 1927. In 1941, Fred purchased the old Palace Bakery, also known as Burkhard’s bakery, at the south end of town on the Klondike Highway.¹⁾ He bought the building from Charles Burkhard who built it in the early 1900s. Burkhard delivered bread around Dawson by cart in the early 1900s. Fred ran a grocery out of the front and he and his family lived in the back of the building until they moved to Third Avenue.²⁾

In 1947, Caley purchased the former Whitehouse Hotel on 3rd Ave and ran a grocery, hardware and clothing store. His landmark neon sign, “Get it at Caley’s,” was the only electrified sign in town for years. It was installed in 1950. He maintained that his only major trip outside was in 1951 when he purchased a Morris half-ton pickup and drove it back up the Alaska Highway. Over the years, Fred grubstaked prospectors and is best known for his support of Art Anderson and George Walters who found the huge deposit of asbestos at Clinton Creek. Alec Berry, field representative of Conwest Explorations, claimed there would not have been a Clinton Creek mine without Caley’s support. Fred also collected town buildings, business and personal papers, and artifacts. At one time he owned the Red Feather Saloon, Billy Biggs Blacksmith Shop, the Dawson Daily News, the Minto Hotel and Ellingsen’s photography studio.³⁾

Fred Caley supported many non-profit organizations in town and in 1962 Fred’s support allowed a new museum to replace the old one that was destroyed by fire in 1959. In 1959, Fred allowed the Public Archives of Canada to microfilm his collection of bound copies of the Dawson newspapers. Caley retired from his store in 1978. In 1981, he donated 400 items to the Dawson Museum through his daughters Madge Gillespie and Irene Crayford. Fred was a member of the Eagles Lodge, the Oddfellows, and the Yukon Order of Pioneers (YOOP). In 1981, Fred was recognized with the Dawson Museum and Historical Society’s Heritage Award, and in 1982 he received the Commissioner’s Award. In 1989, he was posthumously inducted into the Yukon Prospectors Association’s Honour Roll. Five obituaries were written before Fred died, and Fred was asked by the CBC how he felt when he read them. He replied that he had a few more lives left in him.⁴⁾ A plaque, funded by the family and Ed and Star Jones, was erected by his store in 2008.⁵⁾ Fred Caley was a jovial philanthropist. His hand and heart helped to shape Yukon’s history.⁶⁾