Eugene Gilbert (1872 – 1919)

Eugene Gilbert was born in Quebec City. He served in the United States Army during the Spanish-American War. He was working in the Dawson area as a cook and a miner in 1916 when he enlisted to serve in the First World War.¹⁾ He was recruited by Captain George Black and was in England by August 1917.²⁾ His mining claims on Kirkman Creek were held free from cancellation during the war.³⁾ He was transferred to the 7th Reserve Battalion and then the Canadian Machine Gun Corps in March 1917. Private Gilbert took ill and was repatriated to Canada in September 1917. He was treated and discharged in March 1918 and returned to his wife and children in San Francisco.⁴⁾ He wrote to the Yukon saying he was too ill to return to his mining claims in the summer of 1918 and wondering what arrangements he could make to keep them safe from cancellation.⁵⁾ Gilbert died in San Francisco in January 1919 of pulmonary tuberculosis. He is buried in the San Francisco National Cemetery.⁶⁾