John Hendley
John and Gail Hendley left Ontario and arrived in Ross River in 1966 to teach. John was to be the first principal at the local school. There was no school when they arrived, but a single mobile trailer unit arrived some time after they did. They were the only teachers in the two-room school. Before the school was open, many children were sent to the residential school in Lower Post. The Hendleys left Ross River in 1968. A celebration in 2016 celebrated the school's 50th year.1)
John Hendley founded the White Ram Texas Hold’em poker tournament in Dawson in 1986. The gaming commission laid down the criteria for Hendley to follow instead of trying to shut down the game. They were not allowed to charge money, skim off the top, or allow the tournament to get too big. It became an underground event in Dawson for twenty years before the prize money got too big and the game moved to Diamond Tooth Gerties gambling casino. Gerties’ first game included eighty-six players in the Saturday limit event and eighty-four in the Sunday no limit event. The cap for the game was 110 players.2)