William “Me Hearty” Horkan (d. 1925 or 1926)

William Horkan was an Irishman who was a naturalised American when he arrived in the Klondike in 1897.¹⁾ Horken arrived in Dawson during the summer of 1897 with two partners on a riverboat they built at Lake Bennett. Horkan dismantled the boat and used the materials to build a small cafe. In the spring of 1898, he built the Standard Library. In the spring of 1899, he installed the first billiard table and steam baths. He then built a lean-to and rented it to F.M. Herring. The library and restaurant establishment acted as a club room for the working man. Horkan offered meals, bunks, and baths for 50 cents each with a free reading room. Horkan had a conservatory in the library, a summer garden behind the building, and evergreen trees planted along the sidewalk. His advertisements ceased in 1903, but in 1903/04 he supplied the administration building with seeds and plants. He was bankrupt after the big fire on Front Street in 1902, and sold his interests to Oak Hall.²⁾

After he sold his business interests, Horkan started work laying out the grounds for the Territorial Administration Building. He had a salary of $1 an hour charged against each building he worked on. He started work for the Department of Public Works in 1904 and after the reconstruction of the Commissioner's Residence, after the 1906 fire, he spent most of his time there. Horkan became a naturalised Canadian before the 1905 election and was probably a Tab Liberal. Horkan was described by the Yukon Daily Morning World as a landscape gardener, miner, librarian, and poet. During 1908/09, Horkan started tending the residence furnace in the winter for $160 a month and gardened for his old rate during the summers. By 1911, Horkan probably had his own nursery as he supplied the Commissioner's residence with plants including roses, geraniums, and asparagus ferns. In 1912, he left the government employ and the Yukon to ranch in Nakusp, British Columbia.³⁾