Gus Johnson
Gus Johnson was born in Sweden and came to the American north in 1894 when he and two friends sailed a small sloop from Puget Sound to Juneau. He explored Cook's Inlet in 1896 and returned to Juneau in early 1897. He mined with much success on Gold Hill by Bonanza Creek, and then moved to Dawson to establish a laundry business.1)
The Cascade Laundry was operated by George Munger (Martha Black’s brother) during the winter of 1898/99. George Munger Sr. made his fortune running a large chain of laundries in Chicago, so the son grew up knowing the family business. The Cascade was one of twelve laundries in Dawson in 1899, was known as the Cascade Steam Laundry in 1902, and was the last laundry operating by 1923. It was owned by the W. A. Shinkle and Company (W.H. Morrow, Martin E. Olson, and Gus Johnson). In 1902 it had modern equipment and a staff of thirty. Horse-drawn carts delivered all over town and out as far as Arlington. Morrow sold his interest in the laundry to Johnson in 1906, and Johnson assumed management of the business. He was an active member of the Dawson community and remained in the Yukon until 1925, when he shut down the laundry.2)
Johnson was an active partner in the Lone Star Mining Company and treasurer of the Miners and Merchants Association.3) He was a member of the Yukon Order of Pioneers and his last enterprise was the idea of a road to the Midnight Dome above Dawson, a project that the Pioneers fostered to the finish. Johnson’s hobby was his garden and he raised some of the best garden produce seen in Dawson.4)
Mrs. Johnson and her daughter, Virginia, left Dawson a few years before 1925 and moved to Seattle where Virginia was studying music. Gus Johnson and Miss Harold left Dawson to join their families in 1925. Miss Harold, the sister of Mrs, Johnson, worked at the laundry in the bookkeeping department. She had a great interest in the Christian Science church.( (“Old Residents Leave Dawson for Seattle.” The Dawson News (Dawson), 15 September 1925.))