Joanna “Josie” Jory

Joanna (Josie) and Edwin Jory, came to the Yukon in October 1899. Edwin left the Yukon in February 1902 and they were subsequently divorced. In 1901, Joanna Jory was a Dawson landlady with a better-than-average income. She was also employed by George De Lion and for three years from January 1900 to December 1902. She was cook, housekeeper, and general agent for De Lion's business running the Monte Carlo saloon on Front Street. In July 1903, she filed assault charges against De Lion but then withdrew the charges before it went to court. A month later she filed a suit for $6,000 in unpaid wages. The jury was tied and in the retrial Mrs. Jory was awarded $1,444. Then De Lion charged her with unlawful entry of his apartment in the Monte Carlo building after she was dragged out, leaving her 18-month old child with De Lion's son Maurice. She claimed they were married, and De Lion denied it. Mrs. Jory and her child left Dawson in March 1904 but soon returned and resided in the Klondike over the next six years. She ran the Sixty Roadhouse on Bonanza Creek. The Daily Oklahoman reported that Victor was born at Little Salmon on the way to the Klondike. California actor Victor Jory said that he was born on Claim #76 Below Discovery on Bonanza Creek. The family genealogy website suggests that Jory was born in 1903, but the date was changed to conceal an illegitimacy.¹⁾