Frank Leslie
Frank Leslie convinced four inexperienced men in Seattle that he knew the Stewart River gold deposits. After they arrived in 1886 it became obvious that he did not, and the four discussed lynching Leslie. He feared for his life and during his week to cook he mixed arsenic in a dish of beans but it only made them sick. He then tried to shoot them while they slept but was overpowered. The four took him down to the Stewart River Post and convened a miner's meeting. The meeting believed that he was innocent of deception, but he was an undesirable character and he was banished and ordered to move at least 150 miles from the camp or be shot on sight.1)
Leslie was banished from the Stewart River mining region in the winter of 1886/87 and arrived at Sonnikson's camp in April 1887. He spread a story about First Nations warriors and claimed he was sent upriver to warn prospectors. He met William Ogilvie at the Haines Mission on May 24 and told him the same story.2)