William E. Meed
William Meed and his wife Mabel came to Dawson in 1898. Shortly after his arrival, Meed became the freight and passenger agent for the Bennett Lake and Klondike Navigation Co. The company operated the small sternwheelers Ora, Nora, and Flora between Whitehorse and Dawson. He also became the agent for the Canadian Development Co. operating the sternwheelers Victorian, Columbian, and Canadian.1)
Around 1900, Meed became chief owner and manager of the Yukon Dock Company at Dawson. He formed the Stewart River Co. in December 1900 to build a boat suitable for navigating the Stewart River. The sternwheeler Prospector was built in Whitehorse in 1901 by a prominent Victoria boat builder. Capt. James A. Ritchie was given command. They pioneered service on the Stewart River and made the first attempts to navigate the Pelly and Macmillan rivers. Meed took photographs along these routes, and downstream on the Yukon River to Eagle, Alaska, a route later served by the Prospector.2)
Meed complied a collection of over 200 photographs of the Klondike. The collection is held at the University of Washington Libraries.3)