W. Dudley “Dud” McKinney
Dudley McKinney was a vocal opponent of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) at Forty Mile.1)
Two men named Hestwood and Van Wagener registered claim # 19 Above on Glacier Creek with the NWMP. They went outside for the winter and sublet their claim to a third man named A. A. Gordon. Gordon hired two men to work the claim during the winter of 1895/96. When mining finished in the spring, Gordon left for Circle City, Alaska without paying his workers. The workers turned to Hestwood and Van Wagener but they would not pay their wages. The workers called a miner's meeting and Hestwood and Van Wagener were told to pay, or the claims would be confiscated and auctioned off. Van Wagener and Hestwood had notified the NWMP of the meeting and Constantine wrote to the committee telling them that their actions were illegal. The message arrived three hours after the meeting was held. Van Wagener and Hestwood refused to pay and another miner's meeting was held on June 28, 1896 where the claim was auctioned and sold to Jerry Baker for the low price of $1,075.00. Van Wagener and Hestwood sent another message to Constantine.2)
On July 1, 1896, Fred Hutchins and Dudley McKinney took possession of the claim while Jerry Baker went to Fort Constantine to register the bill of sale prepared by the committee and signed by twenty-three miners. Constantine refused to accept the document. Constantine then sent Inspector Strickland and eleven men armed with Metford carbines and pistols, and three Indigenous polers and packers to Glacier Creek on the night of July 4th. The party reached Kink House, fifteen miles up the Fortymile River, after twelve hours of travel. They then marched cross country to Moose Creek where they camped overnight and then travelled the final stint to the goldfields. They warned David Thompson, who Baker had put in possession of the claim, and handed it back to the original owners. Strickland remained on the creek for a further two days and finally received assurances from Malony, the chairman of the miner's committee that there would be no further trouble.3) Those who felt their rights had been infringed upon departed for Circle City, where the miner's committee still ruled.4)
“Dud” McKinney joined the first rush to the Chisana goldfields in Alaska and staked Claim No 11 on Bonanza in 1913. He sluiced the upper end of the claim in 1915 and worked Claim No. 8 in 1917. McKinney was listed as a placer miner in the 1920 census. He partnered with Jack Carroll on Gold Run Creek, Alaska in 1923. His wife was Emma and they adopted a Tlingit boy from Klawock, Barney McKinney. Barney sluiced Gold Run No 1 Above in 1929 and 1930.5)