E. Leroy Pelletier (d. 1938)
E. Leroy Pelletier was born in Houlton, Maine with the last name Pelky. He may have changed his name when he abandoned his family of two children, Queenie and Earnest, in Winnipeg to travel to the Klondike.1) Tappan Adney travelled to the Yukon at the same time as Pelletier who was at the time a New York Times correspondent. They built and shared a cabin together near Dawson, and two photographs by Le Roy Pelletier were used in Adney's The Klondike Stampede of 1897-98. Pelletier’s dispatches to the Times (1897 – 1900) told tales of starvation, smallpox, pistols drawn, and a murder.2)
In 1897, Pelletier organized Dawson’s Yukon Telephone and Telegraph Syndicate. The Klondike Nugget newspaper reported in June 1898 that the syndicate was a reality. The stockholders included Alex McDonald, Dr. LeBlanc, Bill McPhee, Geo Demars, and John Ericson. The syndicate had received its plant, eighty miles of wire, twenty-five long-distance transmitters, 100 drop switch boards and a complete outfit. Lines were to be run up the gulches and a city exchange established.3)
An altercation occurred on 18 August 1898 between E. Leroy Pelletier and Crown Prosecutor Wade in a NAT&T Co. warehouse. The only witness present was G. R. Swinehart who confirmed that Pelletier was assaulted.4)
When Dawson needed a mayor and council, the majority of the nearly 20,000 population was disqualified as they were American citizens. A list of potential candidates considered in private circles included Col. McGregor, George J. Armstrong, E. Leroy Pelletier, Mr. Wills, W. H. Smith, Captain A.F. Galpin, A. F. George, Dr. McDougal, Dr. McDonald, Mr. McLennan, John Cameron, J. C. Cunningham, P.R. Ritchie and Mr. Vernon of Vernon & Storey. All them were British subjects.5) Pelletier must have considered running. A Dawson newspaper ran a long article in late September about incorporation for Dawson, and Pelletier was mentioned as a speaker.6)
Pelletier was gone from the Yukon around 1900 when he designed the first four-cylinder air-cooled automobile and was president of the company that built his automobile the “Duquesne.” Pelletier started working for Henry Ford as a consulting engineer but, as he was better with words than machines, he became Ford’s private secretary and advertising manager.7)