William Paddock
William Paddock arrived in the Klondike in 1898 and was probably the brother of Charles Paddock who arrived in the same year. They were both known for their gardening skills.1)
William Paddock applied for land in West Dawson, across the Yukon River from the own, in 1910 and was granted title in 1911. He started a large commercial greenhouse and market garden at the west end of West Dawson.2)
Paddock was hired by the Yukon government in 1912 as a gardener and winter night watchman for the Commissioner’s Residence. When Paddock ordered seeds for the Residence, he also ordered for his own greenhouse and nursery operation. Paddock was the last full-time gardener for the Commissioner's Residence, and he retired when the Blacks went overseas during the First World War and the Residence was closed.3)
Paddock was farming in 1920, and he produced Marcus wheat near Dawson that cleaned up as high as forty bushels to the acre on an average season. About 400 acres of land were under cultivation in the suburbs of Dawson and the yields were as good as outside when the soil is in the proper condition, cultivated two or three years, and well fertilized. Some of Paddock’s oats cut fifty bushels clear to the acre, and his potatoes yielded up to 350 bushels to the acre.4)