Edward Michael “Black” Sullivan
Black Sullivan was a logger on the coast before he came north.1) Sullivan was an original founder of the Yukon Order of Pioneers at Forty Mile. The minutes of the first meeting note that he came into the Yukon watershed in 1887.2)
In 1888, there were 150 men at Forty Mile expecting the steamer to arrive and it was getting late in the fall. Some gave up hope and arranged to go down the Yukon River in McQuesten’s little steamer New Racket and its barge. Thirty-eight men remained at Forty Mile with about three sacks of flour each and no beans or bacon. Jack McQuesten thought there would be hungry men that winter. The same day the steamer left, John Reid and Sullivan started for Fort Selkirk to get provisions from Arthur Harper. In late October, they came back with eighty sacks of flour, three barrels of sugar, two cases of tea, plus beans and bacon. The weather was mild, and the river froze late in the fall. Shortly after freeze-up the caribou began to cross the river and First Nation hunters killed them by the hundreds all around the station, so the community had plenty of meat all winter. McQuesten said it was unusual to see the caribou so plentiful near Forty Mile.3)
Sullivan and William O’Brien were friends at Forty Mile, and it is possible that they were both part of the “whiskey gang” that was operating thirty-five stills at Forty Mile in the winter of 1894/95. North-West Mounted Police officer Charles Constantine identified O’Brien and Jack McQuesten, who was busy trying to grow potatoes and not just for food it seems.4)
In 1898, Black Sullivan had a cabin at Bennett Lake in a little bay near the community. He ran a saloon and roadhouse in his cabin and sold drinks and off-sale liquor. There were no beds for guests, and they could cook on his stove if they had food. Sullivan was known to have all-night card games. The cost of freight was high and Black Sullivan paid his bill for 5,000 gallons of liquor in thousand-dollar bills.5) Sullivan took his profits outside and bought more alcohol. Ira Van Bibber and his brother packed $50,000 worth of liquor over the White Pass and on to Dawson for “Whiskey” Sullivan. Sullivan had a special drink made of blended scotch, rum, rye, etc. and he made an immense fortune. He put his money into buying river boats.6)
In 1899, the steamer Reindeer of the Yukon & Hootalinqua Navigation Co. was sold at auction by Vernon & Storry to satisfy a judgment in favour of wages for the crew. It sold at a bargain price of $3,750 to E. M. Sullivan.7) By 1900, Black Sullivan and Thomas O’Brien were major shareholders in an independent shipping company, the Dawson and White Horse Navigation Company (D&WHN Co.). They had acquired the steamers Tyrrell, the J.P. Light and the Lightning. The company built three barges for them: the Jean, Louise, and Margaret.8) The Tyrell and the J.P. Light were in St. Michael in September and were still expected to make the run up the Yukon River to Dawson.9)
In late 1902, the NAT&T Co was hiring the steamers Tyrell and J.P. Light to barge coal to Dawson from their mines at Cliff and Coal creeks. The steamers were two of three owned by D&WHN Co.10) The Lightning was registered to Black Sullivan in 1902.11) The J. P. Light was inactive after October 1902 when it was hauling coal from the Cliff Creek mine. It was fired up again on 10 August 1903, chartered to the NAT&T Co., and sailed for St. Michael.12)
1903 was a bad year for freighting on the Yukon River due to low water and an unexpected formation of ice. Six large steamers above Dawson and six below, all heavily laden, were stuck on bars when the ice started to run in October. They all managed to tie up to a bank but not without heavy losses. There was freight destined for Dawson all along the Yukon River for some 300 miles; most of it needing to be hauled to Dawson by teams of horses during the winter. Three ships owned by the D&WHN Co. were affected. The Light had 200 hogs, 240 sheep, 75 calves, and 200 head of cattle and the Tyrrell had 104 head of cattle. These boats put their cargoes off at Clarke's Roadhouse and went into winter quarters. The Lightning carried 120 tons of non-perishable freight down to help the Kerr between Circle City and Eagle, Alaska.13) The Lightning was sold to the Coal Creek Coal Company around this time.14) Both the Tyrrell and the J.P. Light had been sold by 1904.15)
In 1904, William O’Brien and six other prominent Dawson businessmen, including Edward “Black” Sullivan, incorporated the O'Brien Brewing and Malting Co. Ltd. also known as the Klondike Brewery. It operated brewing, malting, bottling, and associated credit, real estate, and promotional ventures. Sullivan and O’Brien were old friends from Forty Mile.16)
Harry Waugh and “Black” Sullivan appeared at Herschel Island in 1906 with specimens of gold-bearing quartz and went out to Dawson via the whaler Kar-Luk to record their claims. Andrew Hunker and Thomas O'Brien backed them. About $50,000 worth of equipment was shipped via the Mackenzie and Peel rivers in 1909 but there is no evidence that it was used.17)
In 1912, Ira Van Bibber was working on the dredges when he met Sullivan again. Sullivan was working as a carpenter for the dredging company. He said that after he went broke in Dawson he left for the lower Yukon River. In 1912, he and a partner had eighty head of horses in Alaska and the partners needed money so Sullivan came back to get a job.18)