James Sibistone
James Sibistone was a clerk at the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) post at LaPierre's House in 1862.1) He was posted at Fort Yukon in 1869 when Captain Raymond came up the Yukon River to determine the Alaska border. Sibistone met Jack McQuesten at the mouth of the Nelson River in the NWT and told him that one of Raymond’s officers had washed about a yard of dirt near Fort Yukon and recovered a teaspoon of gold. The officer threw the gold away because he didn’t want the boat crew to be diverted from their duties. The HBC men at the Nelson River were stopping McQuesten and Al Mayo from trading for furs in the area and were offering them incentives to move on. HBC Chief Factor McDougal offered them a guide, boat-building materials and provisions.2)
In 1871, the McQuesten party of three men was at the headwaters of the Hay River, trapping and trading. They had prospected the Peace River and not found enough to work further. They had heard a lot about the Yukon River from HBC employees. In the spring after the ice cleared, they took a boat down river and through Great Slave Lake and arrived at Fort Simpson about July 1. They decided to go up the Delyor (Liard) River to Frances Lake and winter along the way at the mouth of the Nelson River, as that was good game country. They built a cabin and prepared for winter. About November 1, three HBC men arrived. Their business was to prevent the McQuesten party from trading furs. They built a cabin close by and the two groups became friendly. One of the HBC men was Sibistone. He had been on the Yukon for several years and was able to give them lots of information. He said that the country was rich in silver fox. HBC trader McDougal also visited the McQuesten party at the Nelson River and verified Sibistone's stories.3)
The HBC men at the Nelson River were stopping McQuesten and Al Mayo from trading for furs in the area and were offering them incentives to move on. HBC Chief Factor McDougal offered them a guide, boat-building materials and provisions.4) McDougal said that if McQuesten would not trade any furs during the winter, then he would receive their goods and give them the same amount on the Porcupine River and furnish guides and provisions and lumber to build a boat. McQuesten's party killed about 400 martins and lots of meat to eat and arrived at Fort Yukon on 15 August 1873. Harper and Co. had gone up the Yukon. They left for their winter quarters, about 100 miles below, to some lake that McDougall recommended near the mouth of the Beaver River. Mayo and McQuesten went to Ft. Yukon at Christmas during a very cold spell. They decided after the visit to move to the fort because the trapping was poor where they were. They packed their stuff and arrived at the fort on 2 April. G. Nickelson and McQuesten had business with the HBC and they started for LaPierre House. They met Sibbeston there again and made fun of his fox and gold stories of the Yukon.5)