Marnie Somerton

Marnie Somerton was born and raised in North Vancouver. She and Les Somerton were married in 1942 and their children born in British Columbia were Leslie (b. 1943), Rosemary (b. 1946) and a daughter born in 1948. The family sailed north on the Princess in February 1948. The took a train from Skagway to Whitehorse and flew to Mayo. Their fourth daughter, Jill, was born in Mayo in 1950. In 1951, the family moved to a houseboat on the Stewart River while Les worked on a crew for Ed Kimbal, cutting power poles for the new Mayo River power plant. In 1953, they moved back to Whitehorse where Les worked for White Pass. In 1957, they moved down to the coast where their sixth daughter Lee and later their only son Ernie were born. The Somertons started construction of the Moose Creek Lodge, on the Klondike Highway North, in 1969. There were busy summers and quiet winters until the United States threatened gas rationing and tourism suffered. Les got work with a security firm at Bear Creek, near Dawson, and the family made its home at Bear Creek and Dawson. Marnie was the town librarian before the family moved to Hunker Creek where Les took up mining.¹⁾