Edgar H. Wilson (1842 - 1895)
Edgar Wilson was born in Ohio and was an American Civil War veteran. In 1886, he and John J. Healy established a trading post at the head of the Lynn Canal, a place later called Dyea, near one of the several Tlingit villages in the area.1) Juneau entrepreneur N. A. Fuller advanced the money for the Healy and Wilson partnership.2) Healy and Wilson recognized Dyea as a strategic place for landing those who wished to prospect inland. Wilson ran the store in the spring and summer months while Healy ran his boat back and forth to Juneau with passengers and supplies. The store was busy, and the partners earned a commission by arranging Tlingit packers for the travellers.3)
In the summer of 1886, there were several explosive discussions among the First Nation packers about who could use the Chilkoot Pass and how much they would charge. The incidents elevated to the point of a fight where the Tlingit chief Klanott was killed, and Inland Tlingit Big Tom was wounded. The Packer War happened at Dyea, in front of the Wilson and Healy store.4)
Coarse gold was discovered on the Fortymile River in 1886, and the miners sent letters outside with volunteer mail carriers Tom Williams and a First Nation boy called Bob. The weather was terrible in the coastal mountains that December and Williams died of exposure soon after the pair reached Healy and Wilson’s store. Wilson learned enough from Williams to know the location of the new strike was in the letters left behind on the trail, but two search parties failed to locate the cache. John Healy finally found the cache after getting better directions from Bob.5)
On 2 March 1895, the steamer Seolin left for Dyea with 15 passengers, destined for a trip into the Yukon, plus Edgar Wilson who was returning to his trading post at Dyea.6) In late March, the steamer Rustler sailed for Dyea with thirty Yukoners plus a sloop of freight for Healy and Wilson. Wilson travelled back on the boat to get more goods for his Dyea store.7) Healy and Wilson had finished a trail from Dyea to Stone House. They brought in horses and had a pack train of fifteen on the route. Wilson died in 1895, leaving a wife and a 6-year-old son.8)
The town of Dyea in March 1896 consisted of the Healy and Wilson trading post and a dozen or more First Nation houses. The First Nation packers were charging 1 cent per pound per mile. Traveller Arthur Walden wrote that the only men who used their services were traders and gamblers.9)