George Walters

George Walters grew up at Moosehide, on the Yukon River downriver from Dawson. His mother was Eva Silas and his grandmother was Ellen Silas. ¹⁾

In December 1940, George Walters left Dawson to join the Canadian Forestry Corp to serve during the Second World War. He trained for the military at Valcartier, Quebec. His division was part of General Crears 1st Canadian Army, and it travelled to Europe on the Pasteur. The French ship travelled in a convoy from Halifax to Scotland, escorted by British battleships including the Renown. Georg was posted to a forestry camp near Inverness where he cut ties and drove with other Army boys from Australia, New Zealand, and newfoundland. The Dawson enlistees were split up but sometimes saw each other through the war. George was with the Canadian Army when it was re-taking Norway in 1942/43. He was hit by shrapnel and returned to Canada in the hospital ship Lady Nelson.²⁾

In the mid-1950s, Art Anderson know of an outcrop of asbestos located on his family trap line. There was no use for asbestos in the early days, but after the war Yukon Consolidated Gold Corp approached Art for information about the location. It was not until Fred Caley told Art that another company was coming in to search and stake that Art agreed to stake the deposit. Fred grubstaked him. Art and George Walters walked in and staked two claims on the deposit. Fred was impressed with the samples and asked his son, Bob, to meet them at the claim. Bob snowshoed in down the Fortymile from Alaska, and they staked a total of eight claims on the property. On their return to Dawson, they contacted Alec Berry at Conwest's Whitehorse office. The first exploration work was done that summer and trenching continued for three to four summers. Art and George came in and set up the first camp for the geologists and worked with picks and shovels during the early exploration.³⁾ In 1967, the deposit became Canada's most northerly open-pit operation, and the Yukon's first asbestos producer. ⁴⁾