Henry “Harry” Woodburn (b. 1885)
Harry Woodburn was born in England.1) He prospected on the Macmillan River and in the McArthur Mountains. He had a cabin three to four miles below the mouth of the Macmillan on the Pelly River. Woodburn Creek is nearby and Woodburn's Riffle is just above the canyon. There is also a Woodburn Lake and a Woodburn Mountain in this area.2) Woodburn was the first to find gold on Woodburn Creek and he staked a claim there in 1915. A sizable rush followed and this creek and others around it were staked.3)
In 1916, H. Woodburn applied for 160-acre homestead five miles below Fort Selkirk.4) His agricultural lease was downstream and adjoining the Horsfall property on the Yukon River. He and Horsfall had their property surveyed in 1917.5) Woodburn was drafted into the First World War in July 1918. At the time he held bench claim No 3 on Hobson Hill, LL, Selwyn River; creek claim No 1 below Hobson Creek and No 22 above on Seymour Creek. His claims were held free from cancellation while he served. He was with the Yukon Contingent, 2nd Depot Battalion.6)
Woodburn returned to the Yukon in 1920. He had livestock and a good dog team in 1923. His homestead was approved that year and he described a log house, a stable, 400 yards of fences, ten acres under cultivation and eight acres in pasture. He transferred his property to Horsfall in 1925 and moved five miles above Pelly Farm on the left limit of the Pelly River.7) His new site was locally referred to as Green Timbers. Harry died there several years later. It is thought he might be buried on the property called Woodburn's Location.8)