Yukon who is who

Arthur Victor Buel (1877 – 1952)

Arthur Buel was born in San Jose, California and his family moved to Tacoma, Washington when he was four. In 1897 he left his job as a cartoonist at the Santa Rosa Democrat to travel north.¹⁾ Buel was in Skagway in the early days of the town’s history.²⁾

Buel was without money in the Klondike and worked at various jobs until George Swinehart hired him to draw cartoons for the Dawson Midnight Sun. That newspaper became the Yukon Sun, and when it was sold Buel went to work for the Klondike Nugget. The U.S. consul, James McCook, sued the newspaper after Buel drew McCook stumbling around with a bottle in hand. The Nugget was found not guilty. By 1900, he was working for the Dawson Daily News. His targets included other newspapers and politicians. In 1901, he drew sketches of the participants in George O’Brien’s murder trial for the Klondike Nugget. Buel took a trip out of the territory in 1901/02 and on his return he was hired by the Yukon Sun. He left again in February 1903 and returned in May to work for the Nugget. Buel played baseball in Dawson and enjoyed boxing as a participant and a referee. He was outclassed in a fight with F. Stanley Long in September 1903 for the Yukon amateur heavyweight championship. He was knocked down after three and a half rounds.³⁾

The Nugget went out of business in 1903, bought by the Dawson Record, which was purchased in turn in November 1903 by the Yukon Sun.⁴⁾ In 1903, Buel exerted his cartooning talents on behalf of the ultimately successful James Hamilton Ross’s political run against Joe Clarke.⁵⁾ In 1904, Yukon Commissioner Frederick Congdon changed the government patronage to the Yukon World newspaper over the previously loyal Yukon Sun. The Worlds chief rival was the Dawson Daily News who championed the political career of Dr. Alfred Thompson over Congdon. The Yukon Sun was revived during the 1904 election to help fight the corrupt Congdon and his supporters.⁶⁾ The Sun was purchased by J.B. Tyrell who had no love for Congdon. W.A. Beddoe was the new editor of the World and he tried to blackmail Tyrell so the newspaper was thereafter referred to as the “Blackmailer’s Gazette”. Soon after this, the Dawson Daily News acquired the Sun from Tyrell.⁷⁾ The Daily News bought the Sun in the summer of 1904 and continued publishing the morning edition. The special Sunday editions of the Sun featured Buel’s cartoons.⁸⁾ In 1905, Buel supported the faction of the Liberal party (the Steam Beers) that refused to support Congdon. An Alaskan newspaper stated that he contributed to the defeat of the ex-governor.⁹⁾

Buel left Dawson in [January] 1905 and eventually found work at the Tonopah Sun (Nevada) with former Klondike newsman L.C. Branson. Then he worked at the Reno Evening Gazette. He married in 1911 while working for the Sacramento Bee. In 1922, he started at the Fresno Bee and worked there until his retirement in 1946.¹⁰⁾

Some of the political cartoons drawn by Arthur Buel are held at the Yukon Archives in the Paul Forrest fonds, MSS 107 (80/35) and in the Dawson City Museum archives.