James E. Greenfield
James Greenfield was a part owner of the Yukon Silver Lead Company that had properties on Mount Haldane. The other owners of the company were Pickering, Cale, Forrest, Anderson and Maclennan. The prospect was developed by Greenfield and Pickering in l917/1918. That winter it was 74 degrees below zero in the area.1) In the early 1920s, Greenfield and Pickering hauled silver-lead ore from Keno Hill to the Mayo waterfront using horse teams.2)
In 1923-23, trucks replaced wheeled stages for spring and fall travel, and caterpillars took over in the winter. Traffic dropped on the Overland Trail after planes started to deliver the mail.3) Greenfield and Pickering took over the Mayo-Dawson mail contract from Coates & Kastner when motorised transport took over the ore haul.4) The Whitehorse-Dawson mail contract was awarded to Greenfield and Pickering in 1925.5) They purchased the equipment from O.F. Kastner and prepared to deliver a winter mail service. Greenfield was in charge in Whitehorse and Angus McInyre was at Dawson.6) In February 1926, the company started an experiment with a snowmobile. Greenfield and Fred Vey made a trip to Braeburn with the machine in the expectation of using it on the mail service in the future if it proved satisfactory.7) Klondike Airways was operated by Greenfield and Pickering Royal Mail Service after the failure of the first Yukon Airways. Whitehorse lawyer Willard Phelps flew mail on behalf of Greenfield and Pickering Royal Mail Service. The company used a de Havilland DH-60X Cirrus Moth, G-CAUM, as well as Treadwell-Yukon Company's FC-2W2, G-CARM registered to Willard L. Phelps, who also owned the Moth and provided his equipment to Klondike Airways. Klondike Airways described only one aspect of the service provided by the company and did not denote ownership of the aircraft. In February 1928, Pickering announced that if the company's winter mail contract were extended for four years then the company would purchase two airplanes and operate them when business and weather allowed (during breakup and freeze-up). The airplanes were never purchased, and arrangements were made with Treadwell Yukon to lease one of their planes.8)
In October 1928, a notice in the Dawson Weekly News announced that scheduled and passenger flights between Dawson, Mayo and Whitehorse would commence immediately. Klondike Airways was authorized to fly the mail north from Whitehorse in October 1928 and Tommy Stevens was the first official airmail flight in the DH-60 Moth “Rilla-Martha” G-CAUM from Whitehorse to Mayo, Keno, Wernecke and likely Dawson. Greenfield and Pickering lost the mails contract and terminated their Overland Trail operations in 1929. On February 12, 1930, a new Klondike Airways company under the directorship of T.C. Richards and W.L. Phelps continued the arrangement initiated by Greenfield and Pickering. The planes were owned by Treadwell Yukon and Phelps’ name was used because he was Treadwell Yukon's attorney and a resident Yukon Agent.9)