David Hodnett
David Hodnett and Jack Stagar staked the Gold Reef claim on Gold Hill that caused the 1906 rush to the Wheaton River area. They showed their ore to Colonel Conrad and he grubstaked dozens of prospectors and telegraphed newspapers about the rich strike. A railroad boxcar of miners' supplies was parked at the Robinson siding.1) The Gold Reef claim was about 15-20 miles southwest of the siding. Within ninety days of the find, 700 claims were staked in the area.2) By July 1906 W. C. Grainger and H. W Vance had applied for a townsite at Robinson and P.N. Markle applied for a hotel license.3) In 1907, a 20-mile government road was built to connect Robinson, on the rail line, with Gold Hill, in the Wheaten River area.4)
David Hodnett is listed in the Yukon Prospectors’ Association Prospectors’ Hall of Fame.