Yukon who is who

Otis E. McGinley

Otis McGinley was from Rock Island, Illinois. In 1896, he was the master of the Denkman, a large raft running on the Mississippi River from Lynxville, Wisconsin to Rock Island. He left for the Yukon in mid-April 1898 and took charge of the sternwheeler Leah on the Yukon River.¹⁾ The Alaska Commercial company brought in a number of Mississippi and Missouri river pilots to run their boats.²⁾ The Leah was a large boat and towed a barge just as big. The Leah first arrived at Dawson from the coast on 13 July 1898. The boat and barge were fitted with excellent accommodations for passengers. She brought about 100 passengers and about 600 tons of freight.³⁾ The Alaska Commercial Company hired the Mississippi masters on three-year contracts although the boats only ran five months of the year.⁴⁾