Peter Willis Peterson (1885 – 1918)
Peter Peterson was born in Norway and moved with his family to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. He came to the Yukon in 1904 and worked for the Yukon Gold Company in its thawing plant until he was badly burned in an accident. He then went into the wood business. By 1918, he was employing four men on two saws and supplying all of Dawson's wood for heating and cooking. He lost one of his arms to the saw. His business was declining in 1918 and he decided to sell out and seek a new career in Wisconsin, either in shipping or fishing. He sent this wife and daughter south to live in 1917 and he followed them in the fall of 1918. He died on the Princess Sophia when it sank in the Lynn Canal.1) His wife was Helene Madelaine Hoggan Peterson.2)