Yukon who is who

Patrick Joseph “Paddy” Ryan (~1864 - 1958)

Patrick Ryan was born in Newfoundland to parents Catherine and Richard Ryan. He left Newfoundland in 1886 and served in the Chilean Calvary during a revolution. He joined the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) in November 1888 at Halifax. He was noted to be a harness maker when he enlisted. In 1893, he was a Corporal at Fort MacLeod, and in 1894 he spent twenty days as a saddler at Lethbridge with Sam Steele as his Commanding Officer. In 1897, he was posted to the Yukon.¹⁾

In 1899, Ryan and a special constable were posted at Hootchikoo on the Yukon River trail to Dawson. The post was about sixteen miles north of Five Fingers and thirty-nine miles south of Fort Selkirk. On Christmas Day, Lawrence Olsen, Frederick Clayson, and Linn Relfe were murdered north of Hootchikoo by George O’Brien and Thomas Graves. They were travelling on the Yukon River trail when they were ambushed and killed for whatever belongings they were carrying.²⁾

Two days after Christmas, Ryan and his special constable set out on the trail north and found O’Brien and Grave’s camp but no sign of Olsen. He contacted Constable Pennycuick at Fort Selkirk who wired the NWMP headquarters in Dawson and sent out a notice for all posts to watch for the thieves. In 1901, George O’Brien was hung in Dawson for committing the crimes. Thomas Graves was never found.³⁾ Ryan investigated the George O’Brien murder and his photographs of the scene helped to solve the case.⁴⁾

In 1901, Constable Ryan was at Hunker Creek where he took photographs of some mastodon bones. His official title was “commissioner for taking affidavits.” At Hunker, he was part of a three-man detachment with Arthur Boucher and Oulten Lutes. In 1903, he had to recover the bodies after a fire at the Aurora Roadhouse at #55 Below Discovery on Hunker Creek. He left the NWMP in September 1904 but he stayed in Dawson. In 1909, he owned and operated Ryan’s Harness Shop on Third Avenue selling horse blankets and furnishing and repairing and selling harness. The 1991, the Canadian census puts Ryan in Prince Rupert. Paddy and Elizabeth “Eva Bessie” Butterworth were married in Prince Rupert in 1915 and they had two children. From 1921 to 1930, Ryan was operating a photography studio in Prince Rupert. In 1930. he was working as a dock man at Prince Rupert, and in 1932 he re-joined the RCMP as a saddler. In 1939, Ryan was transferred to Ontario. He served as a saddler with the RCMP Musical Ride until 1952. He died in his home near Ottawa.⁵⁾