Yukon who is who

Henry Mason Sarvant (1869 – 1940)

Henry Sarvant was in the state of New York and was raised by his aunt in Cloister, New Jersey. He settled in Tacoma in 1889 where he worked as a civil engineer. He made many trips to Mount Ranier and did extensive surveys of the region working for the Washington Geological Survey. In August 1982, he was one of the first eleven men to reach the summit. A series of glaciers on the northeast slope of Mt. Rainier was named for him to honour his explorations.¹⁾

Sarvant went to the Yukon in 1897 across the Chilkoot Pass. The University of Washington’s collection of Sarvant’s photographs includes images from his trip to the Klondike (15 August – 20 October 1897), and mining on Bonanza Creek in 1898, Dawson and Klondike goldfields from 1899 to 1901 including images of his mine on Adam’s Hill.²⁾

Sarvant left the Klondike in 1901. He was successful enough to fund his later business and agricultural ventures. Sarvant returned to the Tacoma area and was elected mayor of Steilacoom and served as treasurer of the Northwestern Woodenware Company of Tacoma. He married Carolyn Cobbler in 1908. In 1912 he moved to Yakima where he was involved in experiments in agriculture, developing new strains of plants in his orchard.³⁾