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William Scouse (1862 – 1918)
William Scouse was born in Scotland. He was a coal miner there before moving to America in 1880 and working in the Pennsylvania coal mines. He made his way across the continent and worked in Kansas, Washington, Nanaimo, and the Queen Charlotte Islands [Haida Gwaii]. In 1896, he and three partners were in the central Yukon when they heard about the gold strike on Bonanza Creek.1)
Scouse’s companions in the north were from Nanaimo. Scouse, Big Jack Wilkinson, Thomas Flack, and William Sloan (who became the Minister of Mines) were among the first to stake claims on one of the richest creeks in the Klondike.2) Scouse staked Claim Number 5 on Eldorado Creek and in 1918 was still making ten thousand dollars a year from his properties. After he married in 1902, he travelled south every year to spend the winter with his wife in Seattle.3)
Scouse had investments in Dawson and Seattle and was known as a man of integrity and geniality. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Seattle.4) Scouse drowned when the Princess Sophia sank in the Lynn Canal.5)