Gordon Mervin Toole (1925 - 2018)
Gordie Toole was born in Wawota, Saskatchewan.1) He was a weather observation specialist with the Canadian Department of Transport. Toole was posted to Snag, Yukon in 1943 to deliver weather information to pilots in the Second World War Lend Lease Program.2)
He arrived in the Yukon in late November and the driver of the United States ration truck followed white posts on the left side of the new Alaska Highway to find the turnoff to Snag. The accommodations on offer were canvas tents with cots and two army blankets. One man was appointed each night to patrol the tents and replenish the wood stoves. Gordon recorded the record breaking minus 81.6 Fahrenheit on 3 February 1947.3) Typically, men applied for and were given transfers after one year. After four years, the doctor in charge of personnel in Edmonton started to worry but Gordon had found his place. He had a trap line and a team of dogs and he didn’t want to be any place else. Toole’s doctor finally persuaded him to take a year off and during that time he met Rose, his future wife.4)
In the summer of 1947 Toole was posted to Pat Bay, British Columbia.5) In the summer of 1948, Rose’s brother Louis went on leave from Snag and took his friend Gordon with him to his home in Edmonton.6) Gordon and Rose were married in May 1949 and they moved to Watson Lake.7) Gordon was a Meteorological Technician (Met Tech) at the airport. It was busy place with regular Pacific Western flights supporting the Cassiar Mine.8) Gordon and Rose lived in airport housing until 1961 when they staked land and built a log home on Watson Lake. The children were born and raised in the Yukon and they shared their parent’s life at the fishing lodge, farm, and the trapline.9) They successfully ran an outfitting company at Caesar Lake.10)
In 1955, Gordon and Rose created Thunderbird Fishing Camp at Stewart Lake with cabins to accommodate guests. Gordon had an Aeronca Sedan plane. He got Rose and kids out in one trip and two fishermen in another. When the fishing lodge was sold, they were granted a hunting concession and Yukon Hunting Unlimited operated until 1982. They also carved out a hay farm and market garden in the bush, growing hay for their horses and vegetables for sale. They had 1,200 chickens and got about 800 eggs a day. Rose supplied eggs to Cantung and Cassiar mines, the local grocery, and friends and neighbours.11) Gordon went back to trapping in 1978, accompanied by his youngest son, Jamie, and in 1985 Rose went with him. The kids were grown and gone. They farmed and trapped and took three months to go skiing. The farm was sold in 1992 and a few years later the couple started to spend three of the winter months in the Bahamas. Gordon developed a medical problem and the trapline was sold in 2008.12)
In 2003, Gordon and Rose were recognized by the Yukon Order of Pioneers and were named Mr. and Mrs. Yukon.13) In 2018, Gordon Toole was awarded the YHMA History Maker Award for his contributions to meteorology, aviation, wilderness tourism, big game outfitting, trapping, and farming in the Yukon.14)