The Bonanza Creek miner Harry Lehmon pouring the drinks for the boys in the Capital Hotel Bar - right of Harry is Cal Miller, Alex Berry, Lloyd Ryder and Jack Graham. All of these gentlemen have passed away in the recent past, each of them was an important personality in Yukon history.
This event happened in 1954.
I first met Harry Lehmon in 1961 while sketching in Dawson City. He was walking from his cabin on Bonanza Creek with his little dog. The building I was sketching at the time was the old “Gun and Ammunition” building (Strait’s Auction House) on Harper Street.
I chatted with him for a moment, and quickly realized that he was a Klondiker from the early days. Having had a camera with me, I took his photo. Harry was probably headed for the Occidental Hotel, where he often had a drink and good conversation with the owners, Ole and Mary Christensen.
My good friend Cal Miller told me an interesting story concerning Harry Lehmon. He was the owner of the Capital Hotel in Whitehorse. He had heard the news about the Vancouver Sun and Canadian Pacific Airlines treating Harry to his “first flight through the air, en route from Dawson City to the Sourdough Convention in Vancouver.” It was Harry’s first trip Outside since the gold rush some 55 years before. To cap off the event, Cal arranged to have Harry met at the airport when he returned to Whitehorse.
They showed him around town and treated him royally. Cal sent me a photograph taken in the bar of the Capital Hotel showing the little miner pouring a drink for the boys and having the time of his life.
Cal’s photograph is shown above.
Anyone with information about this subject, please write Jim Robb: The Colourful Five Per Cent Scrapbook—Can You Identify? c/o the Yukon News, 211 Wood Street, Whitehorse, Yukon,
Y1A 2E4, or e-mail through the News website, www.yukon-news.com.