| Summary: | This double portrait depicts Yukon Order of Pioneers Seattle Lodge No. 2 members Frank Lawson and George W. Carmack wearing YOOP sashes, with the YOOP banner depicted in the center. George W. Carmack was a gold miner in the Yukon Territory. With Tagish Indian partners Skookum Jim Mason and Tagish Charlie; and prospector Robert Henderson of Nova Scotia, Carmack is discovered rich gold deposits on Rabbit Creek; Carmack was given official credit for the discovery, though some accounts give actual credit to Skookum Jim. The discovery, later named Bonanza Creek, launched the Klondike Gold Rush in 1896. The Yukon Order of Pioneers (YOOP) fraternal organization was formed on December 1, 1894 at Forty Mile, Yukon Territory, Canada. With the motto "Do unto others as you would be done by" as its abiding rule, the organization helped maintain law and order and settle disagreements among early prospectors and residents. In order to qualify for membership, pioneers were required to have been in the Yukon Territory on or before 1888, and membership was limited to Yukon pioneers only; Alaska stampeders were excluded. In 1912, many of the miners had moved to Seattle and applied to form a lodge there; the Yukon Order of Pioneers Seattle Lodge No. 2 was founded that year by George T. Snow and Thomas W. O'Brien. Handwritten on photo: Frank Lawson, Geo. W. Carmack 1 photographic print: b&w; 10 x 13 in.
|
|---|