DALLAIRE, JOSEPH
Son of Léandre Dallaire, Joseph Dallaire was born on February 1st, 1871 in Saint-Alexis, Chicoutimi County, PQ. In March 1899, this young 27 year old farmer left his wife and three children to go to the Klondike with five other men from his region. Joseph Dallaire and his companions chose to go by the Chilkoot Pass in 1899.
“We walked the route on foot, our baggage on young mules at first then dragged by ourselves later on. We covered 32 miles this way: 4,200 pounds for 6 men. This cost us $125.00 to get this through. On the shores of Lake Laberge, we waited five weeks for the ice to break. We had to saw the wood for our boat. There we met 41 men from Montmagny.
Dallaire and company arrived in Dawson City on the 24th of May to find that there were no more mining concessions available. So Joseph Dallaire worked at various minor trades: miner, lumberjack, and carpenter. During the summer of 1900, he cut wood for Thomas Lalancette and associates. In July 1902, after 2 years and 5 months in the Klondike, he returned to his native region.
During an interview which he gave to Father Victor Tremblay of Saint-Alexis in May 1948, he said, “I’d have stayed another year, but my wife wrote to say ‘If you wish to stay, stay forever.’ This made me make up my mind; I had taken a job s a lumberjack so I let it go. I came back with very little, but it was more than what I’d have made had I stayed here where there were no jobs.”
Ref. Empreinte, vol.11, pages 34-35
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