FORTYMILE, YUKON
Fortymile was the first mining town of the
Yukon. It was situated along the Yukon
River and about 52 miles (84 km) north-west of Dawson City. After the rather important discovery of gold
in 1886, Fortymile saw its population rise up to 1000 inhabitants in 1884 and
then tumble to nearly nothing once the gold was
discovered near Dawson City in
1895.
A French-Canadian, Bill Couture, was the
last inhabitant of Fortymile where he lived until the years 1950.
At the beginning of the century, Couture
was a prospector and a miner in the region. When the creeks and streams in the
region were all staked as mining concessions and exploited, he went into
wood-cutting for the steamships. Then
when the steamships stopped running passed Fortymile, he tried trapping animals
for their fur. Finally the life of a
trapper and of a hermit became difficult for this man who in his sixties
suffered from a heart condition.
One fine morning in 1965, he gathered up;
his last strength and went to the Yukon River and built himself a little
home-made raft. On it, he placed a
scribbled note asking for help, then made the sign of the cross and pushed the
raft into the current. An inhabitant of
Eagle, Alaska found the note and sent a radio-message to Dawson City. Bill Couture was found dying in his cabin; he
was transported immediately to the hospital in Dawson City.. Regardless of good care by the Sisters of
Saint Anne, he died a few weeks later.
The name of William Couture is found in the
Dawson City death registers. According to this source, he died in Dawson City
on August 20, 1956, aged 69.
Ref.: Empreinte, vol. 11, page 12
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