crossed the Atlantic with the Black contingent.
In October, as the remainder of the Black contingent prepared to leave Dawson, the Dawson Daily News singled out Mrs. Black for particular recognition: “For the loyal, capable and gifted helpmeet of Captain Black the Yukon ever will cherish the highest esteem and good wishes. The hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Black at Government House and the devotion of Mrs. Black to the organization and promotion of patriotic societies in Dawson ever will be remembered in Dawson with pleasure and gratitude. Those societies and others will continue their work in Dawson mindful ever of the good that they can do for the Yukon boys at the front and the Empire in general.”121
With only a few days to go before departure, the quota of volunteers had not yet been met, as some had failed to pass their medical examinations. Still short by twenty men, George Black announced publicly that some had no good reason for not enlisting. Looking around Dawson, he could see quite enough eligible men to fill two whole companies. On October 5, the Yukon Rifle Association gave a nice farewell at Lowe’s Hall honouring their members who were headed for the front. At the function, George Black was loud in his praise for those who joined up, and, repeating a theme about Yukoners that would characterize his speeches and actions throughout the war, he said there were no men he would rather serve with than the Yukon’s loyal volunteers.122
Also on the evening of October 5, the Yukon Order of Pioneers honoured the veterans of the gold rush and their sons who were going overseas. Taking a seat of honour along with George Black were Harold Butler, A.W.H. (sometimes known as “Alphabet”) Smith, C.S.W. Barwell, C. McDonnell, Sam Miller and Pete Allan. The following night, it was the Girl Guides who entertained the volunteers as the Campfire Minstrels, after which a dance was held in the theatre in their honour. But the biggest event was the reception and banquet sponsored by the British Empire Club at the Moose Hall the evening of October 7. The volunteers marched into the packed hall and lined up in rows of twenty at the front, where the ladies presented each man with the Yukon crest in bronze, to be worn on their caps. Various people sang songs, but the real hit of the evening was when little Gordon McKeen sang his own composition, titled “The Yukon Boys Will Surely Win Where the English Channel Flows.” Various speeches were given, including one by school superintendent Bragg, who acknowledged the deaths of four of the school lads who had already enlisted. The number would grow before the end of the war.
Speeches were given by several other dignitaries, including former commissioner and past member of parliament Frederick T. Congdon, and Judge Macaulay. After applause that lasted several minutes, George Black rose and thanked the IODE for the kindness they had shown his boys on the eve of departure, and, in particular, the purse of sixty dollars received from Mr. Yamaguchi on behalf of the Japanese residents of Dawson, for the purchase of tobacco for the members of the company. He mentioned the Girl Guides, who put on entertainment the previous evening, and the George M. Dawson chapter of the IODE. He thanked the 10 percent of the male population of the territory who had enlisted so far. He said he expected 110 men to sail from Skagway. He had fully 80 men ready to go. More were joining them from Whitehorse, Atlin, the Fortymile district and the Stewart River region.
He referred to the Canadian Patriotic Fund not as a charity but as a fund to help the families of those serving overseas:
I can truthfully say to you, in endeavoring to fill the office of commissioner, I have endeavored to give every man who had business to transact with me a square deal. I may have made some mistakes. I did make some, no doubt, as all do, but whatever mistakes I did make were of the head and not of the heart.
I want to thank the people also for the kindnesses and the kind things they have said on many occasions to Mrs. Black. She has been more of a help to me in being commissioner of the Yukon than probably any of you can realize. She has tried to do her duty in this community and I am happy to say the people of Yukon give her credit therefore, and I want to thank them for it…
I hope at any rate until the strife of this Great War is past, until this struggle for existence is finally over and the battle finally won, that the people of the Yukon Territory will lay aside their local and personal strifes and pull together for the good of the territory and for the good of the Empire.123
Members of the British Empire Club served the banquet, which continued until shortly after midnight.
Final preparations were made for the departure of the men. On October 8, Commissioner Black and other members of the infantry company attended a service at St. Paul’s Anglican Church. The following day, the volunteers formed up in the rain and, in a ritual that was becoming all too familiar, marched from the courthouse with an honour guard of Pioneers and a brass band to the waiting crowd at the waterfront, where the men boarded the steamer Casca. With them was a solitary woman: Martha Black. Martha Munger Black was a force to be reckoned with, and she was determined to accompany her men overseas, at least to London, if not the battlefront. As the Casca pulled away from the dock only a few minutes behind schedule, the cheerful recruits lined the railing; at the centre of the happy crowd were George and Martha Black, wearing their greatcoats. All were waving farewell to those onshore.124
Going Outside
Everybody aboard the Casca was subdued after the excitement of their departure from Dawson City. They settled in for the long journey up the Yukon to Whitehorse and beyond. Some played cards during the evening, and others crowded around the piano singing songs, while some wrote letters. A few just sat and stared out the windows, contemplating what was to come. Everybody slept soundly that night.
During the journey, Martha presented all of the men with the usual sewing and repair kits prepared by the ladies of the IODE. The men in turn presented her with a poke of gold nuggets, one from each member of the Martha Munger Black chapter of the IODE. Martha gave a little speech and everyone cheered; then “Sergeant Major” Thomas Greenaway presented several pairs of warm wool socks, also made by the ladies of the IODE, to George Black amid another bout of cheering.
As the Casca churned its way against the powerful Yukon current, Mrs. Black penned the following words, which she sent to her companions at the IODE:
The men of the Yukon Infantry Company, irrespective of race, religion or party, will be very close to Captain Black and me. He can always be with them to share in their work, their disappointments, their sorrows. But though the day will come when I see them all leaving to go where the stern reality of duty will face them from morning until night, yet I have dedicated my mind and my strength, God willing, to do all that I can to help our men, your men and my men until the day comes when the duty that calls will have become a thing of the past. In that work, I will need your help, the help of every man, woman and child in the great Yukon, and not only the help that your hands can give, but the help that your prayers and good wishes will always be to one who is your grateful and very sincere friend, Martha Munger Black.125
During the upstream journey, the men were kept active, performing drill twice a day on the flat deck of the barge being pushed by the Casca. All supplies delivered to Dawson came in by riverboat. Since much of the main deck of the boats was used to hold the wood that powered the boilers, barges were attached to the fronts of the riverboats to carry additional freight. Aside from people, the boats did not carry much freight on the return voyage to Whitehorse, so the empty barge served as an excellent space for the men to exercise. The drills were strenuous enough to keep the men quiet for a couple of hours after. They enjoyed excellent food and there were plenty of magazines to read. Martha Black served as the purser of the nicotine, dispensing cigars and cigarettes judiciously so that they would not be used up too soon.126
The journey passed quickly enough, and the ninety-two Dawson men, plus Captain and Mrs. Black, were joined by twenty-one more volunteers from Whitehorse and seven from Atlin.127 The train ride to Skagway took just three hours, and then they departed Skagway on the Prince Rupert
