More on Clyde Wann, of Wann Road, Porter Creek
Clyde Wann was a business man, and did a lot for the Yukon in his day. As we noted earlier, his company, Yukon Airways and Exploration, was the first to go into the airline business in the Yukon, back in 1927.
And then, after WWII, on the new Alaska Highway, Clyde built and operated FOUR highway lodges: Morley River Lodge (Mile 777.7), Swift River Lodge (Mile 733), Beaver Creek (Mile 1202) and Destruction Bay Lodge (Mile 1083).
It was tough running these isolated lodges in the 1950s and 60s: the road was gravel and dust and crooked, and the winters were much colder than they are today. Each lodge had to provide its own electricity and plumbing and other such services we take for granted today. Operating FOUR of them was a very difficult assignment, and Clyde Wann must have been quite a business person to do so successfully.
Anyway, I have been re-reading Bill Hodson's book** about life on the Highway during the 1950s (mainly). It is a completely great book, well written and researched, with colour photos, and vivid stories of people and adventures from that time. And there, on page 47, is a mention of Clyde Wann:
"Nibs (Feller) and I spent the night at the Swift River Lodge, where we witnessed a near riot in the beer parlour. Clyde Wann, the owner, was held captive while free beer was passed out for a couple of hours. When they had drank enough beer, the guys, a construction crew, threw all the furniture into the Swift River than ran nearby."
**The book may be purchased at Mac's Fireweed. It is called "Reports from Hines Creek and Coal River; stories by Bill Hodson", self published, 2004. The cover has a photo of Ken McKinnon with Bill Hodson, Back Then.
And then, after WWII, on the new Alaska Highway, Clyde built and operated FOUR highway lodges: Morley River Lodge (Mile 777.7), Swift River Lodge (Mile 733), Beaver Creek (Mile 1202) and Destruction Bay Lodge (Mile 1083).
It was tough running these isolated lodges in the 1950s and 60s: the road was gravel and dust and crooked, and the winters were much colder than they are today. Each lodge had to provide its own electricity and plumbing and other such services we take for granted today. Operating FOUR of them was a very difficult assignment, and Clyde Wann must have been quite a business person to do so successfully.
Anyway, I have been re-reading Bill Hodson's book** about life on the Highway during the 1950s (mainly). It is a completely great book, well written and researched, with colour photos, and vivid stories of people and adventures from that time. And there, on page 47, is a mention of Clyde Wann:
"Nibs (Feller) and I spent the night at the Swift River Lodge, where we witnessed a near riot in the beer parlour. Clyde Wann, the owner, was held captive while free beer was passed out for a couple of hours. When they had drank enough beer, the guys, a construction crew, threw all the furniture into the Swift River than ran nearby."
**The book may be purchased at Mac's Fireweed. It is called "Reports from Hines Creek and Coal River; stories by Bill Hodson", self published, 2004. The cover has a photo of Ken McKinnon with Bill Hodson, Back Then.
posted by Mollie at 11:31 AM
2 Comments:
In about 1971, I visited Mr. Wann in his residence behind Tourist Services, to get his advice about commercial bush airline matters, after I acquired Yukon Airways.
Clyde stomped around the living room, recounting his many adventures as an aircraft operator, including his competition with the White Pass operation. WPYR had two advantages over Yukon Airways – the first being that it had better weather information from its train and connections to Skagway, and the second was that they could quote an all- inclusive fare to Whitehorse from Vancouver with a rail or train option from Skagway to YXY, which could easily bamboozle the regulatory authorities. When pressed to actually post a tariff, WPYR’s air arm undercut Clyde on the runs to and from Skagway and/or nearby Juneau. As I remember, Clyde’s posted fare was $ 40’seat, and WPYR posted $ 36. Clyde recounted, as he marched his way to an ancient file cabinet, that each of the competing operators kept lowering the price by $ 4- or whatever increments until WPYR’s ticket price was set at $ 12.00 per one way fare. No doubting that it was a loss leader, and would damage its competitor.
Clyde rummaged through his voluminous files and brought out the final posting and telegram which he sent to WPYR at the Vancouver head office.
“Dear President:
I’ll show you SOBs how to cut fares -- SIX DOLLARS A SEAT!”
Signed Clyde Wann as President of Yukon Airways and Exploration Co, Ltd.
The Clyde looked at me and said – “ And we both went broke!”
Paul White
Hi Heather.....I have a story about Clyde I will share. In the summer of 1959, I was sent to Swift River. I arrived on the bus about 8p.m. I wasn't sure what to do so I just stood back while a woman and her daughter went to Clyde and introduced themselves. The woman said " I heard you're a hard man to work for". Clyde said "Well you'll never know, just get right back on that bus". Needless to say I was a little intimidated, but ventured forward and introduced myself. Clyde looked over his glasses and said to me, "You don't look like you'll last very long either". Well, I worked there all that summer and he offered me a job in Beaver Creek the next year! Barrie Ravenhill
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