The other guy who staked "Rabbit's Foot" claim...

Ole Dickson had a partner when he staked Rabbit's Foot mineral claim. He had 3/5 interest, and JOHN PATTENT WHITNEY had the other 2/5 interest.

Who was J P Whitney? A century ago, he was part owner of "Whitney and Pedlar", one of the two big merchants in the territory. The other "big" merchant was Taylor and Drury. In fact, it appears that Whitney and Pedlar's store was built right across 1st Avenue from the White Pass Railway Station, where T & D's - and Horwoods - now stand. The Hougen website displays a photo taken on Victoria Day, showing that area of town, right after the 1905 Fire.

Robert Service wrote a poem in 1906, Bob Smart's Dream, in which it is predicted that J P Whitney would be a multi millionare and donate a the fine Ear Lake Park to the city of Whitehorse. This rosy forecast was, however, not to be. He put too much money in copper mine claims, and not enough into his store. Taylor and Drury and Pedlar bought him out of the merchandising business in 1912.

So, he tried the fox farm business. Built on the east side of the Yukon River, The Whitney "Black Silver Fox Fox Farm" sported a 2 storey log structure (built 1914) to house his 'warden', Charles Barlow. By 1918, however, fur prices had fallen so low that many fox ranches went out of business, including the Black Silver Fox farm. (This building finally burned down in 1996 after being derelict for many years.)

And it is here that your Blogress loses sight of J P Whitney.... except for this photo taken about 1905. There he stands, J P Whitney, on the Sternwheeler "La France", docked along the Yukon River. I'll bet he had a lot of fun - and a lot of friends - when he lived in the Yukon. (This photo is in the Yukon Archives, #4028, MM Coll)