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CONTENTS:

- K'uch'an Traders
- The Tantalus Coal Mines

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K'uch'an Traders

The arrival of many K'uch'ans had a huge impact on trade in the Carmacks area. Until the gold rush, the coastal Chikats had managed to keep a monopoly on trade to Northern Tutchone people by destroying Ft. Selkirk. But the huge number of newcomers finally broke the monopoly, and from then on the Northern Tutchone traded mainly with K'uch'ans.

Various traders set up shop around Carmacks over the years. Taylor & Drury opened their first post at Little Salmon in 1900, and moved to Carmacks in the late 1920s. Elders remember that to get a gun, their parents had to trade a stack of furs as high as the rifle. Some say that the guns got longer over the years! Tom Bee had set up a store at Carmacks in the early 1900s, and hired First Nation people to make clothing for him to sell.

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Tom Bee's store
1917
Carmacks, Yukon


Credits:
(Yukon Archives PHO 389 90/19-2 #76)

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Klondike Gold Rushers trading
1898
Tanintse Chu Dachäk (Little Salmon Village)


Credits:
(Yukon Archives PHO 260 81/9 #4)

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Taylor and Drury Store
1913
Carmacks, Yukon


Credits:
(Yukon Archives 8565)

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L-R: Billy Peter Johnny, Simmie Skookum, Pat Bill in coal cart at Tantalus Mine
1953
Carmacks, Yukon


Credits:
(PHO 372 88/150 #8A)

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The Tantalus Coal Mines

Coal mining has palyed a large role in Carmacks history. George Carmack ran a small operation around 1895. In 1903, Captain Miller of the steamboat Reindeer opened a coalmine called 'Hidden Treasures' along the river above Carmacks. Later called Tantalus Mine, this operation was supposed to supply coal for steamboats to burn, but not many boats ever converted to coal from wood. Later on, the coal was used to for heating fuel in Dawson. The mine closed in 1922 when the supply ran out, and the operation moved across the river to Tantalus Butte.

The Tantaus Butte Mine operated for many years afterwards, though it closed and re-opened twice along the way. The mine began to hire First Nations people around 1945, and for many years this was an important income for people who had settled around Carmacks. The mine was closed permanently in 1978 becasue of an underground fire.

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Miners at Tantalus Mine
1953
Carmacks, Yukon


Credits:
(Yukon Archives PHO 372 88/150 # 8B)