Albert Faille was born in 1888 and was raised by foster parents on a farm in New Salem, Pennsylvania. He never knew his real parents and at the age of 8, left the care of his foster parents and ended up in Tower, Minnesota where he was looked after by a hobo who taught him how to trap. Faille spent his youth employed in lumber camps, as a tourist guide on canoe trips and trapping. During World War I, he went to France with the United States Forestry Engineers. Upon his return in 1918, he married Marion Carlson and moved to Winton, Minnesota where he continued to trap, guide and cut timber for the St. Croix Lumber Mill. Marion gave birth to a baby boy named Harry but when the lumber mill closed Albert Faille and his partner Fred Mayo left Minnesota and moved to the Northwest Territories where they spent the winter trapping on the Beaver River. Faille sent for his wife and son during this time, however, she refused to move to the north. He spent almost 50 years as a trapper and prospector in the Fort Simpson - Nahanni Butte area. He was known as an excellent woodsman and for his navigation of fast flowing mountain streams. In the winter he trapped fur-bearing animals in order to pay for his supplies and equipment. In his later years and after a back injury prevented him from travelling on the Nahanni in his search for gold, Albert Faille, worked for Dr. Truesdell, the Indian Agent in Fort Simpson, as his boat engineer and handyman. After the doctor retired, Albert took odd jobs as a river guide, store clerk, caretaker and weekend jailer, however, once his back was healed he began to travel the waters of the Nahanni again. In 1961, the National Film Board produced a film documenting Faille's repeated attempts to find gold in the upper reaches of the Nahanni. There was no script, the crew merely filmed what took place during the eight week trip. Albert took his boat through heavy six foot waves at Figure Eight Rapids and carried his gear including a 70 lb. motor around Virginia Falls. The eighteen minute short film won numerous awards and brought the Nahanni Region into the spotlight. Albert Faille died on December 31, 1973.
Hal Evarts was a writer for the "Saturday Evening Post" who travelled down the Mackenzie River while on assignment for the magazine.
Charles and Gilbert Labine originally established Eldorado Gold Mines, Limited in 1926 for gold claims in Manitoba. In 1930, Gilbert Labine discovered pitchblende with high uranium content near Great Bear Lake. The uranium mine at Port Radium was then established under the name Eldorado Gold Mines, Limited. The company's name was changed in 1943 to Eldorado Mining and Refining, Limited, and in 1944, it became a Crown corporation. The name was again changed in 1968 to Eldorado Nuclear Limited.
Born in England, J. Ralph Edwards was employed in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals as a radio operator in Fort Resolution from 1930-1934.
In 1965, Gordon Eastman produced a film entitled "Challenging the Mackenzie Mountains." The film involved footage of a big game hunting expedition in the Mackenzie Mountains for Dall sheep, bear and moose. The hunting expedition was arranged by the Hungry Horse Camp Outfitters run by Stan Burrrell.
Gordon Eastman began a career in film making in the 1950s and continued his work into the 1980s. Eastman is considered a pioneer in both hunting and in shooting outdoor films. He was married to Mary Lou Eastman (nee George) and they had four children: three sons, Mike, Brad, and Rod, and a daughter, Maria.
Gordon Eastman died March 13, 1997.
Robert E. Duncan was born in Alberta on April 20, 1915. In the spring of 1937, he moved to Great Bear Lake where he was employed in the power plant at Eldorado Mine. In the spring of 1938, he moved to Yellowknife and began work as the Chief Engineer at the diesel plant at Negus Gold Mines, Ltd. Mr. Duncan remained at Negus until the fall of 1942 when he moved to Fort McMurray, Alberta. He was employed in the power plant at Fort McMurray until his retirement in 1977.
Born in Kelowna in 1956, Dennis Duffy was an archivist at the Royal Museum/BC Archives between 1998 and 2016. Between 1978 and 1993, he did extensive short-term and contract work for the BC Archives, including: audio copying, recording, editing and production; research, writing and editing. In 1977 he produced a radio program entitled "Hooked on the North," using excerpts from oral history recordings by Marjorie Nicol and Dennis Williams concerning the life of Dennis Williams. The program was part of a project in the Applied Communication Program at Camosun College and was donated to the BC Archives in 1978.
Pierre Jean Baptiste Duchaussois, OMI, was born in Walincourt, France on August 4, 1878. He was ordained in 1903 as a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He was sent to Canada where he worked at the Sacred Heart Juniorate in the Sacred Heart parish from 1903-1906, and taught at the major seminary in Ottawa from 1906-1913. He was then sent west to the St. Joachim's parish in Edmonton from 1913-1915. From 1915-1921, he explored northern Canada in order to write about the missions of the far north. From 1921-1924 he lived in France, writing and giving speaking engagements. He spent time in Sri Lanka from 1924-1929, returning to Canada in 1929. From 1932-1935 he visited South Africa and Zaire. Returning to France for his health, he also worked on the production of his film "Aux glaces polaires". He died in Nice, France on November 9, 1940.
Pierre Duchaussois was a prolific and popular writer, speaker and teacher. His publications on northern Canada include "Les soeurs grises dans l'extreme-Nord: cinquante ans de missions" (1917), English version "The Grey Nuns in the far North 1867-1919" (1919); "Aux glaces polaires, Indiens et Esquimaux" (1921, 1928), English version "Mid snow and ice: the apostles of the North West" (1922); "Apotres inconnus: vie anecdotique des Freres coadjuteurs dans les missions arctiques" (1924), English version "Hidden apostles, or, our lay brother missionaries" (1937); "Femmes heroiques: les Soeurs Grises canadiennes aux glaces polaires" (1927, 1928, 1933, 1959). He was awarded the Prix Montyon de l'Academie francaise in 1921 for "Aux glaces polaires", and the Prix Juteau-Duvigneau for "Rose du Canada" in 1933.
Drama Arctic was a Yellowknife based amateur theatre group.
Sylvester Drabitt was born in Tarnopol, Saskatchewan in 1926. He studied biology at the University of Saskatchewan and painting at the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago. He began work on his Ph.D. at Chicago and then continued his studies at Iowa State University. While studying in Iowa, he was introduced to Inuit art. He was so impressed by the work of Inuit artists, that he decided to study medicine in order to travel in the arctic and work and learn from them. He graduated from the medical program at the University of Manitoba in 1961 and served an internship at St. Boniface Hospital. In the fall of 1962, he joined the Indian and Northern Health Services and began practicing in Frobisher Bay (Iqaluit). In 1964, he served aboard the "C.D. Howe" as Medical Officer for the annual arctic patrol. He spent two years in Frobisher Bay and then returned to St. Boniface to study surgery. After spending a year in Cambridge Bay, he returned to Frobisher Bay in 1967 and left in 1968. He retired to Victoria. B.C.
Thomas Albert Donnelly was born May 21, 1921 in Red Deer, Alberta. He grew up on the family farm with his parents, Albert and Mary, and his four brothers - John, Don, Bob and David. He served as a Sgt. Pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War and met his wife, Ida Lucy (Pat) Tofflemire in London during the war.
After the war, Thomas and his wife moved to Teslin, Yukon where he worked as a meteorologist at the airport, which was a part of the Northwest Staging Route. Thomas and his wife Pat had two sons, Tim and Michael, and four daughters, Chris, Eileen, Margaret and Susan. Two of his daughters (Susan and Margaret) were born in Teslin in 1951 and 1953.
He moved to Alberta circa 1955, and lived in Calgary, Suffield and Edmonton. He worked as a meteorologist for the Department of Transport, and later became an Inspector, which required him to travel throughout the Yukon and Northwest Territories. He was an avid photographer, and loved the North. Thomas Donnelly died on October 5, 2005 at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta at the age of 84.