But his decision was not as impulsive as his wife presented. The decision to raise a company of Yukon volunteers and act upon it took more than a year to bring to realization, and it was almost three years before he and his comrades saw action overseas.
In late September of 1915, Black sent a lettergram to Sam Hughes, the minister of militia and defence, offering to raise a company of volunteers—an offer that Hughes was quick to accept.97 George Black came from United Empire Loyalist stock and it would have been difficult for him not to join the cause in support of Britain in the war effort. Black had left his home and his new law practice in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in 1898 and headed west and north for the Klondike with tens of thousands of others. He discovered gold on Livingstone Creek, north of Whitehorse, and after a couple of years of mining in that area, he went to Dawson and once again established a law practice.
George Black acquired a reputation as a good criminal lawyer, one who could take hopeless cases and deliver a verdict favourable to his clients. His opponents acknowledged his ability to pull off a victory in the courts in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. A lifelong Conservative, George had campaigned for George Eulas Foster, one of Ottawa’s most respected politicians, while he was a young man articling for Foster in Fredericton. He worked with others in the Yukon to organize the Conservative Party in the territory and campaigned fiercely to place Dr. Alfred Thompson in the Yukon seat in the House of Commons. Black was elected to the territorial council for three consecutive terms, and when he went to greener pastures in Vancouver, bc, around 1910, he became active in politics there. In 1911, he was campaign manager for H.H. Stevens’s successful bid in Vancouver for election to the House of Commons. Because the Yukon held a deferred election, Black was able to return to the territory and campaign for Dr. Thompson as well. Both candidates were elected to a majority government and Black, now with numerous political credit notes in his pocket, was appointed the commissioner of the territory in February of 1912. Black was only the second man from the territory, not from Outside, appointed to this position.
A dozen years before, George had met and married Martha Munger Purdy, an American woman from a wealthy Chicago family. Martha embraced her new role without hesitation, adopting not only George’s country but his religion and his politics as well. Together, they formed a formidable partnership that lasted more than fifty years. Martha Black was no shrinking violet, and together they tramped the mountains and valleys of the Yukon on hunting and camping trips. Martha was also schooled in the social graces and had once taken tea in the White House. Whatever George became involved in, Martha did too.
In October 1915, George and Martha travelled to the east on family business, but before he left Dawson, George spoke to the British Empire Club, where there was discussion of raising a Yukon corps for regular drills in preparation for enlistment in the expeditionary force, if necessary. Accompanied by Dr. Thompson, the Yukon MP, he met with an enthusiastic Sam Hughes in Ottawa about his intention to not only raise a company of volunteers but to join as well, and obtain his commission as captain. Robert Rogers, minister of the interior, welcomed Black’s offer and would facilitate his desire to serve with his fellow Yukoners. George planned to take his officer’s course either at Victoria or in the military college at Kingston, Ontario. He would decide once he had consulted with Colonel Ogilvie, the officer in command of the British Columbia military division.98
While in Ottawa, Commissioner and Mrs. Black were entertained by the Governor General of Canada and his wife, the Duke and Duchess of Connaught. The duchess and her daughter, Princess Patricia, were filled with questions about life in the North, while the duke expressed his regret at not having been able to visit the region. Before heading home, George visited the Montreal headquarters of the Canadian Patriotic Fund, after which he and Martha spent several days in Toronto in a whirlwind of activity, meeting and dining with various dignitaries, including the acting national president of the IODE, Mrs. E.F.B. Johnson.
In the following months, the Blacks spent time in California, visiting Martha’s family and exploring the Panama-Pacific Exposition. While Martha remained with her family, George returned to British Columbia, where he completed his training in Victoria and qualified as captain in the 104th Regiment (New Westminster Fusiliers).99
Meanwhile, back in Dawson City, recruitment was moving ahead. The work of enrolling volunteers for a Yukon Company of the Canadian Expeditionary Force started in Dawson at the Territorial Administration Building in January 1916. “The opening of the roll is in accordance with a telegram received by Administrator George Williams from Commissioner Black, who is now in Victoria,” reported the Dawson Daily News.100 The Arctic Brotherhood made its hall available for drilling. The government agreed to defray the cost of heat and light, and to protect the floor against damage. The company was to consist of 255 men, and volunteers from Whitehorse and the southern Yukon were welcomed. The men who signed the provisional roll had their first muster and drill the evening of February 11 in the south courtroom of the old courthouse. As the News described it: “The room has been cleared of all furniture and railings and the like and affords quite a comfortable room for a limited number of men. Thirty were present.”101
Drill was to be held once a week, though later on, they planned to increase to twice a week. No rifles were being used yet; the initial drills were designed to harden the men for more strenuous drilling. The first volunteers included high school student Lyman Purdy, Commissioner Black’s stepson. Other volunteers included another student, Norton Townsend; long-time barber Joseph Dubois; lawyer J.A.W. O’Neill; and former territorial councillor Andrew Smith, as well as Frank Thompson, a Canadian Bank of Commerce employee and son of local doctor W.E. Thompson. There was a former amateur boxing champion, a French teacher, a waiter, a piano tuner, a boilermaker, a gardener, a couple of “old-timers” and a veteran of the Balkan Wars.102 Edward A. Dixon, territorial council member for Whitehorse, volunteered as well. Before the end of the summer, William Radford and Norman Watt followed his lead, leaving the council with barely enough sitting members to form a quorum.
Alaska wanted to be represented as well. A large number of Alaskans had left to join various armies of the Allies, and more were expected to go. As many as twenty-three volunteers at one time had left Juneau in the preceding months. Some mushed out over the trail from Fairbanks and other places. George N. Williams, acting as commissioner in George Black’s absence, received a telegram from a man in Iditarod asking if he and others could join the Black contingent. Williams promptly replied by night letter that no doubt there would be opportunity to get on board and suggested that the Iditarod boys come to Dawson by “the first boats in the spring.”103 In the end, seventeen men of American birth would ship overseas with the Black contingent the following year.
The enlistment papers arrived from Victoria on April 8, and the formal process of signing up began. The North American Transportation and Trading Company (NAT&T Co.) offered the use of its former store as a temporary barracks, and those signed up would start receiving an allowance from the government of $1.25 per day. So far, fifty-two had done so, and Major Knight of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police was serving as drill instructor.
George Black’s intended arrival in the Yukon was set back by surgery. Returning from Ottawa by rail to Vancouver, he became ill on the train and was taken off in Winnipeg, where he laid over for a week before proceeding. The diagnosis was appendicitis, and upon reaching the West Coast, he was sent to Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, where he had surgery on May 4. Complications developed after the surgery, but despite being in critical condition, George was predicted by his doctor to recover. By May 17, he was recovering nicely and expected to be released within a week.104
By the end of May, more than ninety men had passed the physical examination for the Yukon Company, and more were joining up daily. It was expected that as many as one hundred would be ready to leave by sailing time in the middle of June. The recruits continued to drill, now outdoors in Minto Park, as the season had warmed up and the snow was gone. Over the summer, more groups of volunteers would leave Dawson aboard future sailings until the magic number of 250 was reached.
Immediately upon release from hospital, George Black headed north, now reunited with Martha, who had returned from her family visit