This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2017) |
Jack McQuesten | |
---|---|
![]() Leroy Napoleon "Jack" McQuesten | |
Born | Leroy Napoleon "Jack" McQuesten 1836 |
Died | 1909 |
Occupation(s) | Explorer, trader, and prospector |
Leroy Napoleon "Jack" McQuesten (1836–1909) was an American pioneer explorer, trader, and prospector in Alaska and Yukon; he became known as the "Father of the Yukon." Other nicknames included "Yukon Jack," "Captain Jack," "Golden Rule McQuesten," and "Father of Alaska." Together with partners Arthur Harper and Captain Alfred Mayo, he founded Fort Reliance and a wide network of trading posts in the Yukon, often providing a grubstake to prospectors. He was the most successful financially of the trio, becoming a multi-millionaire by 1898 and buying a large Victorian mansion for his family when they moved about that time to Berkeley, California.
He was the first president of the Alaskan Order of Yukon Pioneers and also belonged to the Yukon Order of Pioneers. He wrote a memoir, Recollections of Leroy N. McQuesten, Life in the Yukon 1871-1885, which was published posthumously in 1952.