Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 23/00) - The not-so-long-gone people that shaped the modern history of Yellowknife came to life Sunday.

At the Prince of Whales Northern Heritage Centre Sunday members of the Old Stope Association donned the dress and the personas of the historical figures who shaped the city's humble beginning.

Kicking off National Heritage Week, the event was a reflection of Yellowknife when it was a small but bustling frontier mining town.

If it had been a few months since your last shave, you could stop in at Joe Cairns' Barber Shop. A bunch of people took advantage of the freebie, including mayor Dave Lovell.

Hey! There's Mildred Hall! Not the school, the woman. Mildred was demonstrating the general regard locals had for the federal government at the time.

"The theme for Heritage Week is agriculture and they didn't include the Yukon or the Northwest Territories," said Mildred. The person she was talking to looked like they didn't get it so she spelled it out -- "They say we have no agricultural history!"

Immediately dismissing a suggestion that she'd make a great story, Mildred shows old newspaper clippings and photos documenting the rich agricultural history of the NWT. "That," she said, "is the story here."

The North's own Cleopatra, Victoria Le Pine, was spotted chatting with aviation pioneer Wop May and Johnny Baker, who in 1933 discovered the first gold here.

"I've been all over and done everything and just came up here last fall," said Vicki. "I heard about this gold rush up here and thought, 'I'm not going to wash clothes for the rest of my life!'"

Le Pine went out prospecting the next summer. She staked a couple of claims and sold them for $3,500 apiece, huge money in 1938. It was the beginning of her career as a Northern prospector.

She downplayed the woman in a man's world angle, saying, "Everybody likes me around here. I play fair and square."

Between puffs on his pipe, Johnny Baker added, "It's a big country. There's lots of room."

He's seen a lot of it.

Travelling by canoe, Baker sniffed the trail of gold from Point Lake to Yellowknife where he finally found the mother lode, discovering claims that would eventually become the Burwash and Con mines. Baker was working for Bear Exploration. Despite all attempts to keep it secret, word of the find spread.