SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Jodi Woollam had no reason to head north other than she just thought it would be interesting. She came to Yellowknife in 1994 from a small town in Nova Scotia. Woollam was born in Edmonton and adopted by a loving family. She grew up all over the place, including Montreal, Africa, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Jodi Woollam, at Latham Island Park, came to Yellowknife in the early 1990s with no idea she was the granddaughter of one of Yellowknife's early settlers, Gordon Latham. - Cara Loverock/NNSL photo

"I just always wanted to go to Yellowknife," said Woollam.

She had no idea at the time she was returning to the home where her grandfather is a legend.

Yellowknife's Latham Island is the namesake of Gordon Latham. According to Latham's son Pat Latham, Gordon's father died in a sailing accident and Gordon left his job as a teacher to move north for work in order to support his mother and sister.

"A man came to him, by the name of Tom Payne, with a lump of gold and said 'what do you think of this?'" That was back in 1935. The two staked 14 claims that were about to expire. Those claims are where Con Mine is today.

When Latham became ill with typhoid and diphtheria, he unknowingly signed his rights away, which included $500,000 and 10 per cent of the profits.

"I don't think he really cared. He wasn't a money person," said Pat of his father.

Latham then began a long career as a bush pilot, starting Eldorado Aviation and later Imperial Oil's flying service, based out of Calgary.

"He was in and out of Yellowknife all the time, but he was flying," said Pat, one of Latham's and his wife Peggy's four children.

In addition to Pat, the Lathams had two more sons, eldest child Dick and youngest child John. Their only daughter - and third child in the family - Wendy, is Woollam's biological mother.

Woollam said it was 1998, while a resident in Old Town, she decided to submit a request to Alberta Child Welfare to find information about her biological family.

"I got a letter right away and a phone call saying they had a match," she said. A match meant there was a relative who also registered and wanted contact with her. It was her birth mother, Wendy. Woollam discovered her birth mother had five more children and her name at birth had been 'Tanya Lynne Latham.'

"And I thought 'Latham, weird'," said Woollam.

"(Wendy) said 'it's interesting you live in Yellowknife. My father lived there.'"

That's when pieces of the puzzle fit together and she realized that her grandfather was indeed the same man that Latham Island is named after. She said she has since learned a lot about her family and stays in touch with them.

"We're very proud to have Jodi as part of the family," said Pat.

Woollam said Gordon Latham "sounds like he was a touching and charming person. I'm charmed to be part of this family."