Gertrude Jean Gordon

First Woman to be elected to the Yukon Territorial Council 1982-1985

Jean was a pioneer in so many ways: trapper, goldminer, living on the land. At the first meeting with her new colleagues following her election to the Territorial Council. she introduced herself by saying, “Just call me Charlie.” She felt she was an equal and her gender should never be a problem; she was comfortable being “just one of the boys.”

Born in Vancouver, BC, and growing up in the small mining towns of Alice Arm, BC, and Stewart, BC, Jean enjoyed small town life and the freedom the surrounding forests offered.

She met her future husband, Wilfred Gordon, in Stewart and they were married in 1937. A year later they moved to Dawson City, Yukon. That same year they moved out to the small community of Granville on Dominion Creek where Wilfred worked as a teamster hauling wood for the roadhouse owner, Andy Taddie. To make ends meet Wilf and Jean ran a small trapline; Jean became very proficient at skinning the animals and getting them on to stretching boards.

In August of that same year, Jean was expecting their daughter, Betty. In the spring Wilf bought an ice pool ticket in Dawson and was the lucky winner of $2,700. With no health coverage nor hospital insurance, this was a very welcome addition to what they had been saving.

They continued to live in the Dawson area trapping and working for Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation (YCGC) looking after the “Australian Ditch” and the dam, which was the water supply for YCGC when they were stripping gravel for their gold dredging operation. They lived in a cabin at the intake where they had a lovely garden, which supplied all of their vegetable needs.

This was the independent lifestyle Jean loved: hunting moose and caribou and picking berries for the winter. It was a happy time in their lives. In 1944, YCGC closed down the dredging operation and the ditch was no longer needed. Betty was now six and ready for school. Jean considered teaching her but felt it would be better if Betty was in a school where there were other children to play with.

Mayo was their next home where Wilf worked for White Pass as a longshoreman. Jean and Betty were getting settled in the community where Jean became involved in a number of volunteer organizations and enjoyed the socializing that she had missed on the creeks. At first Betty had difficulty fitting in with all the other children but soon she was comfortable at school and enjoying all of her new friends.

The Gordons continued to make Mayo their home. Jean enjoyed writing and wrote a column for the Whitehorse Star. There was also the small local newspaper, the Stewart Valley Voice, where she was able to help as well as practice her writing skills. Wilf was first with White Pass, then guiding for Louis Brown, a Big Game Guide.

Later on, he started a wood and timber business selling timber to the Elsa Mine. In the early 1960’s, a fire burned the garage down and all of the equipment in it. After the fire, placer mining was their next endeavor. Whatever Wilf did, Jean was always there helping and backing him up. They staked claims on Highet Creek; when that did not prove to be good ground, they moved back into the wood business.

It was in 1967 that Jean was persuaded to run for the Territorial Council. She was later quoted as saying that the reason she was successful was because “I couldn’t keep my mouth shut when I saw something that could be fixed.” Her campaign was successful and she became the first woman ever elected to the Council in its 59-year history.

Jean was a strong representative for the Mayo area, advocating for her people.

However, she did not enjoy being away and living in Whitehorse for the long Council sessions. The drive between communities was long, and often on cold icy roads, but she went home whenever she could.

The Council was lobbying for a more representative form of Governance. While Jean did not approve of a partisan form of Government she strongly supported more autonomy for the elected members. The Yukon Act was amended to extend the length of Council sitting from three to four years and to extend the power of Council to pass laws relating to the administration of justice. On June 30, 1970, the Sessional Paper No. 33 was tabled allowing for the appointment of an Executive Committee of elected members. Jean was one of the members who helped make all this happen but she was only on Council for one term. In the 1970 election, she was defeated and in her usual outspoken way declared, “You can’t beat a campaign of booze and bullshit.” But her hard work had helped pave the way for the second woman to Council, Hilda Watson from Haines junction.

With her Council experience behind her, Jean went on to represent the Mayo and the Yukon areas in many new ways. After completing a certificate in bookkeeping she worked with Canada Manpower, the Mayo post office and established the Mayo Outreach Office. She was 20 years working on the Yukon Water Board. In 1999, Jean helped organize the International Year of Older Persons for the Yukon and in Mayo they planted a birch tree for every senior in the community.

After a prolonged illness, Jean died in Mayo in 2008—truly a quintessential Yukon Pioneer Woman.