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- Please read the letter in Robert Henry 'Bob' Ennis' notes beforecontinuing to read these notes, thank you. David 'Dave Ennis was the 4th born to Robert and Frances Ennis. Dave and Bob Ennis left Grenfell, Saskatchewan in 1888 for the west coast. Theyspent some time in Seattle, Washington (we think) with their sister,Frances Jane (Ennis) Coy and her husband, Leverett David Coy, but finallylocated briefly in Nanaimo, British Columbia, before moving on toCumberland, British Columbia, where they started building houses for amining company. They would buy one lot and slit it and build two houseson it. (see the letter Bob for more details). They left Cumberland in 1897 for the Yukon, the year before the stampedeto the gold fields. Large food supplies plus a few basic mining toolswere packed for their long and hazardous trip. A boat took them fromVancouver Island to Skagway, Alaska. There were two routes from therebut Dave and Bob chose the Chilkoot Pass, which had a summit of 3000 feethigh with the last 3 miles being almost straight up. It took many tripsup a slope of snow and ice that generally rose at an angle between 30 and40 degrees. Those climbing dared not stop to rest, for it might beseveral hours before they could get back in line. Dave and Bob lost twomules over a cliff and of course all the supplies that were loaded onthem. The prospectors faced blizzards, snow-blindness, frost bite andstarvation. At Lake Bennett, they stopped to build their own boat thatwould take them down the chain of lakes to the Yukon which was 600 mileslater to Dawson City. For this task, trees were cut down, sawed by handwith a crosscut saw into lumber to build their boat. Yukon, being awindy country, made it ideal to have a sail on their craft. They arrivedin Dawson after a very long trip with many hardships. The trip took fromthe 2nd of April to the 29th of June, 1894 according to their diary. Dave and Bob filed a claim on Gold Run Creek, built their cabin andprepared for the long winter to come. They had to hunt for their meatsupplies but hunting was unpredictable so sometimes they would have noluck for days and then other times would have too much so took theirsurplus meat to Dawson, a distance of fifty miles, to trade for othersupplies. Food items were very scarce but by trading, were able to getby. They had to spend a great deal of time cutting wood for winterfuel. Wood was used to thaw the ground in search for gold and as alsothe source of power that took the paddle wheelers up and down the YukonRiver, so the population of Dawson grew to 40,000. The hills became barein a 40 mile radius and the men had to search for trees in more distantplaces. During the long cold dark winters, they dug out the gravel. In thespring when it thawed out, it was put through the sluice boxes with waterrunning over it. The gold settled to the bottom while the mud and rockwas washed away. Although Dave and Bob located at No. 6 Gold Run Creek,by reading files in the land titles office at Whitehorse, we find thatthey worked many claims and had workers hired to help them. In 1902 theyworked with a modern steam 'jenny'. Gold Run Creek is about fifty milesfrom Dawson so through necessity a village sprang up the name Granville. This village was serviced by a stage coach twice weekly in the summerbut is now is a ghost town. Transportation in the Yukon winters wasdifficult but Dave had five malamute dogs for his sled team. Dave, a keen supporter of the Conservative Party, was prominentlymentioned at one time as a candidate for the Yukon Council. In 1905, Dave returned to Grenfell, Saskatchewan to take Barbara McDonellback to Dawson. She could not leave sooner as she had to take of hermother until she passed away. Dave took his sister, Madge in as well.Dave and Barbara were married in Dawson by the Rev. George Pringle, afamous clergyman. Madge Ennis and Robert McDonell were their witnesses. Barbara and Madge had hip-length Gold chains made of nuggets that theypicked up to size from the sluice boxes. Many fine pieces of gold andivory jewelry have been passed down through the generations. The ivoryjewelry was made from mastodon tusks that were found in the mines. Ofthe three children that were born in the far north, Minnie Matilda Ennis(1st born) was born in the cabin at Gold Run, while Robert and Alfredwere born in Dawson City. The family left Dawson in October, 1912 on the last boat out beforefreeze-up to make their home in Kelowna, British Columbia. Davepurchased a big house made from cement blocks and his first new car.Since he had never driven a car, he was practicing his driving in thepasture field. Just as he thought his driving was nearing perfection, hewaved to the family as he was passing but in doing so he lost control ofhis car and ran into a fence. Dave decided then and there that hisdriving career was over and left the car just where it was. Before Dave left Dawson, some crafty real estate men sold him twentyacres of orchard land at Kelowna, British Columbia for a good price.They worked hard to pick the rocks and plant fruit trees but it never didproduce fruit so with the expense of land taxes and water taxes, theylost the property, but to this day, it never has grown fruit (1979). After moving to Kelowna, Frances Isabelle, 4th born and Ellen Bertha'Helen', 5th born and in time the family grew up. Minnie worked in thepost office until she went to Anyox in northern British Columbia to bemarried. This being a northern outpost, the trip was uncertain and shearrived two days late. Archie, her husband-to-be, met the boat in rathera poor mood and announced that they had to be married immediately becausethe minister was already late for his next appointment. Robert andAlfred became butchers, Frances a nurse and Ellen a clerk. After coming to Kelowna, Dave ran a feed store which he had stocked fromhis previous home town of Grenfell, Saskatchewan. When he sold thatstore, gold fever once again lured him into the creeks. For a shorttime, he mined on Likely and Cedar Creeks in the Caribou region. In hisgolden years, Dave's activities were hampered by a severe heart condition. A surprising fact is that although Dawson City was known to be thewildest country north of San Francisco, Dave and Bob were both strictlyteetotallers. Photos of Dave and Barbra and their family can be found in theirindividual scrapbooks. This account is printed in the book, ' Ennis History ', privatelypublished in 1979 by Jean Agnes (Ferguson) Smith and is found on pages 88through 94 Photos of Dave and Barbra and their family can be found intheir individual scrapbooks in this Family Tree. 1998.
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1859 - 1937 (77 years)
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