Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

180 HISTORY OF THE BANKby becoming the largest individual holder in the Yukon.At one time he owned over fifty interests or full claims, thetotal value of which was enormous. He is said to havebeen offered by a British syndicate a very large sum thestories say, from a million upwards for his holdings. Hewas a "good living" man and kindly natured, but not qualifiedto administer his large interests and great wealth with successafter they had been acquired, and when he died some yearslater he had little or no means left. His first statement ofaffairs, given to the bank verbally in its shack of an office, wasa "classic," and it took hours to extract the information fromhim. Time and again, just as he was about to sign it, "Ohbegosh, I forgot 42," or some other claim, he would say, andthese omissions were rectified, until finally he signed a statementthat even to the limited knowledge of the bank's officersin those early days placed him in the millionaire class.Withassistance from the bank he then bought another claim forwhat seemed a very large price, but before that summer wasover he had recovered the purchase price and sold the bankabout as much again in gold dust derived from it. Theclaim still had several more years of profitable workingbefore it, so once again "Big Alec" had justified his judgment.Among the old-timers, or "Sourdoughs," as they werecalled in contradistinction to the new-comers, or "Cheechakos,"were such men as Skiff Mitchell, Johnny Lind, John Ericson,Dan McGillivray, Robert Henderson (the real discoverer ofthe diggings) and hosts of others, men hard to beat and thevery salt of the earth. One day after office hours two membersof the staff obliged a stranger, who subsequently became asteady customer. He was a smallish individual, looking ratherincongruous in his frock coat. After the transaction wasover he wrote on a slip of paper, "Please give the gentlemensome champagne William Gates," and passed the slip acrossthe counter, saying, "There, boys, you'll find that's all right atthe Monte Carlo," and added in an impressive way, "I'mSwiftwater Bill." The order certainly proved all right and