Joe Lamb, prospector, hunter and trapper, lost his life on Friday, July 28th, by drowning in the icy water of Lake Kluane near Silver City.
Lamb was the unfortunate victim of an accident which, while it was of a seeming trivial nature, cost him his life. He, in company with Jack Steele and Bruce Fisher, had started across Lake Kluane from Silver City for the purpose of collecting a bunch of horses pasturing across the lake, Lamb desiring to gather the horses in to use in taking out a party of hunters he was expecting from Philadelphia in a few days - Diston, the great saw magnate, being one of the party.
The three men had not gone over 200 yards from the shore on the six-mile pull across the lake, Lamb and Steele each handling an oar and both being on the rowing seat of the canoe, when Steele's oar came out of the lock, causing him to fall over against Lamb, upsetting the canoe and spilling all three into the water. Steele held to the canoe, which, being old and waterlogged, sank about six feet and then rose to the surface. When Steele first saw his companions after the accident both had started for the shore and had gone several yards when Lamb went down, Fisher being a strong swimmer, making shore safely. Steele, who is a poor swimmer, held on the boat and worked himself out to the shore.
Hugh MeKenzie who has a store at Silver, came to the rescue in another
boat and, after a search of an hour and a half, the body of Lamb was found where it had gone to the bottom in twelve feet of water. It was buried Saturday evening July 29, on the hill above Silver City and near the beautiful lake on which it was lost.
Walter Lamb,a nephew of the unfortunate man, and Jack Steele brought the sad news to town, arriving here last Saturday, eight days after the accident.
R. W. Lamb, a brother of the dead man, arrived here from Selkirk, Ontario, Friday evening of last week and was to have met his brother Joe here last Saturday. Instead of meeting his brother, the nephew arrived with the news of the former's death.
Joe Lamb came to Yukon in 1898, arriving at Dawson in the fall of that year, after an arduous trip over the Edmonton trail. Since coming to the country he has prospected extensively in the White River and Kluane districts and at the time of his death owned many claims. He was also an experienced hunter and guide and was very popular with big game hunters for whom he acted as guide on several occasions. He was born at Selkirk, Ontario, forty-four years ago and was unmarried,
Walter and R. W. Lamb left Wednesday for Silver City.
