J.P. Whitney was a true “booster” of Whitehorse and of the Whitehorse Copper Belt properties, and he played the most active and important role in their development. John Patten Whitney, better known as J.P. was originally from Pennsylvania and he arrived in Whitehorse in 1899 along with W.C. Pedlar where they established one of the first businesses in town, Whitney & Pedlar General Merchants.
By supplying much needed provisions and tools to the early prospectors, Whitney soon acquired a large interest in a multitude of claims and mines including the Iron Horse, the Corvette, the Rabbit’s Foot & Anaconda and the Copper King.
In 1902 J.P. traveled all the way to San Francisco to purchase the latest in mining equipment, which was shipped north and installed at the Copper King. This enabled the Copper King to mine and ship almost 500 tons of high grade before the end of 1904. By 1907 he was majority owner and manager of the Copper King and by 1915 he was co-owner and manager of the Grafter Mine too.
In addition to J.P.’s copper belt interests, which was said to eventually include over 12 square miles of mineral claims, he also owned several producing gold claims on Bullion and Forth of July Creeks in the Kluane District. And when the rich silver discoveries were being developed in the Windy Arm District in 1906, Whitney & Pedlar established a store in the boomtown of Conrad City catering to prospectors and miners there. J.P. was also a president of the Whitehorse Board of Trade and an active member of the local smelter committee. For many years J.P. was a fond and familiar figure around Whitehorse and he definitely looked the part, decked out in a fine tweed suit, Stetson hat, big white hair, big white moustache, cigar and cane. And when he was not promoting or tending to his mines, old J.P. could often be found attempting to whip someone’s butt at billiards at one of the local taverns. In 1912 J.P. became one of the first automobile owners in town when he had a Model “A” Ford shipped up to scoot him around to his different mines.
Following the closure of the copper mines, J.P. became interested in fox farming and had two such establishments at Whitehorse in the 1920’s and 30’s. One was the J.P. Whitney Black Silverfox farm, located across the river from the old Canol refinery. Furs from the farm were world famous for quality.
In 1933 after spending almost half of his life as Whitehorse’s most upstanding citizen and promoter, “Old Man” Whitney, succumbed to pneumonia at the age of 79 in Whitehorse General Hospital, among family and friends, still holding his copper belt properties.
