Tom Kerruish spent more time underground in more of Whitehorse’s copper mines than any other man. Kerruish was a knowledgeable and highly respected “mine boss” who at one time or another was in charge of mining operations at nearly every one of it’s leading copper mines.
Kerruish was born in 1873 at Ramsay in the Isle of Man and in 1892 at the age of 19 he immigrated to the United States. Continuing westward, Kerruish at first settled in Montana where for a number of years he worked in the Butte copper mines before crossing the border into British Columbia where he again found work as a miner in the Slocan Silver District. Setting his sights even farther northwards, in 1903 Kerruish journeyed to Alaska and two years later his trail ended at Whitehorse. Whitehorse would be his “home base of operations” for his remaining years.
By the time he arrived at Whitehorse in ‘05 Kerruish was a seasoned miner and mine foreman and his services were in high demand. At first he went to work at the Grafter Mine as foreman and over the proceeding years he also worked at the Copper King, War Eagle, Carlisle and Pueblo Mines. His last job in the mines was for Richmond Yukon in 1928 as Superintendent of drilling operations at the Pueblo.
Kerruish brought experience and leadership to the mines. He knew all of the practical aspects of mining from A to Z. From single jacking to double jacking to diamond drilling to machinery installation and all points between. He knew how to choose and handle a crew, how to keep good ones on the job and above all he knew how to keep his men safe. In fact, not once during his quarter century career in the mines has any of his men suffered a major injury – a commendable record in any era.
After the copper mining had ceased, Kerruish worked for a while in the Keno silver mines before striking out on his own to prospect for gold. Trips to the Kluane country and the Teslin River failed to turn up pay; however, Lake Creek in the nearby Livingstone Camp did. Here he settled down with his wife in a comfortable cabin overlooking the Big Salmon country where they remained operating a small but successful placer mine into the 1940s. In January of 1944 Mr. Kerruish passed away and he was subsequently buried in Whitehorse’s pioneer cemetery.
Interestingly, Kerruish’s wife, whom he married in 1918, was herself a very industrious, handy and versatile “lady”. Not only could she do every thing in the order of mining (except blasting), she could handle a team of dogs like the best of em, and among other things, she was a “crack shot”, or according to Kerruish, “Everything she aims at is in the pot”.
