Mayo

• Mayo
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Claude was in charge of the Mayo sub-district in 1933 and 1934. For Claude, the wide variety of economic, social and recreational activities in Mayo provided ample subject matter for the insatiable shutterbug. He was incredibly productive, taking pictures and making movies at almost every opportunity. He also had a small business in Mayo for some time, developing and printing film for locals.

Through writing and photography the Tidds left an extensive record of the lifestyles and personalities of the working people of the Yukon, laborers, housewives, trappers and miners – but they also were connected to the top tier of the wealthy and powerful in the society. This was especially evident during their sojourns in the major centres of commerce. The silver-ore mines of the Mayo-Keno area were the strongest economic engine in the territory in the 1930s, so drew politicians, high-level bureaucrats and businesspeople, many of whom the Tidds had socialized with in Dawson City. So for Mary, their time in Mayo represented a “return to town”, with all the social activities and expectations that came with town life.

The pressures of town life took their toll on Mary. During their mid-‘30s Mayo period, she left for a stay with Claude’s family in England. She seemed to have been suffering from the same sort of stress that damaged her health during her first stay in Dawson City and would later bring her low in Whitehorse. Before she left for the Outside and England, she wrote to her mother, “I surely must have written a blue letter home, last time, but you know how I am. I said to Claude that I guess it must have been written just before that spasm of entertaining I had, a while back. It worried me a little, but it’s all over now, and I feel much better.” (May 6, 1933)”

Just before Mary left Mayo, the Tidds took a farewell hike with their dog, Spud. Claude took the following series of photos:

Mary did return to Mayo, apparently with renewed spirits and greater confidence to participate in the social life there. In September of 1936, Mary wrote a letter home to Lancaster in which she spoke of a visit Martha and George Black made to Mayo. The letter revealed a startling degree of intimacy with the territory’s most powerful couple. At one point, after Mary had told Martha about the activities of her sisters, Mrs. Black responded: “Your sisters are wise to specialize.” Then, with a sad expression, she said, “That’s the trouble with me, - I’ve tried too many things, - and can’t do any of them well”! Mary was stunned by the modesty of the woman who was then serving as the Yukon’s first female Member of Parliament. Martha Black was only the second woman to hold a seat in Parliament.

In the same letter home, Mary told about the “swellest” event that took place during the Blacks’ visit, a public reception and dance: “Mr. Black danced with me, and I felt honored, tho he really isn’t much of a dancer.” Another famous Yukoner danced with Mary at the event:

While Mary was dancing with the Yukon who’s who, multi-talented Claude would likely have been part of the band. One long-time Yukoner, Dr. Allan Duncan, lived in Mayo the same time as the Tidds, and he remembered Claude’s musical finesse:

By the time of the Blacks’ visit, Claude had retired from the Force, and presumably he finished up his service in Mayo. It also appears that the Tidds left the Yukon immediately after his retirement for a brief stint in Vancouver. The Tidds then returned to Mayo for a few years. We’re not certain why the Tidds left Mayo the second time around, but one of Mary’s letters home indicates that they were planning to leave for Forty Mile in May of 1938. (91/112 f. 5 MSS 365, typed excerpt transcribed from a letter written March 20th to 23rd, 1937)