Highlights of History from The Whitehorse Star

Dateline: November 10, 2025.

The Whitehorse Star - Monday, October 7, 1963

    Four persons were still missing this afternoon on windy Lake Laberge.

    RCMP said they received a report that a boat containing Ross and Rolf Anderson, Army Sgt. Tom Claxton and George Allen went out in about a 14 ft. boat shortly after lunch Sunday. They didn't return to their camp last night which is located about Mile 15 on the Mayo Road.

    Two aircraft are searching the vicinity today. At press time, no trace of the missing persons had been spotted.

    Another pair, Mr. and Mrs. T. Kreuzpainter of Whitehorse, were also missing overnight when their craft failed to return to camp farther north along the lakeshore. However, they apparently landed a little way down from their camp and were located at 7 a.m. today.

    There was a brisk wind on the lake Sunday with some reports of 10-foot waves. A few boaters had headed for shore when the high waves blew up from the wind coming from the south.

    Police said that a light had been left on at the wharf being used by the missing foursome which seemed to indicate that the men were planning to return to the camp Sunday night.

    A Beaver aircraft was put into the search today with a number of observers on board. The army had a man in a private aircraft searching the area early today without results.

    Gusty winds ranging from 18 to 34 miles an hour were reported by the Meteological Office in Whitehorse during Sunday.

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The Whitehorse Star - Thursday, October 10, 1963

    The body of Canadian Army Sgt. Tom Claxton was pulled from Lake Lebarge today and it appears as if the unpredictable lake has claimed a total of four victims.

    The 33-year-old man's body was discovered near the west shore early this afternoon.

    He was floating at a point north from where the boat was located Wednesday and he was entangled in a life jacket.

    Also found along the shore were three empty life jackets, two oars and two gasoline cans.

    Also missing since Sunday noon and presumed drowned are George Allen, about 53, Ross Anderson, 44 and his brother Rolf.

    The men had gone out into the lake from Jackfish Bay at about 12:30 p.m. Sunday. That is the last time they were seen in the small open-type outboard motorboat. The boat was located at 9:18 a.m. Wednesday by an RCMP officer flying in a Yukon Flying Services aircraft.

    A report mid-Monday afternoon indicated that a boat had been spotted fitting the description of the missing craft along the North shore of the lake and it was pulled up on the beach. Further checks revealed that the boat did not belong to the four missing men so another flight over the lake was made late Tuesday afternoon.

    Three small craft left from various points along the lakeshore early Wednesday morning. One of them was the RCMP boat while the others were owned and operated by Stan Walsh and Whitehorse Mayor Ed Jacobs. Planes flown by Moe Grant and Yukon Flying Services' Lloyd Ryder also took part in the search.

    The boat was located at a point half way between the northern tip of Richthofen Island and the east shore of the lake. Less than a foot of the prow was sticking out of the water.

    The aircraft than landed near the east shore to pinpoint the location of the upturned craft with an RCMP boat in the area. Gusty winds and high waves prevented the search crafts from reaching the boat until 1:40 p.m, Wednesday.

    Several boats were assisting in the search of the lake today but they were taken off the water about mid-afternoon because of the drenching rain, poor visibility and strengthening winds.

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    On Thursday, December 12, 1963, the Public Administrator published a standard Notice to Claimants and Creditors for the estate of George Frederick Allen, "who died at Lake Laberge, in the Yukon Territory, on the 6th day of October, AD, 1963."

    The bodies of George Allen, Ross Anderson, and Rolf Anderson were never found.