Fonds 427 - Ernest Milton Johnston fonds

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Title proper

Ernest Milton Johnston fonds

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  • Textual record
  • Graphic material
  • Cartographic material

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  • Source of title proper: Title taken from creator of records.

Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

427

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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1920-1968 (Creation)
    Creator
    Johnston, Ernest Milton

Physical description area

Physical description

  • 12 cm of textual records
  • 149 photographs (99 prints : b&w and col. ; 47 negatives : b&w and col. ; 3 postcards : b&w)
  • 8 maps

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Archival description area

Name of creator

(January 27, 1905-June 10, 1959)

Biographical history

Ernest Milton Johnston (“Milt”) was born January 27, 1905 as Ejnar Frans Jonsson to parents Alida Kristina Jacobson and Jon Olaf Jonsson. He was one of six children, with three brothers and two sisters. The family resided in Hamra, Sweden until 1908, when they immigrated to Canada and homesteaded south of Parkside, Saskatchewan. His mother Alida passed away there in 1911. The following year, his father, Jon Jonsson, was naturalized as a British subject along with his children.

Milt Johnston began working for the Consolidated Mining & Smithing Company of Canada, Limited (CM&S) around 1928. That year, he witnessed the testing of the Ford Trimotor aircraft at Reindeer Lake, Saskatchewan, where CM&S had a number of exploration sites. By 1936, he was in the Yellowknife area, where he staked a series of claims over the following years for CM&S.

He married Dorothea (Dorothy) Enders on February 24, 1941 in Edmonton. In 1942 and 1943, Johnston moved to Trail, B.C. to cover for CM&S workers who were deployed in the war. They left Trail around March 1943.

He entered into another prospecting agreement with CM&S around the same time, but by 1945 he had entered into prospecting agreements with Gateway Gold, which took him to Horseshoe Bend, Iowa from fall of 1946 to early 1947. By May of 1947, he was again back in Yellowknife, where he would remain until the early 1950s. From there, he worked in Alberta and B.C., prospecting gold and uranium, as well as working as a carpenter.

Johnston died on June 10, 1959.

Custodial history

Scope and content

This fonds consists of records collected or created by Ernest Milton “Milt” Johnston during his prospecting career. The records are a mix of personal and professional, including personal correspondence with his wife Dorothy, as well as records relating to his prospecting work with CM&S, and his professsional memberships.

Notes area

Physical condition

Arrangement

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Location of originals

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No access restrictions.

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Accruals

Rights

Copyright transferred to NWT Archives by donor.

Alternative identifier(s)

Accession

N-2021-003

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Northwest Territories Archives

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