William Judge

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Father William Judge was a Jesuit priest who during the 1897 Klondike Gold Rush established a facility in Dawson which provided shelter, food and any available medicine to the many hard-at-luck gold miners who filled the town and its environs.

Judge's humanitarian work became known due to the writings of Jack London, whose health - and possibly his life - was saved by the priest. As later described by himself, London - like many others involved in the Gold Rush - became malnourished and developed scurvy. His gums became swollen, eventually leading to the loss of his four front teeth. A constant gnawing pain affected his abdomen and leg muscles, and his face was stricken with sores. Due to Judge's ministrations, he and many others recovered their health.

Judge became known as "The Saint of Dawson", but up to the present this remains an unofficial nickname.