Émilie Fortin Tremblay

Émilie Tremblay (née, Marie-Émilie Fortin; January 4, 1872 – April 21, 1949) was one of the first white women to cross the Chilkoot on the way to the Yukon gold fields. She was French-Canadian and the founder, and first president, of the Society of the Ladies of the Golden North. She was also president of the Yukon Order of Pioneers Auxiliary. A businesswoman, she owned and operated a store in the Yukon in what is now a heritage building.

Biography Tremblay was born in 1872 in Hébertville, (Notre-Dame-d'Hébertville) Quebec. Her father, Cleophas Fortin, moved the French-Canadian Catholic family to Chicoutimi; her mother was a school teacher. Tremblay received her education at the grammar school associated with the Sisters of the Congregation of St-Roch convent. Her family moved to Cohoes, New York around 1887. It is there that, in 1893, she met and married Pierre-Nolasque "Jack" Tremblay (died July 16, 1935). He was from Chicoutimi, but had made a fortune on a mining claim at Miller Creek.

After honeymooning, they traveled over 5,000 miles before reaching Fortymile on June 16, 1894. She was one of the first white woman to cross the Chilkoot on the way to the Yukon gold fields, years before the Klondike Gold Rush. They returned to Cohoes in November 1895, then travelled to Quebec City and Montreal, before returning to Cohoes where Tremblay nursed her sick mother for two years. In March 1898, they left again for the Yukon, settling in Bonanza. Jack prospected from 1898 to 1913, earning enough to be well off but not rich, allowing them to travel through Europe for several months. The couple had no children, but adopted a niece, Emily. The building, constructed in 1899, became Mme Tremblay's Store in 1913. In 1913, after Jack's retirement, the couple moved to Dawson. Here, they bought a building at the corner of King Street and Third Avenue, and Tremblay opened a dry goods shop, "Madame Tremblay's", while they lived in the apartment above. This store is now a heritage building.