George Brackett was the Mayor of Minneapolis and was a Civil War vet. In the Civil War he provided the army of the Potomac w/beef, and later fought with General Sibley on the plains in 1863. He was involved in the building of the Northern Pacific Railway. He looked like Lincoln and was described by Minter in his book, The White Pass. He is perhaps the person described by the saying, “let George do it”.
He came to Skagway in September of 1897 and started to build a road up the White Pass or Trail of ’98. He charged people to use his road, but after the railroad started to be built he lost control of the road. The White Pass & Yukon Route eventually paid him for the use of the road but not after many confrontations and frustrations.
Brackett was born in 1836 in Calais, Maine and died on this day, May 17, 1921 in Minneapolis.
theusgenweb.org/wa/whatcom/wgsobits/deathsbra_bri.htm; Minter; many books