Donald Trump’s grandfather, Friedrich Trump, came to Bennett, Yukon following the stampede of gold rushers headed for the Klondike. At the end of Lake Bennett a town of the same name had sprung up from nowhere, to serve the needs of prospectors passing through.
Link to another story “Bennett Came First”
According to Natalie Obiko Pearson, writing for “Bloomberg Anywhere”, Friedrich Trump had no intention of chasing vague dreams to the Klondike. He came to thriving Bennett, and made a shrewd decision to stay right there and thrive with it.
He and a partner opened the Arctic Restaurant. According to Ms. Pearson, the Artic Restaurant offered services we do not normally associate with restaurants. Gold rushers passing through Bennett on the wild and wooly path to the Klondike, though, expected those services; found them routine.
An advertisement in the Bennett Sun told readers the restaurant stayed open 24/7 and featured “private boxes for ladies and parties.” The boxes came equipped with beds and with scales for weighing gold dust used for “paying for services”.
When a new railroad bypassed Bennett on its way to Whitehorse, Bennett died. Undaunted, Friedrich Trump dismantled his restaurant, transported its precious lumber to Whitehorse and opened his restaurant there.
Friedrich left the Yukon in 1901 a wealthy man, intending to return to Germany. When that didn’t work out, he took his riches to New York City. There he invested them in real estate and did as well in that business as he had with the Arctic Restaurant.
His son Fred carried on the business, made it even bigger and then left it to his son Donald who ran it until he left to become the President of the United States.