Wallace Van Der Bergen, our first pharmacist in the Northwest Territories, graduated from the University of Toronto in 1897 with a degree in practical pharmacy (specializing in ice cream sodas.)

Wallace got his first job working at O'Donnell's Drug Store in Lady's Chambers, Ontario. Young, educated and unattached, Wallace was well received by all - especially in Lady's Chambers.

Unfortunately he was caught up in a local scandal when in 1907, O'Donnell's Drug Store was fined for selling a cigar to a "woman". It seems there was a local ordinance disallowing the sale of tobacco products to those of the female persuasion (including cross-dressers.) Although it was never determined who actually sold the offending cigar to Jake the Carriageman (who happened to be out for a stroll that particular night in his "evening" wear,) it was all agreed that Wallace should take the blame. Steadfastly he swore he wasn't even in Lady's Chambers the night of the sordid event. He had been carousing across the river in LeCloset, Quebec all night long. But no one would come out of "the Closet" (as LeCloset was called in Ontario) and cross the river to testify in his defense.

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So young Wallace headed north - never to enter Lady's Chambers again nor to come out of "the Closet" either.

In 1908, he established his own first pharmacy business in the northern reaches of the new province of Alberta. It was a mild success being situated next to the North's most famous franchise KFC (Kugluktuk Fillet Char.)

However, by 1927 global warming was already having an effect. That summer was so warm in northern Alberta that the snow actually melted for the first time in memory. Wally's Drugstore just melted away - as did most of his investments in the New York Stock Exchange a few months later.

Having lost his savings and his business, Wallace decided to settle farther north where the snow would never melt. (He appears to have been oblivious to the continuing far reaching effects of global warming.)

Never putting his trust in igloo architectural design again, he settled into a small log cabin along the Hay River estuary. He opened up his drugstore in 1928 - the first drugstore in what is now known as the Northwest Territories of Canada. Thus he is honoured today as the Father of Pharmacy in the NWT.

But the truth be known, his business was a dismal failure. With safe and effective natural herbs growing abundantly in the forest, there was little need locally for his pharmaceutical products which had both side effects and toxicity issues. Luckily, sales of Listerine proved popular enough to keep his pharmacy afloat.

By 1944, with the glaciers now all gone and warm two week summers consistently arriving in mid-July, southerners began to settle along Great Slave Lake into local communities. One such settlement was not far from Wally's Drugstore. These southerners distrusted local folk remedies and preferred giant corporation manufactured "men-in-white-coats tested" medications. Wally was running a successful business once again, so much so that he was able to dispense all those tablets with 1930 and 1931 expiration dates he had stored for years.

Alas, one night in early spring 1948 he left his door open and the wolves got him.