The black pioneers of northern BC and the Yukon

On a holiday this month, my wife and I stopped at the Pioneers' Graveyard outside Atlin, BC. Among the grave markers we found one for John Elmwood Simons: 

The marker itself is relatively new, from the 1970s. Simons's grave stirred my interest in the early black pioneers of Canada's last gold rush, and in the Yukon I found more information--including a special section in the Yukon Archives. Now I'm doing more research for an article in The Tyee and a piece for Blackpast.org.

So far, however, I've been unable to learn anything more about John Elmwood Simons.