Samuel Hall Young graduated from the University of Wooster in Ohio and the Western Theological Seminary in Allegheny, Pennsylvania and was ordained by the Presbyterian Church. He went to Fort Wrangel, Alaska as a missionary and explorer, organized the first Protestant Church in Alaska, held pastorates in California, Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio and was later sent to the Klondike. In 1879 and again in 1880' he accompanied John Muir when he discovered Glacier Bay, Alaska. During a mountain climb near Glendora on the Stikine River, he almost fell to his death after dislocating both arms and was only saved from a narrow ledge when John Muir pulled him to safety with his teeth. In 1904, he established the First Presbyterian Church in the new town of Fairbanks. He was appointed superintendent of Presbyterian missions in Alaska.
