Given these clues, I would say that the answer has to be that the Scotch half breed was a messenger.
In the book, the Scotch half breed was carrying mail to Dawson. We are told that the dogs were pulling a heavy load because it was the "mail train." However, the word "mailman" only has seven letters. The words "mail carrier" have 10 between them. "Mail train does have 9 letters and it actually appears in the book, but it's not the man's job. So all I can think of is to say that the man was a messenger, which has nine letters and does make some sense given that letters are messages.
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