By Kelli Huggins, Education Coordinator
The California Gold Rush of 1849 gets more attention, but I personally find the Klondike Gold Rush a few decades later much more interesting. In August 1896, prospectors found gold in the Klondike River region of the Yukon Territory. As news spread of the find, “gold fever” also spread across the nation. Adventurers and fortune-seekers packed up their belongings to try their luck in the freezing north. Local folks would not be left out of the race for riches.
The Alaska Mining and Prospect Company was formed in Elmira,
New York in 1897 and incorporated on December 24, 1987 in Colorado. The company’s
mission was to fund an expedition of 10 men to the Klondike to locate and mine
gold. Prominent Elmira men John M. Diven and Dix W. Smith were among the
company’s directors. Andrew Sherwood, a geologist from Mansfield, PA, was hired
to lead a party of prospectors and miners. The Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co.
organized with capital of $200,000 and did swift business selling stocks.
John M. Diven |
On August 6, 1897, the Elmira
Daily Gazette and Free Press reported, “The gold fever seems to be raging
harder and many Elmirans are investing their hard-earned cash in the
uncertainties of the gold fields. They flock to the offices of the directors of
the scheme [the Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co.] like so many ducks after
water. Even the women have the fever and yesterday one new woman from Elmira
Heights entered the office of one of the directors and said she wanted to buy
some stock…Two Elmira Heights young women, one a stenographer and one a school
teacher, are said to be anxious to try their luck in the gold fields, hoping to
get remunerative employment there.”
Elmira Daily Gazette and Free Press, January 4, 1898 |
The Alaska Mining and Prospect Company’s expedition team left
in May 1898 and reached the Klondike via the Teslin Trail. The route was the
cheapest and safest. The journey lasted about 6 weeks. They wintered in
Wrangell, Alaska.
Like many of the miners in the Klondike, they found little gold.
They did find some coal, however. In 1902, Dix Smith reported that the company
had 12,000 acres of coal land, but he seemed to “be of the opinion that the
stockholders will realize very little, if anything on their investment.” There is a collection of materials about the short-lived company at the University of Oregon Libraries Special Collections.
David Lewis of Elmira worked for the Alaska Mining and
Prospect Company in Dawson, Alaska. He reported finding some gold, but admitted
that conditions were difficult and that it was frequently -30 degrees Fahrenheit.
He supposedly grew a beard that came down to almost his waist.
Employees of the Alaska Mining and Prospect Company were not
the only local people to go in search of riches. In February 1898, friends Charles
Bertram and Albert G. Miller headed for the Klondike. In March, Bertram wrote
his brother a letter from Seattle, Washington. Seattle was mobbed by wannabe
prospectors from around the country who were waiting to board the boats that
would get them closer to the frozen gold fields. Bertram reported on the chaos
and major price gouging by local stores. Miller had married Margaret Weaver just
before leaving and the two of them headed to Seattle, where she planned to stay
while he went on.
Two more Elmirans, Joseph Grady, a mail carrier, and George
Backer, a grocer, also left in early 1898. In May, Grady wrote a letter home
saying he had reached the Chilkoot Pass, a particularly difficult and deadly
stretch of the path. He arrived at the time of an avalanche. He reported that
descending the pass the most difficult part of the journey. That declaration
might have been a little premature. By August 30, Grady had enough of the
Klondike, quit, and headed home. He arrived back in Elmira by mid-October.
Of course, you didn’t even have to leave Elmira or start a
prospecting company to make money off of people’s gold fever. Stores,
businesses, and hotels all adopted the Klondike name in their advertising.
Elmira Daily Gazette and Free Press, November 22, 1897 |
A natural promotional opportunity for Gold Dust soap in the Elmira Daily Gazette and Free Press, August 2, 1897. |
Probably my favorite local Klondike story is that of Reverend
Frederick L. Benedict, the pastor of the Franklin St. church, who went north in
early 1898. His primary mission was to help the miners who were driven to sin
by the 24-hour nights and lack of civilization. Benedict wanted to build a
simple log cabin to hold services, which he would call "Miner's
Rendezvous."
Benedict explained his mission as follows: "My prime
object in going is to establish some innocent place of amusement on religious
principles, where the Alaskan miner may while away on a long winter night
instead of going to the saloon or gambling hall, of which there are an
astonishing number already. But understand me, I am no fool! I am not going to
kick any nuggets that I run across, out of my way and say ‘Get thee behind me,
Satan.’”
Benedict was correct that gambling, drinking, fighting, and
prostitution were common pastimes for miners in the Klondike Gold Rush. There
are no reports, however, to determine how many miners the reverend was able to convert.
Benedict left Alaska around 1903 and headed to Oklahoma to work in a Sunday
School. Still, he made it longer in the frozen fields than many others with the
gold fever.