Klondike Gold Rush

Originally published on Murray Lundberg's "Yukon & Alaska History" site on May 18, 1997.

      A common misconception about the history of the interior of Alaska and the Yukon is that there was virtually no knowledge of, or interest in the area by people Outside until July 1897, when the Excelsior and Portland arrived at San Francisco and Seattle respectively. This fallacy continues to be fostered by writers who express surprise that ships were on their way to Alaska with full loads only 24 hours after the Portland's arrival.

      However, "Klondyke" was a well-known name among members of the mining fraternity long before the arrival of the treasure ships, and advertisements such as the one to the left had been appearing in West Coast newspapers for some time. On July 14, the day the passengers from the Excelsior unloaded their $500,000 in gold, the ad to the left, from The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, stated that "new discoveries are being made every day". Another similar ad in The Seattle Daily Times the same day stated that "Now is the time to go to the rich KLONDYKE country, where according to last reports, gold is as plentiful as sawdust..."

      However, although word had been slowly spreading about the discoveries in the Klondike, and despite advertisements like these, there was a great deal of scepticism until the arrival of the ships. The day before the arrival of the Excelsior, The Seattle Daily Times had reported that:

"Steamer Alki came in from Alaska at 12:30 o'clock this afternoon. She brought the latest Juneau papers and with them the news from the great Klondyke gold district is assuming a more definite form. But the statements are growing more extravagant and hard to believe with every mail from the interior..."

      The following passenger lists are taken from The Examiner (San Francisco) of July 15, The Seattle Daily Times of July 18, and The Daily Colonist (Victoria) of July 18, with details added and errors corrected from the books listed below in "References...". There are fewer names on any of the lists than there were stated to be on either boat (30 on the Excelsior, and 68 on the Portland), there are discrepancies in the spelling of several names, and the amount of gold carried by each passenger varies widely in some cases.

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Excelsior

      Operated by the Alaska Commercial Company, in command of Captain J. F. Higgins. She arrived at San Francisco on July 14, 1897. The 30 passengers on board were carrying about $500,000 in gold.

Alaska Commercial Company: $250,000

Anderson, Bernard: $14,000

Berry, Clarence J. (former fruit farmer, Fresno): $130,000

Berry, Mrs. Ethel D. (nee Bush)

Bowker, F. G. H.: $40-90,000

Bowker, Mrs.

Clements, James J. (Los Angeles, CA): $50,000

Cook, Thomas: $10,000

Flack, Thomas: $5-6,000

Fox, Albert (Talbot?): $5,100

Galbraith, Albert: $15,000

Hestwood, J. O.: $5,000

Hollingshead, J. B.: $25,500

Keller, Frank (Los Angeles): $35,000

Krook, Robert: $14,000

Kulju, William (Finland): $17,000

Ladue, Joseph: $10,000

Lendessen (Lendeseen?), Fred: $13,000

Lippy, Thomas S. (YMCA physical trainer, Seattle): $43-65,000

MacArthur, Dougall: $15-25,000

MacArthur, Neil: $15-25,000

McMann, James: $15,000

Marks, John: $11,500

Norcross, M. S.: $10,000

Orr, Alexander: $11,500

Price, Fred (former laundryman, Seattle): $5-15,000

Rhodes (Rhoads?), Louis B.: $5,000

Sloss, M. C. (Alaska Commercial Company director)

Stamatin, Con: $8,250

Stewart, Greg: $5,000

Portland

      Operated by the North American Trading & Transportation Company, in command of Captain William Kidston. She arrived at Seattle's Schwabacher Dock at about 6:00 AM on July 17, 1897. The 68 passengers on board, 40 of them miners, carried about $1,000,000 in gold. A total of $177,500 "in small amounts" had been deposited with the ship's purser.

Anderson, C. and Mrs.

Anderson, Charlie (former labourer in Sweden): $45,000

Anderson, Henry (Chicago): $65,000

Anderson, Nils: $112,000

Bellinger, F.

Bergeoin, Joseph (former logger, Seattle): $14-15,000

Blake, R. H.: in non-mining business in Yukon

Block, Miss P.

Boucher, J. E. (Wisconsin): $6,000

Branan, C. A. (18 years old, Seattle): $3,000

Coteland, P.: brought out "not much"

Coylies (or Cazlais), James (Montana): $17-20,000

Desroche, J.

Dore, H. (former logger, Puget Sound): $3,000

Engel, P. C. (NWMP Sergeant): brought out "good money"

Eucher (or Amcher), Cash (Switzerland): $8,000

Fairborn, J. E.

Finstean, O.

Fobler, F.

Gage, Mrs. Eli A. (husband is NAT&T manager)

Granthier, H.

Gray, A.

Hall, M.

Hatterman (Hillerman?), J.J.: $12-15,000

Hayne, M. H. E. (NWMP Sergeant): brought out "good money"

Hickey, Michael (Great Barrington, Mass.): $60,000

Horne, Jack (former prizefighter, Tacoma): $6,000

Jenkins, H. N. (NWMP Constable): brought out "good money"

Johnson, J.

Kelly, Michael (former police officer, Seattle)

Kelly, T. J. (California): $10-17,000

Lord, Victor (Olympia, WA): $10,000

Loveland, C. H.

McKenzie, A.

McNulty, Ira (San Francisco): $21,000

Mellor, Miss Mary Elizabeth (Superintendent of Indian Training School at Unalaska)

Mercer, M. N. (Shelton, Mason County): $16,000

Meyer, C. E.

Moffatt, J.

Moran, Thomas (Montreal): $20,000

Morden, Jack (Chicago): at least $20,000

Newbrook, E. (NWMP Corporal): brought out "good money"

Olsen, H.

Phiscator, Frank (Baroda, MI or Gallen, IN): $50-96,000

Pickett, B. E.: at least $20,000

Protean, Henry (Mount Vernon, WA): $3,000

Reinken, Miss A.

Reinken, Miss D.

Ricotte, W. E. (Montreal): $23,000

Silverlock, C.

Sims, W.

Sloan, William (former drygoods merchant, Nanaimo, BC): $52,000

Stanley, William (former bookseller, Seattle): $90-115,000

Strickland, (NWMP Inspector): between $4,000 - $130,000 depending on report

Strickland, Mrs.

Suvoroff, Miss S.

Telford, E. (NWMP Constable): brought out "good money"

Tichnor, F.

Tutikoff, Miss P.

Wilkinson, John (Nanaimo, BC): $25-40,000

Worden, Charles (Jefferson County, NY): $15-20,000

Within hours, the Klondike Gold Rush was on!!

The San Francisco Examiner, July 17, 1897

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References & Further Reading:

Berton, Pierre, Klondike (or Klondike Fever)

Harris, A.C., Alaska and the Klondike Gold Fields (Chicago: Monroe, 1897)

©1997-2019 by Murray Lundberg: Use for other than research purposes must be approved by the author.