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Photo Album

Seattle, Washington 2007

Weekend trip from September 1st to 3rd, 2007 to Seattle, Washington including a day trip to the Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon.

2007 September 1 2 3

Aquarium (130) Erica (29) Portland (157) Ruben (17) Seattle (387)

All

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After the Rush The five highlighted stampeders all led long and productive lives. Some wrote about their Klondike adventure. In several families, the Klondike stories they brought home have remained an important part of family history. William Shape William Shape's Klondike journal was published in 1998 as a book called "Faith of Fools". Ethel Anderson In "Little Girl in the Klondike Gold Fields," Ethel Anderson recounts her Klondike experiences. It was published in 1962 by Alaska Sportsman.
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Lucille Hunter When she was 90, Lucille Hunter was interview and photographed for Alaska Magazine. Henry Daum The park learned about Henry Daum in 2001 when his grandson, George, visited the park and shared his story. John Nordstrom At age 77, John Norstrom wrote "The Immigrant in 1887" that recounts his Klondike adventure.
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William Shape rejoined his wife and children in New York and went on to live a long, full life. His grandson remembered him "a sharp dresser" who was never "sour." He had a reputation for accumulating cash, then heading off on a venture of some sort. William Shape died in Los Angeles on August 2, 1960 at the age of 93. In 1902 Ethel Anderson and her family returned to Bellingham. As an adult, Ethel collected Klondike photographs and wrote stories about her childhood. Though Ethel's gold rush exprience accounted for only 4 years of her life, it left a lasting impression on her: "Memories of those Klondike days enriched our lives in one way or another, and every sourdough looks back with nostalgia on his search for gold."
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Lucille Hunter's daughter, Teslin, married a fisherman in Seattle, had a son named Buster, but she died soon after. Following his mother's death Buster was sent to live on the Klondike where his grandmother Lucille raised him as she had raised Teslin - on the creeks around Dawson. When most of the mines shut down during World War II, Lucille and Buster moved to Whitehorse. Here Lucille set up a laundry, with Buster making deliveries around town. She remained in Whitehorse for the rest of her life. She died in 1972 at the age of 94. Following the Klondike Gold Rush, the Daum brothers moved on to the Iditarod Gold Rush where they again bought land, built greenhouses, and raised vegetables to supply the rush. In all, Henry spent fourteen years in the North. In 1912, now 40 years old, he moved back to New Jersey where he married and bought a 100-acre farm. Here he and his wife raised three sons. Henry Daum died in 1945 at the age of 73. When John Nordstrom arrived in Seattle in 1899 he used some of the $13,000 he earned on the Klondike to buy 10 acres of land in the Rainier Valley. He also bought a lot near downtown. He had two houses built, one to live in and the other to rent. Over the next two years Nordstrom went to business college and married. In 1901 he joined Carl Wallin, a man he'd met in Alaska, to open a shoe store. The growth of that store into the Nordstrom department store chain is another story....
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With the discovery in July 1899 of gold on the beaches of Nome, Alaska and national attention turned toward the Spanish American War, interest in the Klondike waned. Large mining companies began buying up individual claims and large, commercial dredges replaced handmade rockers and sluice boxes. Though the Klondike Gold Rush itself was short-lived, the impacts and legacy of the gold rush live on.
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Klondike Aftermath While much is written of the excitement and adventure of the Klondike Gold Rush, there was a down side. The gold rush brought thousands of people to remote regions of Alaska and Canada, pushing aside and disrupting Native peoples and cultures. Large-scale mining continued for a number of years with significant impacts on the environment. Environmental and cultural scars are still apparent today. Dusrupted Lives, Shattered Cultures For the Native peoples - including the Tagish, Tutchona, and Tingit - who had called the region home, the Klondike Gold Rush was catastrophic. Miners brought diseases that killed many Native people. Traditional homelands and hunting and fishing grounds were destroyed and traditional food sources vanished. While some found work as packers for stampeders or supplied fire wood for steamboats, they were unaccustomed to a cash economy. Relatively few profited. Once the bulk of miners had left the region, some Native people attempted to resume their traditional lifestyles. For many, the way back was lost. Today, in Alaska and the Yukon, tribes are rebuilding their culture and reinforcing their traditions. Devastated Landscape Initially, Klondike miners dug sediments by hand from stream banks and in underground tunnels. Though seemingly benign, these methods severely damaged the streambeds and streamside habitats. Forests were stripped to supply timber for building and wood for fires to melt sediments. In 1897 gold was discovered in the hillsides above the creeks. Soon, entire hillsides were being torn up for gold. Mountains were denuded and wildlife habitat destroyed. Silt and mud from the mining filled creeks, suffocating previously abundant fish populations. By 1900, the richest and most easily mined deposits had been worked. Increasingly expensive and destructive machinery was brought in to reach more deposits and process the sediment faster. High-pressure hoses were used to knock down entire hillsides for their sediments. In 1905, huge dredges were brought in to rework the creeks and rivers. These floating giants processed massive amounts of gravel and left wide avalanches of devastation in their wake. Unseen damages remain as well. Mercury, used in processing gold, can still be found in Yukon ecosystems. Mercury compounds make their way up the food chain and accumulate in fish and wildlife in increasing concentrations. This poses an ongoing health risk.
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Gifts of the Gold Rush One Train, Too Late In April of 1898, a group of British inventors and a Canadian railroad contractor formed the White Pass and Yukon Railway Company and began building a railway over White Pass. Using only hand tools and blasting powder workers began the task of cutting a rail bed over rugged White Pass. Working through blizzards and high winds, construction continued into the winter. The summit of White Pass was reached on February 18, 1899 and Lake Bennett on July 6, 1899. The railway arrived too late to ease the burdon of the rush of stampeders the year before. However, with connection to Whitehorse completed on July 29, 1900, the railroad continued to supply mining operations in the region for many years. Today, a tourist train operates on the line between Skagway and Lake Bennett. Returning Wealth From 1896 to 1900, more than $50,000,000 of gold was produced by Klondike claims (equivalent to $1.1 billion in 2005). Wealth from the gold fields - gold, wages, and profits from businesses - flowed back to Seattle. Reinvigorated, Seattle was transformed into a bustling, industrial city. As Seattle businesses flourished, the city's tax revenues grew. City planners took on a number of projects that transformed the face of Seattle. Using technologies from the Klondike, several of Seattle's looming hills were either lowered or flattened by powerful water hoses and steam shovels. The material from the hillsides was used to fill swamps and tidelands in the vicinity of, and south of, Pioneer Square. Substantional improvements were made to sewer, water and gas systems. To extend shipping from Puget Sound to the city's two large freshwater lakes, Lake Union and Lake Washington, a connection was cut between them that lowered the level of Lake Washington. At the same time, a dam and locks were built in Ballard that raised the level of Lake Union to that of the lowered Lake Washington. Finally completed in 1917, this project enabled boats and ships to travel from Puget Sound to the two lakes.
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Soapy Smith Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith was one of the most infamous people of the Klondike Gold Rush. He arrived in Skagway in October 1897 with a gang of con man. In one famous con, recent arrivals were greeted by men who offered to send telegrams to their families for only $5.00. However, the "telegraph wires" ended a few yards behind the office. Tired of Soapy's ways, leading citizens created a vigilante group to rid the town of the criminal element. Soapy Smith was confronted on July 8, 1898 and killed in an exchange of gunfire. Primarily remembered for his illegal activities, Soapy Smith was also remembered by some for his generosity to charities, churches, and those in desperate need. Alex McDonald "Big Alex" McDonald was a large, awkward, shy man. He spoke slowly and was unable to read or write. Still, he became one of the Klondike's richest men, earning the nickname "King of the Klondike." He made his fortune without ever lifting a shovel. He would buy seemingly worthless claims and hire others to work the claims for him. He purchased claim 30 Eldorado for a sack of flour and a side of bacon. 30 Eldorado turned out to be one of Eldorado's richest claims, yielding up to $5,000 a day. He could easily have retired, but continued buying claims and land, much of it worthless. Like many other stampeders, he died broke.
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Nellie Cashman Nellie Cashman was a big-hearted and adventurous woman who was no stranger to mining boomtown. In the 1870s, she participated in the Cassiar Gold Rush in British Columbia. Following that she headed for the Arizona silver towns of Tucson and Tombstone where she opened restaurants. In each location she prospered and gained a reputation for her generosity and caring. In 1897, she joined the throng to Dawson where she opened a successful restaurant and small store. She also tried her hand at prospecting and purchasing claims with variable success. What money she made ended up in charity or in further prospecting. She continued living and prospecting in Alaska and in her 70s traveled frequently by dog sled from her distance claims to buy supplies. Belinda Mulrooney Belinda Mulrooney was a born entrepeneur. In 1897, while working at a dress shop in Juneau, she heard about Klondike gold discoveries. She immediately purchased $5,000 of "silk goods and hot water bottles" and headed for the Yukon. Selling supplies along the way and in Dawson, Belinda reaped a profit of $25,000. She started a successful hotel at Grand Forks, where the gold-rich Eldorado Creek met Bonanza Creek. She purchased mining claims that added to her wealth - all before the summer of 1897 when the rest of the world learned about Klondike gold. In 1900, she married Charles Carbonneau, a showy champagne salesman from Quebec. In 1904, Carbonneau was indicted on embezzlement and skipped town with Belinda's furs and jewels, never to return. In the years following the gold rush, Belinda mined and prospected in the Fairbanks area, started more businesses, made and lost several fortunes, and became a gold rush legend.
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A collection of photos, documents and things that were part of the fraternities after Klondike.
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Fraternal Organizations For returning stampeders, the gold rush had been a difficult, strenuous, but exciting time. Strong friendships and ties were formed. Back in Seattle, many wanted to keep their gold rush memories and connections alive and formed gold rush-based fraternal organizations, such as the Ladies of the Golden North and The Yukon Order of Pioneers. Many of these organizations are still active today with national memberships, including the Alaska Yukon Pioneers and the Alaskan Brotherhood.
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Needles and orders of the re-unions of the fraternities.
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Photos and documents of the fraternities.
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Booming Businesses From the time stampeders first started flowing through Seattle on their way northward enterprising men and women prospered in a variety of business ventures. They expanded existing businesses and started new ones to meet the needs of stampeders and Seattle's growing population. Some used money from their Klondike experience to finance new ventures upon their return. Some gold rush era businesses still thrive today.
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Nordstrom John Nordstrom returned to Seattle with $13,000. He had befriended Carl Wallin in Alaska who owned a shoe repair in downtown Seattle. The two decided to go into business together and in 1901 opened a shoe store, Wallin and Nordstrom. With a business philosophy based on service, selection, quality, and value, the company grew. The partners added a second store in 1923. In 1928, John Nordstrom retired and sold his share of the company to his sons. Wallin retired a year later and also sold his share of the company to the Nordstrom sons. The business continued to grow and by 1960 had become the largest independent shoe chain in the United States. in the early 1960s the firm began expanding into clothing. Today, Nordstrom has grown from its gold rush roots into a nationwide fashion specialty chain.
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Bartell In 1890, a 21-year-old pharmacist named George Bartell arrived from Kansas. Two weeks later he purchased his first drug store and struggled for several years to make a success of the business. When the SS Portland arrived in Seattle in 1897, Bartell promptly left his store and headed off in search of his fortune. He did not strike it rich, but upon his return he discovered Seattle had become a boomtown. He opened Bartell's Owl Drug in the heart of downtown. He purchased supplies from San Francisco and sold them at reduced prices, breaking what had been a price-fixing scheme along his competitors. In 1909 he added a second store equipped with one of the area's first soda fountains. Today, Bartell Drugs operates 53 stores in Puget Sound neighborhoods and is the oldest family-owned drugstore chain in the nation.
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