Primary Name: Harris, Richard Tighe
Filed as: richard_tighe_harris
Also known as: Richard Harris; Dick Harris
Occupation / Association: Prospector; Miner; Founder of Juneau
Born: October 31, 1837, Drummadonald, County Down, Ireland
Died: October 11, 1907, Portland, Oregon
Parents: John Harris; Mary Anderson Harris
Spouse: Kitty Harris
Children: William J. Harris; Richard Tighe Harris, Jr.; Mary Kelchine Harris
Associated places: County Down, Ireland; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Kansas Territory; Bannack, Montana Territory; British Columbia; Juneau, Alaska; Douglas Island, Alaska; Portland, Oregon
Keywords: Richard Tighe Harris, Dick Harris, Richard Harris Juneau founder, Harris Mining District, Alaska Juneau Gold Mine discovery, Silver Bow Basin discovery
Biography
Richard "Dick" Tighe Harris was born on October 31, 1837, in or near Drummadonald, County Down, Ireland, to John Harris and Mary Anderson Harris. He immigrated to the United States by 1855 and was naturalized by about 1858.
Harris lived in Pennsylvania and Ohio, where he stayed with his uncle, Caldwell Anderson. He attended Duff’s Merchant’s College in Pittsburgh. In 1858, he went west, first to Missouri and Kansas Territory and then to the mining regions of the Rocky Mountains.
From 1859 forward, Harris lived the life of a frontier miner, working placer and lode mines in Idaho, Colorado Territory, Virginia City, Silver Bow, and Butte before recording claims near Bannack City in Montana Territory.
By 1877, Harris was in British Columbia. In the winter and spring of 1879, he began prospecting for George Pilz, a Sitka entrepreneur. Harris was guided in southeastern Alaska by Chief Kowee of the Auk Tlingit.
In October 1880, Harris, with partner Joe Juneau, made one of the most significant discoveries in American prospecting. Guided by Kowee, the men crossed Gold Creek into Silver Bow Basin, where they discovered rich placer deposits and the lode system that later became the Alaska-Juneau Gold Mine.
Harris named the new settlement Harrisburgh after the capital of Pennsylvania, though the town was later renamed Juneau. The Harris Mining District was named in his honor.
Harris married Kitty Newcombe, a Tlingit woman from Hoonah, around 1880. They had several children, including William J. Harris and Richard Tighe Harris, Jr.
In March 1881, just a few months after gold was discovered, Richard and Kitty purchased three lots in the Telephone Hill Historic Neighborhood. The Harris family residence stood near 219 Second Street.
After losing a legal dispute over mining claims in Silver Bow Basin in 1884, Harris lost most of his mining interests and property. He later worked for Thomas L. Nowell, managing the Alaska Union Mining Company mill on Douglas Island, and later held positions with the District Court, U.S. Customs Service, and as a Special Deputy Marshal.
Harris served on the first Grand Jury in Alaska in 1885 and remained active in mining ventures throughout his life.
By 1904, Harris’s eyesight had begun to fail, and his health had declined. He was eventually sent to a Masonic nursing home in Portland, Oregon, where he died on October 11, 1907.
Harris Street in Juneau bears his name, and the Richard Harris and Joseph Juneau Memorial commemorates the two men credited with the discovery of gold that led to the founding of Juneau.
Sources
Alaska Mining Hall of Fame; Alaska Consortium Library
Tags: Richard Tighe Harris, Dick Harris, Joe Juneau, Chief Kowee, George Pilz, Alaska Juneau Gold Mine discovery, Silver Bow Basin pioneers, Juneau founders