Primary Name: Howe, George
Filed as: howe_george
Also known as:
Occupation / Association: Trader; Prospector; Explorer; Charter Member, Juneau Men’s Igloo
Born: 1848, Hallowell, Maine
Died:
Parents:
Spouse:
Children:
Associated places: Hallowell, Maine; San Francisco, California; Cook Inlet, Alaska; Tyonic, Alaska; Old Knik, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Kenai, Alaska; Kodiak, Alaska; Rampart, Alaska; Nome, Alaska; Anchorage, Alaska
Keywords: George Howe, Howe George, Alaska trader Howe, Cook Inlet trading post Shutna River, Old Knik trading post, Major Glenn expedition Portage Pass, Anchorage Alaska pioneers
Biography
George Howe was a charter member of the Juneau Men’s Igloo.
Howe was born at Hallowell, Maine, in 1848. He traveled to San Francisco by rail in 1869 and remained there until 1886. During the following decade, he made repeated trips to Alaska aboard sealing and trading schooners.
He came to Cook Inlet and established a trading post at the Shutna River near Tyonic. In the spring of 1895, he went to Old Knik and established another trading post, where he remained for two years.
While returning to San Francisco, Howe stopped at Juneau and was called to Seattle to join the expedition of Major Glenn across Portage Pass into the Cook Inlet country. His mission was to assist in searching for a potential railroad route to Cook Inlet. The expedition included thirty soldiers, and Howe spent three months traveling over the ground where Anchorage now stands and other areas around Cook Inlet.
After the expedition, he returned to Juneau and brought Professor Georgeson to Kenai to survey government farm land. He later accompanied him to Kodiak for the same purpose, completing the work in 1898.
He then traveled to Seattle and transported U.S. Commissioner Wiggins to Rampart during the 1899 season. Howe also took the first thawing machine to that country and mined on Hunter Creek. From there, he went to Nome in the spring of 1900, where he remained for two years.
After leaving Nome, he returned to Juneau and continued working in various enterprises until 1915, when he moved to Anchorage, where he remained thereafter.
Sources
Pathfinder, November 1919; Biographies of Alaska-Yukon Pioneers 1850–1950, Volume 1, p. 143, Ed Ferrell (May 1, 2009)
Tags: George Howe, Howe George, Juneau Men’s Igloo charter member, Cook Inlet traders, Old Knik trading post, Anchorage Alaska pioneers