Dalton, Jack
Primary Name: Dalton, Jack
Filed as: dalton_jack
Also known as: Jack Dalton, Jack Miller
Occupation / Association: Freighter, Explorer, Entrepreneur, Klondike Transportation Pioneer
Born: June 25, 1856, Michigan (most probable)
Died: December 16, 1944, San Francisco, California
Parents: Unknown
Spouse: Anna Krippeahne Dalton; earlier unnamed spouse
Children: Jack Dalton Jr., Margaret Dalton, James W. Dalton, Josephine Dalton
Associated places: Juneau Alaska, Haines Alaska, Pyramid Harbor Alaska, Porcupine Mining District Alaska, Cordova Alaska, Yakutat Alaska, Chickaloon Alaska, Klondike Yukon
Keywords: Jack Dalton, Dalton Trail, Klondike freighting, Dalton Trail Company, Porcupine Mining District, Copper River Northwestern Railway
Biography
Jack Dalton's life of nearly ninety years spanned an era of extraordinary change in Alaska and the Yukon. As Alaska's premier freighter during the Gold Rush era, he witnessed the transition from pack animals and human labor to the mechanized age of railroads and aircraft.
Accounts of Dalton's early life are inconsistent. His birthplace has been listed as Oklahoma, Kansas, or the Cherokee Strip, but his California death certificate records that he was most likely born in Michigan on June 25, 1856.
Dalton had only a limited formal education but became largely self-educated through reading and writing. He possessed a wide range of practical frontier skills and developed a reputation as a formidable and capable man with a quick temper. He was known as a skilled horseman, hunter, cook, and boatman.
As a young man, he traveled widely across the American West, at one time using the name Jack Miller. By the early 1880s, he had moved to Burns, Oregon, where he operated a logging business. A violent altercation there resulted in the fatal shooting of a cook during a struggle, prompting Dalton to leave the area.
Dalton eventually traveled to San Francisco and joined a sealing ship bound for the Arctic coast. The crew was arrested for illegal sealing and jailed in Sitka. After gaining his freedom in the mid-1880s, Dalton remained in Alaska and quickly developed a reputation as a skilled wilderness guide and negotiator with Indigenous communities. He learned Chinook Jargon, the regional trade language of the Pacific Northwest.
In 1886, Dalton joined the Schwatka–New York Times expedition attempting to climb Mount St. Elias. The expedition reached approximately 5,700 feet before being forced to retreat due to illness. Dalton remained in the Yakutat region afterward, prospecting and exploring coastal areas around Disenchantment Bay.
In 1890, Dalton participated in the Frank Leslie Newspaper Expedition led by E. Hazard Wells with explorer E. J. Glave. The expedition crossed Chilkat Pass and explored interior river systems, including the Alsek River. Dalton and Glave became the first known non-Native explorers to descend the lower Alsek River by canoe.
During the early 1890s, Dalton pioneered the use of pack horses for transportation between the Alaska coast and the Yukon interior. He developed what became known as the Dalton Trail, running from Pyramid Harbor near present-day Haines across the coastal mountains toward the Yukon River.
The trail was completed before the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897 and quickly became a major transportation route. At its peak, trains of more than 250 horses carried freight and livestock to the goldfields. Dalton received permission from the U.S. government to collect tolls along portions of the trail while allowing Chilkat people to travel freely.
Dalton was closely associated with Juneau attorney John F. Malony, who frequently partnered with him in business ventures. Together, they operated the Dalton Trail Company, the Dalton Trading and Transportation Company, and the Dalton Pony Express Company.
Dalton also played a role in the development of the Porcupine mining district near Haines after gold was discovered there in 1898 by prospectors he had grubstaked. Dalton and partners established the Porcupine Trading Company to support mining operations.
Later, Dalton assisted with survey efforts for the construction of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway. His reconnaissance helped demonstrate that a rail route up the Copper River was feasible, eventually leading to the construction of a railroad to the Kennecott copper mines.
Dalton continued to work as a freighter and transportation contractor into the early twentieth century. In 1913, he undertook a difficult contract hauling 900 tons of coal from the Chickaloon mine to Cook Inlet for testing by the U.S. Navy. The expedition required constructing over forty miles of winter road and hauling coal by horse-drawn sleds.
Dalton later moved operations to Cordova, where he ran sawmills and transportation companies. In 1915, many of his Cordova holdings were purchased by interests associated with the Kennecott Copper Corporation.
Dalton married twice and had four children, including James W. Dalton, an engineer whose name was later given to the Dalton Highway on Alaska's North Slope.
After leaving Alaska, Dalton lived in the Seattle and San Francisco areas and even prospected for diamonds in British Guiana in the early 1920s.
Jack Dalton died in San Francisco on December 16, 1944, at the age of eighty-nine.
In 1942, the United States Army reopened portions of the historic Dalton Trail while constructing the Alaska-Canada Highway.
Sources
Berton, Pierre. Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush 1896-1899. Coutts, R. C. Yukon Places and Names. Blakemore, F. B. Grit and Gold. Cracraft & Cole. A History of Coal Mining in the Sutton-Chickaloon Area. DeArmond, R. N. “Miners and Cattle Used Dalton's Trail.” DeLaguna, Frederica. Under Mt. St. Elias. Glave, E. J. “Our Alaska Expedition,” Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. Hakkinen, Elizabeth. Haines, the First Century. Russell, Israel C. An Expedition to Mt. St. Elias. Wier, Gary. “The Man Behind the Dalton Trail.” Alaska State Library Malony Files.
Tags: Jack Dalton, Dalton Trail, Alaska freighters, Klondike Gold Rush transportation, Haines Alaska history, Porcupine mining district, Copper River Northwestern Railway, Alaska pioneers, Alaska Mining Hall of Fame
Kirk, Kathleen
Primary Name: Kirk, Kathleen Pinkerton
Filed as: kirk_kathleen_pinkerton
Also known as: Kathleen Kirk; Kathleen Pinkerton
Occupation / Association: Charter Member, Juneau Igloo Women’s Auxiliary No. 6; Past Noble Grand, Perseverance Rebekah Lodge No. 2A
Born: 1874, Pennsylvania
Died: July 26, 1955, Seattle, Washington
Parents:
Spouse: William B. Kirk (m. 1908, Nome, Alaska)
Children:
Associated places: Pennsylvania; New York City, New York; San Francisco, California; Dawson, Yukon Territory; Nome, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Seattle, Washington
Keywords: Kathleen Pinkerton Kirk, Kathleen Kirk, Kathleen Pinkerton, William B Kirk, Juneau Igloo Women’s Auxiliary No. 6, Perseverance Rebekah Lodge No. 2A, Butler Mauro Drug Company, Juneau Alaska pioneers
Biography
Kathleen Pinkerton Kirk was a charter member of the Juneau Igloo Women’s Auxiliary No. 6.
She was born in 1874 in Pennsylvania and spent most of her childhood and early adulthood in New York City. For a period, she lived in San Francisco before traveling to Dawson in the Yukon Territory during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898.
From Dawson, she went to Nome, Alaska, where she married William B. Kirk in 1908. The Kirks moved to Juneau in 1915, where they purchased an interest in the Butler Mauro Drug Company.
Kathleen Kirk was active in fraternal organizations and served as Past Noble Grand of the Perseverance Rebekah Lodge No. 2A.
The Kirks left Juneau around 1937 and moved to Seattle, Washington. Kathleen Pinkerton Kirk died in Seattle on July 26, 1955.
Sources
1910 U.S. Federal Census, Nome; 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Juneau; 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Juneau; Alaska Daily Empire; fraternal lodge records
Tags: Kathleen Pinkerton Kirk, Kathleen Kirk, Kathleen Pinkerton, William B Kirk, Juneau Igloo Women’s Auxiliary No. 6, Perseverance Rebekah Lodge No. 2A, Butler Mauro Drug Company, Juneau Alaska pioneers
McKinnon Apartments
The MacKinnon Apartments is a historic apartment building at 236 Third Street. The building is a three-story wood-frame structure, finished in stucco with corner quoining and a dentillated cornice.
The MacKinnon Apartments provided modern housing in Alaska's capital and largest city, and is representative of the size and scale of the buildings constructed during the boom that occurred in Juneau during the 1920s.
When it opened in 1925, it was 80 feet (24 m) long and housed six single-bedroom and 12 studio apartments. In 1959, 20 feet (6.1 m) allowed five more studio units to be added. The building is representative of Juneau's boom years in the period between World Wars I and II, 1921 to 1939, which been defined as Juneau's Peak Gold Mining Era.
During that period, the town was the center for the territorial government, for the Alaska-Juneau Gold Mining Company's huge hard rock operations, for salmon and halibut commercial fishermen, and for supplying southeast Alaska.
Following placer gold discoveries in Silver Bow Basin in 1880, prospectors and businessmen established the town of Juneau. Within a decade, companies organized to mine the hard rock gold deposits in the area. Between 1880 and 1944, the three major mining companies in the Juneau area produced $158 million in gold. The Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company was the largest low grade ore gold producer in the world from 1910 to 1944.
Juneau quickly grew to be the largest community in southeast Alaska. In 1920, with a population of 3,058, it was the largest city in Alaska. The federal government designated Juneau the capital for the District of Alaska in 1900, although the move from Sitka was not made until 1906, and in 1912 designated it the capital for the Territory of Alaska.
After a cold storage plant opened in 1913, Juneau became the home port for a number of fishermen. The timber industry flourished with the building of a sawmill around 1910. Juneau became the regional trading center for communities in southeast Alaska. Steamships arrived and departed regularly.
In the summer months, steamships brought visitors to town. World War I created shortages of skilled labor to work in the mines and materials needed for mine operations. Production slowed. After the war, with new capital and improvements in technology, the Alaska-Juneau Gold Mining Company was profitable and expanding operations. As a result, the town prospered. Juneau business people invested in new, more substantial buildings. One of the new buildings was the three story MacKinnon Apartments.
Lauchlin "Lockie" MacKinnon, an immigrant from Nova Scotia, constructed the apartment building. He came to Alaska in 1886, MacKinnon drifted around mining camps in Alaska and the Yukon, working as a miner and businessman. For a few years in the 1890s he mined at Porcupine north of Haines. In 1893, he crossed the Chilkoot Trail to seek gold in the Fortymile.
Back in Juneau, in 1895 and 1896 he and George Miller, his partner at Porcupine, built and operated the Circle City Hotel on Third Street. The hotel had eighty rooms, a bar and dining room.
He married Martha Maline Lokke, who came to work at the hotel, in April 1896. The family continued to move around the north, spending several years at Atlin, B.C. and in the Fairbanks area, before settling in Juneau around 1911. Back in Juneau, MacKinnon managed the Zynda Hotel, later known as the Juneau Hotel, on Main Street.
In the 1920s, MacKinnon sensed that apartments were replacing boarding houses and hotels, and built the MacKinnon Apartments. He and his wife lived in an apartment in the building until their deaths in the late 1940s.
The MacKinnon Investment Company prospectus appeared August 17, 1925, seeking investors in a three-story frame apartment house to be located at the corner of Third and Franklin Streets.
An article in Stroller's Weekly, a local newspaper, dated October 10, 1925, noted that the new MacKinnon Apartments offered numerous modern conveniences. In particular, the article said the builder wired each apartment for electricity.
After his second term as territorial governor ended in 1933, George Parks lived in the MacKinnon Apartments for three years. The building has been continuously used as an apartment house since construction.
Sons J. Simpson MacKinnon and Donald L. MacKinnon operated the apartment house after their parents' deaths. In 1959, perhaps anticipating the increased need for housing in the new state's capital, they added five studio units to the back of the building. Other than this addition, the building has not been significantly changed since its construction.
The apartment building is located two blocks outside of the Juneau Downtown Historic District, which were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. The McKinnon Apartments were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
Radonich, Edna Sprague
Primary Name: Radonich, Edna Marion Sprague Haley
Filed as: Radonich, Edna Marion Sprague Haley
Also known as: Edna Marion Sprague; Edna Haley; Edna Radonich
Occupation / Association: Teacher; matron, federal jail on Courthouse Hill; Charter member and first president, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Igloo Women’s Auxiliary No. 6
Associated places: Lyle, Minnesota; Perham, Minnesota; Juneau, Alaska; Dawson City, Yukon Territory; Douglas, Alaska
Keywords: Edna Marion Sprague Haley Radonich, Juneau Igloo Womens Auxiliary first president, Alaska Grill Juneau history, Carnation Tom Radonich, Pine Creek mining claims, Chilkoot Trail families, Courthouse Hill federal jail matron
Biography
Edna Marion Sprague Haley Radonich was a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Igloo Women’s Auxiliary No. 6. She was elected the organization’s first president and also served additional terms in 1921, 1922, 1925, and 1927.
Edna Sprague was born in Lyle, Minnesota, in 1875 to Will and Mary Sprague. She was raised on a farm near Perham, Minnesota. In 1895, she moved to Juneau, Alaska, to teach school and to join her aunt and uncle, Matt and Alice Loughlin.
She married Ed Haley in Juneau on July 7, 1896. During the 1899 mining season, Edna accompanied her husband to his Pine Creek mining claims. Later that year, she returned to Juneau pregnant with their daughter, Dorothy. Travel to and from the mining camps was by steamer and on foot over the Chilkoot Trail. Edna and Ed Haley had two children, Dorothy and Donald.
After the birth of her children, Edna became a homemaker primarily, though in later years she worked as a matron at the federal jail on Courthouse Hill in Juneau.
Her second husband was Thomas G. “Carnation Tom” Radonich. Born September 19, 1869, in Dalmatia, Croatia, he came to the United States as a young man and arrived in Juneau around 1891. He was an early Klondike gold rush stampeder and operated a restaurant in Dawson City during the height of the gold rush. There, he became known as “Carnation Tom” because he arranged for regular shipments of fresh carnations and was rarely seen without one in his lapel.
After returning to Juneau in the early 1900s, Radonich operated several businesses along the Gastineau Channel, including restaurants, a meat market, and gaming houses in both Juneau and Douglas. The best known of these enterprises was the Alaska Grill, located on Front Street in the C.W. Young Building, which for many years was the largest restaurant in Alaska.
Edna maintained a large rooftop garden on the C.W. Young Building, adjacent to her home above the Alaska Grill. In later life she cultivated an extensive terraced garden on the hillside above her final home on Basin Road in Juneau.
Edna Marion Sprague Haley Radonich died on May 17, 1951. She is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in the Pioneers of Alaska Section.
Britt, William Engle
Primary Name: Britt, William Engle
Filed as: britt_william_engle
Also known as: William E. Britt
Occupation / Association: Druggist; Business Owner; Member, Juneau City Council; President, Alaska Board of Pharmacy; Charter Member, Pioneers of Alaska
Born: September 12, 1868, Norway
Died: April 24, 1932, Juneau, Alaska
Parents:
Spouse:
Children:
Associated places: Norway; Chicago Illinois; San Francisco California; Skagway Alaska; Dawson Yukon; Atlin British Columbia; Juneau Alaska
Keywords: William Engle Britt Juneau, Britt's Pharmacy Alaska, Alaska Board of Pharmacy president
Biography
William Engle Britt was a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska and a prominent pharmacist, businessman, and civic leader in Southeast Alaska.
Britt was born in Norway on September 12, 1868. He graduated from the University of Christiana with a degree in chemistry and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.
He came to the United States in 1893 and settled in Chicago, Illinois. There, he passed the examination before the Illinois State Board of Pharmacy and worked as a druggist until 1898.
When the Klondike Gold Rush began, Britt set out for Alaska in a remarkable journey. He bicycled from Chicago to San Francisco, where he boarded a steamer to Skagway. From there, he attempted to reach Dawson on a scow and participated in the Big Salmon stampede. He later joined the rush to Atlin, operated a ferry across Taku Arm from Golden Gate, and worked as a freighter at Summit Lake.
In 1899, Britt returned to Skagway and established a drug store known as Britt’s Pharmacy. He soon became active in civic affairs, serving on the Skagway School Board and holding positions as a city councilman, school treasurer, and municipal magistrate.
In 1913, Britt moved to Juneau, where he opened another Britt’s Pharmacy while retaining ownership of his Skagway store. The following year, he was elected to the Juneau City Council and served on several important committees.
Governor John F. A. Strong appointed Britt to the first Alaska Board of Pharmacy after the board was created by the Alaska Legislature. He was later chosen by fellow members to serve as the board's president.
William Engle Britt died in a tragic accident in Juneau on April 24, 1932. While attempting to start a car with a dead battery by pushing it and jumping onto the running board, the vehicle went out of control and struck a utility pole near the top of Gold Street.
Sources
Daily Alaska Dispatch, October 18, 1914; Daily Alaska Empire, April 25, 1932
Ferrell, Ed. Biographies of Alaska-Yukon Pioneers 1850–1950, Volume 2, pp. 32–33; Volume 3, p. 37
Atwood, Evangeline and Robert N. DeArmond, Who's Who in Alaskan Politics: Biographical Dictionary of Alaskan Political Personalities, 1884–1974, p. 10
Tags: William Engle Britt, Britt's Pharmacy, Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau City Council members, Alaska Board of Pharmacy, Skagway business leaders, Alaska gold rush pioneers
Graves, Henry Sheldon
Primary Name: Graves, Henry "Shelley" Sheldon
Filed as: graves_henry_shelley_sheldon
Also known as: Henry Sheldon Graves; Shelley Graves; H. S. Graves
Occupation / Association: Merchant; Fur dealer; Clothing store proprietor; Charter Member, Juneau Men's Igloo No. 6
Born: March 16, 1873, Chestertown, New York
Died:
Parents:
Spouse: Mary Alice Smith (m. 1903, Juneau, Alaska)
Children: Daughter (name not recorded)
Associated places: Chestertown, New York; Dawson, Yukon Territory; Skagway, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Long Island, New York
Keywords: Henry Shelley Sheldon Graves, H S Graves, Shelley Graves, Juneau Men's Igloo charter member, Goldstein Department Store Juneau, H S Graves clothing store South Franklin Street
Biography
Henry “Shelley” Sheldon Graves was a charter member of the Juneau Men's Igloo.
Graves was born in Chestertown, New York, on March 16, 1873. During the Klondike gold rush in 1898, he traveled from California to Alaska and went to Dawson in the Yukon Territory. After returning to the coast, he spent several years in Skagway, where he operated a men's clothing store.
Graves came to Juneau in the early 1900s. In Juneau in 1903, he married Mary Alice Smith.
He was engaged in the fur business and, for a number of years, worked in the men's department of the Goldstein Department Store. Around 1914, he opened his own men's clothing store, the H. S. Graves store on South Franklin Street, which he operated for nearly four decades.
In January 1953, he sold the business to Bill Matheny. A few months later, in May 1953, Graves and his wife left Juneau to make their home near their daughter on Long Island, New York.
Sources
Pioneers of Alaska Men’s Igloo No. 6 Biographical Sketch
Tags: Henry Shelley Sheldon Graves, H S Graves, Shelley Graves, Juneau Men's Igloo charter member, Goldstein Department Store, Franklin Street merchants
Hansen, Hans Peter
Primary Name: Hansen, Hans Peter
Filed as: hansen_hans_peter
Also known as: Hans P. Hansen
Occupation / Association: Miner; Charter Member, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men’s Igloo No. 6
Born: February 1, 1865
Died: March 12, 1940 (age 75)
Parents:
Spouse:
Children:
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Dyea, Alaska; Wrangell Narrows, Alaska; Duncan Canal, Alaska; Wrangell, Alaska; Petersburg, Alaska; Scow Bay, Alaska
Keywords: Hans Peter Hansen, Hans P Hansen, Hansen Juneau pioneer, Colorado wreck Wrangell Narrows, Duncan Canal mining camps
Biography
Hans Peter Hansen was a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Men’s Igloo No. 6, and an early miner in Alaska.
Hansen was born on February 1, 1865. He first came to Alaska in May 1886 and engaged in mining.
He participated in the 1896 gold rush, traveling over the Dyea Trail at the time of the wreck of the Colorado in Wrangell Narrows. Colorado Reef was later named for this wreck. Hansen was sent down from Juneau to unload ore from the Colorado.
In 1905–1906, Hansen worked as a foreman under Mr. Harvey at the Hattie camps in the lower part of Duncan Canal.
He later went to Wrangell, from which point he was dispatched to examine property in the Mill Creek area on the mainland. Following this assignment, he was sent to the States, where he worked on mining properties. During this time, he was involved in a blasting accident that caused him to lose his memory for a number of years.
Hansen returned to Alaska in 1927 and lived there until his death. He made his home at Skog’s Creek across from Scow Bay near Petersburg.
Hansen, an old-time Petersburg resident, died at the local hospital early Tuesday morning, March 12, at the age of seventy-five.
Sources
Biographies of Alaska-Yukon Pioneers 1850–1950, Vol. 5, pp. 116–117, Ed Ferrell (May 1, 2009)
Pond, Edwin Percy
Primary Name: Pond, Edwin Percy
Filed as: Pond, Edwin Percy
Also known as: Percy Pond; Edwin P. Pond
Occupation / Association: Photographer; Charter member, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men's Igloo; co-owner, Winter & Pond Photographers
Associated places: California; Portland, Oregon; Juneau, Alaska
Keywords: Edwin Percy Pond, Percy Pond photographer, Winter and Pond Photographers Juneau, Lloyd Valentine Winter, Juneau pioneer photographers, Alaska historical photography, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men's Igloo charter member
Biography
Edwin Percy Pond was a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Men's Igloo, and one of the earliest professional photographers in Juneau.
Pond was born in May 1872 in California, according to the 1900 Juneau Federal Census, although some accounts suggest he may have been born in Portland, Oregon, and moved to California at an early age.
With his friend Lloyd Winter, he operated one of the pioneer businesses of Juneau, Winter and Pond Photographers. Their friendship began in California during their youth in the pioneer era.
The two young men were in Alaska during the gold rush period and established their photography shop in Juneau in 1893. The business operated continuously from that time, and their partnership became one of the longest-standing business partnerships in Alaska.
Together, they created an extensive photographic record of Alaska’s early years. Their images of communities, miners, Native peoples, and daily life in Southeast Alaska are today considered invaluable historical documents.
Edwin Percy Pond died at St. Ann’s Hospital in Juneau on June 1, 1943, at the age of seventy-one.
Alaska Daily Empire, June 2, 1943
Stephens, John Thomas
Primary Name: Stephens, John
Filed as: Stephens, John
Also known as: John “Tom” Stephens; Tom Stephens
Occupation / Association: Carpenter; prospector; Charter Member, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men's Igloo
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Nome, Alaska; Sitka, Alaska; New York
Keywords: John Tom Stephens, Tom Stephens Juneau Alaska, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men's Igloo charter members, Juneau carpenters, Alaska gold rush prospectors, Nome Alaska prospectors, Sitka Pioneers Home residents, Evergreen Cemetery Juneau
Biography
John “Tom” Stephens was a carpenter, prospector, and a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Men's Igloo.
Stephens first came to Juneau in 1885 from his home in upper New York State. Although trained as a carpenter, he spent much of his time in Alaska prospecting during the territory’s gold rush era.
He first traveled to Alaska’s interior during the gold rush of 1897. Three years later, he went to Nome, where he remained for about four years, prospecting and working at his trade.
From 1904 until 1920, Stephens made his home in Juneau. In 1920, the Juneau Elks Lodge proposed sending him to the Elks Home in the states, but he declined the offer, choosing instead to remain in Alaska.
Stephens spent his final years at the Pioneers Home in Sitka, where he died on April 11, 1927. He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Juneau.
Sources
Daily Alaska Empire, April 13, 1927.
Wagner, John
Primary Name: John Wagner
Filed as: Wagner, John
Died: August 4, 1942 – St. Ann’s Hospital, Juneau, Alaska
Associated places: Skagway, Alaska; Chilkoot Pass; Juneau, Alaska
Occupation / Association: Packer, Chilkoot Trail
Affiliation: Charter Member, Juneau Men's Igloo
Keywords: Chilkoot Trail packers, Klondike Gold Rush, Chilkoot Pass history, Alaska pioneers, Pioneers of Alaska
Biography
John Wagner was a charter member of the Juneau Men's Igloo.
He first appeared in Skagway in 1896 during the Klondike Gold Rush and worked as a packer on the famous Chilkoot Trail.
Wagner became known as the strong man of Chilkoot Pass and was reputedly the only packer strong enough to carry a complete cook stove over the trail.
Wagner “mushed over the Great Divide” at St. Ann’s Hospital in Juneau on August 4, 1942, at the age of 80.
Sources
- Alaska Sportsman, January 1943, p. 19
- Pioneers of Alaska Men’s Igloo No. 6 Biographical Sketch