Dalton, Jr., Jack
Primary Name: Dalton, James W.
Filed as: dalton_james
Also known as: James “Jim” W. Dalton, Jim Dalton
Occupation / Association:
Born: 1913
Died:
Parents: Jack Dalton
Spouse:
Children:
Associated places: Alaska; Seattle, Washington
Keywords: James W Dalton, Jim Dalton, Dalton family Alaska
Biography
James “Jim” W. Dalton was the son of Jack Dalton and the brother of Margaret Dalton.
Sources
Family references; Alaska Mining Hall of Fame materials related to the Dalton family
Wiley, Perry
Porcupine Mining District Discovery
In 1898, prospectors Mix Silva, Edward Findley, and Perry Wiley, who had been grubstaked by Jack Dalton, discovered placer gold on Porcupine Creek north of Haines near the Dalton Trail. Following the discovery, the Porcupine Mining District was formally organized on October 22, 1898.
On November 5, 1898, Dalton and his three prospectors located the Discovery Claim. Additional claims were subsequently located by Dalton and his business partners, E. B. Hanley and John Malony.
The district experienced a stampede in 1899 as prospectors rushed to the area. Gold was discovered in nearby creeks, and additional deposits of gold and copper were found as far as sixty miles away, including in the Rainy Hollow district in Canada. During the first year of mining, gold production was reportedly worth approximately $50,000, of which about $40,000 came from Dalton’s Discovery Claim.
The deposits in the district were rich but fairly deep, requiring significant infrastructure to mine effectively. Miles of ditches and flumes were constructed to supply water for hydraulic lifts, sometimes called gravel elevators, where miners processed the gravel to recover gold.
Commercial support for the new district was supplied by the Porcupine Trading Company, organized by Dalton, Hanley, and Malony on August 1, 1899. The company imported mining equipment and extended liberal credit to other miners operating in the district.
In 1900, Dalton and his partners shipped in approximately 300 tons of equipment and supplies. The mines operated profitably until about 1905, when a major flood destroyed much of the mining infrastructure. Recognizing that most of the easily recovered gold had likely been extracted, Dalton, Hanley, and Malony sold their interests at a profit in 1907.
Source
Alaska Mining Hall of Fame
Findley, Edward
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Primary Name: Findley, Edward
Filed as: Findley, Edward
Also known as: Edward Findley
Occupation / Association: Prospector; miner; discoverer of placer gold on Porcupine Creek; Porcupine Mining District discovery party
Associated places: Porcupine Creek, Alaska; Haines, Alaska; Dalton Trail; Rainy Hollow district, British Columbia
Keywords: Edward Findley, Porcupine Creek gold discovery, Porcupine Mining District, Dalton Trail prospectors, Jack Dalton mining operations, Mix Silva prospector, Perry Wiley prospector, Alaska gold rush prospectors, Haines Alaska mining history
Biography
Edward Findley was one of the prospectors associated with the discovery of placer gold on Porcupine Creek north of Haines along the Dalton Trail.
In 1898, prospectors Mix Silva, Edward Findley, and Perry Wiley, who had been grubstaked by Jack Dalton, discovered placer gold on Porcupine Creek north of Haines near the Dalton Trail. Following the discovery, the Porcupine Mining District was formally organized on October 22, 1898.
On November 5, 1898, Dalton and his three prospectors located the Discovery Claim. Additional claims were soon located by Dalton and his business partners, E. B. Hanley and John Malony. The district was stampeded in 1899 as prospectors rushed into the region. Gold was discovered in nearby creeks, and both gold and copper were found in areas as much as sixty miles distant, including the Rainy Hollow district in Canada. The first year’s gold production was reportedly worth about $50,000, of which approximately $40,000 came from Dalton’s Discovery Claim.
The deposits in the district were rich but fairly deep, requiring complex infrastructure to mine effectively. Miles of ditches and flumes were constructed to supply water to hydraulic lifts, sometimes called gravel elevators, where miners recovered the gold. Commercial support for the new district was supplied by the Porcupine Trading Company, organized by Dalton, Hanley, and Malony on August 1, 1899. The company brought in mining equipment and extended liberal credit to other miners working in the district.
In 1900, Dalton and his partners shipped approximately 300 tons of equipment and supplies into the district. The mines operated profitably until about 1905, when a major flood washed out a considerable amount of the mining infrastructure. Recognizing that much of the easily recovered gold had likely been extracted, Dalton, Hanley, and Malony sold their interests profitably in 1907.
Edward Findley’s role in the original discovery party places him among the early prospectors whose work helped open the Porcupine Mining District and contributed to the mining history of the Haines region during Alaska’s gold rush era.
Sources
Alaska Mining Hall of Fame
Silva, Mix
Primary Name: Porcupine Mining District
Filed as: Porcupine Mining District
Also known as: Porcupine Creek Gold Discovery
Occupation / Association: Placer gold mining district
Associated places: Porcupine Creek, Alaska; Haines, Alaska; Dalton Trail; Rainy Hollow District, Canada
Keywords: Porcupine Mining District Alaska, Porcupine Creek gold discovery, Jack Dalton, Mix Silva, Edward Findley, Perry Wiley, EB Hanley, John Malony, Porcupine Trading Company, Dalton Trail mining, Haines Alaska mining history, Rainy Hollow mining district, Alaska placer mining, hydraulic mining Alaska, Alaska gold rush mining districts
Biography
In 1898 prospectors Mix Silva, Edward Findley, and Perry Wiley, who had been grubstaked by Jack Dalton, discovered placer gold on Porcupine Creek north of Haines along the Dalton Trail. The discovery quickly attracted attention and the Porcupine Mining District was formally organized on October 22, 1898.
On November 5, 1898, Dalton and the three prospectors located the Discovery Claim. Additional claims were soon located by Dalton and his business partners E. B. Hanley and John Malony. The district experienced a mining rush in 1899 as prospectors arrived and began working nearby creeks and surrounding areas.
Prospectors soon discovered gold in nearby creeks and both gold and copper deposits in areas as much as sixty miles distant, including the Rainy Hollow district in Canada. First-year production from the Porcupine district was reported to be worth approximately $50,000, with about $40,000 coming from Dalton’s Discovery Claim.
The gold deposits in the district were rich but fairly deep, requiring significant infrastructure to mine profitably. Miners constructed miles of ditches and flumes to deliver water to hydraulic mining systems. Hydraulic lifts, sometimes called gravel elevators, were used to raise gold-bearing gravel for processing.
Commercial support for the mining district came from the Porcupine Trading Company, organized by Dalton, Hanley, and Malony on August 1, 1899. The company imported mining equipment and provided supplies and credit to miners working in the district.
In 1900 Dalton and his partners shipped approximately 300 tons of mining equipment and supplies into the area. Mining operations continued profitably until around 1905, when a major flood destroyed much of the mining infrastructure. Recognizing that much of the easily recovered gold had been extracted, Dalton, Hanley, and Malony sold their interests in the district in 1907.
Sources
Alaska Mining Hall of Fame.
Kinnon, Joe
Primary Name: Kinnon, Joe
Filed as: kinnon_joe
Also known as: Joe Kinnon
Occupation / Association: Prospector; Freighter
Born:
Died:
Parents:
Spouse:
Children:
Associated places: Forty-Mile, Alaska; Pelly River, Yukon; Haines, Alaska
Keywords: Joe Kinnon, Kinnon Joe, Forty-Mile mining camp, Pelly River Yukon, Haines Alaska prospectors
Biography
Joe Kinnon was active in early northern mining ventures. In the summer of 1894, Kinnon and Jack Dalton, on speculation, assembled mining equipment and supplies to sell in the thriving Forty-Mile placer camp in Alaska.
The men found a buyer long before reaching the Forty-Mile. The entire outfit was sold at the Pelly River, after which Kinnon elected to return to Haines, Alaska.
Sources
Alaska mining history records
Tags: Joe Kinnon, Kinnon Joe, Jack Dalton associates, Forty-Mile miners, Pelly River Yukon, Haines Alaska residents
Hackett., Charley
Primary Name: Hackett, Charley
Filed as: hackett_charley
Also known as: Charlie Hackett
Occupation / Association: Hotel manager; Hotel Haines
Born:
Died:
Parents:
Spouse:
Children:
Associated places: Haines, Alaska
Keywords: Charley Hackett, Charlie Hackett, Hackett Charley, Hotel Haines manager, Jack Dalton freighting operations, Haines Alaska early residents
Biography
Charley Hackett managed the Hotel Haines in Haines, Alaska during the late nineteenth century.
In 1894, Jack Dalton, with the financial backing of John Maloney, acquired land from the widow of George Dickinson, the first trader in the area. Dalton constructed a warehouse, a store, and later the Hotel Haines on the Dickinson tract.
Dalton continued his freighting business while leaving the management of the hotel to Hackett.
Sources
Tags: Charley Hackett, Charlie Hackett, Hackett Charley, Hotel Haines manager, Jack Dalton, John Maloney, George Dickinson, Haines Alaska history
Lindsay , Jack
Primary Name: Dalton, Jack
Filed as: dalton_jack
Also known as: Jack Dalton
Occupation / Association: Freighter; Trader; Hotel Proprietor
Born:
Died:
Parents:
Spouse:
Children:
Associated places: Haines, Alaska
Keywords: Jack Dalton, Dalton Jack, Dalton Trail freighter, Haines Alaska trader, Hotel Haines proprietor
Biography
Jack Dalton was a freighter and trader active in the Haines area of Alaska. In 1894, with backing from John Maloney, Dalton acquired land from the widow of George Dickinson, the first trader in the area.
Dalton built a warehouse and a store on the Dickinson tract and later constructed the Hotel Haines. He continued operating his freight business while leaving hotel management to Jack Lindsay.
Sources
Tags: Jack Dalton, Dalton Jack, John Maloney, George Dickinson, Haines Alaska pioneers, Alaska freighters
Dickinson, George
Primary Name: Dickinson, George
Filed as: dickinson_george
Also known as: George Dickinson
Occupation / Association: Trader; Early Haines Resident
Born:
Died:
Parents:
Spouse:
Children:
Associated places: Haines, Alaska
Keywords: George Dickinson, Dickinson George, Haines trader, first trader in Haines, Hotel Haines property, Jack Dalton, John Maloney
Biography
George Dickinson was identified as the first trader in the Haines area.
Jack Dalton and John Maloney were notably successful in the Haines area. In 1894, Dalton, with Maloney's backing, acquired land from the widow of George Dickinson, the first trader in the area. Dalton built a warehouse, a store, and later the Hotel Haines on the Dickinson tract.
Sources
Alaska Mining Hall of Fame; Haines area historical records
Tags: George Dickinson, Dickinson George, Haines Alaska residents, Haines traders, Jack Dalton, John Maloney, Hotel Haines
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
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.