Juneau, Joseph
Primary Name: Juneau, Joseph
Filed as: juneau_joseph
Also known as: Joe Juneau; Joseph “Joe” Juneau
Occupation / Association: Prospector; co-discoverer of gold at Juneau
Born: May 1836, Lower Canada (Quebec)
Died: January 1899, Dawson, Yukon Territory
Parents:
Spouse:
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Associated places: Quebec, Canada; Schenectady, New York; Sitka, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Dawson, Yukon
Keywords: Joseph Juneau, Joe Juneau, Juneau Alaska founder, Juneau gold discovery 1880, Richard Harris, Chief Kowee, Silver Bow Basin, Alaska Juneau Gold Mine
Biography
Joseph “Joe” Juneau was one of the discoverers of gold in the Juneau area in 1880 and the man for whom the city of Juneau is named.
Juneau was born in May 1836 in Lower Canada (Quebec). As a young man he moved to the United States and worked as a miner and prospector throughout the American West.
In 1879, he joined Richard “Dick” Harris in prospecting for gold in southeastern Alaska for Sitka merchant George Pilz. Their guide in the region was Chief Kowee, who led them into the mountains behind Gastineau Channel.
In October 1880, Harris and Juneau discovered rich placer deposits in Silver Bow Basin. Within a short period, they staked claims on some of the richest ground in the basin, discoveries that eventually led to the development of the Alaska-Juneau Gold Mine.
The settlement that developed near the discovery was first called Harrisburg, then Pilzburg, and later Rockwell. In 1881, the miners voted to rename the town Juneau in honor of Joe Juneau.
Juneau later sold his interest in the mining claims and continued prospecting in other northern districts, eventually traveling to the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush.
He died in Dawson, Yukon Territory, in January 1899.
Sources
Alaska Consortium Library — Joseph Juneau Correspondence
Tags: Joseph Juneau, Joe Juneau, Juneau Alaska founder, Richard Harris, Chief Kowee, Silver Bow Basin discovery, Alaska Juneau Gold Mine