Norvell, Fred
Primary Name: Dalton Trail Company
Filed as: Dalton Trail Company
Also known as: Dalton Trail freighting partnership
Occupation / Association: Yukon freight and transportation company
Associated places: Yukon River region; Dalton Trail; Alaska; Yukon Territory, Canada
Keywords: Dalton Trail Company, Jack Dalton freighting, John Malony Yukon freighting, EB Hanley Yukon trade, Fred Norvell Yukon freighting, Henry Bratnober Alaska mining investors, Dalton Trail history
Biography
The Dalton Trail Company was formed in 1895 to provide reliable freight transportation into the Yukon region during the early years of northern gold exploration.
Observing the growing pre-Klondike mining activity in the Circle and Forty-Mile Districts and the resulting need for dependable supply routes into the interior, John Malony and Jack Dalton organized the partnership. They were joined by investors and associates E. B. Hanley, Fred Norvell, and Henry Bratnober.
The company operated along the route that became known as the Dalton Trail, a major overland route used by miners, prospectors, and freight outfits traveling between the coast and the Yukon interior before and during the Klondike gold rush.
Through their freight operations, the Dalton Trail Company played an early role in developing transportation infrastructure supporting the mining districts of Alaska and the Yukon.
Sources
Alaska Mining Hall of Fame
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
Pilz, George
Primary Name: Pilz, George
Filed as: Pilz, George
Also known as: George Pilz
Occupation / Association: Mining engineer; prospector; Alaska mining promoter
Associated places: Saxony, Germany; Freiberg, Germany; Sitka, Alaska; Silver Bay, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Chilkoot Pass, Alaska; Dawson, Yukon; Katalla, Alaska; Chitina, Alaska; Forty-Mile region, Alaska; Eagle, Alaska; San Francisco, California; Michigan copper range
Keywords: George Pilz, Alaska mining engineer, Freiberg Mining Academy graduates, Silver Bay lode gold Alaska, Juneau gold discovery promoters, Joe Juneau prospecting party, Richard T Harris prospecting party, Auk Chief Kowee samples, Chilkoot Pass exploration, early Alaska mining development
Biography
George Pilz, one of the first professional mining engineers to work in Alaska, became a leading figure among the miners who entered the territory during the first decades following the United States purchase of Alaska.
Pilz was born in Saxony and educated at the renowned Mining Academy at Freiberg. After working on coal exploration in Germany, he left the country in 1867 to avoid conscription during the Franco-Prussian War.
Initially, Pilz investigated mining prospects in Canada and the United States for a German-owned company. He later left that position to work for the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company at Hancock in Michigan’s copper range. In 1869, he departed Michigan to erect a copper smelter in California.
During the following decade, Pilz worked throughout California, Arizona, and Nevada prospecting, developing mines, and erecting mills and smelters. His reputation for blunt and often cantankerous competence assured him steady employment, though it also kept him moving frequently from project to project.
In 1878, Pilz met Nicholas Haley in San Francisco. Haley, who had previously been stationed with the United States Army in Sitka, possessed rich gold-quartz specimens taken from the Stewart and other lodes near Silver Bay south of Sitka. Pilz initially suspected the samples originated from California’s Grass Valley district, but discussions with army officers and soldiers convinced him that the specimens truly came from Alaska.
Pilz secured financial backing and, in February 1879, traveled to Alaska to construct a mine and mill at Silver Bay. Gold processed by his five-stamp mill became the first lode gold produced in Alaska. The mine closed early in 1880 when the deposit proved too low-grade to sustain operations, though later events would vindicate Pilz’s belief that the region held significant mineral potential.
Seeking additional discoveries throughout Southeast Alaska, Pilz enlisted the assistance of several Tlingit communities, who supplied mineral samples from different areas. Pilz then dispatched experienced prospectors to investigate these reports, including Alaska Mining Hall of Fame inductees Joe Juneau and Richard T. Harris.
One of Pilz’s prospecting parties helped open Chilkoot Pass, which later became the principal gateway to the Klondike gold fields. The route was opened after Navy Captain Lester Beardslee negotiated with the Chilkat Tlingit to allow freighting through the pass.
Among the most promising samples received by Pilz were brought by Alaska Mining Hall of Fame inductee Auk Chief Kowee, who lived on Admiralty Island near the site of the modern city of Juneau. These specimens likely originated from the Gastineau Channel area.
Acting on Pilz’s direction, Harris and Juneau made their discovery in early October 1880 in Silver Bow Basin above present-day Juneau. Their earlier trip had taken them to Gold Creek, where they found promising placer gold and quartz fragments containing gold.
A grubstake agreement arranged by Pilz allowed Harris and Juneau to stake placer claims for themselves while granting Pilz a majority interest in the lode claims on a three-to-one basis.
After confirming the discovery in Silver Bow Basin, Harris and Juneau returned to Sitka, where Pilz joined them. Satisfied that the claims had been properly staked, Pilz approved the work and helped promote the new mining district. News of the discovery sparked a rush to the area in December 1880.
Controversy later arose involving N. A. Fuller, a Sitka merchant who had been connected with Pilz’s operations. Pilz maintained that Fuller acted only on his behalf, but the matter eventually resulted in a lawsuit in Sitka in 1886 in which Fuller obtained judgment against Richard T. Harris.
At the time, Pilz might have aided Harris, but was imprisoned in San Francisco, awaiting trial on a fraud charge he always denied. Despite later disputes between the two men, contemporary correspondence shows Pilz regarded Harris as one of his closest associates during the early Juneau mining period.
Miners from Juneau even sent gold dust to San Francisco to help Pilz post bail. The episode reflected the complicated and often contentious nature of Pilz’s career.
Pilz also likely erected the first prefabricated building in Alaska, constructing a pre-built house in Sitka. On February 7, 1881, he chaired a miners’ meeting that adopted revised mining district rules for the Harris district. He was also involved in organizing and platting the early town that became Juneau, then known as Rockwell or Harrisburg.
In later years, Pilz continued working in mining ventures across North America. He was reported in Dawson in 1906, at Katalla in 1907, working on coal projects, and in Chitina in 1911. He later spent many years in the Forty-Mile region.
George Pilz died in Eagle, Alaska, on September 15, 1926, remembered as a brilliant but often combative pioneer mining engineer who played a key role in the discovery and early development of the Juneau gold district.
Sources
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
Bullard, Benjamin
Primary Name: Bray, George
Filed as: bray_george
Also known as: George Bray
Occupation / Association: Charter Member, Juneau Men's Igloo No. 6; waiter
Born: June 1862, New York
Died: November 4, 1933, Juneau, Alaska
Parents: Unknown
Spouse: Unknown
Children: Unknown
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Fairbanks, Alaska
Keywords: George Bray, Bray George, Juneau Men's Igloo charter member, waiter Juneau Alaska, Fairbanks Federal Jail prisoner 1910 census
Property / Address:
Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey
Biography
George Bray was a charter member of the Juneau Men's Igloo No. 6 of the Pioneers of Alaska.
Bray was born in June 1862 in New York. He first came to the Territory of Alaska in 1898 during the period of rapid migration that followed the Klondike gold rush.
According to the 1910 United States Federal Census, Bray was listed as a prisoner in the Fairbanks Federal Jail. At that time, his occupation was recorded as a waiter.
Bray died at St. Ann’s Hospital in Juneau on November 4, 1933. His death resulted from injuries he received approximately a week earlier when he fell down a stairway near the Arctic Rooms in Juneau.
Sources
1910 U.S. Federal Population Census; Daily Alaska Empire, November 6, 1933
Tags: George Bray, Bray family, Juneau Men's Igloo No. 6, Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau pioneers, Fairbanks Alaska, St Ann's Hospital Juneau
Day, Hugh
Primary Name: Day, Hugh
Filed as: day_hugh
Also known as: Hugh Day
Occupation / Association: Miner; mail carrier; Charter Member, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men’s Igloo No. 6
Born: c. 1863, St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada
Died: December 31, 1916, Douglas, Alaska
Parents:
Spouse:
Children:
Associated places: St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada; Killisnoo, Alaska; Juneau, Alaska; Taku route; Klondike; Douglas, Alaska; Tenakee Springs, Alaska
Keywords: Hugh Day, Day Hugh, Juneau Men’s Igloo charter member, Klondike gold rush miners, Taku mail route Alaska
Biography
Hugh Day was a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Men’s Igloo No. 6.
Day was a native of St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada. He came to Alaska when he was about twenty-one years of age and first settled in Killisnoo.
He later carried mail from Juneau to the interior via the Taku route. During the Klondike Gold Rush, he joined the large rush northward and located a rich claim, but lost it through speculation.
A day later returned to Douglas. His property was destroyed in the great Douglas fire of 1911, but he rebuilt and continued his life in the community. A few years before his death, he moved to Tenakee Springs.
In December 1916, he entered the hospital for treatment of a head injury, which he had originally received in a street fight when he was seventeen years old. The injury had caused him considerable trouble in later years. While in the hospital, he went into convulsions and died.
Hugh Day died in Douglas, Alaska, on December 31, 1916, at the age of fifty-three.
Sources
Biographies of Alaska-Yukon Pioneers 1850–1950, Vol. 5, pp. 77–78, Ed Ferrell (May 1, 2009)
Northrup, Willard E.
Primary Name: Northrup, Willard
Filed as: Northrup, Willard
Also known as: Willard Northrop
Occupation / Association: Prospector; steam engineer; charter member, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men’s Igloo
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Wrangell, Alaska; Cassiar District, British Columbia; Sitka, Alaska; Sitka Hot Springs, Alaska; Taku River, Alaska; Windham Bay, Alaska; Berners Bay, Alaska; Glacier Bay, Alaska; Lituya Bay, Alaska; Yakutat, Alaska; Yukon Territory; Dawson, Yukon
Keywords: Willard Northrup, Willard Northrop, Juneau pioneers, Pioneers of Alaska charter members, early Alaska prospectors, Cassiar mining district, Wrangell Alaska miners, Sitka Hot Springs miners, Taku River exploration, Windham Bay prospectors, Berners Bay mining history, Glacier Bay prospecting, Lituya Bay beach placers, Yakutat beach placers, Klondike Gold Rush miners, Dawson Yukon miners, Alaska territorial prospectors
Biography
Willard Northrup was an early Alaska prospector and a charter member of the Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Men’s Igloo. Born in 1850 in New York State, he came north during the early mining era of Alaska and British Columbia.
Northrup first traveled to Wrangell in 1877 and from there went into the Cassiar mining district. In the fall of 1879, he moved to Sitka, where he spent the winter at Sitka Hot Springs along with seventeen other Cassiar miners.
In the U.S. Navy census of April 1880, Northrup was listed as an American citizen, age thirty. During the summer of that year, he was prospecting throughout Southeastern Alaska and may have been the man sent by George Pilz to explore the Taku River region.
By 1881, Northrup was in Juneau, though he did not stake claims in the immediate area. Instead, he used Juneau as a base while prospecting throughout the region, including Windham Bay, Berners Bay, and the Glacier Bay country.
Beginning in 1887, he was among the first miners to work the beach placers along the Gulf of Alaska coast between Lituya Bay and Yakutat.
In 1892, Northrup traveled to the Yukon, and by 1895, he was briefly back in Juneau while en route to the Interior again. He was reported to have been among the earliest miners to reach Dawson following the Klondike gold discovery and apparently did well there.
In addition to prospecting, Northrup also worked as a steam engineer during his years in the North.
Sources
Pioneers of Alaska Men’s Igloo No. 6 Biographical Sketch.
Holy Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
The Church of the Holy Trinity is the oldest Episcopal Church in Alaska. Among local churches, it is second in survival age only to the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas.
Just as the Episcopal Church is closely interwoven with the history of Alaska, so Holy Trinity Church has been part of that history, associated with persons and events of significance.
It especially commemorates the almost 50-year legendary career of Bishop Peter Trimble Rowe, a figure of commanding public stature beyond his ecclesiastical achievements.
Juneau developed from the raw mining camp which sprang up in 1880 following the discovery of gold on both sides of Gastineau Channel.
It was four years before the first Organic Act was passed by Congress, giving Alaska a token civil government for the vast possession purchased from Russia in 1867.
For almost two decades, American churches accepted the general myth that Alaska was an uninhabited frozen waste land. There was little attempt to send missionaries; although the Church of England, in Canada, had followed the Hudson Bay Company into the Upper Yukon River area in 1861.
The Organic Act of 1884 provided for a governor, courts, and schools. The remarkable Presbyterian missionary. Dr. Sheldon Jackson, assumed the post of education agent, but recognizing the scope of the task turned to the missionary board of other churches for assistance.
An informal regional agreement was worked out to present overlapping. With but three missionaries, stationed in widely separated places, the Episcopal Missionary District of Alaska was constituted in 1892 and a Bishop for Alaska elected in 1895.
By this time, the necessity of expanding the work of the Church to include the miners, settlers, and other whites was obvious. The discovery of gold was soon to attract hordes of people.
Peter Trimble Rowe, first Episcopal Bishop of Alaska, was born, educated, and ordained in Canada. He came to the United States in 1882 to take charge of a mission in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and became an American citizen. His experience in Canada and northern Michigan helped prepare him for the rugged life ahead. Bishop Rowe received his appointment in 1895 and continued a dynamlc involvement in Alaska life until his death in 1942.
Arriving aboard the steamer, "City of Topeka", in March 1896, Bishop Rowe was accompanied by the Rev. Henry Beer from Michigan, who would stay in Juneau. Mrs. Rowe and their two sons waited in Tacoma with Mrs. Beer until there would be a place for them to live. The "City of Topeka" was crowded with more than 200 men, their sled dogs, and a few women bound for Circle City. The Bishop held services aboard ship on Sunday, and all who could crowd into the saloon did so to hear him.
The previous year Reverend R.D. Nevins had been sent ahead to Juneau by the Bishop. He had gathered several families for services, organized Sunday School classes, and a ladies guild.
It was these first services conducted by Dr. Nevlns in the old Presbyterian log cabin church, on Trinity Sunday in 1895, which suggested the name for the new congregation. The collection of frame and log buildings and muddy streets, while not attractive to newcomers, indicated Juneau's future. Gold Stamp mills were operating in the Basin and at Treadwell Mine.
The Sisters of Ann, who arrived in 1887 had started a hospital and school; the Rev. and Mrs. Jones of the Presbyterian Church operated a mission school. There were two weekly newspapers, hotels, a doctor, large business establishments, and a great many saloons. Juneau was crowded with miners getting outfitted for the coming summer. It was impossible to rent a house.
Bishop Rowe wrote, "The present population is about 1800 whites with some hundreds of Natives. Saloons and variety shows are numerous and alarmingly active and seductive. Mr. Beer and I lodge together in one small room, cold and bare, and are obliged to skirmish around for meals...to do our writing, we are obliged to resort to use the small quarters occupied by the Rev. Dr. Nevins...0ur mission here is to the white. It is the only mission to the white population in this part of Alaska...we shall be obliged to build...as soon as possible."
Leaving Rev. Beer in Juneau, Bishop Rowe then made his way north for his first inspection of Alaska. Rev. Beer set to work to build a church and rectory. Lots 8 and 9, Block 15, were purchased for $375. Contracts were let by Trustees R. D. Bently, J. J. Rutlege, C. D. Taylor, and J. Montgomery Davis, with builder George E. James. The rectory was quickly finished and Mrs. Beer arrived with the Rowe family on their way to Sitka.
The new house faced Gold Street behind the church, and cost $1,400. The Alaska Searchlight reported, "This house is one of the best residences of Juneau, and Mr. James, the builder, is to be congratulated on the style and the finish of the structure."
There was a social at the rectory May 19, 1896, to welcome Mrs. Beer. Rev. Beer and a few volunteers then assisted James with the building the church according to plans furnished by the Bishop. Labor costs were $700. Including materials the total was $2,600 for the church. As there was no kiln to dry the spruce lumber commonly used, high quality fir was imported from Tacoma, testifying to the quality construction.
On Saturday, July 25, 1896, the Searchlight advised, "The new Episcopal Church in Gold Street, which is to be known as Holy Trinity Church, is now so far completed that it is being used for services on Sundays. Stoves, seats, and other necessary articles of furniture have been put in the church, and the rector wishes the people of Juneau to bear in mind that it will be open to all every Sunday at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. The seats are free, and it is earnestly desired that worshipers may crowd the 'Courts of the Lord's House' every Lord's Day. This beautiful building has been erected at considerable expense for the benefit of the people of Juneau, and only by attending its services can that benefit be attained."
Bishop Rowe, meanwhile, landed at Dyea, hired a helper and packed over the Chilkoot Pass. He whipsawed lumber, built a boat, and made the hazardous trip down the Yukon to Forty Mile and to Circle. During the journey, he conducted services everywhere and was an inspiration and help to the many men struggling to the Klondike and interior gold fields.
When he returned, by way of St. Michael in October, he reported to the mission board: "I found the church and the residence of the missionary completed and occupied. They do give us credit. Mr. Beer gave much personal work in their erection. It is a difficult place to get insurance. Fortunately, I succeeded... as a few weeks after, the church caught fire from cinders carried by the terrible Taku winds, which proved the wisdom of insuring...the moral condition...is not conducive to religious work. The population is transient, it is the center and metropolis of a large mining district sure to develop. Its future is certain. It is a good outfitting place for the Yukon. Meanwhile, it is a trying field for the missionary; he fills no enviable place, and well deserves the prayers, cheer, and aid of our friends. A guild and Sunday School flourish. A class of four was presented to me for confirmation."
That summer a medical missionary. Dr. A. J. Cambell, a friend of Bishop Rowe's, arrived to work in Douglas, where he later established St. Luke's. The early registers of Holy Trinity reflect the events of the day: weddings, baptisms, confirmations, and many burials. Some members of those original families of the first congregations still live in Juneau.
One instance, reported from newspaper files: the law-abiding citizens were shocked by the killing of Deputy Marshall Watts, by an escapee of the Jail in January 1897. "The most splendid funeral ever held in Juneau" took place in the new church. Bishop Rowe, who was visiting, used the occasion to suggest mercy for the wrong-doers. After an elaborate procession to the cemetery, the mourners organized a posse, and heavily armed, went out in three boats and peacefully apprehended the fugitives on Admiralty Island.
Bishop Rowe traveled north again in 1897 by reversing the Yukon route. Coming out in the fall across Chilkoot Pass, he met the tide of men going into the Klondike. When he saw the new city of Skagway which had sprung up, he recognized the necessity there.
Accordingly, both Rev. Beer and Dr. Campbell were assigned to Skagway, establishing St. Saviour's Church. The Juneau and Douglas churches were served, sporadically, for the next few years from Skagway. On his third trip north in 1898, Bishop Rowe again made the Chilkoot trek, this time in the company of thousands of gold seekers. Back in Sitka that winter, plans were made for the building of St. Peter's-by-the-Sea, and for a Bishop's residence, called the See House.
For the next decade the work in Alaska continued as what Bishop Rowe was to describe as "a mission to a movement, a procession." The Bishop and his clergy, some with families, did their best to follow the miners as they moved from old strike to new, establishing missions, building churches and hospitals where they could in the camps.
1903 saw the coming of another missionary to Alaska, who was to have a vital influence in Juneau; though not until 19 years had elapsed. This was the Rev. Charles E. Rice, who was stationed at Circle. In 1901, nine victims of the wrecked S.S. Islander, were burled from the church.
By 1906 the capital of Alaska had largely moved to Juneau from Sitka. The Rev. C. E. Renison arrived in 1910, and from that day onward the church has had a continuous ordained ministry. This was a peak period for mining, both at Treadwell Mine and the Alaska-Juneau operations.
Trinity services were also held weekly at Thane, reached by ferry; and Perseverance Mine, by wagon on the mountain road where an active congregation provided a church school, altar guild, and choir.
The establishment of territorial status for Alaska and provision for a legislature in 1912, meant even more families residing in the capital city. Continued Improvement was necessary for Holy Trinity Church.
A basement was installed, with a furnace replacing dangerous wood-burning stoves. The interior was refurbished, particularly with the addition of a series of paintings done by Mrs. J. Montgomery Davis, an accomplished English artist who had studied art in Europe. She came to Juneau as a visitor in 1891, and met and married Mr. Davis. An organist, she also taught Sunday School classes in the old log cabin church. She and her husband were among those most instrumental in establishing Holy Trinity.
The cave-in of the Treadwell Mines in 1917 and the following year, the wreck of the Princess Sophia in Lynn Canal and the deaths of hundreds, including Mr. and Mrs. Walter Harper, missionaries from Fort Yukon, are sadly reported in the Register. The Treadwell disaster diminished the population at Douglas.
When a bridge to the island was finally built in 1935, the two congregations united. The last services were held at St. Luke's in December of 1951.
The war years of 1917-1918 saw the addition of memorials to church furnishings, but the attractive rustic character of the original interior remained. In 1915, the rectory was extensively repaired and a new rector.
The Rev. Guy D. Christian, arrived from St. Mary's Church in Nome. In 1918 he became the first Dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral, so designated by Bishop Rowe. By this time, the Bishop had moved his residence to Victoria, B.C., and his office to Seattle.
In his absence, the church in the capital city was made the pro-cathedral; later when a new bishop chose to reside in Nenana, and then in Fairbanks, this was dropped, in 1944.
In 1921 the Rev. Charles E. Rice returned to Alaska to become second Dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral, a post he filled ably for 22 years. Dean Rice firmly laid foundations of the church that is today, both on composition of the congregation and improving the physical plant.
According to old timers, the Dean and his boys were regularly seen repairing, painting and maintaining the church and old rectory. Almost all of the shingles on the roof, one of the steepest in Juneau, bore his fingerprints, some said. Unlike the church, the rectory had deteriorated and was inadequate.
In 1940, the Kohlepp residence on the northeast corner of Fourth and Gold was purchased, and the old building was dismantled.
In 1942, in his eighty-sixth year, Bishop Rowe died. He had kept busy almost to the end with a trip north in the summer of 1941. He last visited the Church of the Holy Trinity in 1937. There are many memorials in his honor, and in the hearts of the many lives he touched.
The lovely "Denali" window in the Holy Trinity Church, in memory of the Bishop, was executed and donated by artist Jessie Van Brunt of New York.
In 1929. Dean Rice retired in 1943, but remained in the territory ministering to several vacant churches in southeast Alaska during the war years and after. The Dean died in 1952.
The Rev. W. Robert Webb succeeded Dean Rice in 1944 when the cathedral was returned to the status of a parish church.
Four years later the Rev. Samuel A. McPhetres came to Juneau. Inspired by his vision and enthusiam, the church moved forward in vital ways, culminating in "aided parish" status in 1955, and the building of a parish hall and extension of the church building in 1956.
A profound sense of loss was felt throughout the entire community with the sudden unexpected death of the Rev. Mr. McPhetres in June, 1959, and the laity of the church carried on for six months until a rector could be found.
The new parish hall was named McPhetres Hall in his honor, and has since filled many community needs. Several times it has been used as classroom space when there have been crises in the schools. Other community service organizations have been grateful for the use of the hall. He was replaced by The Rev. Mark A. Boesser.
In 1961 the Rev. Walter W. Hannum arrived from Fort Yukon to serve as Associate Rector, considerable time to the study of alcoholism in Alaska. He also gave It had become obvious that the Kohlepp house was not much younger than Rev. Beer's original "splendid residence" of 1896, and it, too, needed replacement.
The parish found it necessary to demolish the old building and built an attractive new rectory on the corner of Fourth and Gold in 1966. Father Hannum returned north that year, and the Rev. Charles H. Eddy, a new graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary, joined Father Boesser.
His particular interest were in activities for teenagers and young adults, both in the parish and the community, as well as regional community action programs. Father Eddy went on to St. Mary's in Anchorage in 1968, and in 1972 Father Boesser resigned as rector and, following a year of special study, became Diocesan Coordinator of Developing Programs for Ministry.
The Rev. John B. Bentley, appointed in 1930 as Archdeacon of the Yukon and as Suffragan Bishop to assist Bishop Rowe, in 1943 was named second Bishop of Alaska. In 1947 he became Vice President of the National Council.
In November 1947, the Rev. William J. Gordon, Jr., was elected third Bishop of Alaska. Bishop Gordon traveled all through the parishes and served the Church in Alaska by airplane, which he flew when he could, or by dog team, just as Bishop Rowe had, as well as by steamers, automobiles and any other mode of transportation he could find. In 1974, the Right Rev. David R. Cochran was elected the fourth Bishop of Alaska.
At Holy Trinity the present rector is the Rev. Dale G. Sarles who came with his family from Valdez in November of 1972. When fires in 1973 and 1974 destroyed both Resurrection Lutheran and the Mormon Church, Holy Trinity share facilities with the Lutherans for the two years it took them to rebuild.
The Episcopal Church in Alaska commemorated the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first English missionary at Fort Yukon in July of 1961, and is now in its second hundred years.