Primary Name: Vrooman, Betty

Filed as: Vrooman, Betty

Also known as: Betty Baggen Vrooman

Occupation / Association: Member, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Igloo; homemaker

Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Annette Island, Alaska; Sitka, Alaska; Fairbanks, Alaska; Gustavus, Alaska; Yakutat, Alaska; Anchorage, Alaska; Stillwater, Oklahoma

Keywords: Betty Vrooman, Betty Baggen Vrooman, Baggen family Juneau, Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Igloo women, POA Roll Number 413, Juneau Alaska families, Sitka Alaska residents, Annette Island CAA Station families, Alaska territorial families

Biography

Betty Vrooman was born in Juneau, Alaska, on May 7, 1923, the daughter of George Baggen and Olga Sandbery, both immigrants from Norway. The Baggen family was among the Norwegian families who settled in Southeast Alaska during the territorial period.

On April 19, 1943, she married James R. Vrooman in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The couple later returned to Alaska and lived for a period at the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) station on Annette Island, where they resided for two years. Their daughters, Lynda and Jamie, were both born during this period.

Over the years, the family lived in several Alaska communities, reflecting the mobility common among families connected with federal aviation and territorial services. In addition to Annette Island, Betty lived in Sitka for seven years, Fairbanks for two years, Gustavus for two years, Yakutat for two years, and Anchorage for two years.

Betty was initiated into the Pioneers of Alaska, Juneau Igloo, on January 28, 1955, receiving Roll Number 413. Her membership application recorded that she was five feet two inches tall and weighed 118 pounds, with a medium complexion, blue-green eyes, and light brown hair. At the time of her application, she was noted to be in good health.

Her application was endorsed by Joan M. Baggen and May Wright and confirmed by members of the membership committee: Edna Anderson, Leona McKinnon, and Odelia Light.

Her relatives included George Baggen Jr. of Sitka, L. C. Baggen of Juneau, and Elsie Johnson of Granite, New Mexico.

Betty Vrooman died in Sitka, Alaska, on February 11, 1975.

Sources

Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Igloo Membership Application records.

Primary Name: Shellhouse Hunsaker, Lucy

Filed as: shellhouse_hunsaker_lucy

Also known as: Lucy Shellhouse; Lucy Hunsaker

Occupation / Association: Housekeeper

Born: April 1885

Died: September 6, 1914, Douglas, Alaska

Parents:

Spouse: Ed Hunsaker (divorced)

Children:

Associated places: Sitka, Alaska; Chemawa, Oregon; Douglas, Alaska

Keywords: Lucy Shellhouse Hunsaker, Lucy Shellhouse, Lucy Hunsaker, Douglas Alaska residents, Ed Hunsaker, Frency Emile Senecele, Douglas Indian Cemetery

Biography

Lucy Shellhouse Hunsaker was born in April 1885. She was educated at the mission school in Sitka and at Chemawa. As an adult, she worked as a housekeeper.

Her divorce from Ed Hunsaker was granted at the Juneau courthouse shortly before her death.

On the evening of September 6, 1914, Lucy was walking through the Douglas Indian settlement with Frency Emile Senecele. Around 10:00 p.m., they encountered Hunsaker, who called Senecele a vile name and attempted to strike him with a billy club. Senecele, described as a large and powerful man, defended himself and took the club away, throwing it onto the beach. Hunsaker repeatedly renewed the attack and was knocked down several times.

Hunsaker then drew a revolver and fired, the bullet striking Senecele just below the left breast. He fell dead. When Lucy leaned over him, Hunsaker aimed the revolver at the back of her head and fired again. She collapsed beside Senecele and died instantly.

After the shootings, Hunsaker returned to his cabin and locked the door. When officers later arrived and forced entry, they found him dead on the floor from a gunshot wound to the head, apparently self-inflicted.

Lucy Shellhouse Hunsaker died at the age of 29 on September 6, 1914, in Douglas, Alaska. She was buried in the Douglas Indian Cemetery.

Sources

Find-A-Grave

Tags: Lucy Shellhouse Hunsaker, Lucy Hunsaker, Lucy Shellhouse, Douglas Alaska residents, Ed Hunsaker, Frency Emile Senecele, Douglas Indian Cemetery

Lucy Shellhouse Hunsaker Lucy Shellhouse Lucy Hunsaker Hunsaker Lucy Shellhouse Lucy

Primary Name: Boyd, W. C.

Filed as: boyd_w_c

Also known as: W. C. Boyd

Occupation / Association: Prospector; Manager, Alaska Snettisham Gold Mining Company; Douglas Cemetery Committee Clerk

Born: ca. 1837

Died: 1917, Sitka Pioneer Home, Sitka, Alaska

Parents:

Spouse:

Children:

Associated places: Douglas, Alaska; Snettisham, Alaska; Sitka, Alaska; California

Keywords: W C Boyd, Boyd W C, Douglas Alaska pioneers, Alaska Snettisham Gold Mining Company

Biography

W. C. Boyd came to Douglas around 1885 and was referred to as the "grand old man of Douglas." He was very active in Douglas civic affairs.

Boyd was a prospector and served as manager of the Alaska Snettisham Gold Mining Company.

In 1899, mining engineer W. A. Sanders agreed to give the people of Douglas “the dry knoll this side of Lawson Creek” for use as a cemetery if the townspeople would not object to his mining patent. Sanders also agreed to build a road to the grounds, stating that his word was sufficient rather than putting the agreement in writing.

Immediately after the meeting, a Cemetery Committee consisting of P. H. Fox, M. J. O'Connor, Reverend Peplogle, and W. C. Boyd took possession of the knoll and ran a line from Third Street in Douglas to the area.

In November 1900, Boyd was appointed clerk of the Douglas Cemetery Committee and was responsible for maintaining all cemetery records. He was also placed in charge of the road gang and later appointed a grave digger because earlier diggers had not been “observing the plan of the streets and alleys as marked out.”

In 1910, Boyd moved to California for health reasons but later returned to Alaska, where he lived at the Pioneer Home in Sitka. He died there in 1917 at nearly eighty years of age.

Sources

Douglas historical records

W C Boyd Boyd W C

Tags: W C Boyd, Boyd W C, Douglas Alaska pioneers, Douglas Cemetery Committee, Alaska Snettisham Gold Mining Company

When Dick Harris and Joe Juneau returned to Sitka with news of their find and the rush was on. Prospectors flocked to the area and began staking claims. A French Canadian by the name of French Pete Errusard learned of a gold bearing outcrop on Douglas Island across the Gastineau Channel from the new town of Juneau.

He staked adjacent claims in 1881 that were eventually sold along with others to John Treadwell, who was representing California investors. The mining town of Treadwell was soon established along with the town of Douglas City. Juneau and Douglas grew along with the mines as more people came to the area not only to mine but to start businesses.

Primary Name: Lewis, Richard F.
Filed as: lewis_richard_f
Also known as: R.F. Lewis, Richard F. Lewis
Occupation / Association: Attorney; owner, Juneau Water Works
Born:
Died:
Parents:
Spouse: Grace Lewis
Children:
Associated places: Juneau, Alaska; Telephone Hill, Juneau, Alaska
Property / Address: Block F; Lots 7–8, Juneau Motor Company building, 11 Egan Drive, Juneau, Alaska
Keywords: Richard F Lewis, R.F. Lewis, Lewis Richard F, Juneau Water Works owner, Juneau attorney, Telephone Hill property owners

Biography

Richard F. Lewis and his wife Grace Lewis owned Block F, Lots 7–8, where the Juneau Motor Company building stands at 11 Egan Drive on the corner of Egan Drive and Main Street at the base of Telephone Hill. The property remained in the Lewis family from the turn of the twentieth century until the early 1950s.

Lewis came to Juneau in 1894 and practiced law there until 1952. In addition to his legal practice, he owned the Juneau Water Works from 1938 to 1944. Lewis was also among a group of Alaskans who successfully lobbied in Washington, D.C., to have the territorial capital moved from Sitka to Juneau.

Sources

City of Juneau property records, 1901–1951; Lewis family records

Telephone Hill Historic Site and Structures Survey

Richard F Lewis R.F. Lewis RF Lewis Lewis Richard F Lewis R F

Primary Name: McGinnis, Dennis

Filed as: McGinnis, Dennis

Also known as: Dennis McGinnis

Associated places: Sitka, Alaska

Keywords: Dennis McGinnis, Sitka murder case, Jack Dalton Alaska, John Mahony attorney Alaska, Sitka Alaska history

Biography

Dennis McGinnis was murdered in Sitka, Alaska. Jack Dalton was charged with the crime. Dalton was defended by John Mahony and was ultimately acquitted.

Sources

Alaska Mining Hall of Fame

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.

Alaska Mining Hall of Fame

Jack Dalton Dalton Trail Dalton Jack Jack Miller Dalton Trail Company Alaska freighter Klondike freighter

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

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

Alaska Mining Hall of Fame.

Primary Name: Harris, Richard Tighe

Filed as: richard_tighe_harris

Also known as: Richard Harris; Dick Harris

Occupation / Association: Prospector; Miner; Founder of Juneau

Born: October 31, 1837, Drummadonald, County Down, Ireland

Died: October 11, 1907, Portland, Oregon

Parents: John Harris; Mary Anderson Harris

Spouse: Kitty Harris

Children: William J. Harris; Richard Tighe Harris, Jr.; Mary Kelchine Harris

Associated places: County Down, Ireland; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Kansas Territory; Bannack, Montana Territory; British Columbia; Juneau, Alaska; Douglas Island, Alaska; Portland, Oregon

Keywords: Richard Tighe Harris, Dick Harris, Richard Harris Juneau founder, Harris Mining District, Alaska Juneau Gold Mine discovery, Silver Bow Basin discovery

Biography

Richard "Dick" Tighe Harris was born on October 31, 1837, in or near Drummadonald, County Down, Ireland, to John Harris and Mary Anderson Harris. He immigrated to the United States by 1855 and was naturalized by about 1858.

Harris lived in Pennsylvania and Ohio, where he stayed with his uncle, Caldwell Anderson. He attended Duff’s Merchant’s College in Pittsburgh. In 1858, he went west, first to Missouri and Kansas Territory and then to the mining regions of the Rocky Mountains.

From 1859 forward, Harris lived the life of a frontier miner, working placer and lode mines in Idaho, Colorado Territory, Virginia City, Silver Bow, and Butte before recording claims near Bannack City in Montana Territory.

By 1877, Harris was in British Columbia. In the winter and spring of 1879, he began prospecting for George Pilz, a Sitka entrepreneur. Harris was guided in southeastern Alaska by Chief Kowee of the Auk Tlingit.

In October 1880, Harris, with partner Joe Juneau, made one of the most significant discoveries in American prospecting. Guided by Kowee, the men crossed Gold Creek into Silver Bow Basin, where they discovered rich placer deposits and the lode system that later became the Alaska-Juneau Gold Mine.

Harris named the new settlement Harrisburgh after the capital of Pennsylvania, though the town was later renamed Juneau. The Harris Mining District was named in his honor.

Harris married Kitty Newcombe, a Tlingit woman from Hoonah, around 1880. They had several children, including William J. Harris and Richard Tighe Harris, Jr.

In March 1881, just a few months after gold was discovered, Richard and Kitty purchased three lots in the Telephone Hill Historic Neighborhood. The Harris family residence stood near 219 Second Street.

After losing a legal dispute over mining claims in Silver Bow Basin in 1884, Harris lost most of his mining interests and property. He later worked for Thomas L. Nowell, managing the Alaska Union Mining Company mill on Douglas Island, and later held positions with the District Court, U.S. Customs Service, and as a Special Deputy Marshal.

Harris served on the first Grand Jury in Alaska in 1885 and remained active in mining ventures throughout his life.

By 1904, Harris’s eyesight had begun to fail, and his health had declined. He was eventually sent to a Masonic nursing home in Portland, Oregon, where he died on October 11, 1907.

Harris Street in Juneau bears his name, and the Richard Harris and Joseph Juneau Memorial commemorates the two men credited with the discovery of gold that led to the founding of Juneau.

Sources

Alaska Mining Hall of Fame; Alaska Consortium Library

Richard Tighe Harris Dick Harris Richard Harris Juneau founder Harris Richard T Harris

Tags: Richard Tighe Harris, Dick Harris, Joe Juneau, Chief Kowee, George Pilz, Alaska Juneau Gold Mine discovery, Silver Bow Basin pioneers, Juneau founders

https://poajuneau.nationbuilder.com/garside_charleshttps://poajuneau.nationbuilder.com/degroff_edEuro-American presence in southeast Alaska began in·the latter part of the 18th century when explorers visited the area in search of highly prized furs, particularly the sea otter, for trade purposes. The survey for Alaskan resources included the search for precious minerals and the hope of discovering the famed Northwest Passage (State of Alaska 1982).

Countries involved in exploring the northwest coast of North America included Spain, England, Russia, France and Japan. Russian explorers are recorded as the first to encounter Native groups in southeastern Alaska. The first published account of exploration in Gastineau Channel was written by Captain George Vancouver, describing his journeys in 1793 and 1794. Seventy years later, the name Gastineau Channel was included on the 1867 Humphrey manuscript furnished to Western Telegraph Company (Werner 1925).

John Muir, a well-known naturalist, visited Lynn Canal in 1879. Upon his return to Sitka after interacting with Chilkat Tlingits, Muir noted that gold might be found in the area lying between Windham Bay and Sullivan Island in northern Lynn Canal.

Chief Kowee of the Auk Tlingit brought ore samples to George Pilz, a mining engineer residing in Sitka in 1880. These samples confirmed Muir's statements of potential gold reserves in southeast Alaska ( DeArmond 1967).