TheFairbanks Gold Rushwas agold rushthat took place inFairbanks, Alaskain the early 1900s.[1]Fairbanks was a city largely built on gold rushfervorat the turn of the 20th century. Discovery and exploration continue to thrive in and around modern-day Fairbanks.[2]
History
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Felix Pedrospent years searching for gold. He tried to find gold in thecreeksandvalleysof theTanana Valleywhere Fairbanks would begin before he found the "AmericanKlondike".A trader namedE.T. Barnetteand his wife, Isabelle, were aboard the riverboatLavelle Youngin August 1901, trying to establish a trading post at Tanacross on theTanana River.Low water conditions stopped the journey before Barnette could reach his destination. Co-owner of the Lavelle Young, Captain Charles Adams, turned into theChena River,atributaryof theTanana,instead. Shallow water stopped the Lavelle Young, and Adams refused to go further, so the Barnettes set up shop there.[1]
Barnette opened a trading post on the Chena River after Pedro had told him he had made some good "prospects". On July 22, 1902, Pedro discovered gold north of Fairbanks inInterior Alaskawhich triggered the beginning of the Fairbanks Gold Rush,[3]which set off a stampede that transformed the town.[4]Barnette dispatchedJujiro Wada,aJapaneseimmigrant fromEhimeonShikoku Island,toDawson Cityto spread the word that gold had been found in order for Barnette to create a market for his goods.[1]After Wada spread the word about the gold being discovered, many miners who had not already left for theNome Gold Rushtraveled to Fairbanks. The prospectors soon found jobs working for Barnette—prospecting for him by panning andsluicingfor gold in Fairbanks.[3]
The Fairbanks Exploration Company bought up claims within a 30 by 50 mile area and brought ingold dredgeson theAlaska Railroad.The population of Fairbanks increased from 1,155 in 1920 to 2,101 in 1930. AsIra Harkeypointed out, "When the dredges finished their work, Fairbanks again shriveled. The dredges remain in the spots where they chewed their last bites, perfectly preserved in the dry arctic air, wooly mammoths for later ages."[5]
On July 22, 1910, approximately eight years after he had discovered gold north of Fairbanks, Felix Pedro died atSt. Joseph's Hospitalin Fairbanks of an apparentheart attack.[1][6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abcd"Gold Rush History of Fairbanks".fairbanks-alaska.Retrieved2008-11-18.
- ^Sonya Senkowsky."Fairbanks: Gold Rush history, weather extremes are part of the culture".Alaska.Archived fromthe originalon 2013-01-16.Retrieved2008-11-18.
- ^ab"Fairbanks Hotels, Alaska Vacations & Group Tours: Fairbanks Alaska CVB".explorefairbanks. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-12-24.Retrieved2008-11-18.
- ^Schwartzman, M.T. (March 2002)."Tourist gold mines: Fairbanks, Juneau – tales of Alaska, gold and history".Travel America.Retrieved2008-11-17.[dead link]
- ^Harkey, Ira (1991).Pioneer Bush Pilot.Bantam Books. pp. 99–101.ISBN0553289195.
- ^"Italians in the Gold Rush and beyond: Felice Pedroni".2001. Archived fromthe originalon 2005-03-13.Retrieved2008-11-16.