Experiences of Gold Hunters in Alaska

Charles Anson Margeson

Jan 1899 · [Hornellsville, N.Y.] : The author

About this ebook

Experiences of Gold Hunters in Alaska is a classic account of the Valdez-Copper River phase of the great Klondike Gold Rush of 1898 and a topnotch narrative of a real-life Alaskan adventure. Unlike most written histories of that gold rush that tell of the passage to Dyea or Skagway, over the Chilkoot Pass and White Pass, and down to the Klondike fields in Yukon, Charles Margeson tells the story that he and 3500 other gold seekers experienced as they traversed the Valdez Glacier and descended the Klutina River to the Copper River. The author describes his journey beginning in Missouri in 1897 and resulted in a trip from Seattle to Alaska and back to Seattle in 1898. The book covers the early story of Valdez and the hazards encountered in the Tonsena (now Tonsina) Valley. Although they discovered little gold, their quest made a difference for their efforts resulted in the exploration and development of much of Southcentral and Interior Alaska. They established the port city of Valdez which was to become the major transportation and shipping corridor from interior to coastal Alaska--a corridor now more famous for its black than yellow gold.