1899 Kotzebue Sound Gold Rush Tragedy
Hotham Inlet/Kotzebue Sound Map - courtesy of google maps
25 Aug 1899, Grand Forks Herald
Terrible Conditions Prevailing among the Gold Seekers at Kotzebue Sound
Washington, Aug. 24 -- Captain Shoemaker of the revenue cutter service, today received a report from Lieut. D.H. Jarvis, the commander of the revenue cutter Bear containing an account of the rescue of the gold seekers who rushed in to the Kotzebue country, Alaska, in the summer of 1898.
Lieut. Jarvis was taking the Bear north to Cape Barrow on her regular trip. At Cape Prince of Wales, he learned of the awful destitution which had overtaken the gold seekers at Kotzebue sound. On arrival there he found a terrible condition of affairs. Men had died of starvation, scurvy and by drowning and he obtained a list of 48 deaths. The list is by no means complete. This list has been published by the Associated Press dispatches. Over 1,000 of the gold seekers had wintered there. The Bear after relieving as much of the distress as possible and leaving stores, lime juice, etc., for the survivors took 82 of the survivors to St. Michael, where they were turn over to the military authorities.
Lieut. Jarvis' report is dated July 30 at St. Michaels. He reported that he left between 225 and 250 survivors at Kotzebue sound. He informed the department that he would proceed to Cape Barrow and upon his return would touch at Kotzebue sound and pick up any who desired to return home.
25 Aug 1899
Macon Weekly Telegraph
Suffering at Kotzebue
Lieutenant Jarvis tells harrowing tale of Hardship
Gold Seekers Freeze, Starve and die of Scurvy - The Bear Left Stores and Carried Away a Number of Supplies
[Same as above story till this point...] The rush into the Kotzebue country was caused by false rumors of rich strikes and misleading advertisements. Two women and a young baby were among those rescued. Another woman, too ill to move, was left in the care of a Quaker missionary and his wife.
Among the list of destitute persons found there by Lieut. Jarvis is mentioned G.W. Berry of Virginia.
Lieut. Jarvis, who accomplished the rescue of the gold seekers at Kotzebue sound, is the revenue marine officer who distinguished himself in the winter of 1897-98 by leading a relief expedition from Tannuak, 400 miles below St. Michaels, to Point Barrow. Over 1,500 miles of snow and ice in the dead of winter he pushed an expedition for the relief of the ice-imprisoned whalers at Point Barrow.
He arrived there with about 500 reindeer after four months of almost indescribable hardships. It was the only Arctic relief expedition ever attempted in midwinter. For his heroism on that occasion the president recommended that congress give him a vote of thanks and award him a gold medal.
25 Aug 1899, Omaha World Herald
An Official Tale of Woe
- Lieutenant Jarvis of Revenue Cutter Bear Dilates on Terrors of the Klondike
- Reports 48 Deaths and Describes Scenes of Horrible Disease and Destitution in Kotzebue
- Added to Starvation and Its Compatriots, Scurvy and Freezing, Were Murder and Piracy to Complete the List
Washington, D.C., Aug 24. Captain Shoemaker of the revenue cutter service today received a report form Lieutenant D.H. Jarvis, the commander of the revenue cutter Bear, containing an account of the rescue of the gold-seekers who rushed into the Kotzebue country in Alaska in the summer of 1898. Lieutenant Jarvis was taking the Bear north to Cape Barrow on her regular trip.
At Cape Prince of Wales he learned of the awful destitution which had overtaken the gold-seekers at Kotzebue sound. On arrival there he found a terrible condition of affairs. Men had died of starvation, scurvy and by drowning and he obtained a list of 48 deaths. But the list is by no means complete. This list has been published in the Associated Press dispatches.
Over 1,000 of the gold-seekers had wintered there. The Bear, after relieving as much of the distress as possible and leaving stores, lime juice, etc, for the survivors, took 82 of the survivors to St. Michael, where they were turned over to the military authorities.
Lieutenant Jarvis' report is dated July 30 at St. Michael. He reported that he left been 225 and 250 survivors at Kotzebue sound. He informed the department that he would proceed to Cape Barrow and upon his return would touch at Kotzebue sound and pick up any who desired to return with him.
Lieutenant Jarvis says: "First Lieutenant Bertholf and Surgeon Hawley were sent to the camp at Hotham Inlet. They returned with 32 sick and convalescent all affected with scurvy. Some of these were in a very low condition and the chances are would not have survived without medical attendance. From 225 to 250 people were still in the camp. Some had plenty of food and means of paying their way out. Returning to the camp Lieutenant Bertholf and the surgeon brought off all those in a destitute condition, or without means; 48 men, two women and an infant, making 83 persons in all taken from the camp. It was not possible to take any more at that time, but assurance was given the people ashore that if they did not succeed in getting away before the vessel's return they would be taken out by the Bear. There were plenty of provisions for the use of those remaining, many of them having a year's outfit, and the only sick person remaining was a Mrs. Smith, whose condition was so serious that she could not be moved.
"The bark Alaska of San Francisco was expected to arrive and the steamer Townsend passed in. The captain of the Townsend, Mr. C.D. Lane, assured me that he would take out all who desired to go. Many, if not all will be able to leave by these two vessels, but upon my return from Barrow I will clear the beach of all who remain.
"The rush of people to Kotzebue sound was a sad, deplorable affair. Misguided by misstatements and falsification 1,200 people, many totally unfitted to stand hard conditions and climate, rushed to the country in the open season of 1898.
HARVEST OF DEATH
"During the winter no gold whatever was found and in the spring they sought every means of escaping from the region. Many were drowned in the swift currents of the rivers in the fall of 1898, others lost their lives during the winter from the cold, and, worse than all, in the spring scurvy broke out in nearly all the camps. I inclose a list of 48 deaths. These are all that could be gathered form the people at Hotham inlet, but I have no doubt that many others occurred that were not recorded or could not be learned.
"I apprehend also that many of those who started coasting along the shore of the Cape Nome may have lost their lives in the ice and bad weather. The two brothers Pickering of Princeton, Ky., were killed by a native named Kokamuk on the Selawik river. These men are given a bad character by the other people, and are said to have killed on Mardis of Santa Rosa, Cal., for his money. Kokamuk could not be found, but from native reports the killing was done in self-defense, as the Pickerings were shooting at him at the time of the offense. I will investigate the affair further upon my return.
ARREST FOR PIRACY
"The schooner General McPherson was met off Cape Espenberg on the 22d inst., and Second Lieutenant Ballinger and Seaman Rossig were placed on board to take her to St. Michael, but she was fallen in with on Rough Ledge island on the 27th and towed to Name Norton sound and there turned over to Special Deputy U.S. Marshal D.S. Swift. The master, Jans B. Neilson, was arrested by Deputy Marshal Swift on a warrant for piracy, and was brought on board, together with his family, for transportation to this port.
"A stop was made at Point Rodney on the night of the 25th and it was learned that Nubarioo, the native who had killed the boy at Point Spencer on the 15th inst., had passed that point the same morning. A native camp was found a little further on, on the 26th, and Nubarioo was found at the camp and arrested.
"On arriving at this point on the 27th U.S. steamships Corwin, Rush and Nunivak were found in port. Arrangements were immediately made with Captain Walker, U.S.A. commanding Fort St. Michael, and the sick and destitute from Kotzebue were landed and turned over to him. The stores of the steamship Nunivak were delivered to her on the 28th and on the 29th the prisoners were taken before the U.S. commissioner. Sablok (Captain Jack) was sentenced to six months' confinement, and Aseruk Nubarloo and Frank A. Temple were bound over for trial before the U.S. district court at Sitka, Alaska.
"Surgeon Call's condition is such that was landed on the 26th inst., the Alaska Commercial company having kindly provided quarters and the attendance of their medical officer."JARVIS' PREVIOUS TASK
Lieut. Jarvis, who accompanied the rescue of the gold seekers at Kotzebue sound, is the revenue marine officer who distinguished himself in the winter of 1897-98 by leading a relief expedition from Tunnuak, 200 miles below St. Michaels, to Point Barrow. Over 1,500 miles of snow and ice in the dead of winter he pushed an expedition for the relief of the ice-imprisoned whalers at Point Barrow. He arrived there with about 500 reindeer after four months of almost indescribable hardships. It was the only Arctic relief expedition ever attempted in midwinter. For his heroism on that occasion the president recommended that congress give him a vote of thanks and award him a gold medal.
THE SURVIVORS
Following is a list of the people taken on board the U.S. steamer Bear:George Sargent, California
J. Fred Gordon, Massachusetts
James H. Kitner, Massachusetts
Charles O. Ford, Maryland
J.H. Cole, California
Charles Hasse, California
B.J. Astor, Illinois
Job Johnson, New York
Joe Eckles, California
G.H. Wallace, California
H. S. De Long, New York
E.W. Martin, Arizona
A.J. Hayward, Wisconsin
C.J. Connolly, California
W.R. Hasting, Ohio
Thomas Meadon, Washington
Arthur McGavitt, Montana
John Bergquist, Montana
Frank Harris, California
Sabin Harris, California
John Meye, California
Theodore Francisco, California
George Sinclair, California
T.M. Lane, California
H.W. Pike, New York
G.W. Breed,New York
John Wilson, Montana
Fred Etzel, California
Hans Bastian, Wisconsin
August Farendholse, Wisconsin
James A. Steele, Massachusetts
-- Bush, --
The following is the list of destitute:G.W. Berry, Virginia
Ed Humphrey, Montana
Mark Thomas, Vermont
S.M. Fuller, Ohio
Chris Schlunecker, California
Mrs. Alvina Hermann (alias Bowman), California and infant;
H.B. Atsroth, California
M. Kane, California
John Madden, Montana
B. Ariasi, California
Frank E. Smith, California
George C. Bence, Pennsylvania
William H. Shaffer, Maryland
E.W. Clark, California
C. Ashley, California
A. Johnson, Washington
C.S. Bushnell, California
Klondike's Death List
22 Aug 1899, Omaha Morning World-Herald
Long Roster of Those Who Died in Seeking Wealth in Alaska
Santa Barbara, Cal., Aug. 21.- Ex-Supervisor W. Alston Hayne, who, with a party of Santa Barbara people, has been in the Kotzebue Sound region all winter, has written very discouraging news home. His letter, dated July 21, on the Arctic circle, 500 miles inland from Kotzebue Sound, gives the following list of miners who entered that region and perished there:J.L. Onderdun, Portland, Ore., died at Spring Gulch from overwork
E.C. Mead, Sumner, Wash;
Pesse Lue, blackleg;
Charles A. Leonard, Cleveland, O., Stony Camp, heart failure
Sabin Harris, Oakland, Cal., Reilly Camp, blackleg
T.T. Trussler, San Francisco, Nugget Creek, dropsy
F. Snyder, Seattle, Reed river, spinal meningitis
C.H. Hay, Lawrence, Kas., Ambler city, scurvy
H. Gross, Kansas City, Ambler City, scurvy
G.M. Miller, Iowa, Miller's Pass, drowned
A.C. Breed, Buffalo, N.Y. Pick river, blackleg
J.J. Murrat, Los Angeles, Kogoluktuk river, scurvy
M. Nelson, Hammond, Ind., Monolook river, blackleg
J. Berchey, Ledome, Wash., Kobuk river, blackleg
J. Chrander, Tealdsburg, Cal. Kotzebue Camp
N.P. Brown, Kansas, Monolook river, blackleg
Captain C. Smith, Blakeley, Wash. Salawick river, scurvy
D. McCall, Velit, Wis., Salawik river, scurvy
J. Messign, Sand Jose, Cal., steamer Agnes Boyd, heart failure
Pickering brothers, Princeton, Ky., Salawik river, murdered
W.L. Simpson, McDermot, Nev. Moholook river, scurvy
George McCoy, Montana, Noatak river, missing
C. Benjamin, Grand Harbor, N.D., Reed river, scurvy
Charles Deadrick, Spearfish, S.D., Salawik river, missing
Frank Robinson, Utah, Noatak river, scurvy
Joe Stearn, Butte, Mont., Noatak river
Mr. Treisite, California, Noatak river
Joseph Dobbins, South America, Noatak river, scurvy
A.M. Fairbill, Texas, Hotham Inlet, Mission, scurvy
Mr. Martis, Santa Rosa, Cal., Noatak river, missing
F. Howard, Fall River, Mass., Hotham inlet, drowned
S. Wilmoth, Fall River, Mass., Notham inlet, drowned
John Morris, London, England, Escholtz bay, accidentally shot
Peter Nelson, Fair Taven, Wash., Salawik river, scurvy
Mr. Benz, Bay City, Mich., Kogoluktuk river, scurvy
L.J. Bernuardt, Seattle, Wash., Scholtz bay, drowned
Martino Borally, Italian, Italy, Hotham Inlet, scurvy
S.F. Muller, San Francisco, Kotzebue Camp, drowned
The list does not include 36 who were drowned when the Jane Gray was lost. Neither does it include the last reported deaths from drowning of the man who left Hotham inlet for Cape Nome. The Indians have reported the boats lost and the men drowned. The two Pickering brothers are said to have been shot by Indians, whom they ill treated.
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