Letter on birch bark, August 29, 1898

• Main Author: Masters, Joe
• Format: Still Image
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1898
• Subjects: Correspondence Gold rushes; Canada; Yukon; Alaska
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/imlsmohai/id/12073

The letter pictured here was written on birch bark by Joe Masters, a prospector traveling up the Koyukuk River in Alaska. Gold deposits were discovered on the middle fork of the river, sparking a gold rush similar to the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon Territory of Canada about 500 miles to the east. In 1898 about seventy small steamers, owned mostly by the prospectors themselves, made their way north on the Koyukuk River to trading posts and mining camps such as Bergman and Bettles. The river steamer Katie Hemrich, mentioned by Mr. Masters, was owned by the Seattle-Yukon Transportation Company. The success of Mr. Masters is unknown, and many men, unused to the hardships of this kind of journey and the desolation of the region, quickly returned home. While the Koyukuk region has produced a large amount of gold to date, no continuous paystreak has been found, and as of 2015 the population of the Koyukuk country is smaller than at any time since 1902. Caption information source: https://www.nps.gov/gaar/learn/historyculture/a-short-history-of-mining-on-the-koyukuk.htm 1 correspondence; 3 x 4.5 in.