John Emmett Berns stories of 1898 Klondike Gold Rush life in Skaguay, Alaska

• Main Author: Berns, John Emmett
• Other Authors: University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Frontier & pioneer life > Alaska > Skagway; Gold rushes; Skagway (Alaska); White Pass; Vigilante; Skagway; Alaska
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/pioneerlife/id/3350

John Emmett Berns (d. 1974?) wrote this lengthy news article about the days of the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush in Skaguay (Skagway), Alaska. He describes Skaguay as a lawless boomtown that was a gateway to the White Pass Trail leading to Lake Bennett. He discusses some of the famous figures from the area during this period including many of the important packers or individuals who engaged in the business of packing goods and taking them hundreds of miles over difficult trails. He lists among them the "Mormon Kid," Jack "Packer" Newman, John Donald, Breckenridge, Brooks and Bussart. In biographical sketches, Berns describes the life and impact of Mollie Walsh, who ran a famous road house just outside Skaguay; John Leonard, a famous balloonist and parachuter who entertained the public; and the death of Jefferson "Soapy" R. Smith II, who was a famous criminal and the informal "mayor" of Skagway until he was shot by vigilante citizens in 1898. Berns submitted this article to the Saturday Evening Post and it was rejected. Berns adds in a note to the manuscript that he thought the "non-acceptance quite understandable and certainly not surpising." Skaguay (Skagway) was one of several "wild" towns that grew to support those hunting for gold in the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890s. Berns assembled the history of Skaguay and its important individuals in this period from correspondence with John "Packer Jack" Newman from 1928 to 1930. Jack Newman (1863-1931) was a major figure in the Skaguay area in the 1890s. Employed by the Brooks Packing Company, his work became so well-known that he became its chief operator. While a packer, he fell in love with Mollie Walsh, a famed road house owner, and in 1930 commissioned, Newman commissioned a bust of her to memorialize her service during the Gold Rush. "Professor" John Leonard (1879-1914?) was Alaska's first balloonist and parachuter. Little is known about him before he came to Alaska to perform. After his first balloning exploits in 1899, he does not appear in news accounts until 1903 when he did more ballooning exhibitions. He died in 1914 in Point Defiance Park, Tacoma.