Northwest History. Alaska. Feature Articles.

• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1937
• Subjects: gold robberies; William E. Springstun; Seattle waterfront; Yukon River; old stern-sheeler Susie; St. Michael; Dawson; Tanana; Merchants' Exchange; marine department; Humboldt; Skagway; Tanana River; stern-wheeler Monarch; Northwest; Pacific > History > 20th century; Alaska; Pacific; St Michael; Yukon; Yukon river
• Online Access: http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/clipping/id/91232

From The Row's Nest. From The Row's Nest. By R. H. C. "Speaking of gold robberies," said William E. Springstun, tall silver-haired veteran of the Seattle waterfront, "did you ever hear how $50,000 worth of dust disappeared from the old stern-wheeler Susie on the Yukon River along about 1910? "Well, the dust was in two wooden boxes on the forward deck of the Susie in plain sight of the man in the wheelhouse. There wasn't a chance for anyone to steal it, the ship's officers believed. When the Susie arrived at St. Michael, the two boxes were right where they had been placed, but they were empty. "A member of the crew had bored holes through the deck and the bottom of the boxes and drained the dust into sacks in the forward hold. There had been $25,000 worth of dust in each of the boxes, being shipped from Dawson to St. Michael and consigned to the outside. "An arrest was made, but they couldn't get any evidence against the fellow and let him go. There was a rumor that he buried it at Tanana, but they didn't recover any of the gold." The subject of gold robberies came up at the marine department of the Merchants' Exchange the other afternoon as someone asked when the steamship Humboldt gold robbery occured. Records show that $117,000 in gold being shipped to Seattle, disappeared September 11, 1910. Insurance covered $57,000 of the shipment, which was supposed to have been loaded in the Humboldt at Skagway. Another story told by Springstun to the "regulars" at the exchange concerns an accident to the Tanana River stern-wheeler Monarch in 1911. There had been high water in the river and the current washed out the bank on which a tree was standing. The "sleeper" fell into the river, pointing upstream with the roots still embedded in the soil. The Monarch came steaming proudly down the river and struck the tree, which penetrated the side of the ship and went through two decks. .Then it broke off, plugging the hole. The Monarch continued to the next landing, chopped out the tree and patched up the hole. W. E. Springstun. Tells of Yukon gold robbery.