The letter pictured here was written on birch bark by Joe Masters, a prospector, to his wife while 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 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 armature minors, unused to the hardships of the 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
Physical Description: 1 correspondence ; 3 x 4.5 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
