Women in Alaska's History

"First of all, delicate women have no right attempting the trip... Those who love luxury, comfort and ease would better remain at home."

Annie Hall Strong

Nellie Cashman	Mollie Walsh
Belinda Mulrooney	The Other Woman - A short poem
Klondike Kate	Ethel Berry - "Bride of the Klondike"

In 1897 newspapers announced the steamer Portland was bringing in a "ton of gold". People who had been penniless before were now rich beyond imagination. The people of the US who were facing a depression embraced the news. They flocked to Seattle and San Francisco trying to find passage to the Klondike. Many left for the gold fields, but very few came back rich.

To get to the Klondike by land you would have to travel over either White Pass or Chilkoot Pass. One person said that no matter which way you went you would wish you had taken the other way. White Pass was referred to as "Dead Horse Trail", for some 25,000 horses died from the strain and were trampled to nothing on that trail. Chilkoot Pass was a 25 mile long trail that shot up two thousand feet. It shot up half of that in that last 1/2 mile. They also experienced trouble with avalanches. Some pictures of the passes.

In honor of the 100^th anniversary of the gold rush we have a larger version of the montage.

The climate called for different attire and most men were shocked to find many women wearing men's attire. The other popular outfit was bloomers with short skirts. Because they were around such rough men many women even acquired the habit of swearing.


In honor of the 100^th anniversary of the gold rush we have a larger version of the montage.

Women from all walks of life joined the Gold Rush. Some accompanied their husbands while others came on their own as fortune seekers. Women came north as miners, housewives, entertainers, shopkeepers, nuns, teachers, businesswomen, authors, and some even came as tourists. Many women "struck it rich". One of these hard working women was Mrs. Willis. She staked a claim that yielded $300,000. She also opened a laundry business in Dawson City.

Map of Alaska
& its Gold Fields - 1897
Larger 80 KB Version

The dance hall queens were at the top of the less respectable side of society in turn-of-the-century Dawson City. The stars of their day, performers like Cad Wilson and Klondike Kate Rockwell, were highly paid employees of the dance halls, favored with the best spots on the program, free accommodations, and the profitable job of sharing overpriced drinks and conversation with big-spenders in private boxes between shows.

A little further down the social scale were the chorus line dancers who danced with miners after the show for a dollar a dance and encouraged them to buy drinks. They too were salaried employees of the dance hall and, like the stars, received a commission on the drinks they sold.