Clarence Jesse “CJ” Berry (1867 – 1930)
Clarence Berry was raised on a small farm near Selma, California. He came to the Yukon in 1894 after hearing that gold was plentiful in Alaska. He borrowed money from friend and his father sold some land, so he had enough for passage north. He travelled with a number of people including Keller, Lamb, Edgar, and Clemons [Clements?]. They travelled over the pass and built boats at Bennett to reach Forty Mile. Clarence was away eighteen months, working and prospecting. He returned home to marry Ethel Bush in March 1896 and they and C.J.’s youngest brother Fred left for the north immediately after the ceremony.1)
In 1896, C.J. was working at Bill McPhee's bar in Fortymile when George Carmack came in to announce his strike. With the permission of his employer, the brothers trekked off to Bonanza Creek, overnighting in the swamp that became the gold rush town of Dawson. They staked two claims, one of which was very good. Clarence traded half of the good one for a claim on Eldorado which turned out to be rich.2)
Anton Stander was the original staker of Claim No. 6 on Eldorado Creek.3) Stander went to Forty Mile to ask the Alaska Commercial Company (ACC) for a grubstake loan so he could work his claim, but he was told it needed to be guaranteed. Clarence Berry guaranteed the bill and, in return, received a half interest in Stander’s Eldorado claim. It was known that Berry did not have money, he was known as a tin-horn gambler, and a rumour in the camp supposed that the ACC agent would profit from the transaction. However, the claim was very rich, and Stander had no problem paying off his debt. Stander and Berry subsequently bought controlling interests in Eldorado claim Nos. 4 and 5 and a fraction between 5 and 6.4) James Clements, the original staker of the full claims, remained a partner. Forty men worked the claims in 1897 and recovered $100,000. Stander purchased Clements’ interest in Claim No. 4. The interests were afterward divided; Berry took the upper half while Stander took the lower. In 1902 thirty to forty men worked all summer. An open cut 400 feet long by 100 feet wide progressed to within forty feet of the left limit line of the claim.5)
In February 1897, C.J. wrote to his brother Henry and advised him to quit his job and come to the Yukon with some suggested supplies and a wife if possible.6) Barry had a dozen former fruit farm workers on the claim, and he paid them an ounce of gold daily. The Berrys were on the famous “ton of gold” ship that landed in Seattle in July 1897, and C.J.’s picture and success story were on the front page of the Seattle and San Francisco newspapers. Clarence and three brothers (Fred, Henry and Frank) alternated six month shifts in the northern mining camps.7)
In November 1899, Berry owned No. 6. A half interest in No. 5 and five fractions on Eldorado Creek. He had No. 3 Below on Bonanza, and a half interest in No. 40 Above Discovery on Upper Bonanza. He had two-thirds of No. 21, and one-half of No. 42 on Hunker Creek, and one-half of No. 18 Below Upper Discovery on Dominion Creek. He installed a large steam plant on the Eldorado claim.8)
Clarence Berry started drilling for oil in California as early as 1899 and one of his early wells, the Ethel D property was still producing 100 years later.9) He acquired good mining claims in Ester, Alaska near Fairbanks in 1902, and a mine in the Circle, Alaska district.10)
In 1907, when Bill McPhee's hotel in Fairbanks burned down, he wrote to Bill to rebuild and send the bills to him. He gave Bill a pension for life in his will.11)
Berry’s oil wells began producing heavy oil from the San Joaquin basin in 1909. The Berry Holding Company was formed in 1916 and continued to grow over the years.12) In 1926, Berry’s oil-producing properties in Mexico were expropriated. Algur Meadows, Henry Peters, and Ralph Trippett took over the company which eventually became Berry Petroleum [1985]. C.J. Berry was inducted into the Mining Hall of Fame in Leadville, Colorado in 1996.13) Clarence Berry died in 1930 and is commemorated in the Hall of Fame in Fairbanks. Author Pierre Burton wrote of Clarence that he was a lucky, honest, sober, industrious, and home-loving man.14)