James “Skookum Jim” Mason Keish (~1860 - 1916)

Keish was born near Lake Bennett on the British Columbia/Yukon border. His father was Tlingit, and his mother was Tahltan.¹⁾ His mother’s name has been recorded as Gus'duteen, and she belonged to the Daklaweidi clan.²⁾ His father, Khàchghàwâ, claimed ownership of land from Carcross to the summit of the Chilkoot Pass. He had clan ties with the Chilkoot Lukàxh.ádi (Crow) clan who owned the coastal part of the trail and so had the right to pack on the whole trail.³⁾ Jim’s sister Aagé was married to the Chilkoot headman L’unáat who controlled access to the pass on the coast side.

In 1887, William Ogilvie needed 120 packers to carry his surveying equipment over the pass and Jim, his sister Kate, and Kate’s husband George Carmack were among those assigned to the task. Jim impressed Ogilvie by twice packing single loads of bacon weighing 165 pounds over the pass.⁴⁾ The legend grew and a letter from H.E. Nichols from the Chilkoot Pass commented that Jim was well known there and twice carried packs of 200 pounds over the trail in 1886. Jim gained his nickname Skookum, meaning strong in Chinook Jargon trade language.⁵⁾ His name “Mason” was adopted from a trader at Dyea.⁶⁾

Jim had told William Moore about a parallel pass through the coastal mountains, and Ogilvie persuaded Jim to lead Moore over the White Pass. Moore was excited about the possibilities of the longer but lower pass. L’unáat did not appear to claim rights to the route and Moore settled at the present site of Skagway, believing it would become a busy gateway to the pass.⁷⁾

Carmack, Jim, and Jim’s nephew Dawson Charlie (Káa Goox) formed a partnership and spent two summers working together, packing on the trail. In 1888, the three men travelled along the Yukon River on a prospecting trip.⁸⁾

The discovery of gold in the Klondike was presaged by signs and wonders. In 1891, Jim and his nephews Charlie (Káa Goox) and Patsy Kootseen) were camped by Lake Bennet when they heard a sound like a baby’s cry. They went to investigate but did not find anyone. The Elders told them they had heard Tl’anaxéedakw, Wealth Woman, wearing her uncle’s treasured things, carrying her baby and mourning the death of her friends and family after an attack on her village. Close encounters with Wealth Woman could bring good luck and Jim’s attempt to locate the crying baby proved his spiritual strength and worthiness. By 1894, Jim was living in Dyea with his Tlingit wife, L’unáat’s sister Daakuxda.éit’ (Mary), a son named Kal.ens’ and a daughter named Saayna.aat (Daisy). Jim rescued a frog unable to escape from a deep ditch and sometime later a frog helped to heal him from a stomach wound. It was believed by his family that the frog was Wealth Woman watching over his health. That fall, Jim dreamed of Wealth Woman directing him north and promising good luck.⁹⁾

In the spring of 1896, Jim went looking for Kate and George Carmack. Jim was the head of the family and had not seen his sister for two years. He started north with his wife and daughter, his nephew Charlie and his wife and their children, his cousin Tagish John and his wife Maria Johns, and Jim’s young nephew Patsy. Tagish John and his wife turned back around Lake Laberge. George and Kate had left their trading post and Jim’s part found them at the fish camp at the mouth of the Klondike River.¹⁰⁾

Skookum Jim (Keish), Dawson Charlie (Kaa Goox), Kate (Shaaw Tláa) and George Carmack worked as a family group. They were fishing at the mouth of the Klondike River and the men took a trip up the Klondike and then up a tributary, Rabbit Creek, to look at logging possibilities, do some hunting, and prospect along the way. Rabbit Creek was soon to be renamed Bonanza. Jim, Charlie, and George knew, from talking to Henderson, that there was gold in the creeks and this was not unusual, for gold was found in many creeks in the country. Dawson Charley actually panned some gold out of Rabbit Creek, but this did not excite anyone very much. When Skookum Jim found gold on Rabbit Creek, it was not the finding of the gold, but the quantity of gold found that was important. George Carmack certainly recognized that this was the strike that everyone prospecting in the north had been looking for. Therefore, while Henderson may have found the first gold in the Klondike drainage system, Skookum Jim found the spot of gold concentration that started the Klondike gold rush. George Carmack, Skookum Jim and Dawson Charlie are together known as the discoverers of gold in the Klondike. Henderson received a $200 pension for his part as co-discoverer. The fame for finding the big strike must have been a factor in the discussion. Carmack recorded the discovery claim in his own name but this does not seem to have been done through greed. The discoverer is entitled to a larger claim than others along the same creek but Carmack shared the profits of the claim with Skookum Jim. Skookum Jim's culture would have encouraged him to share as a basic response but in later years he was heard to desire a gold discovery that he did not have to share.¹¹⁾ Author Tappan Adney credits Jim as being the first miner in the Klondike to dig a shaft by melting the permafrost with fire.¹²⁾ George, Jim, and Charley mined together over the next four years and recovered close to a million dollars in gold.¹³⁾

In 1898, George had not seen his sister for thirteen years so he, Kate and Gracie, Jim, Charlie, and Patsy travelled to California, taking a riverboat to St. Michael and then a steamer to Seattle. Carmack stopped there to see a dentist. At the end of September, Carmack’s party moved on to San Francisco and travelled out to his sister’s ranch near Hollister where he, Kate, and Gracie settled in for the winter. Jim and Charlie were bored and, after partaking in a drunken brawl in nearby Paicines, they agreed it was time to return to the Yukon. The 1899 spring cleanup brought the partners almost $200,000 in gold. Jim had built a house in Carcross for his wife and daughter and they travelled to Seattle in July to buy some furniture. Charlie and his wife travelled with them. One night, Kate and Jim ended up in the drunk tank and drew attention from the press.¹⁴⁾

Skookum Jim and Dawson Charlie gained control of the Discovery Claim in May 1901.¹⁵⁾ George traded his share in the Discovery Claim and Jim’s Claim No. 1 Above for Jim and Charlie’s share ($20,000) in the Seattle real estate. He sold No. 1 Below to Jim for $10,000 but six months before he had “mortgaged” the claim to Howard Hamilton Hart.¹⁶⁾ Jim was successful enough that he felt the need to hire a bodyguard, a former Mountie who was married to Louise George, daughter to Aagé and L’unáat. When he heard about the strike near Fairbanks, he grubstaked his wife’s brother-in-law who lost $7,000 of his investment.

After hand-mining the Bonanza Creek claims for many years, Jim connected with owners of the newest mining equipment on Bonanza Creek. The Cleveland (O.) company operated a dredge on Discovery Claim and paid Skookum Jim a royalty that in 1903 was rumoured to be $90,000.00.¹⁷⁾ Their lease entitled Jim to half of the gold recovered.¹⁸⁾ The company leased Skookum Jim's claims for three years and at the end of that time, the company had the first right to buy them.¹⁹⁾

Skookum Jim and Dawson Charlie recorded mining claims in the Ruby Range on a creek emptying into Hootchi Lake on 10 July 1903. A crowd stampeded from Whitehorse the day after.²⁰⁾ Jim was still in the Kluane District exploring his claims in August.²¹⁾ He had men working the Ruby Creek claim, digging a thirty-foot shaft.²²⁾ He shipped a boiler from Dawson in October to open up the claim.²³⁾ The shaft flooded and Jim lost a rumoured $100,000.²⁴⁾

Skookum Jim's last prospecting trip was made in 1915 to the head of the Liard out of Atlin. He travelled alone at 60 below on a dog sled. He returned to Carcross and took ill. He was at the Tenakee Hot Springs in Alaska, then at the government hospital in Whitehorse, and finally back to Carcross before he died.²⁵⁾

After the discovery of the Klondike gold, Jim's wife left him and returned to her Tlingit family on the coast. She returned but left again taking their son while Jim kept their daughter Daisy. Daisy briefly studied acting in California and travelled back to Carcross, especially when her father was ill.(Julie Cruikshank, “Images of Society in Klondike Gold Narratives: Skookum Jim and the Discovery of Gold.” Ethnohistory, 39:1 (Winter 1992).)

In 1905, Jim had put the majority of his wealth in a trust fund.²⁶⁾ Funded by the $65,000 he received from selling the Bonanza Creek claims to the dredging company, the Skookum Jim’s last will and testament appointed Bishop Stringer and Percy Peele as guardians for his daughter Daisy, and set up a $20,000 trust fund for her expenses. He amended his will just before he died to leave $1,000 to his sister Kate.²⁷⁾ The remainder of the money was put in the Skookum Jim Indian Fund. The interest was to be used to furnish medical attendance and supply necessities and comforts to needy and deserving Yukon First Nation individuals. He named the Anglican Church Bishop and the Yukon Commissioner, and their respective successors or representatives, as trustees of his will and trust fund.²⁸⁾ The Skookum Jim friendship Centre in Whitehorse was set up in the spirit of that will.²⁹⁾