H.J. Mignerery (b. 1859)
H.J. Mignerey was born in France and immigrated to the United States as an orphan. He worked in a grocery store and eventually owned five wagons to deliver his trade. He sold out in 1897, went to Bennet, and returned to Seattle in 1898. Later he took a boat up to St. Michael and then to Rampart, Alaska. He learned of the Nome strike and in December 1898 he left Rampart on a dog team via Dawson and Skagway to buy merchandise and restaurant items. He sailed for Nome in 1899 and when he arrived, he set up a tent on the beach and sold meals for a dollar per. In July 1899, he bought a cargo of reindeer carcasses and controlled the only meat supply in Nome. He bought a schooner to go to Siberia for more caribou, but it was wrecked in a storm while still being outfitted, and then he came down with typhoid. Mignerey bought an interest in the paddlewheeler Clifford Sifton, operating between Whitehorse and Dawson City during the seasons of 1900 and 1901. The boat was a strong competitor to the White Pass fleet and was eventually sold to the company. Mignerey returned to Seattle.1)