Yukon who is who

Kathleen Eloise “Klondike Kate” Rockwell (d. 1954)

Kate Rockwell was born in Junction City, Kansas and grew up in Spokane, Washington.¹⁾ At age twenty-four she was veteran of dancehalls and theatres in New York City, Washington state, and British Columbia.²⁾ She was a regular entertainer with the Savoy Company, touring the northwest theatre circuit. In 1900, the company signed a fourteen-month lease on the Palace Grand Theatre in Dawson and an orchestra and troupe of singers, comedians, acrobats, and actresses, including the sketch artist Kate Rockwell, arrived in early August.³⁾

Kate earned her place in Klondike history when she took the stage with flame dance. She used more than two-hundred yards of red chiffon to dance with the accompaniment of first a single keening violin and then a full orchestra. The stage was awash with red chiffon and long red hair. She was a variety actor, a step above the percentage girls earning a commission by dancing and drinking with men and a long cut below legitimate actresses and singers.⁴⁾

Kate left Dawson and arrived in Victoria in November 1902 where she leased the Orpheum Theatre and ran a combined vaudeville and moving picture show. By April 1903, Pantages was listed as the proprietor and manager of the theatre and Kate was a stage performer that fall and winter. By February 1903, Kate had moved on to perform her “famous” serpentine dance at the Empire Theatre in Tacoma, Washington. She returned to Dawson between March and September and then moved to Seattle where her mother was managing the Alcazar Theatre and Pantages was to start a successful career as a theatre promoter.⁵⁾ Kate sunk most of her accumulated wealth supporting his theatres and in 1905, he married another woman. A lawsuit was partially successful in restoring some of her money. After years trying to rekindle her career, she focussed on promoting the legend of Klondike Kate.⁶⁾

Kate Rockwell did not call herself “Klondike Kate” until she appeared as a witness in Pantages’ 1929 rape trial. The newspapers branded her, and she used the name in self-promotion for the rest of her life.⁷⁾ She retired to Bend, Oregon where she earned a reputation as an excellent fund-raiser for social causes during the Depression. She moved several times, was married three times (once to Klondike miner John Matson), and died in Sweet Home, Oregon where she had lived for 21 years.⁸⁾