Yukon who is who

Charles “Dawson Charlie” Stevenson, Káa Goox (d. 1908)

Kaa Goox was born in the Tagish to Kooyáy, sister to Keish (Skookum Jim), probably in the 1860s. Under the matrilineal system, his uncle Jim would have been his most influential family member. Charlie and Jim travelled down the Yukon River to search for Jim’s sister and Charlie’s aunt Shaaw Tlaa (Kate Carmack). The search resulted in the discovery of Klondike gold on Bonanza Creek, and that sparked the Klondike gold rush. Because of Charlie’s role in the discovery, he became known as Dawson Charlie. He is often referred to in written accounts as Tagish Charlie because he came from that area.¹⁾

Skookum Jim (Keish), Dawson Charlie (Kaa Goox), Kate (Shaaw Tláa) and George Carmack were fishing at the mouth of the Klondike River in 1896. The men took a trip up the Klondike and then up a tributary, Rabbit Creek, to look at logging possibilities, do some hunting and to 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 panned some gold out of Rabbit Creek, but it was not significant. When Skookum Jim found gold in the same creek, it was not the finding of gold but the richness of the discovery that was important.²⁾

George, Jim and Charley mined together over the next four years and recovered close to a million dollars in gold.³⁾ In May 1901, Skookum Jim and Dawson Charlie gained control of the Bonanza Creek Discovery Claim.⁴⁾ During the winter of 1897/98, they hired a dozen men to work underground on the claims. They sluiced the winter paydirt dumps and recovered more than $150,000 after royalties. They divided up the money three ways and then leased their claims to other miners.⁵⁾

George had not seen his sister for thirteen years so all six (George, Kate Gracie, Jim, Charlie and Patsy) travelled to California, taking a riverboat to St. Michael and then a steamer to Seattle. Carmacks stopped there to see a dentist. They all had chains and watchfobs made from some of their nuggets.⁶⁾ One day when he was bored, Charlie sent a bellboy to the bank for $500 dollars in fifty cent coins. He amused himself by throwing the coins out to a gathering crowd until the police ordered him to stop because traffic was being obstructed.⁷⁾ At the end of September, Carmack’s party moved on to San Francisco and travelled out to his sister’s ranch near Hollister. Carmack paid off the mortgage on the ranch and he, Kate, and Gracie settled in for the winter. Jim and Charlie were involved in a drunken brawl in nearby Paicines and agreed it was time to return to the Yukon.⁸⁾

Charlie was a wealthy man and travelled widely but fame and wealth affected his marriage and his wife, Sadusge, [Annie Auston] left him.⁹⁾ In 1903 Charlie purchased the Caribou Hotel in Carcross.¹⁰⁾ In order to buy the hotel, Charlie had to become enfranchised as a Canadian citizen, which he did under the name Charlie Stevenson.¹¹⁾ Charlie’s generosity had an adverse effect on his community. The North-West Mounted Police reported that a major cause of drunkenness was that Charlie was continually advancing money to those who wanted to drink.¹²⁾

In 1903, Dawson Charley was prospecting in the Kluane district. He staked Discovery Claim on a creek he named Fourth of July Creek after the date of his find.¹³⁾ Dawson Charlie came to the Windsor Hotel in Whitehorse to gather Skookum Jim, Dick Racine, and Cariete Racine (Dick's father), to go stake some ground on 4th of July Creek. Their group included seven First Nation stampeders. They had two horses and enough food for two weeks. They followed the Dawson Trail to the Takhini River and Cam's Smith's mother opened the roadhouse there for the occasion. Capt. Raymond and the steamer “Olive May” took the stampeders upriver to the Mendenhall Landing where they canoed to the Alsek and hiked to the north side of Black Mountain. They staked claims on 4th of July and [Ruby] creeks.¹⁴⁾ According to the records, Dawson Charlie staked the Discovery Claim on Fourth of July; Jimmie Jackson had 1 Above; W. H. Weisdepp had 2 Above; Indian Frank had 4 Above. Weisdepp and Jackson staked Discovery on Ruby Creek; Jack McMillan had 1 Above; and Indian Frank had 2 Above.¹⁵⁾

The men tried to keep the discovery quiet and they told NWMP Constable Kelly that they were on a hunting trip, although the group only had one gun. Dawson Charlie returned on July 9th and exhibited some nuggets and dust taken from a creek on the west side of the Hootchi Lake. He said the pay dirt was twenty-five cents to the pan. Wiesdipp and McMillan arrived in town the next day to further corroborate the story. This caused considerable excitement in Whitehorse and by July 12th over fifty persons had started on a stampede and every horse in town had been purchased. Three discoveries were staked on ground that extended over six miles in length.¹⁶⁾

Charlie must have thought Ruby Creek had more potential than Fourth of July so he offered Billy Winesdippe [sic] and Jack McMillan, joint owners of the discovery on Ruby, $1000 each for their interest in the claim but they turned him down.¹⁷⁾ Charley was at the diggings in July and Skookum Jim was locating a new route to the creek from the landing at Kluane Lake.¹⁸⁾ Eventually, more than 500-600 prospectors rushed to the area.¹⁹⁾

The district was not as rich as the Klondike but was described as fair pay covering more area. Many claims were abandoned as they were not so rich, but other gold bearing creeks were found in the area because of the stampede. Gold was discovered on Bullion Creek at the end of October and this discovery resulted in another rush to the area. By March 1, 1904, 300 men were reported in the area and two thousand claims had been staked. Dawson Charley operated a mine and managed large force of men on Claim 27, Upper Bullion.²⁰⁾

Charlie did not stop prospecting, even after his role in initiating two major gold finds and the establishment of the important Klondike and Kluane mining districts. In 1908, he had a claim on the Wheaton River that he was investigating. Before he could develop a mine, he fell from the bridge in Carcross and drowned.²¹⁾