Elizabeth “Lizzie” Schmidt
Elizabeth Schmidt and her husband James lived in Dawson for many years. Elizabeth was known as a mining enthusiast and stampeder. She Elizabeth held quartz claims on the hills above Dawson and had a big legal fight with Yukon Gold Company in the courts.1) Her As Las claim was under the Aklen Ditch where it crossed the Moosehide slide. In 1908, she claimed the ditch interfered with the development of asbestos showings on her claim and demanded $75,000 from the company.2) She opened the Acklan Ditch, owned by the company, and turned the water down the hill above St. Mary's Hospital. She alleged that she could not work her quartz claims because the ditch interfered with her plans. Mrs. Schmidt was her own lawyer.3) She lost her suit and was fined $100 and $919.75 costs. Her claim was sold at a sheriff’s sale in March 1908 for $80.4)
Mr. and Mrs. James Schmidt left Dawson sometime after that. They left in March for the Alaskan coast via the White River. They went to the headwaters with an old horse-drawn double-ender sleigh carrying their possessions. The old folks were at Canyon City late in the spring and were seen by many of the miners there who advised against travelling further. Billy Williams, an old-time musher and Chisana miner brought word that a lock of human hair, a ring and some legal papers and other documents related to the Schmidts had been found in the Skolai basin, on the west side of Skolai Pass. They were found by Mr. McLeod near his roadhouse in September. The place is the western end of the pass. Around 1912, Bob Wiley found a roll of blankets on the Skolai glacier which was believed to have been lost there by the Schmidts. They left two daughters who were nuns in Seattle.5)