Louis Sloss (1823 - 1902)
Louis Sloss was born near Wurzburg, Bavaria and was orphaned when he was young. He emigrated to the United States in 1845 and settled in Kentucky before being lured west by the California gold rush. He established Louis Sloss & Co. in Sacramento, selling teams of horses and oxen and buying hides and wool. In 1855, Lewis Gerstle became a partner and the firm moved to San Francisco. In 1867, Louis Sloss became a partner in Hutchinson, Kohl & Co., formed to purchase assets from the Russian American Company, and in 1968 they incorporated as the Alaska Commercial Company (AC Co.). Louis Sloss was the President and Gerstle was a member.1)
By 1885, the AC company controlled 75% of the world’s supply of fur seal skins. By 1890, they had expanded to own six salmon canneries in the Kodiak region of Alaska. When it looked like the fur seal trade contract may not be renewed, AC Co. diversified into steam ships and soon were in competition with the North American Transportation and Trading Company (AT&T Co.) The AC Co. riverboats were built in Louisville and knocked down for shipment to the mouth of the Yukon River where they went into service. The Sarah was named for Mrs. Sloss, the Hannah was named for her sister Mrs. Gerstle, and the Susie was named for another director’s wife Mrs. Neibaum.2)
In 1897, Claim No 18 on Eldorado Creek was owned by Skiff Mitchell, John Lind, Louis Sloss, and Densmore Wilson & Co. Sixteen men worked the claim and had recovered $300,000 by 1902.3)
The AC Co.’s riverboat Alice brought the first load of gold down the Yukon River from Dawson in 1897, and it was a company ship, the Excelsior, that carried the gold cargo from St. Michael to San Francisco.4) It was the arrival of the first ships with their tons of gold that triggered the Klondike gold rush from the west coast of North America.