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104:. They developed a traders' partnership with Captain Mayo, which the three continued for years. They were known for effectively dealing both with prospectors and the Alaska Native peoples. The three partners each married young Alaska Native women and had families there. In 1875, Harper, McQuesten, and Mayo started a trading post that they called
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of the late 1840s. At the age of 20, he left
Ireland for California, drawn to prospecting and mining. He searched for gold, but gained mostly experience in prospecting. During the 1860s, he relocated to British Columbia. His prospecting for minerals was devoted mostly to searching for gold.
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in 1875 and other posts in the Yukon region. Harper was known as the best prospector of the trio, and while he did not achieve major success in his pursuit of gold, he sometimes directed others to finds. He traded and prospected in Alaska until just before his death.
203:, each beginning at age five. He felt the mission schools did not offer sufficient quality of education. When his five sons returned, they could no longer speak any of the Athabascan languages. His two daughters later obtained teaching degrees at
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The
Harpers had eight children together, six sons and two daughters: including Andrew, Fred, Sam, and Walter, the youngest boy. An educated man himself, Harper sent the seven older children to boarding schools, mostly in
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also known as
Katherine, or Kate, who had also been educated at the Russian mission school. She spoke Koyukon, Russian and English. Jennie did not have that kind of experience and preserved her traditions.
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Harper, "the first man who ever came to the Yukon country seeking gold", was selected for the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame because of his importance in trade and helping develop the Yukon.
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After the couple separated permanently in 1895, Harper left for Dawson, and briefly remarried. Jennie reared their youngest son,
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region. Mayo married Jennie's first cousin, who had taken the name
Margaret at the Russian mission school. McQuesten married
284:: H. Stuck's's "Voyages on the Yukon and Its Tributaries: A Narrative of Summer Travel in the Interior of Alaska" (1917)
96:, and is credited as the first European to enter the area in the search for gold. He managed a store at Fort Yukon with
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Voyages on the Yukon and Its
Tributaries: A Narrative of Summer Travel in the Interior of Alaska
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163:. Harper did some mining there, after years of experience in California and British Columbia.
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Harper left
British Columbia in 1871, before it became more developed. In 1873, he reached
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Cold River
Spirits: The Legacy of an Athabascan-Irish Family from Alaska's Yukon River
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Cold River
Spirits: The Legacy of an Athabascan-Irish Family from Alaska's Yukon River
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during the 1860s, before travelling to the Yukon region in 1871. He reached
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prospector, trader, and explorer, recognized as the first man to enter the
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After establishing their post, Harper and his partners all married young
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country seeking gold. He mined in
California during the 1850s, and
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This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
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46:. Harper formed a trading partnership with McQuesten and Captain
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373:(Public domain ed.). C. Scribner's Sons. p.
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214:, in a traditional Koyukon manner. Walter became a
127:After 1889, Harper relocated to the outlet of the
488:. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1967. p.
151:. Harper and Mayo also founded a trading post in
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308:Bundtzen, Thomas K.; Hawley, Charles C. (2009).
124:developed about 6 miles (9.7 km) upriver.
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147:trading post, Harper founded a new post named
560:People from Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska
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429:(Google eBook), Epicenter Press, 2000, p. 28
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182:(née Bosco), whom he called Jennie, at
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453:"Yukon Indian opens Coney Island eyes"
525:19th-century deaths from tuberculosis
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535:Irish emigrants to the United States
485:Geological Survey Professional Paper
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550:People of the California Gold Rush
38:in 1873, and managed a store with
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100:(known as Yukon Jack) beside the
545:People from pre-statehood Alaska
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135:, it drove the British–Canadian
397:Webb, Melody (1 January 1993).
340:. Epicenter Press. p. 29.
565:Tuberculosis deaths in Arizona
555:People from Fort Yukon, Alaska
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205:San Francisco Teachers College
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22:(1835–1897) was an Irish-born
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312:. Alaska Mining Hall of Fame
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334:Harper-Haines, Jan (2000).
266:, are named in his honour.
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234:), with the expedition of
131:. After the United States
63:Arthur Harper was born in
540:People from County Antrim
403:. UBC Press. p. 84.
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201:San Francisco, California
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400:Yukon: The Last Frontier
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222:, and in 1913 made the
438:Harper-Haines (2000),
139:out. Near the site of
520:Canadian prospectors
145:Hudson's Bay Company
137:Hudson's Bay Company
424:Jan Harper-Haines,
387:Stuck (1917), p. 42
461:The New York Times
440:Cold River Spirits
410:978-0-7748-0441-7
347:978-0-945397-85-4
260:Ogilvie Mountains
238:. Harper died of
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16:Irish prospector
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264:Tanana River
256:Mount Harper
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240:tuberculosis
236:Hudson Stuck
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224:first ascent
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149:Fort Selkirk
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73:Great Famine
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515:1897 deaths
510:1835 births
242:in 1897 in
155:, near the
129:Pelly River
122:Dawson City
110:Yukon River
59:Early years
24:Yukon River
504:Categories
270:References
173:Athabascan
161:Nuklukayet
157:Athabascan
86:Fort Yukon
36:Fort Yukon
180:Seentahna
88:from the
367:(1917).
159:site of
120:. Later
468:21 July
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316:21 July
258:in the
184:Koyukuk
176:Koyukon
143:'s old
108:on the
48:Al Mayo
42:at the
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250:Legacy
232:Denali
212:Walter
153:Tanana
80:Alaska
456:(PDF)
220:guide
28:Yukon
470:2013
405:ISBN
342:ISBN
318:2013
218:and
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.