Laura Foster O'Flanagan

Laura Foster O'Flanagan. The Hard Journey North. , My husband William Foster and I, decided to try our luck in the gold rush for Alaska, so set out in January 1898 aboard the vessel "Corona" on her maiden voyage. On the way North, she veered off her course, and struck a rock and sank in about four hours. Of the 309 passengers, 30 of them were women, and we took refuge on Louise Island making use of the Alaskan outfits they were bringing North. We were picked up later by the "Humboldt, and taken to Skagway, arriving two days after the death of Soapy Smith; the most famous of all gold rush outlaws. From Skagway, we travelled by wagon, pack train, and on foot, over the White Pass trail, which ended with our arrival at the thriving town of Lake Bennett. The trip was unpleasant, as the trail was filled with dead horses and I had to crawl over some of them., My son was born before we left Joplin, and during the journey, I carried him on my back. We stayed at Lake Bennett and help build two scows for the trip downriver to Dawson. I was one of eighteen persons crowded on one of these scows, when it went out of control in the White Horse Rapids. I had to throw my son to my husband before jumping off the runaway scow. After the scow was recovered, we continued to Dawson City, where we stayed for several years. We left for Fairbanks on the steamer "Monarch" and during the trip the water was so low we had to get off the boat at Chena and from there we walked to Fairbanks arriving on October 20, 1905., Story provided by the Fairbanks Igloos of the Pioneers of Alaska..