Near Moose Pass in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska — Northwest (North America)

Gold Discoveries Trigger Stampede

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, June 28, 2010

1. Gold Discoveries Trigger Stampede Marker

[Photo captions proceeding counter-clockwise from the top left]
W.R. Alexander, Harry T. Alexander and friends, Canyon Creek, 1896, Martha Black Collection, Hope and Sunrise Historical Society; F.R. Mott, photo #196, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver; Miners on Alder Creek, a tributary of Sixmile Creek, 1896; The Frost Claim at the confluence of Canyon and Mills creeks, 1897.

Inscription. Prospectors found gold in 1895 under the present Canyon Creek Highway Bridge and on Mills Creek. Those discoveries launched a rush to Turnagain Arm more than a year before the Klondike Gold Rush.

Prospectors Poke Around After gold was discovered near Hope in 1890, prospectors organized the Turnagain Arm Mining District. The number of gold seekers grew to 300 by 1895. Some searched along Sixmile Creek, and its tributaries. Sanford J. Mills and Benedict C.[bullet hole] found gold and filed claims here at the mouth of Canyon Creek. John Renne [bullet hole] Robert Michaelson did the same upstream at the mouth of Mills Creek.

Exaggerations Set Off Stampede The Mills/Pilcher and Renner/Michaleson claims yielded good returns. Miners spending the winter in the States exaggerated the richness of the claims. Newspaper accounts of the discoveries, enhanced by the miner’s stories, set off a stampede to Turnagain Arm in 1896. More than 3,000 gold seekers poured into the area. About half mined on Sixmile Creek and its tributaries, with 327 of them on Canyon Creek. Claim jumping was a problem. Miners settled most disputes in

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meetings, and only one miner was shot over a disputed claim.

Riches of Canyon Creek Canyon Creek produced more gold during these early years than any other creek in the Turnagain Arm area. The claims that triggered the stampede ended up being the richest.

Erected by Alaska Gold Rush Centennial.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Natural Resources • Science & Medicine. A significant historical year for this entry is 1895.

Location. 60° 46.794′ N, 149° 25.72′ W. Marker is near Moose Pass, Alaska, in Kenai Peninsula Borough. It is on Seward Highway (Alaska Route 1 at milepost 56.6). This marker is located 56.6 miles from Seward near the Canyon Creek Bridge. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Moose Pass AK 99631, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Alaska Railroad Corridor,

in the Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) Region,

in the Athabascan Region,

in the Prince William Sound,

and in Southcentral Alaska.

It is also on the American Pacific Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

on the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

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in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Russian Empire.

Other nearby markers. At least one other marker is within 14 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Traveling Tikahtu (approx. 13.4 miles away).

Credits. This page was last revised on April 13, 2020. It was originally submitted on November 17, 2011, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 1,402 times since then and 38 times this year. Photo 1. submitted on November 17, 2011, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.

Editor’s want-list for this marker. Wide area view of the marker and its surroundings. • Can you help?