Tag: Yukon Order of Pioneers

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Charles Hilty


Charles was a member of the Yukon Order of Pioneers. He was an early gold rusher coming to Skagway about 1893. He went on to Hunker Creek and Bear Creek, and made gold claims.
He met a nice German lady in Skagway about 1897, Carolina Bernhoeffer. She and her sister Mary (see earlier blog) ran the hotel “New Home Restaurant & Lodging house”. Carolina may not have ever been married. In any event, she went with Charles to the Yukon and was recorded in 1901 living with him there. They must have married soon after. Carolina was known as “Dutch Lena” and ran several hotels including the Hotel Skagway 1898, Bernhofer’s Roadhouse, Klondike 1901, the Travelers Home in Bear Creek in 1904, cook for Rigley & Templin in Council Alaska in 1905, and washer for Cascade Steam Laundry in Fairbanks. Carolina Hilty died in Skagway in 1906 and is buried in the Gold Rush Cemetery. I blogged on her earlier before I found the connection with Charles. I believe there are some errors on the headstone.

Meanwhile, Charles got into a shooting scrap in Tanana, Alaska and the Pioneers advanced him $1000.00 for lawyer fees. He was acquitted and repaid the money. The Yukon Order of Pioneers motto was “do as you would be done by”. It was formed during the Gold Rush era to ensure stampeders’ rights were protected.
Charles Hilty died on this day, December 9, 1920.

Yukon Genealogy site; 1901 Yukon census Volume YRG1 page v76 as posted also on the Yukon Genealogy site; Gold Fields of Alaska online no date.

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Anna Edes Rablen Snow

Anna was born in 1861 in Cornwall, England. After coming to America, she was working as a maid in Sonora when she met a young handsome Jewish man named James Fink. James dropped his real name and adopted his stage name of George Thornton Snow. Anna and George were married and became talented performers who traveled the gold camps of California. They had two children in Sonora. In 1887 the family took passage on the old side wheel steamer “Olympia” to Juneau for a six week stint to provide classical entertainment to the miners there. They liked Juneau and stayed.

George was soon hit with “gold fever” and made two trips to the Yukon leaving Anna in Juneau to eke out a living by sewing. After returning to Juneau in 1894, he planned to go north again but Anna put her foot down and said “If you go we’re going”.
They took the little tugboat “Rustler” up the Lynn Canal to Dyea. The Snow family crossed the Chilkoot in 1894. Daughter Crystal Brilliant, age 10 and son Montgomery, age 11 were perhaps some of the first children to cross. One of the items that they dragged over the pass was a three octave organ. At the top of the pass they were hit by a blizzard and had to build a tent to hunker down for three days. Crystal and Montgomery played “igloo”. George was so proud of his early accomplishment that he started the Yukon Order of Pioneers that year.

The family opened the Grand Opera House at Circle City where they all performed. (See the store in Circle City above in 1897.) They moved back to Skagway in 1909 and George became the City of Skagway jailer. George died in Seattle in 1925 at the age of 78 (he was quite a bit older than Anna).
Anna Snow died on this day, November 19, 1943 in Juneau at the age off 82, and is buried in the Juneau Evergreen Cemetery.

1910; Klondike Centennial Scrapbook p. 145;Snow Family papers in Alaska Historical Collections at the Alaska State Library; Gates; More than Petticoats, Remarkable Alaska Women by Cherry Lyon Jones; Familysearch records; Juneau Parks and Rec site.

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Captain John Irving


Happy Birthday to John Irving born November 24, 1854 in Portland Oregon. He was an early member of the Arctic Brotherhood in Skagway in 1900 and also a member of the Provincial Government. His navigation business was in the building that is now Richters on Broadway near 2nd.

His wife was Jane Munro daughter of Alexander Munro the Chief Factor of Hudson Bay Company, she probably lived in Victoria. His shipping business was the early main competitor to Capt William Moore on same routes around 1860; in 1882 after Capt Moore lost boats and his Victoria home, Irving hired Moore’s three sons: Billie, Henry and John to be captain, mate & purser on Western Slope sternwheeler.

His boat the “Willie Irving” was said to be the first boat through the Whitehorse Rapids under her own steam. It was built on Lake Bennett 1900, by Alex Watson.

The Captain was also a member of the Yukon Order of Pioneers. In his later years Captain Irving lived in a small converted store on West Pender Street in Vancouver. With his tall spruce figure and his white goatee beard he was a very handsome gentleman. His favorite remark when meeting an old friend on the street was “How about a smile?” He died in 1936, poor in everything but friends.