Not far from this very spot is where gold was first found. George Carmack and wife Kate Carmack were the ones to start what would become the stampeders trek to this area. In the span of just 4 years it swelled to the point of gold, bars, and brothels.
They don’t mention Kate Carmack except to say that she may have been doing the menial tasks of washing laundry or dishes at the creek when she discovered gold there.
Being a woman was hard then and the men of the time would have never admitted the discovery of what became such an historic event, was discovered by a woman. Women certainly had their place here and became legendary for opening businesses that supported the quest for riches. Belinda Mulrooney, an Irish immigrant and intrepid entrepreneur, became the richest woman in the Klondike.
Belinda Mulroney arrived in Dawson City in 1897 from Pennsylvania. By 1899 she had three claims in the Klondike valley. One, called 39 above, produced 19 thousand dollars in one cleanup in the summer of ’99. That year she had 12 men working for her on her claims.
But gold mining wasn’t Ms. Mulroney’s only business venture. With money from her claims, she built the Fairview Hotel, a three story building complete with dining room, office, bar and electric lights.
In 1898, there was a shortage of fresh drinking water in Dawson. Belinda Mulroney setup and ran a company called Hygenia Water, a bottled water company well ahead of its time.
It’s worth looking into how women had both supporting roles and also rose to become business owners and miners in what was considered by most to be the adventure of a life time. Even though most died or returned home empty handed, that spirit of adventure was thought of fondly. Surviving such a tenuous journey is nothing short of heroic. dmc
