Gold Discoveries Trigger Stampede
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 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.
Marker is on Seward Highway (Alaska Route 1 at milepost 56.6).
Courtesy hmdb.org
