3 Women and the Gold Rush

SHAAW TLILA (KATE CORMACK) 1857-1920

What do we know about Shaaw Tlila (Kate Carmack), 1857-1920?

Shaaw Tlila was a Tagish First Nations woman who, in some accounts, is credited with being the person to have first discovered gold in the Klondike River in 1896, which began the Klondike Gold Rush.

Shaaw was born near Bennett Lake in the Yukon and lived with her parents and seven brothers and sisters. Her father, Kaachgaawaa, was the head of the Tlingit Crow Clan. As a young woman she married, but in the early 1880s Shaaw’s husband and infant daughter died of influenza in Alaska. Shaaw returned to her village. It was here that her brother Keish (known as Skookum Jim Mason) and nephew Kita Goox (Dawson Charlie) started a hunting and prospecting partnership with a man named George Carmack, an America. Shaaw became Carmacks common-law wife within the year and began to be known as Kate Carmack.

One day while out fishing at the mouth of the Klondike River, the party discovered gold in Rabbit Creek (later Bonanza Creek) which set the Klondike Gold Rush in motion. George and Kate mined for several years in the Klondike before moving south to Seattle with their riches, approximately $1.5 million. For most, the treacherous weather and harsh conditions of the Klondike were the worst of what they would face, but the same is not said for Kate.

Upon traveling to Seattle with her husband, she was introduced to a world of wealth and capitalism away from her family and the way of life she knew.

Kate became known as "the richest Indian woman in the world. Ill-treated by society, she was eventually abandoned by George.  He decided to marry another woman, Marguerite Saftig Laimee, who ran her own brothel. George wrote his sister to inform her that she could send Kate home. Upset at being tossed aside, Kate tried to sue George for half his worth, but because their marriage was never made legal, her attempts failed. Along with her and George's daughter Graphie, Kate made her way back to the Yukon. Upon arriving, her brother Keish built her a cabin and Kate lived out the rest of her days without the benefit of the wealth she helped amass.

Graphie lived with Kate until she attended a residential school. She then moved to live with her father at the age of 16. Kate never saw her daughter again. George and Marguerite lived the rest of their lives in Vancouver, BC, in wealth and prosperity, where Kate lived next to her brother in the Yukon where she passed away in 1920 during the flu epidemic.

What do we know about Fanny Bendixen, 1820-1899?

Francesca Bendixen, also known as Fanny, was one of the most successful businesswomen during the height of the Gold Rush in Barkerville.

Born in France in 1820, she was part of the “purging” of undesirable French citizens by Napoleon III; there is no information as to why she was deemed undesirable. 

Fanny Bendixen landed in San Francisco in the 1850s with thousands of other French citizens. She settled in San Francisco growing French district. It took no time for her to get involved with the county judge, Ned McGowan. Unfortunately, Ned McGowan was a jealous man, and his jealousy almost cost her life, so she fled to New Orleans. There she met Louis Bendixen and married him just before the American Civil War broke out.

The newlyweds decided to follow the hype of the gold rush, so they packed up their things and moved to the small city of Victoria, BC, in 1862. The couple invested in a high-quality hotel named, St. George Hotel. At some point St. George Hotel went bankrupt and was bought by Sosthèmes Driard.

The Gold Rush allowed many women to escape unhappy marriages, which was the case for Fanny Bendixen. Fanny's and Louis's relationship started to crumble after a couple of years of marriage. Fanny decided, in the Summer of 1865, to take a break from the marriage and left for Barkerville alone. 

Barkerville was the hub of the Cariboo Gold Rush. The city would have been buzzing with life and opportunities, a perfect place for an up-and-coming businesswoman. There were people from all over the world following their dreams, and Fanny wanted to be a part of it all! She stayed a few months to scout out the area and business options.

She eventually returned to Victoria in the Fall of 1865, only to find Louis, her husband, with another woman. They had a huge fight which involved the police. Not long after she backed up her things again and returned to Barkerville.

Fanny opened a Saloon in 1867 called Bella Union. This Saloon was recognized for its elegance. Clients were able to smoke the best cigars and drink the highest quality of alcohol. Louis joins Fanny around this time, but by this time, she was an established businesswoman.

Sadly, the fire of 1868 destroyed the whole city. Fanny lost investments of up to $5000, which was a great sum of money at that time. Like any good entrepreneur, Fanny took this devastation as a lesson and quickly reinvented herself. She partnered with a man named James Burdick in 1869 and reconstructed the New St. George Hotel in 1871. 

She also diversified her investments and built another hotel in Van Winkle. Van Winkle Hotel became the best place to find books from all over the world. It was considered a very cultured place. The Van Winkle closed in 1874.

Fanny opened another hotel in the Exchange in Stanley B.C, but she eventually returned to Barkerville and ran St. George Hotel until the late 1890s. This hotel continues to operate in Barkerville so you can book a stay even today.

Fanny Bendixen was a “businesswoman, a gold prospector, and a symbol of courage and strength” during a period of time when women were not included in the economic sphere. She demonstrated resilience through countless robberies, lawsuits, bankruptcies, and fires, all while not entirely speaking English.  She outlived her husband by 18 years.

Fanny Bendixen passed away in 1899 in her beloved city, Barkerville.

What do we know about Ana de Graf  (1839-1930) ?

Anna De Graf was a tough woman. Born in Germany, She followed the gold rush trail to the Klondike in 1894 at the age of 55. By the time she headed to the Klondike, she had already lived through a revolution, lost her first child, and then she and her husband lost everything in the financial panic of 1873. Her husband then left for the gold fields, hoping to get ahead but was killed.

Anna moved to Seattle and supported herself and her five children as a dressmaker. In 1892, her youngest son went after Yukon gold. Anna became concerned when she hadn't heard from him for many months, so decided to go look for him.

She accomplished the long journey, that included the 3,700 foot Chilkoot Pass, on crutches, dressed in a heavy skirt and layered petticoats. She also took her sewing machine and her German feather bed. Arriving in Circle City on the Yukon River, she found work sewing tents at Jack McQuesten's store. She augmented her income making clothes for the miners and the few women who lived in the area.

She stayed for a few years, then went back to Seattle, but made a second trip to seek her son in 1897. Anna lived to be 91, but never did find her son.