The Fairbanks Gold Rush was a gold rush that took place in Fairbanks, Alaska in the early 1900s. Fairbanks was a city largely built on gold rush fervor at the turn of the 20th century. Discovery and exploration continue to thrive in and around modern-day Fairbanks.
20-578: Felix Pedro spent years searching for gold. He tried to find gold in the creeks and valleys of the Tanana Valley where Fairbanks would begin before he found the "American Klondike ". A trader named E.T. Barnette and his wife, Isabelle, were aboard the riverboat Lavelle Young in August 1901, trying to establish a trading post at Tanacross on the Tanana River . Low water conditions stopped
40-632: A trading post named Chena City. Adams returned downstream, and Barnette had his first visitors only hours later. Pedro and Gilmore, still in search of the Lost Creek, were perched on a nearby slope and had seen the plumes of smoke from the departing steam-boat. They stumbled into the camp, bought supplies, and headed northward into the hills. At the request of James Wickersham the camp was renamed Fairbanks , after Senator Charles W. Fairbanks ( R-Indiana ), in March 1902. Felix Pedro discovered gold in
60-532: A wide variety of float trips possible. Most of the river is rated Class I (easy) on the International Scale of River Difficulty ; however, the upper reaches along the North Fork near Chena Hot Springs are "extremely swift" with few safe eddies and are rated Class II (medium). High water increases these difficulty ratings. Dangers on the North Fork include a much narrower channel than that of
80-627: Is a 100-mile (160 km) tributary of the Tanana River in the Interior region of the U.S. state of Alaska . It flows generally west from the White Mountains to the Tanana River near the city of Fairbanks , which is built on both sides of the river. The Tanana empties into the 2,300-mile (3,700 km) long Yukon River . Named tributaries of the Chena River include the North Fork, South Fork, West Fork, Middle (East) Fork and
100-612: The Dawson Daily News January 3, 1903. This triggered an influx of over 1,000 more prospectors in −53 °F (−47 °C) temperatures. Fairbanks continued to grow, and by 1908 it was the largest city in Alaska. Felix Pedro died July 22, 1910, at age 52 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Fairbanks, reportedly of a heart attack . However, this was disputed by his business partner Vincenzo Gambiani who denied that Pedro
120-658: The 1967 Fairbanks flood , which inundated much of the city. When closed, the dam impounds water and, when the inflow is high enough, diverts it about 8 miles (13 km) to the Tanana River near North Pole , upstream of Fairbanks and the natural mouth of the Chena. The Chena River supports populations of many fish species, including Arctic grayling , burbot , chum salmon , humpback whitefish , king salmon , least cisco , longnose suckers , northern pike , round whitefish , and sheefish . Easily accessible from Fairbanks,
140-526: The Chena River which they mistakenly believed to be a distributary which would allow them to detour upstream from the unnavigable Bates Rapids to their intended destination in Tanacross . In accordance with their agreement, Barnette, his wife Isabelle, five hired hands, and 130 tons of supplies were unloaded onto the riverbank. The crew quickly built two log cabins and a series of tents, establishing
160-541: The Nome Gold Rush traveled to Fairbanks. The prospectors soon found jobs working for Barnette—prospecting for him by panning and sluicing for gold in Fairbanks. The Fairbanks Exploration Company bought up claims within a 30 by 50 mile area and brought in gold dredges on the Alaska Railroad . The population of Fairbanks increased from 1,155 in 1920 to 2,101 in 1930. As Ira Harkey pointed out, "When
180-461: The Tanana Hills northeast of Fairbanks on or about July 22, 1902 in a small unnamed stream (now known as "Pedro Creek") northeast of Fairbanks , prompting him to exclaim "There's gold in them there hills", and triggering a full-scale gold rush . Business was booming for Barnette, but he wanted more. He sent letters to Dawson City , which arrived in the dead of winter and were published in
200-488: The "Lost Creek" in which Pedro and his partner Tom Gilmore claimed to have found a sizable amount of gold in 1898, but were forced to abandon due to food shortage. Despite marking the spot and searching the next three years for it they were unable to find it again. On August 26, 1901, prospector E. T. Barnette and Captain Charles W. Adams ran the 150-foot (46 m) steamer Lavelle Young aground 8 miles (13 km) up
220-531: The Chena is the most popular sport-fishing river in interior Alaska. Overfishing for grayling reduced their number in the Chena to "dangerous levels" by the mid-1980s. In the 21st century, sport fishing for grayling, which grow in length to 18 inches (46 cm) in the upper river, is limited to catch and release . Easy access to the river from Chena Hot Springs Road, the Chena River Recreation Area, four bridges, and elsewhere make
SECTION 10
#1732773272350240-490: The Little Chena River. The Chena River State Recreation Area surrounds much of the upper half of the main stem . The Chena River is used for recreational fishing and boating. During the winter months, it is also traveled by snowmachines and mushers (sled dogs). The Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project dam is about 40 miles (64 km) up the Chena River from Fairbanks . The dam was built in response to
260-474: The beginning of the Fairbanks Gold Rush, which set off a stampede that transformed the town. Barnette dispatched Jujiro Wada , a Japanese immigrant from Ehime on Shikoku Island , to Dawson City to spread the word that gold had been found in order for Barnette to create a market for his goods. After Wada spread the word about the gold being discovered, many miners who had not already left for
280-637: The death of his father. He arrived in New York City and quickly assumed the name Felix Pedro. He traveled to New York City , Ohio , Washington , British Columbia , and the Yukon , working in each place until he earned enough to travel again. Once in Alaska, Pedro panned for gold in the Fortymile , the Piledriver Slough near present-day Salcha , and various other waterways, including
300-632: The dredges finished their work, Fairbanks again shriveled. The dredges remain in the spots where they chewed their last bites, perfectly preserved in the dry arctic air, wooly mammoths for later ages." On July 22, 1910, approximately eight years after he had discovered gold north of Fairbanks, Felix Pedro died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Fairbanks of an apparent heart attack . 65°0′25″N 147°29′4″W / 65.00694°N 147.48444°W / 65.00694; -147.48444 Felix Pedro Felice Pedroni (April 16, 1858 – July 22, 1910), commonly known by his Hispanicized alias Felix Pedro ,
320-798: The journey before Barnette could reach his destination. Co-owner of the Lavelle Young, Captain Charles Adams, turned into the Chena River , a tributary of the Tanana , instead. Shallow water stopped the Lavelle Young, and Adams refused to go further, so the Barnettes set up shop there. Barnette opened a trading post on the Chena River after Pedro had told him he had made some good "prospects". On July 22, 1902, Pedro discovered gold north of Fairbanks in Interior Alaska which triggered
340-527: Was an Italian immigrant whose discovery of gold in Interior Alaska marked the beginning of the 1902 Fairbanks Gold Rush . Pedro was born April 16, 1858, to a family of subsistence farmers in the small village of Trignano administrated by Fanano . This village is in the Apennine Mountains into the Province of Modena . He was the youngest of six brothers. Pedroni fled home in 1881 following
360-673: Was opened in 1967 to commemorate 100th anniversary of the Alaska purchase . However, on July 22, 2002, the presumed 100th anniversary of Pedro's gold discovery (noted in Alaska as "Felix Pedro Day"), the Alaskaland park was officially renamed Pioneer Park . Pioneer Park's annual Golden Days festival at Pioneer Park includes a Felix Pedro look-alike contest. Also on this date, Fairbanks and Fanano became sister cities. Chena River The Chena River ( / ˈ tʃ iː n ə / ; Tanana Athabascan : Ch'eno' "river of something (game)")
380-607: Was performed, and the hair samples reportedly supported the conclusion that Pedroni was murdered. His remains were buried again in a small cemetery in Fanano . In 1947 a Felix Pedro monument was erected at mile 16.1 of the Steese Highway near Pedro Creek . His original claim site , where the marker is located, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The Alaskaland park in mid-town Fairbanks
400-455: Was suffering any heart problems, and suspected Pedro's widow Mary Doran of foul play. Years later on his own death bed, Gambiani was asked once again about the death of Pedro. Unable to speak, he wrote only two words moglie-veleno ("wife-poison"). Pedro's body was embalmed and shipped to San Francisco and buried in nearby Colma . On October 12, 1972, Pedro's body was found, exhumed, and moved by Cortelloni Amato to Italy where an autopsy
#349650