Alaskan prospects: Using the mining prospector image in early twentieth-century Alaska Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Seger, Christina Rabe Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 30/09/2021 19:42:43 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/279895 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy sutmiitted. 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Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 ALASKAN PROSPECTS; USING THE MINING PROSPECTOR IMAGE IN EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY ALASKA by Christina Rabe Seger A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 200 1 UMI Number: 3031415 (0 UMI UMI Microform 3031415 Copyright 2002 by Bell & Howell Information and Leamtng Company. Ail rights reserved. This microfonn edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann ArtDor, Ml 48106-1346 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ® GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Christina Rabe Seger entitled Alaskan Prospects: Using the Mining Prospector Image In Early Twentieth-Century Alaska and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree.of Doctor of Philosophy (d/o} Douglas >{(. Heiner ^ 7 Kflthen'np G. Mcirri<;<;pv 7 Date Sarah Deuts Da Date Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. Director Date Weiner 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertatioa has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his of her judgement the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: U 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Conversations witii historians Terrence Cole, John Findlay, Claus-M. Naske, Richard Francaviglia, Otis Young, Jr., Hermann Rebel, Kathryn Morse, Sally J. Southwick, as well as my committee chair Doug Weiner, helped me to narrow down my large research field. So too did my fascination with "living" prospeaors in southern Arizona, and trips out to mining areas in both Arizona and Alaska. On my research trips. Anchorage residents Robert King, of the Bureau of Land Management, and Frank Norris, of the National Park Service, were helpful and fiiendly. Bruce Parham of the National Archives, Alaska region, provided important guidance. Susan Grigg of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, was very accommodating to out-of-town researchers. David Neufeld of Parks Canada, Whitehorse, Yukon, was a wonderful host and tour guide. Kim Dormady of Yukon College was the perfect dormitory manager, providing warm conversations and needed items like tea cups, leftovers, and local advice. Thanks also to the friendly assistance of the staflF members of the Yukon Archives, Anchorage Mum'cipal Library, University of Alaska-Anchorage and Fairbanks, University of Washington, Seattle Public Library, and the Minnesota Historical Society and the James J. Hill Library in St. Paul, Minnesota. My dissertation committee provided me with a balance of critique and support. Sarah Deutsch had a perceptible eye for what did not fit into my story. Katherine Morrissey was indispensable, practical, and wise. Douglas Weiner's enthusiasm for the "chase" and his intellectual curiosity kept me motivated. Through him, this dissertation was not a task, but rather an exciting intellectual challenge. Cathy Wideman, Sherri Goldstein Cash, Renee Obrecht-Como, and Kevin Britz all encouraged me along the way. Cathy's additional support at the very end was much appreciated. Anne Brown Tantalo knew when to begin referring to my dissertation as "the project that shall not be named." She remained ever- cheerful even when I could barely sound enthusiastic. Victor Tantalo provided additional good cheer. Without Paul Seger's cooking abilities I would be an emaciated waif, without Us formatting skills I would still be in fi-ont of the computer, attempting to get the endnote margins to behave. I appreciate all his great efiforts. Special thanks go to Sally Southwick. Her support was, in a word, phenomenal. I am eternally gratefiil to her encouragement and her unrelenting faith in my abilities. Finally, this dissertation is for my parents. My mother never cared to have college credits interfere with her own intellectual pursuits, but her enthusiasm for ideas and for learning about all subjects on the planet influenced me greatly. Up to his final days, my father provided unconditional support and love. Neither of them got to see this final product, but their spirits and love are alive and strong on every page of this work. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS UST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 6 ABSTRACT 7 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: THE PROSPECTOR IMAGES IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 8 CHAPTER 2 PROSPECTING THE PROSPECTOR EFFORTS OF THE MINING INDUSTRY, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND ALASKAN PROMOTERS TO USE THE MINERAL SEEKER FOR ALASKAN DEVELOPMENT 81 CHAPTERS LIMITED PROSPECTS: THE LIFE OF THE ALASKAN MINERAL SEEKER 132 CHAPTER 4 FUELED PROSPECTS: THE ECONOMIC USES OF PROSPECTOR IMAGERY IN THE ALASKAN COAL LANDS DISPUTE 176 CHAPTERS THE WANDERING PROSPECTOR: THE ARCTIC BROTHERHOOD AND THE POLITICAL USES OF THE MINERAL SEEKER IMAGE 249 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION: ALASKA PROSPECTS 329 WORKS CITED 365 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE I, Map of Alaska 7 ABSTRACT In the first two decades of twentieth-century Alaska, various groups portrayed the mining prospector as a central Alaskan figure despite the fact that the actual prospector was neither the image maker nor always part of the desired end. Political and economic interests and policies were promoted aggressively by rhetorical arguments; in Alaska, these arguments used the ideals found in the nineteenth-century prospector image as an ideological cover and a material means for early twentieth-century economic and political goals of industrial growth and regional development. The prospector was one of the most complex of Western characters, a prototype that was a product of American cultural, economic, legal and political ideals and notions about the individual and individualism. The mining industry, federal agencies overseeing Alaskan mining, and Alaskan promoters all used prospector images to entice mineral seekers to Alaska, but they also worked to direct prospectors in material ways to ultimately aid their own industrial-based goals of Alaskan growth and settlement. Actual Alaskan prospectors could not fully live up to their images. They faced many challenges in Alaska, but were able, through hard efifort, to achieve a limited self-sufSciency. Prospector images were also at center-stage of ideological and rhetorical debates to determine land use policy of Alaskan coal lands, despite the simple fact that actual mineral seekers had little to do with coal mining development. Prospector images also carried political meanings in the struggle for Alaskan home rule. Using this fluid iconic figure did have material consequences, although in the end the political economy had greater influence in Alaskan development. s CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: THE PROSPECTOR IMAGES