Alaska United Gold Mining Company stock certificate 1895

From the height of the Klondike Gold Rush, this stock certificate from the Alaska United Gold Mining Company is perfect piece of history. Beautiful vignettes include a classic mining scene at the bottom. Issued and cancelled. Dated (printed) 1895.

In the early 1890's two mining companies initially financed by the Treadwell Company were incorporated, the Alaska Mexican Gold Mining Company and the Alaska United Gold Mining Company. Each of the three companies was financially separate, but the Treadwell Company managed all of them. The Treadwell mines pioneered in the field of low cost mining and the use of hydroelectric power. The power was used to convert all of the steam-run hoists and mills into economical electrically driven machines. Under the guidance of Frederick .W. Bradley, world famous mining engineer, the Treadwell complex reached peak capacity in 1915. Over 2,000 men worked above and below the ground and supplied the mills with 5,000 tons of ore daily, which was a world record at that time. The mills and mines ran 24 hours a day seven days a week, except for the Fourth of July and Christmas. The Treadwell complex which included four major mines consisting of the Treadwell, 700-Foot, Mexican, and Ready Bullion, was a first class, innovative mining and milling operation that spanned 36 years until 1917 when a disastrous cave-in flooded all but the Ready Bullion mine which ran until 1922. Fortunately no lives were lost, but one man was reported missing. From a simple beginning of the discovery of placer gold in a creek, grew a world famous mining and milling complex commonly referred to as "Treadwell."

Rumors of the gold discoveries in the Gastineau Channel area reached San Francisco, and a group of mining investors sent John Treadwell to investigate in August of 1881. He staked some claims in Silver Bow Basin and purchased Erussard's claims on Douglas Island. Treadwell returned to San Francisco with some ore samples that showed promise of good returns when tested. The Alaska Mill and Mining Company was soon organized with Treadwell appointed as superintendent of mining operations. He returned to Douglas in May of 1882 with a 5-stamp gold concentrating mill to test the ore on the Paris Lode claim and purchased additional adjoining claims. By 1884 a 120-stamp mill was completed, and the Treadwell mines were on their way to fame. The success of the first development drew hundreds of prospectors to the area. In 1889 the recently incorporated Alaska Treadwell Gold Mining Company bought out all investors, including John Treadwell, for $4,000,000.

he Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region of the Yukon in northwestern Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold.

Gold was discovered in large quantities in the Klondike on August 16, 1896 and, when news of the finds reached Seattle and San Francisco in July 1897, it triggered a "stampede" of would-be prospectors to the gold creeks. The journey to the Klondike was arduous and involved travelling long distances and crossing difficult mountain passes, frequently while carrying heavy loads.

Some miners discovered very rich deposits of gold and became immensely wealthy. However, the majority arrived after the best of the gold fields had been claimed and only around 4,000 miners ultimately struck gold. The Klondike Gold Rush ended in 1899, after gold was discovered in Nome, prompting an exodus from the Klondike.

Prospectors had begun to mine gold in the Yukon from the 1880s onwards. When the rich deposits of gold were initially discovered along the Klondike River in 1896, it was met with great local excitement. The remoteness of the region and the extreme winter climate prevented news from reaching the outside world until the following year. The initial Klondike stampede was triggered by the arrival of over US$1,139,000 in gold at the north-western American ports in July 1897.

Newspaper reports of the gold and the successful miners fuelled a nation-wide hysteria: many left their jobs and set off for the Klondike, hoping to make a fortune as miners. These would-be prospectors were joined by businessmen, outfitters, writers and photographers. Reaching the gold fields was challenging. The majority of prospectors landed at the ports of Dyea and Skagway in South-east Alaska. They could then take either the Chilkoot or the White Pass trails to the Yukon River and, from there, sail down-stream to the Klondike in self-made boats.

Each prospector was required to bring a year's supply of food with them by the Canadian authorities and many had to carry this ton of supplies in stages over the passes. The advent of winter and thereby freezing of rivers meant that most prospectors did not arrive in the goldfields until summer 1898. Only between 30,000 and 40,000 of the stameders successfully arrived in the Klondike.