George Washington Carmack (September 24, 1860 – June 5, 1922) was an American

prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * ''Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ra ...

in the

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

. He was originally credited with registering

Discovery Claim Discovery Claim is a mining claim at Bonanza Creek, a watercourse in the Yukon, Canada. It is the site where, in the afternoon of August 16, 1896, the first piece of gold was found in the Yukon by prospectors. The site is considered to be the ...

, the discovery of gold that set off the Klondike Gold Rush on August 16, 1896. Today, historians usually give the credit to his

Tagish The Tagish or Tagish Khwáan ( Tagish: ; ) are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group that lived around Tagish Lake and Marsh Lake, in Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory ...

brother-in-law,

Skookum Jim Mason Keish ( – July 11, 1916), also known as James Mason and by the nickname Skookum Jim Mason, was a member of the Tagish First Nation in what became the Yukon Territory of Canada. He was born near Bennett Lake, on what is now the Yukon–Bri ...

Early years

Carmack's mother died when he was 8 years old and his father when he was 11. His great-grandfather was Abraham Blystone. Carmack briefly served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

aboard the USS ''Wachusett'' and in Alaska before deserting in California in 1882 when he was refused leave to visit his sick sister.Guide Carmack returned to Alaska in 1885 to engage in trading, fishing and trapping. In 1887, he entered a common-law marriage to Shaaw Tláa, a

First Nation woman known as "Kate".

Prospector

Carmack was not popular with other miners, who nicknamed him "Squaw Man" for his association with native people and "Lyin' George" for his exaggerated claims. Nevertheless, he did find a

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

deposit near what is today the village of

Carmacks, Yukon Carmacks is a village in Yukon, Canada, on the Yukon River along the Klondike Highway, and at the west end of the Robert Campbell Highway from Watson Lake. The population is 588 (Canada Census, 2021), an increase from the Census of 2016. It is ...

which was named after him. In August 1896, he and Kate were fishing at the mouth of the

Klondike River The Klondike River () is a tributary of the Yukon River in Canada that gave its name to the Klondike Gold Rush and the Klondike region of the Yukon Territory. The Klondike River rises in the Ogilvie Mountains and flows into the Yukon River at ...

when Skookum Jim, his nephew

Dawson Charlie Dawson Charlie or K̲áa Goox̱ ʰáː kuːχ( – 26 December 1908) was a Canadian Tagish/Tlingit First Nation prospector and one of the co-discoverers of gold at Discovery Claim that led to the Klondike Gold Rush located in the Yukon territ ...

and another nephew found them. Prospector Robert Henderson who had been mining gold on the Indian River, just south of the Klondike, suggested that he should try out Rabbit Creek, now

Bonanza Creek Bonanza Creek (Hän: ''Ch'ö`chozhù' ndek'') is a watercourse in Yukon Territory, Canada. It runs for about from King Solomon's Dome to the Klondike River. In the last years of the 19th century and the early 20th century, Bonanza Creek was the c ...

, where the gold discovery was made. The finding of gold made him wealthy and the Carmacks moved to a ranch near

Modesto, California Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the List of cities and towns in Ca ...

and lived with Carmack's sister, Mrs. Hannah Rosella "Rose" Watson.George Carmack profile
Accessed May 13, 2023.

Later years

In 1900, he abandoned Kate, moved to Seattle, and married Marguerite P. Laimee in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...

. They settled into a twelve-room white frame house in Seattle with a garage in the back. Marguerite was a good business woman, and she directed her husband's money into real estate. He owned office buildings, apartment houses, and hotels. He grew fat, eventually weighing well over two hundred pounds. With the passing years, his fortune multiplied as well.Guide Yet throughout his life George could not stop looking for gold. He worked several claims in California, on the western slope of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

, and in the

Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the ...

east of Seattle. George was determined to find another mother lode and re-create the exciting moment of discovery he had experienced as a young man on Bonanza Creek. George died in 1922, at age sixty-one, while working a new claim. He is interred at

Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park originated in 1885. It is located on both sides of Aurora Avenue in Seattle, Washington, and occupies roughly 144 acres (58 ha). It is the largest cemetery in Seattle. History At the time of its inception, the ar ...

. George's daughter with his first wife, Graphie, married Marguerite's brother. Together with his sister, Rose, Graphie challenged and settled out of court the appointment of Marguerite as administrator of Carmack's estate.

References

* * * Blum, Howard (2011). ''The Floor of Heaven: A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold Rush''. Crown Publishers. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Carmack, George 1860 births Place of death missing 1922 deaths People of the Klondike Gold Rush American gold prospectors Canadian gold prospectors American emigrants to Canada

Early years

Prospector

Later years

See also

References