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John F. Delaney Letters

 Collection
Identifier: MSN/MN 5004

Scope and Contents

The letters range in date from February 1898 to December 1899; almost all are addressed to Caroline Delaney in Utah. Though irregularly spaced—Delaney was often far from any postal service—they provide a full account of his experiences, as well as broader commentary on mining, the human hardships of the gold fields, and the cruel economy that left most prospectors busted. Many were written from Fort Wrangell, Alaska, where Delaney wintered in 1898-99. In addition to the narrative provided by the letters to his wife, Delaney wrote a 16-page epistolary account of his experiences during 1899, to a prospective business associate.

Dates

  • Creation: 1898-1899

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical / Historical

Little is known of John Delaney's life prior to and after the brief period covered by the present collection of letters. Despite the Irish surname, the 1900 Federal census indicates that both he and his parents were born in Germany. He emigrated to the United States in 1867, when he was around eleven years of age. In 1888 he married the woman to whom most of the letters are addressed, Caroline D. Delaney (1864-1943), a native of Sweden who had come to America in 1872. In 1898 the Delaneys were living in Salt Lake City, Utah when John left to prospect for gold in the watershed of the Yukon River. After traveling north via Portland, Seattle, and Victoria to Fort Wrangell in southern Alaska, Delaney made three separate trips into the interior over the next 19 months. In the spring of 1898 he journeyed on foot from Fort Wrangell to Lake Teslin and thence to the headwaters of the Big Salmon River in southeast Yukon Territory, ultimately returning for lack of food. In July 1898 he again journeyed to the Big Salmon, and continued down the Yukon River by steamer, across Alaska to Cape Nome on the Bering Sea (where placer depoits of gold were discovered that very summer). After wintering at Fort Wrangell, Delaney made a third trip to the Big Salmon, and again passed down the Yukon, working for wages and prospecting around Circle City in Alaska in the summer of 1899. He then continued on to Cape Nome, working and prospecting there. By September 1899 Delaney was in Seattle, and by December, at Salt Lake, planning a new prospecting venture to Cape Nome. Delaney seems to have been tougher and more knowledgeable than most, but ultimately lacked the capital, and material resources, to make his various claims pay (at least on this trip). Initially optimistic of his prospects for making good money, he came to believe that "the stories of so much Gold Coming out is a Lie got up by Railroads and steamboat Lines." By the time of the 1900 census Delaney had moved his family to Seattle, and was presumably back in Alaska. In later life Delaney settled in Blyn, Clallam County, Washington, where by 1920 he was running a grocery store. He died before 1930.

Extent

38 folders; (1 container)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

A group of 38 manuscript personal letters of John F. Delaney, chronicling his experiences as a gold prospector in the Yukon and Alaska, 1898-1899.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged chronologically, with one item per folder.

Title
John F. Delaney Letters
Status
Completed
Author
Mairead O'Malley and George Rugg
Date
2012
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the University of Notre Dame Rare Books & Special Collections Repository

Contact:
102 Hesburgh Library
Notre Dame IN 46556
574-631-0290