GOLD DISCOVERED ALONG THE NOME RIVER
(Alaska Gold Rush) George Cleary & James Harris. Handwritten description of their Alaska gold mining claim along the Nome River, filed and recorded in August 1902.
“We the Undersigned and Citizens of the United States have discovered gold in the ground hereafter described and hereby claim for placer mining purposes in accordance with the laws of the U.S. 40 acres situated on Nome River, a tributary of Behring Sea in the Cape Nome Mining District, District
of Alaska to be known as the “Dora” Bench Claim and described as follows; Commencing at the initial Stake which is situated at the North Westerly River and running thence 1320 feet down Stream and parallel as to general Course of Stream to Corner Stake No.1, thence 1320 feet in an Easterly direction at right angle to stake No. 2, thence 1320 feet in a Northerly direction parallel to general Course of Stream to Stake No. 3, thence 1320 feet in a westerly direction to the place of beginning the initial Stake upon which is posted a copy of this notice. Located July 14th, 1902.
George Cleary
James Harrison
Witnesses
T.J. Hubbard
W.H. Carson
“At request of J. G. Pacey /Filed for record
this 21 day of Aug 1902, and recorded in book 105 of 544 / T.
M. Reed, Recorder / By E. Whithard, Deputy.”
Docketed on the back side with a purple ink stamp filled in by hand: “At request of J. G. Pacey /Filed for record this 21 day of Aug 1902, and recorded in book 105 of 544 / T. M. Reed, Recorder / By E. Whithard, Deputy.”
Nome River empties into the Bering Sea less than four miles down the coast from Nome, Alaska. The discovery of gold in 1898 on the beaches all around Nome created the second major Alaska gold rush, the Klondike being the first. Tracking down names of miners who had a habit of quickly moving on if their claims didn’t bear sufficient gold for the work invested is difficult. It may be that James Harris was the James Madison Harris (1857-1933) who left Fresno County, California in April 1898 for the Alaska gold fields, first into the Yukon near Dawson, then on to Nome in 1900. His “Find A Grave” citation online states that after arriving in Nome, “He filed on promising claims that did not pan out. He continued to prospect for gold in the Tanana region, Ester Creek, Nebesna and the Kenai peninsula until the early 1920’s.” He returned to California in the 1920s where he joined his family-run apple orchard near Napa. When he died in 1933, he was living near Cordelia Junction in Solano County, California. (Source: Find A Grave)
Single sheet measuring 8.5 x 11 inches. Folded, very legible and in vg cond.