Leroy Napoleon "Jack" McQuesten (1836–1909) was an American pioneer explorer, trader, and prospector in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
and
Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
; he became known as the "Father of the Yukon." Other nicknames included "Yukon Jack," "Captain Jack," "Golden Rule McQuesten," and "Father of Alaska." Together with partners
Arthur Harper and Captain Alfred Mayo, he founded
Fort Reliance
Fort Reliance is an abandoned trading post in the Yukon Territory of Canada. It stands on the east bank of the Yukon River, downstream of the town of Dawson City. The fort was established in 1874 by François Mercier, Jack McQuesten, and Fran ...
and a wide network of trading posts in the Yukon, often providing a grubstake to prospectors. He was the most successful financially of the trio, becoming a multi-millionaire by 1898 and buying a large Victorian mansion for his family when they moved about that time to
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
.
He was the first president of the Alaskan Order of Yukon Pioneers and also belonged to the
Yukon Order of Pioneers
The Yukon Order of Pioneers is a fraternal order founded on December 1, 1894 at Forty Mile, Yukon for the purposes of establishing a police force and a fraternal group whose primary concern would be the welfare, security and well-being of its m ...
. He wrote a memoir, ''Recollections of Leroy N. McQuesten, Life in the Yukon 1871-1885'', which was published posthumously in 1952.
Biography
Leroy Napoleon McQuesten (called "Jack") was born in 1836 in
Litchfield,
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
to a family of Scots-Irish descent. His family moved to Illinois in the 19th-century westward migration, and then to California by the time he was 13. He was there for the
gold rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...
.
McQuesten joined other adventurers in the Yukon, becoming partners with traders
Arthur Harper, an immigrant from northern Ireland, and Alfred Mayo, of Irish descent from
Bangor, Maine
Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121).
Modern Bangor ...
. Together the three founded the trading post of
Fort Reliance
Fort Reliance is an abandoned trading post in the Yukon Territory of Canada. It stands on the east bank of the Yukon River, downstream of the town of Dawson City. The fort was established in 1874 by François Mercier, Jack McQuesten, and Fran ...
in the Yukon. Later,
Dawson City
Dawson City, officially the City of Dawson, is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–99). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest town in Yuko ...
developed six miles upriver of their post. Their post was such a point of reference, that prospectors both up and downriver named creeks and rivers in reference to their distance from Fort Reliance, as in
Sixtymile River
Sixtymile River (also "Sixtymile Creek") (Hän: ''Khel ndek'') is a tributary of the Yukon River, which heads in the U.S. state of Alaska before crossing into Yukon, Canada.
Geography
This stream heads in Alaska and has a length, after crossing in ...
and
Fortymile River.
McQuesten and his two partners each married native
Athabascan
Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific Co ...
women of the
Koyukon people
The Koyukon (russian: Коюконы) are an Alaska Native Athabascan people of the Athabascan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. Their traditional territory is along the Koyukuk and Yukon rivers where they subsisted for thousands of years by ...
, strengthening their ties among the local culture. In 1874 Harper married a young woman he called Jeannine, who had not gone to a mission school and preferred to teach her children traditional ways.
The three trading partners moved to Tanana after 1875, where they set up another trading post near the Athabascan village of Nuklukayet. In 1878 McQuesten married ''Satejdenalno'' (1860–1921). She was from Kokrines village, about 80 miles west. She had attended the Russian mission school, as had her cousin Margaret, whom Mayo married. ''Satejdenalno'' became known as Katherine (or Kate) James McQuesten. Fluent in Koyukon, Russian, and English, she often acted as an intermediary for her husband and his partners in communications with the local natives. She was an important player in their business affairs, and they also had several children together.
["Leroy Napoleon (Jack) McQuesten"](_blank)
Alaska Mining Hall of Fame, accessed 30 June 2014
In 1879, McQuesten was hired by the
Alaska Commercial Company
The Alaska Commercial Company (ACC) is a company that operated retail stores in Alaska during the early period of Alaska's ownership by the United States. From 1901 to 1992, it was known as the Northern Commercial Company (NCC). In 1992, it resumed ...
to manage their trading post. McQuesten had helped found the Alaskan Order of Yukon Pioneers, and was its first elected president. He also belonged to the Yukon Order of Pioneers, as did Mayo. Their motto was the
Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you".
[Gaffin, Jane. (2004) "The Trading Trio of Arthur Harper, Al Mayo, and Jack McQuesten"](_blank)
Diarmani Website, accessed 30 June 2014
In 1894, McQuesten founded
Circle City,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
, which developed the largest log cabin district in the North Country. He and Kate set up the Alaska Commercial Company in town. With the frenzy of the
Klondike gold rush in 1897, he feared food shortages in Circle City and decided to leave Alaska. He bought some mining claims on Eldorado and Bonanza creeks in the Klondike district as late as 1898, and made a profit. The most successful financially of the trading partners with his various ventures, by 1898 he had become a multi-millionaire.
McQuesten resettled with his family in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
, where they purchased a large Victorian mansion for their big family. The youngest several children all attended school there, graduating from Berkeley High School.
He wrote a memoir, ''Recollections of Leroy N. McQuesten, Life in the Yukon 1871-1885'' (1952), which was published posthumously from his original manuscript held by the Yukon Order of Pioneers.
[ Leroy N. McQuesten, ''Recollections of Leroy N. McQuesten, Life in the Yukon 1871-1885''](_blank)
1952 It was reprinted in 1977 by Star Printing of
Whitehorse, Yukon
Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale area ...
.
Leroy N. McQuesten, ''Recollections of Leroy N. McQuesten, Life in the Yukon 1871-1885''
Whitehorse, Yukon: Star Printing, 1977, listed at Zotero
Legacy
*A tributary of the Yukon River
The Yukon River (Gwichʼin language, Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq language, Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag language, Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän language, Hän: ''Tth'echù' ...
is named McQuesten River in his honor.
*A mountain range is named after him.
*An airstrip near Moose Creek on the Klondike Highway is named after him.
*The area is the location of the so-called McQuesten Mineral Belt.
*"Yukon Jack", the 100-proof Canadian whiskey and honey-based liquor, was named after McQuesten.
*He was selected for the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame.
References
Further reading
Gaffin, Jane. (2004) "The Trading Trio of Arthur Harper, Al Mayo, and Jack McQuesten"
Diarmani freelance writers
*Goodrich, H.B., 1897, "History and conditions of the Yukon Gold district to 1897," in, Spurr, J.E., 1897, ''Geology of the Yukon Gold District, Alaska: 18th Annual Report of the U.S. Geological Survey''
McQuesten, Leroy N. (1952) ''Recollections of Leroy N. McQuesten, Life in the Yukon 1871-1885''
*Murphy, Claire Rudolf, and Haigh, Jane G. (1997) ''Gold Rush Women'', Alaska Northwest Publishing
*Webb, Melody. (1985) ''Yukon, the Last Frontier'', University of Nebraska Press
*Wickersham, James. (1938) ''Old Yukon'', Washington D.C.: Washington Law Book Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:McQuesten, Jack
1836 births
1909 deaths
Explorers of North America
History of Yukon
Explorers of Alaska
People from Litchfield, New Hampshire