John Beaton (August 9, 1875 – June 1945) was a

gold miner Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface ...

and businessman whose discovery of gold in

Flat, Alaska Flat is a census-designated place (CDP) in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the CDP was 0, down from 4 residents in 2000. Its post office closed in January 2004. History Prospectors J ...

, began the

Iditarod Gold Rush The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod, is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome, entirely within the US state of Alaska. Mushers and a team of between 12 a ...

Gold mining

In 1908, Beaton began

prospecting Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. Traditionally prospecting rel ...

near

Iditarod, Alaska Iditarod is an abandoned town in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is presently located within the boundaries of the Flat Census Designated Place, which has no residents as of 2010. History The town of Iditarod ...

, with his partner William A. Dikeman. Following an unavailing summer, they left the camp and drove a steam launch as far up the Iditarod River as they could manage. They beached the boat and built a cabin about south of Iditarod. On Christmas Day 1908, Beaton, Dikeman, and John's brother Murdock struck gold near the head of Otter Creek. By the summer of 1909, news of the find had spread, and other prospectors began to claim the remaining ground around Otter Creek, and founded a nearby camp named

Flat Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

. By the spring of 1910, the boomtown had a population of over 2,000. Otter Creek was eventually found to contain the widest paystreak ever mined in Alaska, and the area became the third-largest Alaskan placer mining site, after Fairbanks and Nome. Around 1937, Beaton sold his claims at Otter Creek, and began dredging on Ganes Creek in the Innoko District until World War II.

Personal life

John Beaton was born on August 9, 1875, to a Scottish

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

family in

Judique, Nova Scotia Judique is an unincorporated place within the Municipality of the County of Inverness on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the site of the Celtic Music Interpretive Centre and a stop on the scenic Ceilidh Trail. The origin of the ...

, Canada. Beaton's grandfather, Angus Beaton, had immigrated to

Pictou, Nova Scotia Pictou ( ; Canadian Gaelic: ''Baile Phiogto'') is a town in Pictou County, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Located on the north shore of Pictou Harbour, the town is approximately 10 km (6 miles) north of the larger town of New Glas ...

from the Isle of Skye in 1801. Beaton left Nova Scotia in 1899 for the Klondike, but found that the Klondike Gold Rush had largely ended. He arrived in Alaska in 1900, and his travels between then and 1908 are uncertain. Not long after the gold discovery at Flat, Beaton returned home to marry Florence MacLennan, a woman from Inverness County, but quickly brought her back to live at the mining camp. In 1918, Florence and two of their children died while passengers of the SS ''Princess Sophia'', which sank en route to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. In 1924, Beaton married Mae, another woman from Nova Scotia. In 1936, Beaton and his family moved to Anchorage. In June 1945, Beaton and two other miners drowned in the Ganes Creek river after driving off of a bridge, apparently because the driver had a heart attack. Beaton is buried in Anchorage Memorial Park. In 2008, Alaska governor Sarah Palin honored his 1908 co-discovery of gold by naming an "Iditarod Gold Discovery Day".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaton, John 1875 births 1945 deaths People from Inverness County, Nova Scotia Gold mining in Alaska Businesspeople from Nova Scotia Canadian Roman Catholics Road incident deaths in Alaska Deaths by drowning in the United States Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian expatriates in the United States