…..several thousand stampeders reached the Chisana district between July and October 1913. Fletcher T. Hamshaw, for example, was one of the earliest arrivals. The well known mineral developer and his sixteen-man crew were prospecting for copper on the upper White River when they first heard news of the (gold) strike. An aggressive entrepreneur, Hamshaw used whatever means were necessary to acquire such potentially valuable ground, including employing members of his "former" crew to locate claims.
Local prospectors objected to the practice, arguing that Hamshaw was attempting to monopolize the area by evading the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. Hamshaw, however, denied any wrongdoing:
When we left North Fork Island to go to the strike, all of my men were discharged and paid off, and all went to the diggings and staked for themselves, except my engineers, packers, and cooks. Anyone of these whose claims were purchased by me was paid for his claims the same as though I had bought them from any other person.
Hamshaw initially staked the mouth of Bonanza Creek, but abandoned the site when he failed to locate any productive ground. Moving his outfit down Chathenda Creek, he next tried a bench claim where he was equally unsuccessful. Hamshaw also prospected Chavolda Creek, ground-sluicing near the mouth of Big Eldorado Creek.
Left: A History of the Chisana Mining District, Alaska 1890-1990 produced by the National Park Service. An excerpt from the book, which mentions Fletcher Hamshaw, appears below;
Three photos from the book; upper right is a 1914 photo, lower right shows Fletcher Hamshaw's camp and the photo above shows Fletcher and wife Maggie in front of a camp house in 1915.
The body of Fletcher T. Hamshaw, member of a pioneer Portland family, who died in Rochester, Minn, Sunday, will be brought here for burial today. Graveside services will be held in Lone Fir cemetery with Dr. Robert Frederick Elliott in charge. Mr. Hamshaw, well-known as an engineer and inventor in Alaska was born August 23, 1863, in Athens, O. He was the son of Rev. and Mrs. Thomas Hamshaw, pioneer family of Portland, and is survived by his widow, Mrs. Margaret Frost Hamshaw of Los Angeles; three daughters, Mrs. Evelyn H. Duncan of Chehallis, Wash.; Mrs. Lenore H. Hertel of Everett, Wash., and Miss Greta M. Hamshaw of Los Angeles; two sisters, Mrs. Elizabeth H. Leonard of Portland and Mrs. Emma H. Dorman of Paola, Kan.; a brother, C. M. Hamshaw of Denver, Colo., and three grandchildren.
Obituary - Fletcher Thomas Hamshaw - from a Portland, Oregon newspaper November 1933
The second Mrs. Hamshaw
Margaret Grace Hannah Frost
b. May 20, 1873 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
d. January 21, 1950 Orange Co., California
Fletcher and "Maggie" were married
January 30, 1899 in Portland, Oregon
