Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Frederick Bear Papers, 1854-1900
Overview of the Collection
- Title
- Frederick Bear Papers
- Dates
- 1854-1900 (inclusive)18541900
- Quantity
- 0.5 linear feet, (1 box)
- Collection Number
- MSS 009
- Summary
- Transcripts of Bear's diaries (1894-1899) recounting his experiences prospecting for gold in the upper Yukon River region of Alaska and Canada; together with photocopies of letters (1888-1896) from Bear to family members in Wisconsin, written from Kitsap County, Washington, and 40 Mile Post, Alaska; papers (1899-1900) relating to the settlement of his estate; and transcript of a letter (1854) to Switzerland by a Swiss immigrant describing her family's trans-Atlantic voyage.
- Repository
-
Boise State University Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
1910 University Drive
Boise ID
83725
Telephone: 2084263990
archives@boisestate.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Collection is available for research.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided, in part, by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Frederick Bear was a miner in Alaska and the Yukon in the 1890s. Originally from Waumandee, Wisconsin, he went to Kitsap County, Washington, in the 1880s. Bear lived in Washington until May 1894, when he sailed for Alaska. For the next five years he mined in the upper Yukon River region of Alaska and the Yukon (Canada), on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border. His claims were on American and Boundary Creeks in Alaska (not far from the settlement of Forty Mile, Yukon) and on Bear Creek in the Klondike region of the Yukon. Frederick Bear died on September 28, 1899, at Fort St. Michael, Alaska. Another biographical sketch, with information that came from the donors of the collection, is attached.
Bear's family later spelled their name Baer. His last name occasionally appears in that form too.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
This collection consists principally of typewritten transcripts of Bear's diaries from January 1, 1894, until a few days before his death. The donors retained the original diaries. In short, terse daily entries, Bear records his day's work, social activities, hunting experiences, travels, and visits to Forty Mile and Dawson, Yukon, and Eagle and Circle, Alaska. The collection also contains photocopies of six letters Bear wrote home from Washington and two from Alaska. He jokes about his search for paradise, but concludes that neither Washington nor Alaska fit the bill. In a letter dated April 25, 1894, from Port Orchard, Washington, Bear outlines the reasons (chiefly economic) for going to Alaska.
Also contained within the collection are letters pertaining to Bear's death and estate and a typewritten transcript of a letter (1854) written by a Swiss immigrant describing in detail her family's trans-Atlantic voyage.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Preferred Citation
[item description], Frederick Bear Papers, Box [number] Folder [number], Boise State University Special Collections and Archives.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Acquisition Information
Gift of Kathleen Anderson Price, Boise, Idaho, 1974
Related Materials
The book, Gold at Fortymile Creek: Early Days in the Yukon by Michael Gates (University of British Columbia Press, 1994), discusses the experiences of the miners in the Forty Mile region in the 1890s and contains several helpful maps. Bear's name is listed in an appendix of early pioneers. Gates characterizes Forty Mile as "an American town on Canadian soil" (p. 43). Indeed, a map with the collection (1887) places Forty Mile on the American side of the border. It was not until a year later that the exact location of the 141st meridian (the border) was established.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | ||
| 1 | 1 | Portrait | |
| 1 | 2 | Letters (Photocopies) | 1888-1896 |
| 1 | 3-8 | Diary (Typewritten transcript) | 1894-1899 |
| 1 | 9 | Estate papers | l899-1900 |
| 1 | 10 | Miscellaneous | |
| 1 | 11 | Miner's Map of the Yukon (photo) | 1887 |
| 1 | 12 | Immigrant's letter (transcript) | 1854 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Emigration and immigration
- Gold mines and mining
- Mines and Mineral Resources
- Ocean travel
- Swiss Americans
- Travel
Geographical Names
- Atlantic Ocean
- Klondike River Valley (Yukon)
