George James - North to Alaska

[Mike James]

George James (1861-1925) was the second son of George James and Sarah Montgomery. George's younger brother was William James my great grandfather.

Sometimes before 1880 George moves out of the house in Iowa and studies to become a Civil Engineer/Surveyor.

In 1885 we find him in Snohomish, Washington working as a Surveyor. (In 1884 he climbed Mt. Rainier, that story later)
He married the blacksmith's 17 year old daughter Lillian Ward in 1887, he was 28.

Forward to 1898, Gold is discovered in Nome, Alaska. Soon George joins thousands of fortune seekers and sails out of Seattle, north to Alaska.

Nome grew from a few hundred residents in 1899 to over 10,000 in 1900. It became the most populated city in Alaska

George must of did well. He brings his wife and son Ward to live in Nome.

¹He and his associates own a successful claim along the nearby Ophir Creek.

He then purchases (or builds) the Elite Bath house. This three story building contains baths and rooms to let, heated by large steam boilers. The building is located on the main street right on the waters edge.

I have heard stories of George and Lillian visiting the family in Iowa wearing fine garments and handing out gold nuggets.

The gold rush starts to subside around 1909. George and his family are still doing well and they remain in Nome.

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On the Friday morning of October 5th 1913 the winds start to blow off the Bering Sea. The winds continued to grow stronger until it reached a velocity of 75 miles per hour. Old timer Mr. Cochrane declares it was the worst in the history of the north seas.

George is away, Lillian is managing the Elite Bath. The following is what occurred on Sunday evening as the storm became worst and the Bering Sea began to batter the city.

²"When the storm was at its height, the cry arose that the bulkheads protecting the Elite Bath House and Hotel (a three story building) were gone and the building filled with people was in danger. The inmates were warned to leave at once and the last guest had barely escaped when the building was seen to waiver and then collapse, carrying everything with it into the sea.

The next morning there was nothing to mark the spot where it had stood; the heavy boilers and all had been swept away. Even the largest timbers had been smashed to kindling wood.

Nothing was saved and nothing better serves to show the indomitable spirit of the people of this Northland than the answer of Mr. James when notified of their loss, by his wife over the long distance telephone. “Our building has tumbled into the sea and everything is lost.”

The answer came back “ Don’t worry. As long as it had to go, I’m glad it’s all gone. It will save bothering with a lot of stuff.”

This was from a man who had just lost over $50,000 ($1.2M in 2014 dollars). "

George and Lillian soon returned to the less exciting life in Snohomish to live out the rest of their days.

George and Lillian on the ship from Alaska in 1909.

"That more persons were not killed than actually were due to the fact that the city officials of Nome took the initiative as soon as it was certain that the storm would be a serious one. Sunday evening 100 special officers were sworn in, and commenced to patrol the water front, warning the people in the danger zone, and getting them out of harms way. In this manner the people at the Elite bath house were saved before the building collapsed, but as it was nearly all of them lost their possessions and many of them escaped only in scant attire." http://www3.gendisasters.com/alaska/6697/nome-ak-storm-oct-1913?pag...

1 "Nome and Seward Peninsula : history, description, biographies and s..."
The famous Ophir Creek in the Council District, which probably contains more gold than any other stream in Seward Peninsula, possesses the disadvantage of a lack of grade. The Wild Goose Mining and Trading Company, which has larger holdings on this stream than any other corporation or individual, has constructed one of the largest ditches in the north country for the purpose of working its ground. This company has successfully used hydraulic elevators. George James, of Everett, Washington, and his associates own No. 1 4 Ophir Creek. They have done some excellent and clean work by the use of derrick and shovels operated by steam. I do not know the cost of handling gravel by this method, but the work on No. 1 4 Ophir Creek has been both successful and profitable.

(George later sues The Wild Goose Mining for diverting water from his claim.)

2 Nome’s Big Storm October 5, 1913
By George Schofield, Class of 1916,
Nome High School

[Pamela Jo James King]

Thank you Mike.  The story has been told to us in only a few sentences over the years.  This makes George's story so much more real