author
Joseph Ladue
1855–1900
Drawn west by adventure and opportunity, this prospector-turned-entrepreneur became one of the key figures of the Klondike Gold Rush. He is best remembered as the founder of Dawson City, a boomtown that quickly became the commercial heart of the Yukon.
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About the author
Born in Schuyler Falls, New York, in 1855, Joseph Francis Ladue headed west as a young man after his parents died. He worked a string of frontier jobs before making his way north, where he prospected in Alaska and the Yukon during the great gold rush era.
Ladue is most closely linked with the founding of Dawson City. In 1896, after gold was discovered in the Klondike, he staked a townsite at the mouth of the Klondike and Yukon rivers and quickly began selling lots and building businesses. His timing and business instincts helped turn a rough camp into one of the most famous towns of the gold rush.
He also wrote about the North, including Klondyke Nuggets in 1897, giving readers a first-hand look at the rush that had made him famous. Ladue died in 1901, but his name remains closely tied to the early history of Dawson and the dramatic story of the Klondike.