Jafet Lindeberg: Difference between revisions
Soulkeeper (talk | contribs) →The Three Lucky Swedes: During a visit to Norway, Lindeberg convinced his old friend Leonhard Seppala to come work for him in America. Seppala later became a renowned musher, a hero of th |
m Unlinking full-dates. Details here. Codes: AMreg(×1) |
||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
In the autumn of 1897, the American congress decided to send help to the gold miners in [[Klondike, Yukon|Klondike]]. The [[Klondike Gold Rush|gold rush]] had escalated. Thousands of people rallied to the area, most of them completely unfamiliar with the harsh climate. |
In the autumn of 1897, the American congress decided to send help to the gold miners in [[Klondike, Yukon|Klondike]]. The [[Klondike Gold Rush|gold rush]] had escalated. Thousands of people rallied to the area, most of them completely unfamiliar with the harsh climate. |
||
The authorities feared a humanitarian disaster, with [[famine]], [[epidemic]]s and lawless conditions. It was difficult to send supplies. |
The authorities feared a humanitarian disaster, with [[famine]], [[epidemic]]s and lawless conditions. It was difficult to send supplies. |
||
It was therefore decided that [[reindeer]] and able keepers were to be shipped from Norway to Klondike. Reindeer were known as versatile animals, that could be used for food, clothing and transport. On |
It was therefore decided that [[reindeer]] and able keepers were to be shipped from Norway to Klondike. Reindeer were known as versatile animals, that could be used for food, clothing and transport. On February 4, 1898, Lindeberg left [[Alta]] with the ship [[Manitoba (disambiguation)|Manitoba]], heading for [[New York]]. He had been hired as a reindeer keeper. There were 113 people, 535 reindeer, and 250 tons of [[Cladonia rangiferina|reindeer lichen]] on the ship. Upon arriving, he learned that the crisis was not as big as anticipated, and he was freed from his contract.<ref>''The Nome Gold Rush'' (by Larry Gedney. Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks)[http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF7/729.html]</ref> |
||
==The Three Lucky Swedes== |
==The Three Lucky Swedes== |
||
Revision as of 07:12, 5 December 2009
Jafet Lindeberg (September 12, 1873 - November 1962) was a gold prospector and co-founder of the city of Nome, Alaska.
Background
Jafet Lindeberg came from Kvænangen, Troms county, in Norway.
The Nome Gold Rush
In the autumn of 1897, the American congress decided to send help to the gold miners in Klondike. The gold rush had escalated. Thousands of people rallied to the area, most of them completely unfamiliar with the harsh climate. The authorities feared a humanitarian disaster, with famine, epidemics and lawless conditions. It was difficult to send supplies. It was therefore decided that reindeer and able keepers were to be shipped from Norway to Klondike. Reindeer were known as versatile animals, that could be used for food, clothing and transport. On February 4, 1898, Lindeberg left Alta with the ship Manitoba, heading for New York. He had been hired as a reindeer keeper. There were 113 people, 535 reindeer, and 250 tons of reindeer lichen on the ship. Upon arriving, he learned that the crisis was not as big as anticipated, and he was freed from his contract.[1]
The Three Lucky Swedes
On the Seward peninsula at the Bering Strait he met the Swedish immigrants Erik Lindblom and John Brynteson. The three formed the mining firm, Pioneer Mining Company. Lindeberg was elected president of the new venture. The three partners also founded the city of Nome, where they later made a big find of gold. The rumors about "The Three Lucky Swedes" spread quickly. The following year, Nome experienced a gold rush similar to the Klondike rush.[2]
Late-comers tried to “jump” the claims of the Pioneer Mining Company by filing mining claims over the same ground. A federal judge ruled that the Pioneer Mining Company claims were valid, but some of the claim jumpers gave partial interests in their claims to Washington politicians, who engineered the naming of their own federal judge, Arthur Noyes, to the Nome region. Noyes handed the Pioneer claims over to the claim jumpers, but after Noyes left Nome in disgrace, Lindeberg joined a group of masked vigilantes to seize their properties back from the claim jumpers.[3]
The claim-jumping incident was the basis for Rex Beach’s best-selling novel The Spoilers, which was made into a stage play and five times into movies. Japhet Lindeberg lived long enough to see the character based on himself played on the big screen by John Wayne, although Lindeberg modestly said that he didn’t see much resemblance between himself and Wayne’s character in The Spoilers.[4]
During a visit to Norway, Lindeberg convinced his old friend Leonhard Seppala to come work for him in America. Seppala later became a renowned musher, a hero of the 1925 serum run to Nome, and the foremost breeder of Siberian Husky of his time.
Legacy
- A statue of Jafet Lindeberg, together with Erik Lindblom and John Brynteson stands in Nome, Alaska.
- Jafet Lindeberg, Erik Lindblom and John Brynteson are all listed in the Alaskan Mining Hall of Fame [5]
See also
References
- ^ The Nome Gold Rush (by Larry Gedney. Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks)[1]
- ^ Jafet Lindeberg, president of the Pioneer Mining Company (Biographies of Nome, Alaska)[2]
- ^ A Hole in the Ground with a Liar at the Top (by Dan Plazak. Salt Lake: University of Utah Press, 2006)
- ^ The Spoilers. 1942 (New York Times Review) [3]
- ^ Members by Induction Date (Alaska Mining Hall of Fame Foundation) [4]
Additional Sources
- Harrison, Edward Sanford Nome and Seward Peninsula ( E.S. Harrison. 1905)
External links
- Photographs of Jafet Lindeberg and Nome, Alaska
- Discoverers of the Nome Gold Fields in 1898: John Brynteson, Jafet Lindeberg, and E.O. Lindblom
Category:Norwegian-American businesspeople