I Found Gold: Tagish Charlie’s Legacy

I meet George Carmack one time when we fish on the Yukon River . . . one summer near what they call Five Finger Rapids, and because he like Indian people we make good friend. We travel down Yukon River to look for Gold and while water is high we cut logs on place called Rabbit Creek. We cut and float logs to mouth of creek then make raft and float logs to sell at Sawmill in Forty Mile.

When we are on Rabbit Creek we find some gold but not too much, water is too high.

Later that summer is very dry so water is pretty low so we stay at mouth of Trondyke [Klondike] to catch and dry salmon, for the next winter food.

One day this man they call Bob Henderson he stop at our camp and tell us he has found Gold on Creek he call Gold Bottom, he say come and stake claims there but claims not for Indians.

A few days after he leave George Carmack our friend who live with us say, come Charlie, Jim, we go and see this Creek Henderson talk about, not much to do, so we go up Rabbit Creek then over Ridge to Henderson’s Creek, pretty hard to walk because country pretty rough. When we get there, he don’t like that Indian stake too, we also short of tobacco and he don’t want to give us, this make us feel bad, but before we leave everything alright so we leave good friends.

He tell us you find better pay here, you send someone and tell me, so I can stake, so we say we will do that.

We follow ridge going back. It’s easier to walk, then when we get hungry we go down to Creek for water and to make fire to eat.

We cook Bannock and have dried Salmon for meal, and while other people lay down to rest I go to Creek and put sand in frying pan to wash out grease. I am washing frying pan and I see some Gold, so I say, hey, George, Jim, I find some gold, so they come down with Gold pan, and sure we have found good Gold.

So George, he say, let us stake claims so we cut stakes and George he write on posts George Carmack Discovery Claim, Skookum Jim one above, and Tagish Charley two below, Skookum Jim put his mark and I put my mark on posts, because Indian don’t understand how to write white man’s language.

Now we say who will go to tell Henderson we find better Gold, and no one want to go, so we figure we will go to Forty Mile and fix our Claims then someone can tell Bob Henderson, so that is how we do.

When we come back to claims on Rabbit Creek, lots of white men come too and stake so we dig and find lots of Gold, we rich Indian now with white man’s Gold, so we don’t tell Henderson, we all too busy, so when he come in October and find rich diggings on Creek they call Bonanza now not Rabbit Creek, he’s feel pretty mad, and we feel sorry, but we have lots of Gold so we are not too sorry.

For long time everybody know Tagish Charlie and Skookum Jim, we big Chiefs, these boys find the Gold everybody say. We go to Dawson with big poke of Gold they treat us just the same as white men we buy white man’s Whiskey, treat everybody, then go to Claim dig out more Gold, oh that’s good time.

But after while Gold is not so easy, and soon Gold is gone for Charlie, so white man buy Charlie’s Claim, and still while there is money Charlie buy white man’s booze, pretty soon no more Gold, no more Claim, no more money, so Charlie is no more big Chief but just one Siwash Indian again.

Sometimes get put in jail for drinking firewater, sometimes fall asleep in the bush, lot of time get very sick, but all Charlie’s money spent for booze.

Finally Charlie pretty sick so he go home to Carcross to live with his people and tonight I go to Saloon just one more time then I quit to drink, just tonight, tomorrow no more drink. Tomorrow I tell you more story.

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But Tagish Charlie’s story end, for that fateful night in the early 1930’s [sic] our hero of this story slipped while crossing the Bridge [at Carcross] and was found drowned in Lake Bennett.

Source: Art Fry, "I Found Gold: Tagish Charlie’s Legacy" (Whitehorse: Yukon Lottery Commission: The Tagish Charlie Sport Fund, n.d.)

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