William Clark Fonda

(Click image to enlarge)

The Prospector

Statue in front of the Alaska Pioneer Home, Sitka

Our friend Marlene over at the Skagway Historical Society blog posted the following story.

William Clark Fonda arrived on the steamer Alki in 1896. He was the one who broke ground for White Pass on October 18, 1897 and he then worked for White Pass as a laborer and was later on the famous "Committee of 101".

He is the model for the statue in front of the Pioneer's home in Sitka which opened in 1913. He sent letters home from 1896-1909.

Skagway Bill was born in 1858 in Glen, New York and died on this day, September 1, 1938 in Olympia, Washington.

fonda.org; Pennington page 350.

Although my book focuses on the verbal leaders of the vigilante committee of 101 as power hungry peers of the Soap Gang, it is obvious that not all of them were bad man bent only on gaining power for their own purposes and or profit.

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