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| (photo courtesy of Richard Bond and Helen Abbott) |
The photograph above shows Marshall and Louis Bond's cabin in Dawson City. Jack's [London] tent was pitched next to this cabin during his short stay there. The Bond's dog Jack, who became "Buck" of "Call of the Wild" is at the left.
On Facebook, I met Richard Bond who wrote,
I understand my grandfather occasionally encountered your great grandfather [Jefferson Randolph Smith II] around Denver where we owned a ranch from 1872 to 1891 but they were not close.After reading that the Bond's were also in Dawson I wonder if they ran into Soapy on there way into and out of Dawson as well?
You can read more about the Bond's family, Marshall and Louis' adventures in Dawson HERE.
* Richard, thank you very much for sharing this story with us.
Jeff Smith
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I think that the Bonds being focused on making money as mining engineers had left Skagway by the time Soapy arrived. They were part of the group of miners who took over the Skagway government because they felt they were being abused by the packers. This was a group of contractors who got there early had served the fur trade and were getting rich off the miners. The Bonds and other members of the miners junta left because being miners they were looking for someplace they could mine. This left a void in Skagway's town leadership Soapy was very happy to fill.
ReplyDeleteRichard, Thank you for the information and the comments.
ReplyDeleteUntil my book came out, it was commonly believed that Soapy came to Alaska and Skagway many months after the camp had been established. Records show he actually arrived in Alaska in 1896 and in Skagway within 27 days after it's establishment as a port of entry by stampeders. Could this have been a time frame fit for a possible meeting?