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In 1852, William Moore and his family left San Francisco on the [[brig]] ''Tepic'' for the [[Queen Charlotte Islands]] where gold had been discovered on [[Moresby Island]]. |
In 1852, William Moore and his family left San Francisco on the [[brig]] ''Tepic'' for the [[Queen Charlotte Islands]] where gold had been discovered on [[Moresby Island]]. |
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{{main|Queen Charlottes Gold Rush}} |
{{main|Queen Charlottes Gold Rush}} |
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After a month of fruitless prospecting, the Moores returned to San Francisco. Not one to sit for long, William became intrigued by the wealth of the [[Incas]] and he packed up his wife and son and embarked to [[Peru]] where he purchased a schooner and traded up and down the Peruvian coast. However, Hendrika was frightened by the ongoing [[revolutions]] in Peru and they returned to San Francisco in 1856. Moore purchased property on [[Yerba Buena Island|Goat Island]] and raised goats. Also in 1856, his |
After a month of fruitless prospecting, the Moores returned to San Francisco. Not one to sit for long, William became intrigued by the wealth of the [[Incas]] and he packed up his wife and son and embarked to [[Peru]] where he purchased a schooner and traded up and down the Peruvian coast. In 1854, his second son, William D Moore (Billie) was born at [[Callao]]. However, Hendrika was frightened by the ongoing [[revolutions]] in Peru and they returned to San Francisco in 1856. Moore purchased property on [[Yerba Buena Island|Goat Island]] and raised goats. Also in 1856, his third child, daughter Henrietta, was born. |
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==British Columbia== |
==British Columbia== |
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===Fraser Canyon Gold Rush=== |
===Fraser Canyon Gold Rush=== |
Revision as of 09:02, 16 May 2007
William Moore was a steamship captain, businessman, miner and explorer in British Columbia and Alaska. During most of British Columbia's gold rushes Moore could be found at the center of activity, either providing transportation to the miners, working claims or delivering mail and supplies. With First Nation's explorer Skookum Jim, Moore discovered the White Pass route to the Klondike Gold Rush and purchased the land that would later become the famous gold rush town of Skagway. Throughout his 87 years, he would father four sons and three daughters and make and lose at least three seperate fortunes. His friends and rivals would give him many nicknames, among them, William "Buddy" Moore and "The Flying Dutchman".
Early Years
William Moore was born in Hanover, Germany on March 30th, 1822. By the age of seven he was sailing on schooners on the North Sea and by age 24, his adventures brought him to New Orleans, Louisiana.
New Orleans and San Francisco
In New Orleans, William Moore married his wife, Hendrika, in 1846 and worked on riverboats on the Mississippi River. In 1948, he served in the Mexican War aboard the USS Lawrence. That same year became a citizen of the United States and he also became of father when his eldest son, John (JW), was born. In 1851 he moved his family to San Francisco, but arrived too late to participate in the California Gold Rush.
Queen Charlotte Islands and Peru
In 1852, William Moore and his family left San Francisco on the brig Tepic for the Queen Charlotte Islands where gold had been discovered on Moresby Island.
After a month of fruitless prospecting, the Moores returned to San Francisco. Not one to sit for long, William became intrigued by the wealth of the Incas and he packed up his wife and son and embarked to Peru where he purchased a schooner and traded up and down the Peruvian coast. In 1854, his second son, William D Moore (Billie) was born at Callao. However, Hendrika was frightened by the ongoing revolutions in Peru and they returned to San Francisco in 1856. Moore purchased property on Goat Island and raised goats. Also in 1856, his third child, daughter Henrietta, was born.
British Columbia
Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
In 1858, William Moore heard the news of the gold discoveries on the Fraser River in British Columbia.
Moore immediately sold his Goat Island property, packed up his livestock (mostly goats) and family on to his schooner and embarked for Victoria where he would build the family home and have a third child, son Henry. Upon his arrival, Moore built a 15 ton barge named Blue Bird. As 30,000 goldseekers poured into what would soon be the colony of British Columbia, Moore made his first fortune, not in mining, but in providing transportation for the miners and delivering their supplies up the Fraser River to Fort Hope. In 1959, he replaced the cumbersome barge with a sternwheeler the Henrietta, built by James Trahey at Victoria and launched in October. To pilot her, Moore hired Captain John Deighton, also known as "Gassy Jack" who would later be renowned as the first resident of Granville, which would become Vancouver. The Henrietta would navigate the Fraser River to Yale in February of 1960, but Moore was soon to replace her with a new and more powerful sternwheeler the Flying Dutchman, which was launched in Victoria in September of 1860. She would operate on the Harrison Lake route between Harrisonmouth and Port Douglas. In 1862, the competiton on the Fraser River was causing rate wars between Moore and his main rival, Captain William Irving, so Moore began looking for greener pastures and soon found one on the river he would be the first to navigate by sternwheeler, the Stikine.
Stikine Gold Rush
When Moore learned of the gold discovery on the Stikine River, he built another barge, the JW Moore and packed up the Flying Dutchman with 60 passengers and towed the barge 300 perilous miles up the coast to Fort Wrangell which lay at the entrance to the Stikine River. Undeterred by the Stikine's reputation for being a dangerous river, Moore took the Flying Dutchman with the JW Moore in tow up to Buck's Bar without incident, making the 140 mile journey in only three days. Having a monopoly on the Stikine, Moore charged $100 a ton for freight, and $20 fare per man, plus a 5 cent per pound baggage fee. Meals and berths were extra. During the 1862 season of navigation he would make a profit $20,000. He returned to Victoria that fall and met his fourth child, daughter Wilhemina.
In 1863, Moore returned the JW Moore and the Flying Dutchman to the Fraser River and, deciding to invest his Stikine fortune, ordered another sternwheeler from James Trahey, the Alexandra which, having two funnels, was styled in the manner of Mississippi paddle steamers and would be the largest steamboat to that date on the Fraser. Moore intended for her to run from Victoria to Yale, connecting with the Flying Dutchman on Harrison Lake, but the Alexandra proved to be too big and expensive to operate and only made a few trips on that route. Moore suffered additional financial hardship as rate wars raged between him and his rival, William Irving, driving steamer fares down to as low as 25 cents for the trip between New Westminster and Yale. The rivalry involved Victoria and New Westminster as well, as Moore was from the former and Irving from the latter. By 1865, Moore had lost the Flying Dutchman and the Alexandra and declared bankruptcy. Moore was not out of business for long, however, and soon purchased another sloop and moved his family and their goats to New Westminster, where Hendrika had their fifth child, son Bernard. Moore than purchased a barge Lady of the Lake, equipped it with sails and renamed it Marcella and ran it from New Westminster through the Puget Sound to Olympia, Washington.
Big Bend Gold Rush
Early in 1866, Moore learned of the gold discoveries at Big Bend and put in a tender for the contract to run steamer service from Savona on Kamloops Lake to Seymour City on Shuswap Lake, but his rival Captain Irving, won the contract. Moore decided to purchase another barge and ran it on that route with his eldest son John. The Big Bend Gold Rush ended shortly afterwards and Moore purchased land in Kamloops and his family, with their omnipresent goats, joined him there, ironically making part of the trip on Captain Irving's sternwheeler, Onward.
Cariboo Gold Rush
Later in that spring of 1866, Moore had already had enough of farming and moved his family up to Barkerville, where he worked as a miner until 1869 when he learned of yet another new gold discovery, this time in the Omineca Country.
Omineca Gold Rush
Cassiar Gold Rush
Alaska
Klondike Gold Rush
In 1900, Moore would make one final prospecting trip, this time to Nome, Alaska, however, he soon returned to Skagway and built a house on Skagway Bay. On top the house he built a room fashioned in the style of a pilot-house where he could look out at the ships in the bay. He died nine years later, in Victoria on March 29th, 1909 at the venerable age of 87.
References
- Captain William Moore BC's Amazing Frontiersman Norman Hacking ISBN 1-895811-02-3
- Paddlewheels on the Frontier Volume One Art Downs ISBN 0888260334