The fulfillment of over 3 decades long dream for Abraham Parker to prospect for gold in Porcupine, Alaska. Click on title for story...

Abraham Parker took ill in Gustavus, Alaska in the early thirties (about 1933) and could not seem to recover from a stomach/respiratory problem . His daughter Eunice Cliff (living in the Northwest) made travel arrangements and he was hospitalized in Portland, Oregon for 2-3 months. Abraham was discouraged at his inability to get well. He felt his chances of realizing his dream, nursed since the early 1900's (and during his Skagway years where he met and talked with Jack Dalton a number of times) of prospecting in the Porcupine region, would now never materialize.

Porcupine was a long ways away--thirty odd miles or so west of Haines, Alaska. And homesteading in Gustavus, Alaska with the continual, non-stop work of building structures,  meeting agricultural challenges, raising cattle, operating a lumber mill, etc. had left him little time or energy.  Not to mention, time was moving on. Not only was he ill, he was no longer a young man being 67 years old. 

Still, from his Klondike Gold Rush Trail days (1898/9), and subsequent prospecting and finding gold near Atlin (the claim was taken away because of government regulations at the time) he never gave up hope. He often expressed the desire that he would live to see the day that the region that proved so fruitful for some of the stampeders, over which he had sacrificed and labored so long and hard, would still prove to be a "goldmine" for his own family and sons. He wanted the chance to go back, anyway, one last time. And there was one particular area he wished to try. So when his son Leslie Parker visited his bedside in Portland, Oregon, Les promised his father that if he would just get well, they would go together to Porcupine and fulfill his dreams of finding that goldmine.

Abraham improved, and upon returning to Gustavus preparations were made to do just that. The Porcupine area had had a series of devastating floods and mudslides since the goldrush days, and many commercial operations in the Porcupine District had been constructed and wiped out. Yet the Parkers heard continued reports of gold a plenty. And the timing was right.

In 1936 the Porcupine District was no longer under the claims of primarily one man, and was open once again for individual prospectors to come give it a try. It was quite a challenge. It would be a long trip and getting there would not be easy. Supplies were gathered and loaded by boat, and camping equipment and prospector gear forded on the Klehini River.

Abraham's brother Fred went along (a gold-seeker himself) and this photo is of Les and his uncle "Fred" Parker.  There may have been several others along on the venture, but no gold worth any measure was found.  Abraham was satisfied and grateful that he had the chance to fulfill his dream of prospecting in Porcupine--a dream he had held onto for almost 40 years.

Later, he and Les would prospect together in Lisianski Inlet and other locations along the outer coast but found nothing of any consequence. In 1937 Les & Abraham prospected in Glacier Bay and each staked claims to which they were returning to in 1938 when Les spotted a rich vein of gold. New claims were staked, and that is the beginning of the story (told elsewhere throughout these pages) of the Leroy Mine in Johns Hopkins Inlet, Glacier Bay, Alaska.

The fulfillment of over 3 decades long dream for Abraham Parker to prospect for gold in Porcupine, Alaska. Click on title for story...

Abraham Parker took ill in Gustavus, Alaska in the early thirties (about 1933) and could not seem to recover from a stomach/respiratory problem . His daughter Eunice Cliff (living in the Northwest) made travel arrangements and he was hospitalized in Portland, Oregon for 2-3 months. Abraham was discouraged at his inability to get well. He felt his chances of realizing his dream, nursed since the early 1900's (and during his Skagway years where he met and talked with Jack Dalton a number of times) of prospecting in the Porcupine region, would now never materialize.

Porcupine was a long ways away--thirty odd miles or so west of Haines, Alaska. And homesteading in Gustavus, Alaska with the continual, non-stop work of building structures,  meeting agricultural challenges, raising cattle, operating a lumber mill, etc. had left him little time or energy.  Not to mention, time was moving on. Not only was he ill, he was no longer a young man being 67 years old. 

Still, from his Klondike Gold Rush Trail days (1898/9), and subsequent prospecting and finding gold near Atlin (the claim was taken away because of government regulations at the time) he never gave up hope. He often expressed the desire that he would live to see the day that the region that proved so fruitful for some of the stampeders, over which he had sacrificed and labored so long and hard, would still prove to be a "goldmine" for his own family and sons. He wanted the chance to go back, anyway, one last time. And there was one particular area he wished to try. So when his son Leslie Parker visited his bedside in Portland, Oregon, Les promised his father that if he would just get well, they would go together to Porcupine and fulfill his dreams of finding that goldmine.

Abraham improved, and upon returning to Gustavus preparations were made to do just that. The Porcupine area had had a series of devastating floods and mudslides since the goldrush days, and many commercial operations in the Porcupine District had been constructed and wiped out. Yet the Parkers heard continued reports of gold a plenty. And the timing was right.

In 1936 the Porcupine District was no longer under the claims of primarily one man, and was open once again for individual prospectors to come give it a try. It was quite a challenge. It would be a long trip and getting there would not be easy. Supplies were gathered and loaded by boat, and camping equipment and prospector gear forded on the Klehini River.

Abraham's brother Fred went along (a gold-seeker himself) and this photo is of Les and his uncle "Fred" Parker.  There may have been several others along on the venture, but no gold worth any measure was found.  Abraham was satisfied and grateful that he had the chance to fulfill his dream of prospecting in Porcupine--a dream he had held onto for almost 40 years.

Later, he and Les would prospect together in Lisianski Inlet and other locations along the outer coast but found nothing of any consequence. In 1937 Les & Abraham prospected in Glacier Bay and each staked claims to which they were returning to in 1938 when Les spotted a rich vein of gold. New claims were staked, and that is the beginning of the story (told elsewhere throughout these pages) of the Leroy Mine in Johns Hopkins Inlet, Glacier Bay, Alaska.