Month: September 2010

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George Herman Miller


Mr. Miller came to Skagway around 1912 and then worked for White Pass as an auditor by 1915. He was born on this day, September 2, 1873 in Canada but by the 1910 census he was living in Maryland, his parents were from Germany. He registered for World War One while here and was still here in 1923. During the Crash he lost everything and was later seen on the streets of Vancouver begging.

So apropos of nothing, here is a picture of a girl wearing a rhubarb leaf.

1920 census; 1915 and 1923 Polk’s directory; WW1 Registration

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“Skagway Bill”


William Clark Fonda arrived on the steamer Alki in 1896. He was said to be the one who broke ground 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.