Guide to the Alaska Mining and Prospecting Company Records
1897-1901

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Table of Contents
  Overview of the Collection
   
  Historical Note
   
  Content Description
   
Use of the Collection
   
Administrative Information
   
Detailed Description of the Collection

 

Records

  Subjects

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co.
Title: Alaska Mining and Prospecting Company Records
Dates: 1897-1901 ( inclusive )
Quantity: 1 linear feet (2 containers)
Location of Collection: Collection is located with other small manuscript collections.
Collection Number: Bx 001
Summary: The Alaska Mining and Prospecting Company records contain the correspondence between Andrew Sherwood and the Alaska Mining and Prospecting Company. The letters concern an expedition to Alaska in search of gold. The collection also contains printed matter and maps concerning the expedition. Finally, it contains two journals by Andrew Sherwood spanning the time of the expedition.
Repository: University of Oregon Libraries
Special Collections & University Archives

1299 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1299
URL: http://libweb.uoregon.edu/speccoll/index.html

Languages: Collection materials are in English. 
Sponsor: Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Historical Note

The Alaska Mining and Prospect Company was formed in Elmira, New York in 1897 and incorporated on December 24, 1987 in Colorado. Sale of stock in the company was to support and expedition to the Klondike to locate and mine gold. The president of the company was John M. Dixon of Elmira. Andrew Sherwood, geologist from Mansfield, PA, was hired to lead a party of prospectors and miners. The group left in May 1898 and reached the Klondike via the Teslin Trail. They wintered in Wrangell and returned to the stated in the spring having located no mines and extracted only a few samples of gold. Andrew Sherwood and his son, Hugh, later settled in Portland, Oregon.

Content Description

The Alaska Mining and Prospecting Company records consist of correspondence and other documents that reflect the Company's expedition to the Klondike. The first box primarily consists of correspondence. The letters present are company letters both to and from Andrew Sherwood, the general manager of the company and leader of the Alaskan expedition. The subject of the letters range from the sale of stock for the funding of the expedition to the selection of the ten members to the preparations for the expedition. There are also letters concerning the status of the expedition both to and from Sherwood. In addition to correspondence, the first box contains reports about the status of the expedition written by Sherwood to John Diven, secretary of the company. The first box also contains letters written by Sherwood to various newspapers promoting the expedition and the sale of stock.

Besides correspondence, the first box also contains the articles of incorporation and the by-laws for the Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co., the bonds and agreements for the members of the expedition and various printed material concerning the sale of stock and the generation of funds. There are also three photographs present in the collection of the expedition. The first box concludes with newspaper clippings concerning the company and the expedition and a book about the genealogy of the Sherwood family, written by Andrew Sherwood.

The second box contains journals by Hugh M. Sherwood. The journals are in five volumes and range in dates from May 17, 1898 to September 9, 1899. After the journals are maps taken on the expedition which label trails, coal and gold deposits and various travel maps. The conclusion of the box contains various magazines and publications concerning Alaska and the Yukon area. The dates range from 1897 to 1912.

The Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co. Records is a small collection, as the Company was primarily concerned with the expedition to Alaska and its only endeavor. The collection lacks any financial records or meeting minutes by the stockholders or board of directors.

Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Access :  

Collection is open to the public.

Collection must be used in Special Collections & University Archives Reading Room.

Restrictions on Use :  

Property rights reside with Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to the Manuscripts Librarian in Special Collections & University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation :  

[Identification of item], Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co. records, Bx 001, Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.

Administrative Information

Arrangement :

Collection is organized into one series: Records.

Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Records
Container(s)
Description
Dates
Box
Folder
1 1 Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co. Letters 1897
1 2 Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co. Letters January 1898-March 1898
1 3 Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co. Letters April 1898-December 1898
1 4 Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co. Letters 1899-1901
1 5 Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co. Reports by Andrew Sherwood to John Diven, secretary. 6 reports
1 6 Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co. Letters of Andrew Sherwood to newspapers, describing expedition
1 7 Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co. Articles of Incorporation, by-laws, agreements
1 8 Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co. Broadsides and printed matter
1 9 Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co. Clippings
1 10 Sherwood, Andrew. Daniel L. Sherwood and his Paternal Ancestors. Portland: Ryder Printing Co. 1929
2 1 Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co. Diaries of Hugh M. Sherwood, five (5) volumes 1898-1899
2 2 Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co. Trial maps, General maps
2 3 Alaska-Yukon Magazine, vol. 8 no. 3 June 1909
2 4 Pacific Monthly June 1906
2 5 The Strand Magazine vol. 14 November 1897
2 6 The Alaska Club's Almanac 1906
2 7 Songs Sacred and Sentimental, by Andrew Sherwood
2 8 Alaska-Yukon Magazine, vol. 10, no 2. July 1910
2 9 The Outlook January 14, 1899
2 10 Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition, Seattle June 1, 1909-October 16, 1909
2 11 The Finding of an Empire
2 12 Alaska-Yukon Magazine, vol. 4, no. 1 September 1907
2 13 Alaska-Yukon Magazine, vol. 10, no. 1 June 1910
2 14 A Trip to Wonderful Alaska
2 15 Alaska-Yukon Magazine, vol. 13, no. 3 July 1912
2 16 Overland Monthly, vol. 30, no. 178 October 1897
2 17 Maps of Pacific Coast Steamship Co. Routes
2 18 The Alaska Indian Mythology
2 19 Canadian Pacific Railway March 13, 1899
2 20 Canadian Pacific Railway Annotated Timetable January 9, 1899

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Subjects

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

  • Corporate Names :
  • Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co.--Records and correspondence
  • Alaska Mining and Prospecting Co.--Travel
  • Personal Names :
  • Diven, John M
  • Diven, John M
  • Sherwood, Andrew
  • Sherwood, Hugh M
  • Family Names :
  • Sherwood family
  • Subject Terms :
  • Gold mines and mining--Yukon Territory--Klondike River Valley
  • Form or Genre Terms :
  • Diaries
  • Familiy histories
  • Maps
  • Titles within the Collection :
  • Alaska-Yukon magazine

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    Finding aid prepared by Jenny Palm
    ©2004