With so many struggling to get to the Klondike gold fields, like those seen here in Dyea in 1898, stampeders often pulled pranks on their fellow travelers to lighten the mental load they carried with them on their arduous trek.
The Klondike gold rush, a pivotal moment in Alaska's history, is often associated with tales of hardship, adventure, and the pursuit of fortune. But recent research has uncovered a lesser-known aspect of this era: the prevalence of practical jokes among the prospectors and settlers-and not only on April Fools' Day.
Practical jokes and pranks were a common way for miners and settlers to find amusement and pass the long hours of toil and hardship. The monotonous routine of mining life and the extreme living conditions made mischievous antics a welcome diversion. Most prospectors were completely unprepared and inexperienced for the brutal realities of life in the harsh wilderness. Lack of proper supplies, shelter, and skills made mere survival an immense challenge, not to mention rancid food, mosquito plagues, and miserable traveling conditions that miners had to endure while prospecting.
Christopher Petrakos, a historian and assistant professor at the University of Toronto Mississauga, has delved into the humorous anecdotes and practical jokes that were commonplace during the gold rush era. Travelers into the Klondike region were "constant pranksters," he wrote in a paper for the journal Studies in American Humor. "Published and unpublished travel narratives were, surprisingly, meant to be funny."
For instance, surveyor and government official William Ogilvie wrote about the frequency of jokes played on one another, both individually and collectively. A classic example involved seasoned miners pulling the leg of newcomers with outlandish tall tales. Ogilvie recounts stories of miners describing mosquitos so strong they could kill a bear or dog, or even carry off a man.
Popular pranks of the time included tampering with someone's bed by filling the mattress with snow or rocks, putting salt in a sugar bowl, or replacing coffee grounds with dirt. And old-timers sometimes convinced naïve newcomers to search for a "gold-weighing machine" or send them to find a "left-handed snow shovel."
Religious figures were not exempt from pranks, either. Reverend R.J. Bowen, one of the first Anglican missionaries in the area, fell victim to a practical joke shortly after his arrival. The miners, unsure of what to make of the young minister, decided to haze him by clogging up his stovepipe.
Bowen's good-natured reaction to the prank as he stumbled out of his quarters in a cloud of smoke helped cement his place in the community and create important connections with his "fellow jokers." In his memoir, Bowen reflected on this experience, writing that "men are developed -they either go under or develop sufficiently to bear the strain of ridicule."
Wealthy miners, like "Swiftwater" Bill Gates, pulled pranks, too. Gates, who was deeply in love with Gussie Lamore in Dawson City, offered her weight in gold in exchange for her hand in marriage. But when he saw her on the arm of another man, he chose to prank her in a bizarre manner. He knew she loved eggs, which at the time were difficult to find, so he purchased all the eggs available in town. That prank earned him the nickname "The Knight of the Golden Omelet."
Gambling and drinking were popular pastimes in the mining camps, too, which often led to practical jokes like slipping a few rocks into someone's pockets or bags to make him think he had struck gold. Or spiking a drink with vinegar or hot sauce, causing an unsuspecting victim to spit out their "tainted" beverage.
Most miners used practical jokes to build camaraderie and relieve the monotony of their harsh living conditions in the Klondike. As one miner, Jack London, wrote in his book, "The Call of the Wild": "The men were a rude, rough crowd, with the harsh and uncompromising ways of the frontier. But they were also generous, hospitable, and full of good humor, and the practical jokes and pranks they played on one another were a way to break the monotony of their hard lives."
This column features tidbits found while researching Alaska's colorful past for Aunt Phil's Trunk, a six-book Alaska history series written by Laurel Downing Bill and her late aunt, Phyllis Downing Carlson. The books are available at bookstores and gift shops throughout Alaska, as well as online at http://www.auntphilstrunk.com.
