First let me tell you a little about the Kondike Gold Rush. In August of 1896 a party led by Skookum Jim Mason including his cousin Dawson Charlie and niece Patsy Henderon were looking for Jim's sister and brother in law ,they headed north down the Yukon River and found them fishing salmon in the Klondike River. At that time they ran into a man from Nova Scotia named Robert Henderson who had been mining gold in the Indian River north of the big dike. On August 16 1896 the Skookum party discovered rich placer gold deposits in Rabbit Creek Yukon and they staked their claims. News of their find travelled through all the mining camps and news reached the USA, Canada, UK, Australia and as far as South Africa. Men from all walks of life left their jobs in hopes of getting rich. Some were teachers, doctors,even mayors. The prospectors coming through the Canadian route crossed the Chilkoot Pass and continued by boats to Dawson via the Yukon River. The Chilkoot Pass was the main Canadian route to the Klondike. From 20,000 to 30,000 crossed this path during the Gold Rush of 1897,1898. The North West Mounted Police set up a check point at the top of the pass collecting duties and making sure that each prospector had at least one years supply of provisions before being allowed to go through to the Yukon River.
Dawson City sprang into existence within a year it had a population of 5000, in two years the population grew to 30,000 making it one of the largest cities west of Winnepeg ,larger than Vancouver and even Victoria. Following the prospectors came the saloon keepers,dance hall girls, movie theatres and hospitals. Now what does this have to do with Frank Breau and genealogy? Well first of all Frank Breau was a career prospector who came from Grande Digue New Brunswick who wanted to go searching for gold. He was convinced that his fortune was buried somewhere in the creek beds of the Yukon River. He arrived in Yukon in 1897 and never left. He died on November 16 1912 around the age of 59, still dreaming of finding the mother lode. After a lifetime of prospecting he left his heirs the grand total of $24.15. I went to the genealogy center looking to find more information about this Frank Breau born in Grande Digue. I found his family and also came across a letter he had written home which I shall share with you. I shall translate the letter for you; Dated September 1 1897, Letter from FrankBreau to his brother Peter L Breau in Shediac NB from Dawson City.
Dear brother, I am very satified with the country. I work on the buildings in the city. I am not a first class carpenter but we are building houses piece by pieces. There is lots of work outside of the mines. The miners are not doing too much at the moment, we are getting ready for winter. I went to the mines to meet friends as old as the mines. These are folks are weathy with riches unknown this far. Many mine proprietors are making many work part time. Me I am waiting to work full wages all winter at $1.50 an hour, but if I see the miners are making better than me part time I will try to work Part time. The wages here are $10.00 to $15.00 a day.
Four boats filled with provissions arrived last week, so the prices are lower. I seen refusing $20.00 for a fresh salmon a few days ago but today we get them for $5.00. I seen some egg cartons selling for 10 dollars a carton, potatoes one dollar a pound. I was offere 75 cents a pound for my bacon but I didn't want to sell. I have enough for my winter, also sugar, beans, onions and condensed milk, but I am short of flour and butter. I have tea ,coffee and plenty of clothes. There is a lot of activity in Dawson there are a dozen saloons, 6 stores, 4 restaurants but no hotel yet. We pay $1.50 a meal. Moose meat is our only fresh meat, it sells for one dollar a pound, cut wood sells for 140 dollars a mile and the logs 40 dollars. The logs are preferred for building the houses. The climate is very warm, we have frequent thunderstorms and lightning and the mosquitos are counted as millions. There are a few doctors here and Dr Philippe Leblanc says he does much better here than in the east. He lives a few steps from my place. Our river is beautiful but it demands a lot of work to avoid the rocks and climb the rapids. My associate is at the top of the river getting some logs. I wish you happiness and luck, I remain your affectionate brother Frank Breau. PS My address is Dawson City, Yukon River, Alaska, via Juneau.
Now Franks obituary said he had 3 brothers ,some in New Bedford MA, he had Aime, Wilfred and Theophile, Pierre could have been dead because he wasn't mentioned. So I searched for these men and found they were the sons of Lazarre Breau and Celeste Bourgeois. Lazarre Breau was the son of Joseph Breau and Rosalie Bourque, Joseph Breau was the son of Joseph Breau and Anne Surette. Joseph Breau was the son of Amand Breau and Theotiste Bonnevie. Now this Joseph Breau married to Rosalie Bourque was the brother to my Luc Breau. This is why I was interested in knowing his family line or genealogy. I hope you have enjoyed today's blog. Now I would like to share a few of my products to be found at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor*
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