Klondike Days Dawson Transportation Tokens.

 

(Excerpted from " Dawson Area Tokens of the Gold Rush" by Ron Greene, C.N.J. Dec. 1966. Reprinted with permission.)  

The North American Transportation and Trading Company.

 

This company offered the Alaska Commercial Company the first real competition when it came to the Yukon River in 1892, competing for transportation and mercantile trade out of St. Michel (near the mouth of the river). John J. Healey had followed the gold trails from Montana to Juneau , Dyea and finally Fortymile. He saw limitless opportunity in the fur trade, river commerce and gold. He returned to Chicago and interested some solid backers, the Cudahy 's, Portus B. Weare and the Corn Exchange Bank of Chicago . The company arrived in Dawson , June 8, 1897 . The N.A.T. & T. sold its river fleet to the Merchants-Yukon Transportation Company in 1906 and by 1912 had sold their last store, in Dawson , to the Northern Commercial Company.

 

N.A.T. & T. Co. $1.00 Trade token. Cat. # Y0325d (" Yukon Mumismatica" by Hill & Simpson, 1990)

 

Tokens are known in denominations of 25¢, 50¢, $1.00 and $1.10. No explanation of which we are aware has been made for the denomination of $1.10. Four examples of the $1.00 are known. The company's tokens are uniface, made of German silver. They were possibly made by C.H. Hanson Inc. of Chicago , whose catalogue advertised tokens of this style and fabric.

 

Northern Navigation Company.

The Alaska Commercial Company was founded in 1868 when Kohl & Co. bought out the Russia-America Co. which had been trading in Alaska . The name Alaska Commercial Company was soon adopted. The Klondike Gold Rush changed conditions dramatically and the ACC had to expand its fleet rapidly. It ordered three vessels from the Howard Boat Yards at Jeffersonville , Indiana . These became the Hannah named for Mrs. Lewis Gerstle, the Sarah for Mrs. Louis Sloss and the Susie for Mrs. Gustav Niebaum, all wives of company officials. The vessels were shipped to a beach near Dutch Harbour , Alaska , and assembled there. The Susie became the first of the three to reach Dawson , arriving there on August 8, 1898 , pushing a barge and carrying 400 tons of freight.

 

N(orthern) N(avigation) Co(mpany)/ ST(eame)R. SUSIE Cat. # Y0340a

 

In 1901, the Alaska Commercial Company joined with the Alaska Exploration Company and the Empire Transportation Company to form the Northern Navigation Company (N.N.Co.) for transportation operations and the Northern Commercial Company for mercantile trade. The three ships were considered to be the best on the river. Their 38 cabins held over 100 berths for passengers. A rate war in 1913 led the N.N.Co. to sell their fleet to the British-Yukon Navigation Co., a subsidiary of the White Pass & Yukon Railway. The three vessels were not operated after 1918. The Sarah was sold a decade later for use as a cold storage plant and the Hannah and Susie dismantled in the late 1940s after having sat in St. Michel for over a quarter century.

 

Tokens are known for the Sarah and Susie , but not for the Hannah . The tokens would date to between 1901 and 1913. Three Susie tokens are known.

Wayne Jacobs is a numismatic expert. Currently secretary and editor of the "Mid-Island Coin Club Numismatic Journal"of Nanaimo, Vancouver Island , British Columbia, he is the award winning author of numerous articles. The MICC journal are hosted here: MICC webpages Copyright 2006 Wayne Jacobs. This article may be reprinted freely for non commercial purpose only if the resource box is left intact, linking back to us.