The Gold Rush Tycoon Who Pledged to 'Wear a Silk Hat' in Seattle
Jack Dalton, the legendary Yukon frontiersman and claim-jumper, buys land on Queen Anne Hill with plans to build a mansion and move his family from Alaska.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
JACK DALTON TO LIVE IN SEATTLE
Residence on Queen Anne Hill — The Famous Yukon Planter and Frontiersman Leaves This City for Newfound Property.
Jack Dalton, the famous Yukon planter, frontiersman, bear hunter, gold seeker and claim-jumper of the Yukon trail in Alaska, is to become a resident of Seattle. He will build one of the handsome homes on Queen Anne Hill, and may be contemplating giving up his silk hat for an alk hat; he will have the capital as an excuse to wear it.
Mr. Dalton has purchased the property on Queen Anne hill at 815 Eighth avenue overlooking the Sound right on the brow of the hill, the purchase price having been forwarded a few days from Pittsburg where Dalton is located at present. Park street is one of the roads in that elevated portion of the city.
Mr. Dalton will remain in Alaska until the mining season opens, and then he will come to Seattle, and he is authority for the statement that immediately on his arrival he will lay the cornerstone of his new home.
It is impossible to write how much money he will appropriate for the building of his residence, but it is said that the amount will far exceed the Alaskan record loan as he was what calls him an extravagant being and he is going to show it.
In 1903, Seattle was still defining itself after the Klondike Gold Rush boom. Jack Dalton represents the influx of 'new money' from the North seeking status in the city proper. Today, Queen Anne Hill remains one of Seattle's most expensive real estate markets, where new wealth continues to reshape the skyline and displace older communities—a dynamic that echoes the very land deals Dalton was engaging in over a century ago.
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