The Hardened Life of Alaska Scout Jack Dalton
The storied frontiersman, known for guiding famous explorers and surviving bloody business feuds, reflects on his violent history in the North.
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, a noted Alaska scout, is stopping at the Northern Hotel, awaiting the arrival of the City of Topeka to return to the North. Dalton has lived in Alaska for eight years, spending much of that time guiding expeditions, including those of Lieutenant Schwatka and the Frank Leslie explorers. Though he has borne the brunt of the dangers in the interior, he has had little to say publicly about his work. Dalton describes turning down a lucrative, dangerous offer from the Arctic Oil Company to transport dynamite to free frozen whaling vessels near Herschel Island, citing his family. Regarding his reputation, he refutes reports that he was run out of Alaska after being acquitted for the killing of Dan McGinnis, though he admits to having enemies among the Juneau traders. While in San Francisco recently, he gained notoriety after he 'hammered the face off' a detective who attempted to bribe him in a court case involving a burned cannery.
“I have been in San Francisco for several months awaiting the trial of the suit of the Murray Canning Company for the insurance money on its cannery which burned down... I obtained a little notoriety while in San Francisco by half killing a detective.”
Dalton represents the archetype of the turn-of-the-century mercenary-explorer who linked Seattle's economic destiny to the Alaskan frontier. His disdain for the press and history of violent retribution highlights the 'wild' character of the men who built the logistical networks for the Klondike Gold Rush.
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