Mortgaged the House, Chased Alaska Gold — and Vanished in a Storm
F. M. Post traded his Lake Stevens ranch for an Everett lot, borrowed against it, and set out up the Stikine with his wife and children. Neither he nor his son could handle a boat.
Hartford, May 13.—Special.—About two months ago F. M. Post exchanged his fine ranch on Lake Stevens, including stock, farm implements, and all household furniture, with a Mr. Weber, of Everett, for a house and lot in Everett. He then put a mortgage on the Everett property. Mr. Weber buying the mortgage. He bought a small shop, and with his wife, son and daughter started for Alaska, intending to go up the Stikine river prospecting for gold. They left the Snohomish river on the 19th of April, and were known to have been out in the storm of the 9th, since which time nothing has been heard of them, and grave fears are entertained for their safety, as neither Mr. Post nor his son understood the handling of a boat.
“Grave fears are entertained for their safety, as neither Mr. Post nor his son understood the handling of a boat.”
A Snohomish-area family liquidated everything, mortgaged the new house, and sailed north chasing the Klondike-era gold dream — then disappeared into a storm with no one aboard who could handle a boat. The gamble captures the boom-and-bust psychology that gripped Washington at the century's turn, when every fortune seemed one river away. It also echoes the way families still stake their homes on a long-shot fresh start.
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