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Cook Inlet Historical Society Presents: The Voyage of the Alaska Union

This event has ended. It was scheduled for 1/18/2024.

7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18

First Floor, East Wing, Auditorium or Online via Crowdcast

In-Person and Online Event

Join us for a talk from Mr. Whitekeys about his new Alaska gold rush book, “The Voyage of the Alaska Union.” 

Eighty greenhorns from Chicago set out to strike it rich in Alaska in 1898. It was the largest gold rush expedition ever launched, and they had no idea what they were in for. One of the prospectors, Charles Harris, toted a forty-pound camera with him during the entire odyssey, but his images have remained unseen for 120 years. In “The Voyage of the Alaska Union,” Mr. Whitekeys reveals a true tale of Alaska history that has never been told. 

Lavishly illustrated with one hundred of Charles Harris's photographs, the book relies on century-old diaries, letters, manuscripts and newspaper accounts that tell the story in the words of the men who were there for the Koyukuk River gold stampede in 1898. It's the story of tough men who survived with what they had. 

Free and open to the public. Please use the museum’s 7th Avenue entrance. 

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Mr. Whitekeys is an Alaskan musician, entertainer, and author who is most known for his performances of the Whale Fat Follies at Mr. Whitekeys’ Fly By Night Club. 

Image: The sternwheeler, The Alaska Union, with members of the Alaska Union Expedition panning for gold on the banks of the Yukon River, July 1898. Charles Harris, photographer. From the private collection of Randy Jacobs, adopted grandson of Charles D. Harris. Courtesy of Randy Jacobs and M. Whitekeys.

WATCH ONLINE