(Look Back with Bob Enoch - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

The story of the 1897 Parkersburg delegation seeking Alaskan gold continues.

Previously the four gold-seekers, including Camden brothers, Rolla and Ritchie, had boarded a ship at Seattle, enroute to St. Michaels, Alaska, where their dangerous trek into the Yukon was to begin. Unfortunately, their ship, the Eliza Anderson sank and the passengers, boarding another ship, did make it to St. Michael. Ironically, a crew member of the Revenue Cutter that assisted in their rescue was Bernie Camden, brother of Rolla and Ritchie.

Decision Time. In a September 16, 1897 letter to home that was printed in The Parkersburg News, October 8th, Rolla announced that Charlie (Swearingen) had decided to return home. He had been ill for most of the trip with renal colic. His letter also stated that the Bear, his brother Bernie’s ship, was leaving that day. The two brothers who remained were carefully weighing their options.

Should they continue, the next leg of their travel inland would involve a 300- or 400-mile trip up the Yukon River. Unfortunately, the available river boats were hardly safe, and were already over-booked. Additionally, winter was quickly approaching. To be stranded in that desolate land could be fatal. Their other option was to return to Seattle and try to take up their quest again in the Spring.

Their situation was becoming direr. In a subsequent letter dated October 8, Rolla stated that “we are sort of between the ‘devil and the deep blue sea.'”

As they waited and pondered their next move, Rolla and his brother did manage some local sightseeing. His letter of September 16 told of a visit to a native village: “The most interesting thing we saw was their common living house for winter. They all live in it in winter, and it answers the purpose of bath house, hotel, dance room, etc. There were five old fellows taking a bath when we went in. In the center was a pit and around this pit was a sort of platform or a floor, and above the floor were bunks or shelves on which they sit. Down in the pit was a pile of wood, which by the way was green and smoked horribly, which they were trying to light. They were sitting around stark naked, a duck-skin feather cap on their heads and a piece of old straw in their mouths to prevent the smoke from getting into their lungs. They threw us mouth pieces and caps and told us to join them, but we refused. They were a jolly set.”

Their Decision Made. Robert Wallace, the local who chose to take the “overland” route, had returned to Parkersburg empty-handed. In an interview for a December 3, 1897 article in the Parkersburg Daily State Journal, Wallace stated that he had crossed the celebrated Chilcott Pass, but it would have cost him $1,000 for the help required to get his supplies across “the Pass” to Dawson City. He decided it wasn’t worth it.

In the interview he reported that Rolla and Ritchie Camden were in Seattle. Ritchie was conducting an “information bureau,” and Dr. Rolla had applied for a physician’s berth on a Revenue Cutter that was soon to sail from Philadelphia around the Horn. Apparently gold fever had been trumped by the thrill of another adventure!

What happened to the gold-seekers? In the aforementioned December 3 interview, Robert Wallace stated that he was returning to Seattle to complete the organization of a transportation company, taking people into the Yukon. C.A. (Charlie) Swearingen, being the first to return, quickly obtained the dubious title of “Klondike Charlie.” He did well in business however by becoming a well-known and respected insurance man. Clarence Brown left Parkersburg before the other three and was to meet them in Chicago. In that no mention is made of him in any letters or interviews, it is questionable if he even made the trip.

Next week will be more of the story about the “Camden boys” after leaving Seattle.

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Bob Enoch is president of the Wood County Historical and Preservation Society. If you have comments or questions about Look Back items, please contact him at: roberteenoch@gmail.com, or by mail at WCHPS, PO Box 565, Parkersburg, WV 26102.