Juneau’s Golden History
For hundreds of thousands of year’s native Indians called the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian were the only occupiers of Southeast Alaska. They had lived comfortably in what is now called Auke Bay. They were very successful fishermen, had a wealth of resources and led a peaceful, abundant and quiet life. That is until the late 1800’s when Juneau’s gold-mining history began. George Pilz, a mining engineer from Sitka, which was the capital of Alaska during that time, put out a reward to anyone who could show him gold ore. The then chief of the Tlingit was able to find gold ore and presented it to Pilz who sent Juneau co-founders Richard Harris and Joe Juneau prospecting for the gold ore source. Thanks to the Tlingit natives, they found the source and started an enormous gold rush in Alaska’s Gastineau Channel which made Juneau, Alaska a very popular destination for travelers.
Within a year of the gold strike the area became an official town named Harrisburg after Richard Harris. Later it was changed to Rockwell and then eventually due to issues with the locals, the name was finally changed to Juneau and it is now the capital of Alaska and the third largest city in the state.
Two big mills were created a few years following the gold strike and were very successful bringing in millions of gold. Eventually they were closed due to expensive operations, not enough work force and high prices.
Thanks to its unique beauty and abundance of outdoor activities Juneau, Alaska is a very popular place for travelers from all over the world. At present, close to 1,000,000 people visit Juneau each year with the majority of travelers coming by cruise ship. Federal, state and local governments employ half the city’s population and tourism is an essential part of Juneau’s economy.
