Thesis defense: 'The Anthropology of Expeditions: From Brooklyn to Alaska with the King's County Mining Company in the Gold Rush Era,' March 20

Wednesday, March 20, 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
Beatrice McDonald Hall, Room 108

Richard Galloway will be defending his thesis, "The Anthropology of Expeditions: From Brooklyn to Alaska with the King's County Mining Company in the Gold Rush Era." The public is welcome to attend.

Abstract:
This thesis explores the experiences of those who sought change in their lives during the Gold Rush and Victorian eras of the late 1800s and early 1900s in North America. It displays the expectations of change that affected all members of society, if not always in the same manner. The members of the King's County Mining Company (KCMC) of Brooklyn, N.Y., represented one group that aimed for a frontier with the expectation of a life change. These expectations started long before the purchase of the bark Agate in 1897 and extended long after the departure of the majority of the members from Alaska in 1900. Did the expectations of the KCMC, after leaving Brooklyn, met with what it found in Alaska? Were their expectations realistic given the variables of available technologies and the climatic conditions of their destination? The archaeological and historical evidence provide at least partial confirmation of the hypotheses concerning these questions and others. The names of the party are known including those who left prior to the ships arrival on the west coast, those on the train who went through Portland, Ore., and those who left from Montevideo on the way. The fate of part of the party is told in reports from the Alaska Commercial Company (ACC) in 1899 and 1900. Weather, disease and accidents account for some of the issues that sent the party home with no recorded gold finds in Alaska.

March Archive