The Alaska daily empire., 1915-09-21
BITS OF EARLY
 JUNEAU HISTORY

J JUNEAU dloLObA y
 In the Governors office is a copy of the Alaska Free Press, published here February 12, 1887, which com tains some interesting bits of early history. Among the items are gleaned the following:
 Geo. D. Rily built the first house. It was framed in sitka and brought on the steamer Favorlte." The first log house was built by John Olds. Thomas Keenan and another man. It was known as Che Flag of All Ma tions" because miners coming in stayed there @ day or so while look ing around to get a place to build" Peter Erussard brought the first sail ing vessel. named 'The Flatiron," She was laden with general merchant disc, principally siwash sugar and black strap molasses. He was 35 days coming from sitlka, with an Indian crew. He also built the first build ing used as Q store.
 By Christmas of 1880 the popula- ton amounted to about 30 people.
 Discovery of Gold Creek
 The Juneau City Mining Record, Vol. l.. No. l of April 3. 1888, a copy of which IS also in the Governors of flee says of Juneau;
 'In the year 1874 Joe Juneau and Dave Alderman and two others, whose names we have been unable to ob. tain, passed through and prospected a part of what is known as the liar ris Mining District They found gold in small quantities, and in one or two places obtained good paying prospects, but 1t was not followed up at that time.
 During the summer of 1880, Mr. George E. Pltz, then superintendent of tho Alaska Gold and Silver Min ing Company. as an authorized agent of the Hall Brothers of San Francis co, sent out several parties from Sit lSa to prospect the mainland and the adjacent islands for gold and silver Four of the parties were unsuccess ful. but the fifth. composed of R. T. Harris and Joe Juneau, after a ted ious and discouraging search, were returning disheartened. While re- tracing their course along Gastineau Channel, they discovered some noun tain streams which had before es caped their observation. On one of these streams the found good pros poets, and ascending it, they found rich deposits of earth and gravel and one gulch in particular literally paved with quartz. the richness of which was evident from the fact that the rock was fairly loaded with free gold plainly to be seen with the naked eye. Very little time and labor sui feed to satisfy them that they "had struck it rich" Collecting some oi the specimens they returned to Sit ka, having named the stream that had guided them to fortune Gold Creek, and the wonderful gorge which contained the mass of gold ore Quartz Gulch The valley through which Gold Creek wound its way was named Silver Bow Basin, after a sim ilarly situated district in Montana.
 It was not until the middle of the winter (December,) however, that the first party arrived on the spot des tined soon to become a scene of ac tivity befitting the metropolis of the Northwest.
 Edmond Bean was the first to ar rive, in company with a party of ma tives; next came the steam launch of the U. S. S. Jamestown" with the officers of the vessel, accompan jed by J. D. Sage, Miller John Dix George E. Pitz. and Nat Hilton; liar ris and Juneau also returning with the party The third party consist. cd os Jack Olds, Pat McClinchey Tom Kiernan, Wm. Bennett. John Me Kinnon, Hugh Campbell, Walter Pierce Washington Barnes. Mike Gibbons, Chas. Wells, and Professor Moore. Next came Mike Powers, Luke Nolan. James Fallon, Mike Ari- quite, Mike Dunn and Mike Hays.
 The fifth and last party that ar rived before the close of the year consisted of Frank Berry. John Prior, James Roswell. Bill Meehan and An toine Marx. These are the names of the first settlers and locators of the townsite of what was then named Harrisburg"