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4.2.11.wavWhile it was overwhelmingly men who came to Alaska during the Gold Rush, many women also journeyed to the territory. The women who came were from all walks of life. Some accompanied their husbands. Some came to seek fortune, some for adventure, and some out of desperation to support themselves and their families.
After arriving in Alaska, Annie Hall Strong wrote the following advice for women journeying to the Gold Rush: "First of all, delicate women have no right attempting the trip...Those who love luxury, comfort and ease would better remain at home. It takes strong, healthy, courageous women to stand the terrible hardships that must necessarily be endured."
There were opportunities for those who endured the hardships of coming to the Alaskan frontier. Many women did strike it rich in Alaska: some through mining claims, some through marriage to a wealthy man, and some as entrepreneurs. Harriet Pullen is a great example of the latter. Arriving in Skagway with almost no money, Pullen started working as a cook. She soon started a business selling apple pies, which she used to finance a horse team to haul freight over White Pass. Eventually, she came to own a dairy farm and the fanciest hotel in town, the Pullen House.
Women became an important part of Alaskan towns, working as miners, shopkeepers, medical professionals, cooks, entertainers, prostitutes, nuns, teachers, secretaries, and business owners. By the 1900 census, about a quarter of Alaska’s non-Native population were women.
Harriet Pullen
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