Pag* 2 JESSEN S WEEKLY
Thursday, July 19, 1956
Skagway Swain
Woos Cal With
First Auto
Ail's fair in love and the auto- ;
tomobile building business. Or at
least it was in the winter of 1904
OS. i
That was when Bobby Sheldon
found himself on the wrong end of
an eternal triangle in Skagway. His
competition had a horse and a fan
cy rubber-tired carriage, fringe
ai d all, with which to woo his light
’o love—and Sheldon found himself
being shoved out of the picture.
So why not go his rival one bet
ter and build a horseless i ubber
tiied carriage, fringe and all? And
so Sheldon, then an operator for
the Northwest Light and Power
in the Lynn Canal city, went to
work.
He was never seen without a
copy of Popular Mechanics or some
other Homebuilding manual stick
ing under his arm. And, after a
winter of study, Sheldon emerged
with his one-cylinder “enfant ter
rible.’1 which putted down the main
street of Skagway as the uncrowned
king of Alaska’s wild frontier.
The term "horseless carriage" was
actually more appropos to Sheldon's
ear than the creations of some of
the early auto builders in the States,
since it actually had carriage wheels
and miscellaneous wagon parts. The
gas engine was salvaged from an old
boat.
Automobiles still fascinated Shel
don when he was working for the
Northern Commercial company in
Fairbanks in 1913. And on June 29th
of that year the whinny and catch
of a model T Ford stirred Fair
oanksans from sleep for the first
time. The first touring car in Alas
ka. it was shipped by steamer from
Seattle to Skagway, by railroad
from Skagway to Whitehorse, down
ihe Yukon, and up the Tunana.
The next month Sheldon took the
Model T over the famed Richard
son trail to Valdez, the present route
of the Richardson highway. Two
prominent Fairbanks prospectors,
Jack Ferguson and Jack Ronan,
went along as passengers. The trip
took three and a half days since
the group had to wait until early
morning to ford the gushing glacier
streams at their lowest point,
streams which still raise havoc with
traffic on the Richardson.
Having gone from horseless car
riage to touring car, the next step
for Sheldon was a bus. which he
operated in 1919. taking tourists on
sight-seeing tours. He and James L.
Galen of Cordova established the
Richardson Highway Transporta
tion company, which they sold in
1925 to take over the concession at
McKinley park
Sheldon was “the only first class
postmaster in a second class post
office under the American flag”
until 1940, when he took the post
ot director of the Alaska Employ*
jpent Security Commission. He re
tired several years ago. „
The auto is now a museum piece
at the University of Alaska.
A1 Waxbcrg, Fairbanks construc
tion company head, returned Fri- '
day from an overnight business trip !
to Fort Yukon where he is super
vising a project. He flew north
with Wien Alaska Airlines.
LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT
UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OK THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
LAND OFFICE
Fairbanks. Alaska
Date- December «. 1355 !
NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION
Notice is hereby given that Walter '
Henry Belling. Fairbanks, Alaska entrv
n»an. together with his witnesses Law
rence H Smith and Shortland H. Har
bell. both of Fairbanks has submitted
final proof on his homestead entry,
Fairbanks Serial No. 08308 for the lot
J in U. S. Survey No. 31*9 Alaska
flurried about a V» mile westerly from
hena Hot Springs Fairbanks Meridian,
«S»mt«ining 82 81 acres, and it is now in
the files of the Land Orffice, Fairbanks,
Alaska, and 1f no protest is filed in
the Land Office within the period of
publication or thirty days thereafter, said
final proof will be accepted and final
certificate issued.
Malcolm O. Allen, Manager
Date First Pub: May 30. 1956
Late Last Pub: July 26. 1956
Jessen’s Weekly Classified
Ads reach thousands today!
LAKE LA BARGE
Down they came, gold-hungry prospectors, mercha nts and entertainers from all walks of life In all
manner of craft to Lake Labarge. Some sailed, some rowed. Some were looking for gold. Some for
the men who were looking for gold. But all were headed for the same place, the Klondike.
BE SURE TO STOP IN AND SEE US
WHEN YOU COME TO TOWN FOR
Golden Days - July 19,20,21
COOPER’S
HARDWARE CO.
SECOND & LACEY STREET
PHONE 4022