Joe Juneau (prospector) Joe Juneau (prospector) Joseph Juneau (1836–1899) was a miner and prospector from Canada who was born in the Quebec town of Saint-Paul-l'Ermite (later renamed Le Gardeur and now incorporated into the city of Repentigny) to François Xavier Juneau dit Latulippe and Marguerite Thiffault Juneau. He is best known for co-founding, with Richard Harris, the city of Juneau, Alaska, United States. The first major gold discovery in Juneau or Douglas Island (across from Juneau) was circa 1880. It has been the political capital of Alaska since 1900. Juneau's Native American guide in southeastern Alaska was Chief Kowee, who is credited with
Juneau, Alaska state legislature and the offices of the governor and lieutenant governor. Some other executive branch offices have moved elsewhere in the state. Recent discussion has been focused between relocating the seat of state government outside Juneau and building a new capitol building in Juneau; neither position has led efforts to keep the capital in Juneau. Long before European settlement in the Americas, the Gastineau Channel was a favorite fishing ground for the Auke ("A'akw Kwáan") and Taku tribes, who had inhabited the surrounding area for thousands of years. The "A'akw Kwáan" had a village and burying ground here. In the