Treadwell gold mine trade who had come to Alaska prior to the Klondike Gold Rush. In 1880, prospectors Joseph 'Joe' Juneau and Richard Harris discovered gold in Silver Bow Basin. This brought waves of prospectors to the region, including John Treadwell, whose first move was to purchase a lode claim on Douglas Island from Pierre Joseph Erussard ("French Pete") on 13 Sept. 1881. Treadwell formed a partnership in Sept. 1881 with Erussard de Ville, D.P. Mitchell and Dave Martin under the name of The San Francisco Company. For unknown reasons he later backed out of this, and in early December 1881 he devoted
Richard Harris (prospector) Richard and Joe were sent with Kowee by George Pilz, an entrepreneur from Sitka. Richard and Joe traded with the natives much of their grubstake for hoochinoo. When they returned to Pilz empty-handed, he promptly sent them back to the Juneau area. There, Kowee took them beyond Gold Creek (which today flows beside the city's United States Federal Building) to Silver Bow Basin. Today, a creek on Douglas Island is named Kowee Creek. After the discovery of gold in Juneau, Richard and Joe loaded approximately 1,000 pounds of gold ore back to Sitka. The town did not take its current