Jack Dalton, a colorful character who first came to Alaska 1885, is best known for establishing a packing route from Pyramid Harbor, near Haines, to the Yukon River. This route, which became known as the Dalton Trail, was first traversed by Dalton when he joined the 1890 “Frank Leslie Newspaper Expedition” to explore the territory between the Alaska Coast and the Yukon River. One of the members of the expedition, Edward James Glave, who had experience exploring Africa, was intrigued by the prospect of further exploration, and he teamed up with Dalton to take a string of pack horses northward toward the Yukon. Later, in a letter to the Alaska Journal (May 13, 1893), Glave wrote, “In the summer of 1891, Jack Dalton and I took the ‘Pioneer Pack Horses into Alaska’ and opened a way from Chilcat to the rich lands to the northward of Mount St. Elias and during the whole trip my partner proved himself to be an energetic, determined, courageous, and exceedingly capable man –endowed with excellent judgment. . .The work in which Jack Dalton has been engaged is a most important step towards Alaska’s development. The establishment of a reliable transport through to the Interior will give impetus to the mineral industries.” However, as Glave also pointed out in his letter, Jack Dalton’s success was not universally acclaimed. Glave commented, “His venture has created a great deal of ill feeling, and white men and Indians have endeavored to thwart him, fearing competition with their interests.”

Not one to back down from a fight, Jack Dalton found himself in trouble with the law when a Pyramid Harbor storekeeper, Daniel McGinnis, reportedly tried to rile the local Chilkat Indians into denying access to Dalton’s trail. When Dalton confronted McGinnis, a fight ensued, and McGinnis was fatally shot. When the case came to trial in Juneau the following summer, Dalton was acquitted, and there was speculation the jury had been bought. The July 13, 1893, issue of the Juneau City Mining Record quotes Dalton as saying “the jury acquitted me because the killing was justifiable.” The editorial commentary accompanying this quote reflects skepticism: “On the stand, Dalton swore that he shot McGinnis two or three times ACCIDENTALLY. He also prates about he and his friends being poor, yet he says he was going to build a trail from Chilcat to the Northwest Territory and then start a trading post. Such talk is all bosh. To build a trail in such a rough and rugged country takes money and not wind. The same will apply to starting a trading post. It is presumed that his friends will furnish the wind and he will furnish the post.”

Dalton had enemies, but he also had many friends, some of whom had money and influence. Attorney John F. Maloney of Juneau was a business associate of Dalton’s for decades. Together, and with other partners, they established several businesses. The firm J. Dalton & Company established trading posts, organized cattle drives, and freighted goods into the Interior. When nuggets of gold were found in the Klondike, the stampede to the Yukon spiked use of the Dalton Trail, and Dalton formed the Dalton Trading & Transportation Co. to outfit miners and transport their equipment and supplies to the new mining districts. The Dalton Trail remained in use for many years, until the White Pass and Yukon Railway supplanted it by providing a more convenient link to the Interior. Dalton went on to other enterprises; and, when he left Alaska in 1916, he sold all his holdings, including mineral claims and a saw mill in Cordova, to the Copper River and Northwestern railroad. He lived to old age, dying in San Francisco on December 16, 1944.

For further information: Jack Dalton: The Alaska Pathfinder, by M. J. Kirchhoff, 2007.