David Lewis was a coal miner and his wife Catherine ran a boarding house for men near Blue Canyon, on Lake Watcom, Washington. They had an adopted daughter, Elizebeth Davis Lewis.

In about 1892 Stephen (Steve) Layton Dowell and his brother John Edward Dowell moved from Nova Scotia, Canada to Blue Canyon. The brothers boarded with the Lewis family. They had a contract to build stringers in the coal mines. Steve met Elizebeth and they were married January, 29, 1893.

They then moved to Black Diamond, Washington where their first daughter, Catherine Wealthy Dowell was born, November, 21, 1893. The new family moved to Cumberland, British Columbia where their second daughter, Alice Mae was born, October 3, 1895. The brothers made a trip to Alaska and Elizebeth and daughters moved to Renton, Washington.

While in Alaska the brothers built a cabin in Skagway. Steve then sent for his family. While they were all living in Skagway in 1897 the brothers built the White Pass Hotel on White Pass Trail. In about 1898 or 1899 Steve sent his family back to Renton. He then did many different things to make a living.

At one time he had a slaughter house on a barge on Lake Bennett, Yukon Territory and sold beef to the gold rush participants. He also did a little prospecting for gold. He tried selling overalls, but a storm came up on a lake he was traveling on and the lake ended up littered with overalls.

Steve’s next adventure was going into partnership with a Mr. Valentine. They bought two schooners and packed them full of goods and their families and set sail for the gold rush in Nome, Alaska in 1900. Elizebeth Dowell kept a diary of her trip to Nome.

In her diary Elizebeth tells of her experiences and daily happenings aboard ship and in Dutch Harbor, Alaska and in Nome. She tells of the problems her husband had with the hired ship’s crew and names the people she met and visited along the way and in Nome. She and her daughters then returned to Washington state where she gave birth to a baby boy. Her husband joined them six weeks later. [From: Recollections of Catherine Wealthy Dowell (Cassie) Earl—written as part of an oral history program of the Port Townsend, WA., Historical Society and Museum, and the donor’s notes].