History of the Organization

The history of the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company (A.J.) begins indirectly with the discovery of gold at Sumdum and Windham Bay in 1870. This was followed by discoveries in Silver Bow Basin in 1880 by Richard Harris and Joe Juneau. In 1881 John Treadwell, staked by a San Francisco company purchased the Paris claim on Douglas Island for $400. He set up a five-stamp test mill. In 1883 the company set up a 120-stamp mill, then a wharf and chlorination plant. The mill was operating at full capacity milling 300 tons of ore by the summer of 1885. In 1889 John Treadwell sold his interests to the Alaska Treadwell Gold Mining Company.

In early 1897 the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company was incorporated under the laws of West Virginia. The company purchased 23 patented claims in the Silver Bow Basin between Perseverance and Ebner mines for lode mining low grade gold ore. In 1900 Frederick W. Bradley purchased a major interest in A.J. holdings. At this time Bradley was mining engineer and president of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan silver-lead mine in Idaho. He became president of A.J. and president and consulting engineer of the Treadwell mines group. Robert A. Kinzie was resident engineer for both mines until Philip R. Bradley, brother of F.W. Bradley, became resident manager from 1914-1920 and later, consulting engineer.

The A.J. and Treadwell were considered together because of stockholding interests and integrated management. The corporate office for both mines was in the Mills Building in San Francisco as was the Alaska Gastineau. Offices and records were physically located at Treadwell until 1922 when the Ready Bullion mine closed. At this time the offices and records moved across the Gastineau Channel to the site of the A.J. operations located in a blue metal building next to the steam plant.

Eventually, the operations of Alaska Gastineau (Perseverance) and A.J. mines were producing more than Treadwell. By 1916 the Alaska Gastineau mill was crushing 12,000 tons of ore each day. The 1917 cave-in slowed down Treadwell production although the Ready Bullion mine still operated until 1922. In spite of the Treadwell closing, by 1928 Juneau was the richest gold-producing location in the world. A few decades later, in 1944, the A.J. closed as a result of the World War II labor shortage which escalated production costs above gold values. So ended the glory days of Juneau’s mining history.

[A more complete history can be found in Hard Rock Gold by David and Brenda Stone from which the above was taken.]