End of the Trail
Notices in this section are limited to names of those who have achieved pioneer status through many years in the North, or who are otherwise of unquestioned importance in the daily scene.
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Charles Wilbur Adams, 87, riverboat captain and owner of the old sternwheeler Lavell Young which played a part in the establishment of Fairbanks, died in Los Angeles August 24. Captain Adams came north before the turn of the century, and after a year of fruitless mining he struck it rich in what was thought to be a panned-out gold-claim. He took out about $130,000 in nuggets and dust within a few-months and invested his profits in the Lavell Young: He ran freight and passengers along the Yukon, Tanana and Chena rivers, and in 1902 made history when he got stuck on a sandbar with a load of supplies for E. T. Barnette, who was looking for a likely place to set up a trading post. The bank near the sandbar on which the steamer was stuck seemed about as good, and convenient, a spot for a trading post as anyââ?¬â??and from thence grew the city of Fairbanks. Captain Adams moved to Los Angeles in 1945.Ã? [Dec1963]
This obituary is printed here with special permission from the editor and is copyrighted as such.