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About Joseph Ladue
- Joseph Francis "Joe" Ladue (July 28, 1855 – June 27, 1901) was a prospector, businessman and founder of Dawson City, Yukon, Canada. Ladue was born in Schuyler Falls, New York.
- His mother died when he was seven years old, and his father in 1874.
- Upon his father's death, 19-year-old Joe headed west. In 1876, he found employment in a gold mine in Deadwood, South Dakota, beginning as a general labourer and working his way up to engineer, foreman and superintendent.
- He eventually quit to go prospecting in Arizona and New Mexico, but did not strike it rich.
- In 1882, he crossed the Chilkoot Pass into the interior of the Yukon, where he prospected and traded for a couple of years. In August 1896, a few days after the discovery of gold in the Klondike, he staked a claim to either 160 or 178 acres (65-72 hectares) of boggy flats at the mouth of the Klondike River as a townsite.
- In January 1897, he named the new town Dawson after Canadian geologist George Mercer Dawson.
- By July, about 5000 people lived there.
- Ladue could sell town lots for as much as $5000 or $8000.
- He relocated his saw mill to Dawson; it ran continuously night and day in response to the extreme demand.
- He also set up a store and the first saloon in town.
- In addition, he acquired a number of rich gold claims.
- All this enabled Ladue to leave the north a rich man that year. Ladue returned to his home town and on December 15, 1897, he married Anna "Kitty" Mason.
- He was in poor health and died of "consumption" (tuberculosis) at Schuyler Falls on June 27, 1901.
- He was survived by his wife and a son.
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