Moore Homestead

A Bold Prediction

In 1887, Captain Moore first visited this quiet valley that the local Tlingit Natives call "Shghagwei," which means rugged or windplace. Due to the numbers of prospectors working in Alaska and the Yukon, Moore predicted that there would be a major gold strike and foresaw the importance of this valley as a gateway to the interior goldfields.

To make money on this future gold rush, he and his son Ben homesteaded 160 acres here and began making improvements to the land. Over the next ten years they built a wharf and sawmill to support their homestead claim and began opening the White Pass Trail. Their 1887 log cabin, still preserved next to the Moore House, remains the oldest structure in Skagway.

Cultures Merge On The Frontier

While making improvements to the land and working in canneries around southeast Alaska to earn money, Ben met his future wife, Klinget-sai-yet Shotridge. She came from a prestigious Tlingit family, and their marriage in 1890 provided the means for an alliance and friendship with the Native peoples of the area. The couple moved to Skagway in 1896 and lived in the one-room log cabin for a short period of time.

Shotridge, whom Ben renamed "Minnie Elizabeth Moore," bore them three children: Bernard Jr. ("Bennie"), Edith Gertrude, and Frances Flora. While relations between the Moores and the local Native community were strengthened by this marriage, relations between Ben and his father were strained by it. Captain Moore did not approve of the marriage, and this tension was an early sign of more difficult times ahead.

A Growing Family In A Growing Town

In 1897 Ben and Minnie built a new one-and-a-half story wood frame house directly in front of their original cabin. They enlarged the house several times over the next few years as their family size and personal wealth increased. By 1904 the house had evolved to its appearance in the above photograph, which helped guide its future restoration by the National Park Service.

The growth of the house and the family mirrored the growth of Skagway. As the gold rush boomed, more than 10,000 people flocked to Skagway on their way to the gold fields. The Moores profited from their investments, selling timber to stampeders from their sawmills and charging ships to dock at their wharf. Their bank accounts were further enhanced by settlement of a land claim lawsuit against the city, partially reimbursing them for land taken away by stampeders in the early days of the gold rush.

New Struggles

Ben Moore and his family faced new pressures as a result of the gold rush. New Skagway residents brought their prejudices with them, and looked down upon the Moores' interracial marriage. The Moores were rarely invited to social events in town and the children were sent to boarding schools in Washington State, perhaps to avoid the racial epithets they likely heard around town. Ties with Ben's father weakened as Captain Moore filed a lawsuit against Ben to gain title to part of the land. Meanwhile, relations with Minnie's Tlingit family were dissolving as Minnie adopted Victorian clothing and attempted to raise her children in Victorian society.

Ben and his family eventually sold their interests in Skagway and moved to Washington State, but could not escape the trouble that followed them. Ben and Minnie divorced in 1909, and Ben died in 1919 after losing most of his fortunes in poor real estate investments. Minnie remarried but took her own life in 1917. While her life ended in tragedy, she deserves respect for the hurdles she overcame and empathy for leaving behind family ties and her Tlingit heritage.