John Philip Clum
Gold Rush Postal Inspector
While serving as a postal inspector in Washington, D.C. in the late 1890s, John P. Clum (1851-1932) was appointed as special commissioner to Alaska "to examine into postal affairs." Before becoming a postal inspector, Clum had already led quite a colorful life in the American West. While serving as the agent for the San Carlos, Arizona, Indian Agency, he crossed paths with Geronimo. Later, as mayor, of Tombstone, Arizona, (and founding publisher of the Tombstone Epitaph), he befriended Wyatt Earp and his family. Clum's postal bosses believed that because he had experienced the great silver rush of Tombstone, Clum was especially well suited to the rigors of the new gold rush.

Clum arrived in Skagway, Alaska on March 26, 1898. Both Skagway and nearby Dyea, Alaska had operating post offices by the time Clum arrived. After inspecting the facilities there and in Juneau, he set out along the Chilkoot Pass trail. His progress was slowed when he stopped to help dig out survivors and victims of the horrible "Palm Sunday" avalanche.
John Clum with his first wife, Mary. Mary Clum died in Tombstone, Arizona in 1880.

Photograph from the collections of the National Postal Museum.
 
 
 


Postal inspector John Clum was a passenger on the ship, Queen, in March 1898.

Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Postal inspector John Clum, seen here in Sheep Camp, Alaska, on the Chilkoot Pass trail.

Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress.

 But even the avalanche, which occurred on April 3, 1898, did not keep Clum from his duties for long. The very next day, he appointed Joseph G. Brown as postmaster of the new, nearby Sheep Camp post office.

During his months in Alaska that first year, Clum traveled over 8,000 miles and established post offices across the territory. He carried everything he needed to create a post office with him-postage stamps, mailbags, postal locks, keys and postmarking devices.
During his first trip to Alaska, John Clum established a number of post offices along the gold rush trails and in the Alaskan gold fields, including:
April 4, 1898
Sheep Camp
Joseph G. Brown, postmaster

May 11, 1898
Pyramid
Albert J. Paul, postmaster

May 18, 1898
Canyon City
Kenneth Murray, postmaster

June 25, 1898
Eagle City
Thomas McMahon, postmaster

June 25, 1898
Star City
John C. Hayes, postmaster

July 4, 1898
Ft. Yukon
Rev. John Hawksley, postmaster

 July 5, 1898
Rampart
Milton P. Fleisehman, postmaster

July 6, 1898
Tanana
Rev. Jules L. Prevost, postmaster

July 7, 1898
Anwik
Rev. John W. Chapman, postmaster

July 13, 1898
Koyukuk
Frank Pickarts, postmaster

August 12, 1898
Valdez
Thomas A. Edwards, postmaster

The Nome, Alaska, post office in 1900.

Photograph from the collections of the National Postal Museum
 
 
 
 


Interior view of the Nome, Alaska, post office in 1900.

Photograph from the collections of the National Postal Museum

 When the Nome, Alaska, post office opened in June 1899, Joseph Wright was named postmaster. By that fall, over 3,000 people were in Nome, with thousands more on the way. Clum had returned to Alaska in April, and concentrated his efforts on Western Alaska and the Bering Sea, extending postal service to the north Bering Sea coast, and establishing semi-monthly postal service between Nome and Point Blossom.

By the summer of 1900, the Nome rush had reached its peak. Over 20,000 people crowded the city and beaches of Nome, looking for gold--and mail. Clum, who assumed charge of the Nome post office for much of the summer of 1900, employed 23 men in that tiny building. Fortunately for him, among the gold-seekers that summer were two letter carriers from Salem, Oregon. Fred Lockley, Jr. and Ben Taylor, after obtaining temporary leaves of absence from their jobs, had arrived in Nome looking for gold that summer. When it became apparent to both that there were no available claims, they approached Clum with an interesting offer--their service as free city delivery carriers. The pair were hired, and their work was deeply appreciated by the astonished citizens of Nome. Lockley wrote about their work in a small book, "Alaska's First Free Mail Delivery in 1900."

In January 1906, Clum was named the postmaster at Fairbanks, Alaska. His daughter, Caro, worked at the office as a postal clerk. Clum's postal service to the Alaskan gold towns had not gone unnoticed by residents. The citizens of one small mining town showed their gratitude by naming their town after Clum's daughter. The post office at Caro, Alaska, on the Chandalar River, 45 miles north of Circle, opened in 1907.

 


(left to right) Ed Eiechstadt, Wyatt Earp, and John Clum on the beach at Nome.

Photograph from the collections of the National Postal Museum

 John Clum left Alaska in 1909. He had run for public office the year before and lost to the very popular Judge James Wickersham. Clum spent the next several years touring the country and lecturing on Western America for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He retired for a second time in 1920 and moved near Los Angeles with his third wife, Florence. Clum lived quietly there, spending most of his time writing historical articles for various publications.

John Clum died on May 2, 1932, three years after serving as a pall bearer for his life-long friend, Wyatt Earp. As Clum's friends mourned his death, one noted that it was "a sign of the passing of the Old West."
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