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.

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:

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.

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."