ISBN: 0874223024

After braving the Oregon Trail in 1852, Ezra Meeker built a fortune in hop farming and brokering. He platted Puyallup in Puget Sound country, serving as the town?s first mayor and key bus… Meer...

After braving the Oregon Trail in 1852, Ezra Meeker built a fortune in hop farming and brokering. He platted Puyallup in Puget Sound country, serving as the town?s first mayor and key businessman. Then suddenly, in the 1890s, a scourge of hop aphids followed by a national economic depression swept assets away, ?slick as a mitten.? Nevertheless, when Meeker?s Puyallup bank teetered on failure, he rescued depositors by tapping into his own diminishing capital to return funds. The Klondike gold stampede of 1898 renewed prospects for the financially ruined. Despite his age, the daring pioneer ventured north four times, transporting and selling 100 tons of vegetables, potatoes, dried foods, and canned goods in miners? camps and at hastily built inns and restaurants. The arduous hauling of freight at the height of the gold rush required wagons, packhorses, human backs, scows, and dog teams. Meanwhile, his wife Eliza Jane remained in Puyallup over-seeing the manufacture of canned foods, granulated eggs, and dehydrated vegetables for Ezra?s ?Log Cabin Grocery? in Dawson City. Ezra was eventually joined in the north by six family members, including an infant grandson, Wilfred. Three years of letters, most from Ezra to his beloved Eliza Jane, relate risky schemes, keen insights, and intriguing experiences?from business and mining pursuits, to keeping warm through sub-arctic winters, to the heartbreaking burial of a son in a Dawson. In ?Slick as a Mitten,? Meeker?s own words tell his am 19th century,adventurers and explorers,americas,biographies,business,business and investing,canada,history,humanities,specific groups Humanities, Washington State University Press<

ISBN: 9780874223026

Ezra Meeker braved the Oregon Trail in 1852 and accumulated a fortune in the Puyallup hop-growing business. Suddenly, at the dawn of the new century, he lost his wealth, and despite his a… Meer...

Ezra Meeker braved the Oregon Trail in 1852 and accumulated a fortune in the Puyallup hop-growing business. Suddenly, at the dawn of the new century, he lost his wealth, and despite his advanced age, ventured to Alaska and the treacherous Klondike. Four years of letters, most from Ezra to his beloved wife Eliza Jane, relay the details of his risky scheme to transport and sell more than 60 tons of groceries to Yukon gold miners. Slick as a Mitten: Ezra Meeker's Klondike Enterprise Larsen, Dennis M., Washington State University<

ISBN: 9780874223026

Dennis M. Larsen, Paperback, English-language edition, Pub by Washington State University Press Books, Business & Economics~~Industries~~Retailing, Slick-as-a-Mitten~~Dennis-M-Larsen, 999… Meer...

Dennis M. Larsen, Paperback, English-language edition, Pub by Washington State University Press Books, Business & Economics~~Industries~~Retailing, Slick-as-a-Mitten~~Dennis-M-Larsen, 999999999, Slick as a Mitten: Ezra Meeker's Klondike Enterprise, Dennis M. Larsen, 0874223024, Washington State University Press, , , , , Washington State University Press<