-Shyler Umphenour, KUAC
This is your Alaska Black History Note. Today we’re digging into an early Black miners Gold Rush story…
“Many people think of Fairbanks as being a white town and it's not! It has never been just a white town, people come from everywhere here…”
That’s local historian Joan Skilbred, during a presentation on Black contributions to Interior Alaska’s gold rush. Today’s focus is on one of those contributions …William Wimbush, a miner better known as Billy..
Wimbush, 51, was a successful Black miner, known for winning back wages for miners.
He worked for D.H. Cascade, owner of a claim out on Cleary Creek.
Cascade’s company offered leases on prospects, recruiting others to do the actual mining. The miners were under the impression that they worked for Cascade. But he claimed 40% of the gross input, leading Bailly Wimbush and 5 others to sue Cascade for the claim rights…
Judge James Wickersham presided on the trial. He favored the miners….citing Cascades failure to file the lease contracts… noting there wasn’t a liability disclaimer notice.
This judgement proved to be a landmark decision for Alaska's mining industry
In 1910, a couple years after that decision Wimbush disappeared.
An investigation by the Marshal’s Office revealed that John Cooper… partner in the mining operation …murdered Billy Wimbush… attempting to hide the evidence…
In 1912, Six years after the murder, Cooper was convicted..
In May, 1914, Wimbush, 51 at the time of his death, received a proper burial at the Fairbanks cemetery.