No Western figure has more engendered more written words than Wyatt Earp. As a result, trying to cover his colorful career in a single post is impossible. Accordingly, this vignette focuses on Earp during the four years he operated a popular saloon in Nome, Alaska, far from Tombstone, Arizona and the gunfight at the OK Corral for which the gunslinger, shown here, is best remembered.
Indeed, some have speculated that it was the aftermath of the October 1881 shootout that sent him “north to Alaska,” when he and his brothers were accused of murder. A better explanation is provided by Western historian John Boessenecker: “For his entire life was a gamble, an effort to make money without working hard for it, to succeed quickly without ever settling in for the long haul.” Earp himself is quoted saying that he came to Nome “to mine the miners.”
After gunfights in Arizona, Earp and his common-law wife, Josephine Sarah Marcus, whom Wyatt called “Sadie,” moved around the Far West, finally stopping in Yuma, Arizona. It was there that Earp learned of a gold strike in the small fishing village of Nome, Alaska, not far from the Article Circle. As author Ann Kirschner puts it: “Josephine and Wyatt Earp were drawn to Nome as one more place to seek their fortune.”
Because of health issues that laid them up in San Francisco, the couples’ 1898 trip to Nome was delayed. By the time they started north they found the Yukon River frozen and themselves stranded in tiny Rampart, Alaska. There they are said to have spent the winter in a shack, shown here, built by the novelist and playwright Rex Beach. In the spring they proceeded to St. Michael, Alaska, where Earp opened a store selling beer and cigars. Although the income was steady they were still 125 miles from Nome. In letters Earp’s friend Tex Rickard urged them on to Nome where he already was running a saloon. [See my post on Rickard Nov. 22, 2019].
In 1899 Wyatt and Josephine at last arrived in Nome. The settlement that greeted them, shown here, must have been discouraging. Largely tents, Nome was five miles long and two blocks wide. The town still lacked docks. The Earps’ steamer was met by smaller boats who ferried the couple to within 30 feet of the shoreline. From there Josephine was carried ashore on the back of a local. There the couple found unpaved streets, a treeless landscape, a river filled with stinking sewage, and thick mud everywhere. Finding no suitable hotel, the couple spent another winter in a wooden shack.
In Nome, Earp was fortunate to link up with a local, Charles E. Hoxsie. Born in Rhode Island, Hoxie at an early age had gone to sea and his voyages eventually had taken him to Nome. There he had entered the saloon trade and would later be named town councilman. Earp and Hoxsie are credited with constructing the town’s first two-story building, a saloon they called the “Dexter,” shown above just behind the Warwick sign. It immediately was reckoned the largest and most luxurious drinking establishment in Nome. The second floor held a dozen “club rooms,” decorated with mirrors, thick carpets, draperies and fancy furniture.
Using Earp’s notoriety as a drawing card, the Dexter was a success. At 70 by 30 feet and 12 foot ceilings, the saloon was large enough to accommodate a variety of activities, including dancing, gambling, and upstairs in the club rooms a brothel, said to have been supervised by Josephine. My guess is that the Earps lived on the premises. For reasons personal to the proprietors, they also called it “The Only Second Class Saloon in Alaska.”
Far from that designation, the Dexter Saloon drew anyone famous who visited Nome. Although novelist Jack London may have been the most important figure to walk through the doors, Rex Beach and playwright Wilson Mizner also dropped by. Shown here ls a photo of Earp, left, with the visiting John Clum, the mayor of Tombstone and an Arizona newspaperman who had given the gunslinger favorable publicity.
It appears that the Wyatt and Josephine preferred to spend the dark, harsh winters away from Nome. With steamships daily serving the boomtown, now fast growing to 20,000, the Earps found it easy go south to California in winter. Among the steamers they boarded was the “ SS Cleveland” from the Hamburg America line, shown above. Indicative of how lucrative their saloon was proving to be, the couple often stayed winters at the swank Los Angeles Hollenbeck Hotel, right. When they returned to Alaska they often brought with them “luxurious accessories” to decorate the Dexter.
One of the Earps’ return trips has become the stuff of Alaska lore. According to a document held in at the University of Washington, in 1901 authorities were tipped off that Wyatt was on a ship set to dock at Juneau, Alaska, in 1901: “…The deputy marshal, along with a posse of local citizens deputized for the encounter, met Earp as his ship docked.” Branding him “a notorious desperado,” the marshal confiscated Earp’s gun and told him he was not welcome in Juneau. Today at Juneau’s Red Dog Saloon a pistol is on display said to have been checked in at the marshal’s office but never claimed by Earp when he hastily left Juneau at 5:00 a.m. on June 29 aboard a steamship bound for Nome. Some observers, however, doubt the validity of the story and the authenticity of the six-shooter.
The years the Earps spent in Nome were just four. In 1901, at age 40, Josephine became pregnant and the couple decided to leave Alaska. Wyatt sold his interest in the Dexter Saloon to Charlie Hoxie, who continued to operate it for a number of years. The Earps left Nome on board the steamship “SS Roanoke,” arriving back in Los Angeles in mid-December 1901. Again they stayed at the Hollenbeck. Wyatt had “mined the miners” well. The couple were rolling in money, estimated as the equivalent to some $2.5 million today. Josephine miscarried, however, and lost the baby.
Blowing through their riches on speculative investments, gambling and high living, before long the Earps were on the move again opening saloons in several boomtowns in Nevada. The seemingly bullet-proof Wyatt died in Los Angeles of natural causes in 1929 at the advanced age of 80. Josephine, who was Jewish, had him cremated and his ashes buried in the Jewish Cemetery outside San Francisco. The couple’s joint grave is the most visited site in the burying grounds.
Although no evidence exists that Wyatt Earp ever visited Nome again, his four years there were memorable in Alaskan history. His fame brought dozens of others to Nome hoping to strike it rich. His initiative to build the first two story building in a tent city spurred local development. His “better class” saloon not only provided entertainment in the bleak Nome landscape, it served civic purposes as a clubhouse, town hall and forum for political campaigns. Although Nome had been good to Earp, Earp also had been good for Nome.
Note: This post has been drawn from a wide variety of sources. In addition to those cited in the text, a key resource was the lengthy and informative Wikipedia article on Wyatt Earp. Ann Kirschner is the author of a book on Josephine “Sadie” Earp.
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