Yukon Gold Rush-Martin and Lucy Itjen

SECTION 3: My immigrant German connection to the Yukon Gold Rush-Martin and Lucy Itjen

I (Bob Wieking) am the grand nephew of Martin Itjen. Martin Itjen was a cousin of my grandmother, Christine (Gerdes) Wieking. And even though Martin and Lucy had no offspring, Martin had a large group of "Gerdes family" in the San Francisco Bay Area. Contrary to much of the writing and folk lore regarding Martin, he was actually born in Dorum, Germany. Dorum is north of Bremerhaven and very near to Sievern where my grandmother was born and raised. My father shared his stories of Martin Itjen. Martin's lone trip to the southern US was in 1935 during his infamous tour promoting Ford automobiles and to see Mae West. For one reason or another, only my father(of his siblings) is found in photographs that include Martin and many of his relatives in the Oakland, California Bay Area. Evidently either my father was "recruited" to entertain this guest from the Northland or he was genuinely interested in Martin and his romantic lifetime spent in Skagway, Alaska. My father told me that he rode with Martin, in his Skagway Streetcar, down the streets of San Francisco. This "parade" was to act as a promotional event to advertise Martin's appearance at the Orpheum Theatre. In a large collection of newspaper articles and adverts, Martin was promoted as quite a stand-up comedian and story teller.

Documents exist in my collection that indicate that Martin actually landed in Charleston, South Carolina. My father and I have often puzzled as to why Martin chose South Carolina as his point of immigration. I only recently learned about a possible reason for his choice during a recent visit of mine to Sievern and other points in the north of Germany. It happens that a citizen of Sievern, General John Wagener left Sievern to arrive in the USA and join the Civil War, fighting for the South! Wagener's subsequent history indicates that he became quite a respected citizen of South Carolina, including serving as an "Immigration Coordinator" . It is my hunch that Wagener was instrumental in arranging for Martin Itjen to exit Germany and arrive in South Carolina!

The following is an article written by Frank Norris, of Skagway, Alaska. It was published in the 1986 Skagway Alaskan. The article describes Martin and Lucy's career in the Northland.
"The year was 1935 and the golden days of Hollywood were at their height. Movie stars such as Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Bette Davis, and Mae West sat atop Hollywood's throne. People from all over the world flocked to Southern California's movie colony that year, but one of Hollywood's most well-loved visitors hailed from the far-off gold rush town of Skagway, Alaska. That visitor was once a gold miner himself, but years before he had tossed aside his gold pan in favor of other pursuits.

Martin Itjen was his name, and he warrants our attention today because he, and others like him, have been sorely neglected in the tell of Alaska's history. Itjen was a tour guide, the best and most skilled of that breed. When he rode into Hollywood, he was invited to meet Mae West and to tell the world about the custom-made bus he called the Skagway Street Car. But to a decade or more of Alaskan tourists, he was already well known. He was a warm, fun-loving and humble man, but despite his "aw-schucks" stile of humility, he was a pioneer, a harbinger of a new Alaska. It was Martin Itjen, and those that followed his example, who ushered in today's multi-million dollar Alaska visitor industry....Itjen was and unlikely candidate for fame. He was born in Sievern, Germany, a small village in Germany, north of Bremerhaven, in 1870. He emigrated from Germany to South Carolina in 1890 and then settled in Jacksonville, Florida to set up and operate a grocery store. In 1898 he decided to follow the tracks of perhaps 100,000 others that year---north to the Klondike gold fields. He was engaged at the time, and the idea, as he saw it, was to earn a sizeable nest-egg before returning home. But like the majority of the Klondike tide, he never made it to Dawson; instead, he lingered in Skagway awhile, then joined the Atlin stampede.(Atlin was in British Columbia).

He failed in any attempts he made to get rich quick, but the longer he remained in the north country, the more he loved it. He therefore journeyed to Chicago, where he and Lucy were married, and soon afterwards they returned to Skagway. He worked for the railroad for awhile, but when news broke of the Alsek-Kluane gold strikes, he took Lucy north to seek fortune again. ....Over the years, Itjen engaged in a host of jobs, most of which had nothing to do with tourism. One of his jobs was operating an undertaking parlor, but as he liked to tell his street car patrons, "it was such a healthful place that I could not keep busy at this work." In addition, he was a boarding house keeper, a boat builder, the local Ford dealer, the wood and coal deliverer, and the operator of a small sawmill. He owned a number of homes in town and served as a landlord. But despite his many involvements, he lived frugally. The Itjen home, for instance, was fairly modest in size. It was originally located at the north end of the White Pass wharf, the only dock in Skagway which remained active after the gold rush. The house was moved from the wharf to town after the Army took over the dock in the 1`940's, and it has recently been moved to 1st and Broadway for restoration by the National Park Service.

Tourists who rode Itjen's streetcar saw the best of Skagway. For 50 cents--25 cents each way, it was advertised-- they got a two-hour tour that featured the town's finest points of interest. The most common questions centered around the Klondike gold rush and the many historical buildings in town. Itjen delighted in describing the old Arctic Brotherhood Hall, the railroad depot, the courthouse and other reminders of the Klondike stampede. But even more, people wanted to know about Soapy Smith, so in response he deluged his customers with stories surrounding the bad man's rise and fall.

In reality Smith was in Skagway for a very short time. Soapy arrived in October, 1897, and he was shot to death nine months later on one of Skagway's wharves. But Itjen glorified Smith before the eyes of the visiting public. He drove his streetcar to the house where Smith's rival, Frank Reid, had lived, and he also took them to the spot where Reid and Smith shot it out. In 1935, Itjen restored Soapy's tavern, converted it into a museum and incorporated it into his tour. The museum had a mannequin of Soapy Smith who held a glass of beer in one hand and a revolver in the other. As guests came through the front door, the mannequin raised his glass in salute before shooting "Dangerous Dan McGrew" who was sitting at a nearby card table. He also restored the old gold-rush cemetery at the north end of town, where both Smith and Reid are buried.

If the Skagway visitors had not yet heard enough about Smith during the two-hour tour on Itjen's streetcars, they continued the tour at the Pullen House, perhaps the best tourist hotel in Alaska at the time. Its owner, Mr. Pullen, loved to tell dramatic stories of the gold rush, and one of her favorites revolved around her supposedly eyewitness account of the Reid Smith shootout. Mrs. Pullen was spellbinder, and never let the truth interfere with a good story. Locals were not allowed to sit in on her many presentations to the assembled tourists. In her own museum were displayed a revolver, a roulette wheel and a hat that had once belonged to the bad man.
Aside from historical aspects, Itjen's tour ran the gamut from the beautiful and educational to the odd and curious. It included stops at several of Skagway's flower gardens--Skagway at the time was the Flower City of Alaska --and tourists were able to view the lovely 300-foot Reid's Falls in back of the cemetery. Here Itjen gave a gold-panning demonstration, using a pea-sized nugget that he had mined in Atlin to show how the process worked.

The tour included some more bizarre attractions. Near the dock was a rock painted black and white with the rather far fetched name of "Soapy Smith's skull." Near the railroad yards there was a small pond with trout so tame that tourists could feed them small bits of hamburger. By the cemetery was a large chunk of granite that Itjen painted gold. He painted a label on it, "The largest nugget in the world. To supposedly prevent his massive "nugget" from being stolen, Itjen imbedded a chain into the rock and then hooked the other end onto a nearby sapling. Customers seemed to appreciate his sense of humor.

Itjen was successful because Skagway was not only a major stopping point of the principal tours of Southeast Alaska, but a major transfer point for tourist trips throughout Alaska. After 1920 the Canadian Pacific and International ships stayed in port in Skagway, while passengers headed inland to Lake Bennett, Whitehorse, or Atlin. Of those who took advantage of the extended port stay, Itjen had plenty of customers for his tours.
He further entertained his customers by writing poetry. His verse was witty and homespun; author Archie Satterfield has described him as an "intentionally terrible poet" whose poems were so bad they were good. As an example, Itjen placed the following advertisement for his " Days of '98 Tour" in the 1919 Skagway Alaskan.”

Martin with his streetcar for a fifty cent fare
Will show you when and show you where
The High Spots were, for he was there.
He'll start at nine and takes till noon

To show you Skagway in the Klondike boom.
If you miss this, you have missed it all
And have not seen Alaska at all.
Take a bite if you can't take it all.

The more years he gave his tours and wrote his poetry, the better-known Itjen became. He had a natural flair for publicity and was written up in several publications.
But his most successful advertising coup was his famed Hollywood trip in late February, 1935. He went out to dinner with Mae West, and pictures of the two of them were printed in more than two hundred newspapers. The two made an excellent publicity shot as they posed in front of his streetcar--she the star of stage and screen, he the eccentric, awe-struck Alaskan, sporting his oversized moustache and gold nugget chains.

Itjen wrote his own pamphlet in 1938 entitled, "The Story of the Skagway, Alaska, Street-car", which he sold to tourists. It prominently featured pictures of himself with Mae West standing next to the streetcar, and the words coming out of her mouth are, "come up and see me sometime." Itjen's pamphlet also contains a poem he wrote describing what Mae West told him:

She said to me, "Now Martin,
If it wasn't for your wife
I'd take you and your moustache
For the rest of your sweet life.
But I'm different from other movie gals
For I took a solemn vow
That I would never come between
A husband and his frau."

Itjen continued running his streetcar and museum through the summer of 1941. Pearl Harbor and the onset of World War II forced him to shut down his tourist operations, and just a year later, on December 3, 1942, Itjen died. He was 72.

We have included two of Martin Itjen's more nefarious poems for posterity:

Martin's Glimpse of the Highlights
Martin Itjen

"Come up and see me sometime."
This was the invitation.
I put my street car on the boat
And sailed for the Movie Station.

I will tell the details:
In Ninety-eight one day,
I heard of a great gold rush
Three thousand miles away.

I packed my pack for Skagway,
Where I arrived in June,
Worked at everything worth while
And mined for many a moon.

After my ground got worked out,
I led a different life;
I started to work the tourists
And took unto me a wife.

After many years of labor
I thought I needed a rest,
So I made a man like Soapy Smith
And we headed for the Southwest.

When we got to Seattle
We took in the picture show,
And renewed our old acquaintance
With many a sourdough.

Many of these old-timers
Live near a little town.
they have bought a farm, got married,
And raised kids to make a town.

One old guy advised me,
If I was going to make a trip,
To have my longhorn moustache
Shaved off'n my upper lip.

He said: "If you go to Hollywood
and want to see Mae West,
You should patronize a manicurist
And try to look your best."

I told him I had worn this moustache,
Almost all my life;
And if I had it shaved off
I'd surely lose my wife.

If it is ever taken off
It will be done by force,
For the loss of it will surely
Cause proceedings for divorce.

So I stepped upon the starter,
Sped blithely on my way,
To take in the movie studio
And make a date with Mae.

When I hit the Movietown
Where the lights were all aglow,
I got so flusterated
I didn't know where to go.

I found a place to park my car
And put up for the night;
then browsed around until I found
A place to eat a bite.

Next day I got my bearings,
So I'd know which way to go;
Then bought some chalk to mark the trail
to the Movie Studio.

A big policeman bawled me out,
For marking with the chalk;
But he listened with amusement,
when I began to talk.

I said I'm a Cheechako here
And I know darned blame well
I must use this here chalk to find
My walk back to the hotel.

So, I mushed out to the movie lot
Dressed up in my best,
I tipped a page to take my card
In to my star, Mae West,

I dated her up that very night,
And we went out and dined
In the swellest night-club
A guy could wish to find.

After dinner was over,
We paid a formal call,
On a bunch of Movie notables,
At a celebrated ball.

At this affair we cut some ice,
And cut some champagne capers;
Next day the consequences were,
Our pictures in the papers.

I camped down there a couple months.
And don't regret my stay;
I took in everything worth while,
And made a friend of Mae.

She said to me, "Now Martin,
If it wasn't for your wife
I'd take you and your moustache
For the rest of your sweet life."

"But I'm different from other movie gals
For I took a solemn vow
that I would never come between
A husband and his Frau."

So I started back home to Skagway;
And when I got off the boat,
I found to my amusement
That I was darn near broke.

Then I wandered on up home
And was welcomed by the cat;
And as the door was open
I just throwed in my hat.

I had a great vacation,
I saw the movie side of life;
But, it can't compare with Skagway,
My friends, my home and wife.

Henry Itjen, Martin’s Brother
Henry Itjen, Martin's brother, spent much of a year traveling from Germany to visit with Martin and his wife, Lucy, in Skagway, Alaska. The following three letters were written by Henry Itjen to his Aunt and Uncle who were Hanke Gerdes and Sophie(Itjen) Gerdes, in Sievern, Germany. These letters were located in Germany and mailed to Bob Wieking, in Ellensburg, Washington, USA. The letters then had to be translated into English.

Skagway, Alaska
March 15, 1908
Dear Uncle and Aunt,
I received your recent letter with such pleasure, and I am happy to see that you are all healthy and well, which thank God, we are too. Actually, I am not really all that well, but I should not complain, and even though I am not that strong, I can do my work, because I do eat well, and I live a sedate life. I live quite comfortably. Martin and his wife are very good to me. They do what they can, and I try to do the same for them. She is doing the cooking and maintains the household. She, herself, has several small properties which she leases, and so their life is quite comfortable; not working too hard, even making a little money and getting ahead. She pleaded with him(Martin) to give it up(digging for gold) when he came to visit here during Christmas. He was with us for about six weeks, but did not want to give it up. I tried to speak with him about it too, that he should give it up. But, finally he relented, and promised he would sell it in the fall. Digging for gold really takes hold of some people. It seems they are unable to give it up thinking they get richer and richer, because some days they find $50.00. Many people have found "thousands" and some have found even millions. We have lost more than we have gained. In a short time period I, myself, have lost $2,000 plus a lot of time, as well as two toes. But I thank our Lord that it is finally all over. I have given all my belongings to Martin without charge. He is living happy and content with his darling wife, and I hope he keeps his promise.
We had a mild winter here, little frost really. I just received a postcard from "Christine"(Christine is a cousin of Martin and Henry. She is the grandmother of Bob Wieking). They are all happy. I would like to thank you for the nice photos that Emma and Bertha have sent me.(They are cousins of Martin and Henry back in Sievern). I am busy every day;, and I write in the evening and that tires me. I have to close now and hope this letter finds you I good health. Regards from Martin and his wife and especially from me, your loving nephew.

Henry Itjen
Skagway, Alaska
"Please write again soon.

April 7, 1908
Dear Aunt,
Received your dear letter with great joy. I am here in Skagway now. It's been a hard journey. It took me 23 days. It was cold and the snow was deep, too deep for the horses, and so I had to walk and froze my right foot. I was on the road for an entire month, and the doctor had to amputate two toes. And even though I am in great pain I thank God that it was not worse. But it is bad.
So, dear aunt, I have enough of it and shall stay here this summer. I am in my own home. I can't walk yet. There is a German that lives with me that does little things for me, such as cook and bring in the firewood.
As soon as I am better I can return to my old workplace. I am well known here and have many friends that are very helpful. Martin and his wife remained there. They want to try it for another year. Both were crying when I left them. They don't know yet about my foot.
I have not much news this time. Say hello to your husband, your children, and our mother.
Your loving nephew
Henry Itjen
Write soon

Nov 4, 1908
Dear Uncle and Aunt,
Received your letter with great joy. I have been very busy this past summer, but right now there is not much to do here. The days are shorter here than in Germany. Daylight from 9-3, but in summer it's daylight almost all day long.
Thank God I am able to walk again, but I am still coughing, but I don't feel bad. I am able to do my work as well as I used to. It is, after all, not as difficult as reading and arithmetic.
Martin's wife has come out here, and we all love together now. Anyway, she is tired now of that lonely life and plans to remain in town for a while. She has a good home here, and even owns a small hotel and many small properties that she leases, and is thus able to make a good living here. Both of them send their regards. Martin is really heavily involved in digging. He takes on more and more, and has a lot of claims. Dear aunt, you ask if there are no women here? Yes, there are some, not many , but most of them are married. There are a lot of unmarred men here.
This location is a small town near the water with many ships landing here. All around us is nothing but mining industry, and lots of high, snow-covered mountains covered the whole year. They leave here by train to the end, and from there by sled over the mountains up to the North Pole, almost, or at least as far as the good Lord lets them get. Dear Aunt, it must be sad for you when all of your children leave the moment they become adults. I hope, at least one or two stay home, but that's how it goes. Everybody wants to go to America.
It is really not so bad here, but in the big cities you find much misery and hunger, and also many poor Germans. It is often their own fault, but not always.
Dear Uncle and Aunt, God has really blessed you with nine(9) children, beautiful and healthy children, and all alive. I send a small gift for all of you. Buy yourself something for Christmas. I thank Emma for the photo she sends me.
Many loving greetings from your Henry, and a happy New Year and merry Christmas to you all.
Henry