Bridget Mannion Alyward

(1865 - 1958)

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At the age of 21, Bridget Mannion emigrated from her home in Turlough, Ros Muc, County Galway, Ireland in 1886 to seek a better life for herself. She first settled in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she worked as a domestic at the Merchants Hotel. In 1889, Bridget moved to Seattle, Washington, where she became a servant and cook for the James Street residence of Henry L. Yesler, a prominant entrepreneur and a founder of the City of Seattle. (1, 2, 11, 12)

During a dinner in 1891, where Briget was working as a cook, Captain John J. Healy (also from Ireland) persuaded Chicago businessman Portus B. Weare to invest and partner in a new trading post and shipping company in the 40 Mile Mining District of eastern Interior Alaska. In March, 1892, the North American Transportation and Trading Company was launched(3).

At this same dinner, Bridget persuaded Healy to let her accompany him and his wife Belle to the 40-Mile district to work as a servent for them. In July of 1892, the Healys and Bridget, along with other helpers, left Seattle on the Blanchard for St. Michael at the mouth of the Yukon River. The Blanchard contained supplies and an unassembled steamboat, named the P. B. Weare after its financier. The 175-foot-long steamboat would be assembled at St. Michael to continue the journey along the Yukon River to the mouth of the Forty Mile River in Yukon, Canada (4).

Unfortunately, by the time the group finished building the P. B. Weare in September, 1892, ice had begun to form on the Yukon River and the group was forced to winter in Nulato on the lower Yukon River. Once the ice breakup was completed, the group departed Nulato in the early summer of 1893 and arrived at the mouth of the Fortymile River later in the summer of 1893. There they established Fort Cudahy across the Yukon River on its’ eastern bank.

Bridget Mannion and Belle Healy became the first non-native American women on that part of the Yukon River. Fort Cudahy consisted of the company trading post and warehouses along the Yukon River near the confluence with the Forty Mile River. The fort also had a sawmill, reading room, billiard hall, and small log cabins(5).

Bridget worked for the Healys at Fort Cudahy until early 1894 and had amassed her own small fortune. After receiving a reported 150 marriage proposals in one year, Edward Aylward (1853-1914), a successful prospector with an Irish brogue, won her heart. They were married on Easter Sunday in 1894 on the Fortymile River. Their marriage was the first non-native American marriage in the region (note from editor—AMHF inductees and Yukon River traders Jack McQuesten and Al Mayo were white traders that married native women Margaret Mayo and Kate McQuesten on the Yukon, previous to the Aylward marriage. Both traders succeeded as river traders in large part because of the competence and know-how of their indigenous wives).

Fr. Judge was the missionary preist and used a large tent for a church with logs for seating. Shortly after their wedding, Bridget and Edward went to Napoleon Creek in Alaska to begin their mining careers(1, 2, 10, 14).

Frederick Currier, Wisconsin-born journalist and adventurer (see his biography in this newseltter) met Bridget and Edward at Fort Cudahy and took part in their wedding celebration. Currier noted:

Bridget became part of the fabric of the Forty Mile Mining District, working side-by-side with her husband, Edward while mining on Napoleon Creek. She was dubbed the “Queen of Alaska” due to her strong work ethic and kindness.

Prospectors entering the country were often short on supplies and work was non-existent during summer months. They always found a welcome hand at Napoleon Creek/Napolean Gulch. A common remembrance was stated:

Bridget mined for gold on Napoleon Creek for five years until the end of the 1898 season. They were very successful gold miners and confident that they had eneough gold to last a lifetime. Bridget and Edward Aylward left Alaska and retired to a home in Seattle’s Capital Hill district. During the 1909 Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition, which was Seattle’s first ‘World Fair’, Bridget was officially crowned “Queen of Alaska”. She became a member of the Yukon Order of Pioneers. Edward died March 29, 1914 and is buried in Seattle’s Calvary Cemetery (7, 10).

In 1948, Bridgett left Seattle and returned to her beloved Turlough, Ros Muc, Ireland. She died there on January 7, 1958 a month before her 93rd birthday. In her will, Bridgett requested that a trust be established to educate the children of Ros Muc, using proceeds from the gold she and Edward mined at Napoleon Creek in east central Alaska.

Since that time, the Bridget Aylward Trust Fund has benefitted many students. It remains active, funding education at Cola’iste na bPiarsach, Ros Muc (the secondary school in Ros Muc) to this day (8).

During a genealogy conference at the Patrick Pearce Cultural Centre in Ros Muc in October, 2022, Peter Mannion, Leslie Thomas, and Bridie Ui Chona’mha provided a presentaion about Bridget. It included a special gift for the Ros Muc community from Judd and Gail Edgerton, current owners of the Napoleon Creek mining claims. After hearing about Bridget’s story, and the Bridget Aylward Trust Fund for education, the Edgertons were moved to contribute several items, inlcuding a small vial of gold nuggets from their mine. Gail’s grandmother was an Alaska territorial teacher. Gail wrote a fascinating essay about their 30+ years mining on Napoleon Creek, which was read at the event to an appreciative crowd.

The Edgerton gifts were presented to Principal Eoin O’ Mainin and students of Cola’iste na pPiarscah, in Ros Muc to the background music of Johnny Horton’s ‘North to Alaska’, and are now showcased at the school. During conference week, both the Irish Flag and the Alaska State Flag were displayed in front of the school, which is situated on a main road through the town.

In 2016, on what would have been her 101st birthday, Cola’iste na pPiarsach honored Bridget by erecting a headstone on her final resting place in Turlough, Ros Muc, beside her mother’s grave.

The school and community held a dedication ceremony to honor her life and legacy (13). While Bridget’s beginnings may have been humble, her hard work, adventerous spirit and kind heart enabled her to live a remakrkable life with a meaningful and lasting impact.

Bridget’s legacy from her gold mining days on Napoleon Creek and the Fortymile Mining district in Alaska is still providing educational opportunities for children in her home town of Ros Muc, County Galway, Ireland. Long after Bridget and Edward laid down their picks and shovels in the goldfields of Alaska, their mining actions are being felt to this day.

Written by Leslie Thomas

References Cited

1--From Galway to the Goldrush by Caroline McCall, for the Irish Club of Seattle: https://www.yumpu.com/endocument/view/11415880/from-galway-tothe-gold-rush-irish-heritage-club-of-seattle

2—Gold Rush Women—January 1, 2012 by Claire Rudolph Murphy and Jane Haigh (authors). Bridget Aylward is featured in this book.

3— http://npshistory.com/publications/yuch/golden-places/chap2.htm

4— https:www.explorenorth.com/library/ships/natt-18920702.html

5--- https://www.yukon-news.com/letters-opinions/meet-th-fortunate-bridget-mannion/

6—Frederick Currier article: https://chroniclingamercia.loc.gov/lccn/sn85033255/1897-01-07/ed1/seq1?fbclid=JWar2NQr7lAKmsBke83wR7BZjk7jRMQeOaVAKR3pCVjhVA6F_UEZGABoDjBS

7—Seattle Times Sept 3, 1896 in John Kaene’s packet IHonoraray Consul of Ireland in Seattle) and interview with Bridget’s relative

8—Eoin O’ Mainin, Priomhoide, Cola’iste na bPiarsach, Ros Muc and Bridie Ui Chona’mha

9—Peter Mannion interview with Bridget’s relative Marilyn Smith 10 https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/2125/report.pdf Note: Aylward mining claim is noted on page 40 of this publication: Yeend, Warren E., 1996-Gold placers of the historic fortymile river region, Alaska by Warren Yeend p. cm. –(U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 2125)

11—Bridget’s immigration record from Peter Mannion File/Ancestry, Passenger immigration database

12—Bridget’s St. Paul employment from Leslie Thomas File/Ancestry, St. Paul City Directories

13--.Link to the Bridget Aylward dedication ceremony in Ros Muc, February 2016:https://www.seanomainin.com/p816742814

14—The Bridget Mannion Aylward “Queen of Alaska” Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/people/Bridget-Aylward-Queen-of-Alaska/100064126478301/

15—Will of Bridget Aylward, National Archives of Ireland, 6th March 1956.

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