John Treadwell

John Treadwell (1842–1927) was a Canadian gold miner. He was born in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada. He owned and operated the Treadwell gold mine through the Treadwell Mining Company. He was responsible for initiating low-grade gold mining in Alaska adopting most advanced operations on a big scale, which boosted the economy of the wilderness areas.

Personal life Treadwell was born in St. Andrews. He had a brother, James. He married Frederika Josephine Graner in 1889.

Career Treadwell worked as a miner in California and Nevada. In 1881, he worked as a carpenter on a house in California for John Fry, a well known banker. When Fry heard about the rich gold exploring possibility around the Gastineau Channel on Douglas Island, near Alaska's current capital of Juneau, he proposed Treadwell to inspect the area and find out the scope of prospecting there as Treadwell had a mining background. Initially, Treadwell met a French miner, Pierre Joseph Erussard, who gave very encouraging reports of the gold deposits in his claim. As Erussard was short of funds to carry out further work, he decided to return to his country, and Treadwell gave Erussard $400 for the Paris lode claim. On Treadwell's return to California, he, Fry, and another friend established a mining company to work on Alaskan mine claims. The former town and mine are now situated in the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area. Consequently, he was associated with banking in New York with his brother James, which resulted in a bankruptcy claim of US$3 million without any supporting collateral. and was buried there.