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John Brynteson
JOHN BRYNTESON is one of the first discoverers of gold on Anvil Creek. He was a member of the party that started from Golovin Bay to investigate a report
brought by natives of gold on the beach at Sinuk. This party, on account of rough
weather, was forced to make a landing at the mouth of Snake River, and during their
detention at this place they prospected some of the adjacent country. Mr. Brynteson
found encouraging prospects on Anvil Creek August 1, and it was these prospects
that induced him to return to this place accompanied by Lindeberg and Lindblom in
September following when the great discovery was made by which the Nome country
became known, and developed into one of the notable gold producing regions of the world.
Mr. Brynteson came to Alaska in the spring of 1898. He had been a worker in the iron mines in the northern part of the United States, and the object of his trip
to Alaska was to prospect for gold. His first prospecting in Alaska was in the Fish
River country. The result of his efforts in this region was not entirely satisfactory,
although colors were found; and he joined the expedition to another part of the
peninsula as told in the preceding paragraph, and through this trip became one of the
discoverers of gold in the Nome District and the owner of very valuable mining properties.
Mr. Brynteson is a native of Dalsland, Sweden, and was born August 13, 1871. His father was a farmer and the subject of this sketch received his education in the
public schools of his native land. He came to America in 1887, but Dame Fortune
never smiled on him until he went to Alaska. He was one of the original members, and
one of the organizers, of the Pioneer Mining Company, and he is now a director in that
corporation. Since his acquisition of wealth from the mines of Alaska, he has purchased a home in Santa Clara Valley, Cal., where he is following the quiet and unpretentious life of a farmer. He has valuable and extensive interests in Seward Peninsula.
While the products of his mines have made him a capitalist and placed him in a position
of absolute financial independence, he still remains the unassuming man and courteous
gentleman that he was before the days of his affluence.
Mr. Brynteson was married May 2, 1900. Mrs. Brynteson was formerly Miss Emma Forsborg. Three children, one son and two daughters, have been born to them. His identification with the early history of Nome, the discovery of gold, organization
of the Nome District and the development of the rich mines of Anvil Creek and Snow
Gulch, is told in a preceding chapter of this book.
Source: Nome and Seward Peninsula by R. S. Harrison.
Seattle: The Metropolitan Press, 1905.
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