Gustave Ferbert
Encyclopedia
Gold prospecting in Alaska
After his coaching career at Michigan, Ferbert went to Alaska to search for gold. In May 1900, amid the Klondike Gold RushKlondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...
, newspapers reported that Ferbert had left Ann Arbor for Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, where he planned to join "High" Allen and "Count" Villa, described as "two other prominent Michigan football men." Ferbert, Allen and Villa intended to "proceed to the Alaska gold fields," leaving unsettled the question of who would coach the Michigan football team in 1900.
For a considerable period of time, Ferbert was out of contact in the Klondike
Klondike, Yukon
The Klondike is a region of the Yukon in northwest Canada, east of the Alaska border. It lies around the Klondike River, a small river that enters the Yukon from the east at Dawson....
, but he emerged on the Seward Peninsula
Seward Peninsula
The Seward Peninsula is a large peninsula on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It projects about into the Bering Sea between Norton Sound, the Bering Strait, the Chukchi Sea, and Kotzebue Sound, just below the Arctic Circle...
. An article published in 1909 after his return reported that Ferbert had struck it rich. The article stated: "Eight years ago, with the determination to come back rich or not at all, 'Dutch' Ferbert, old Michigan coach and one of the most famous football players, left Cleveland for the Klondike. For eight years he has toiled over endless snows, fought fierce hardships, endured everything in his battle to win his word -- to come back home a rich man. And now he has made a strike and is coming back to civilization. He sailed from Nome
Nome, Alaska
Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the...
and is rushing homeward with $1,000,000 as his reward."
Another article reported on Ferbert's $1,000,000 "Touchdown in the Arctic." The article reported that Ferbert's parting words were that he would return rich or not at all. Ferbert made a "killing," the report continued, near Doering City in the Candle Creek region in 1908 and 1909, and "it is reported that his claims are valuable enough to put him in the millionaire class." Before striking it rich, Ferbert spent several years prospecting in several districts with "slim success." He worked part time in restaurants and stores, but he finally located some of the best claims in the region and "panned out more gold than he had ever dreamed of and became a bonanza king overnight."
Later life
When Ferbert returned from Alaska, he practiced as a mining engineer and consultant until his retirement in 1928. In a draft registration card submitted in September 1918, Ferbert indicated he was living in Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, and was employed as a carpenter. At the time of the 1920 United States Census, he was living in Whittier, California
Whittier, California
Whittier is a city in Los Angeles County, California about southeast of Los Angeles. The city had a population of 85,331 at the 2010 census, up from 83,680 as of the 2000 census, and encompasses 14.7 square miles . Like nearby Montebello, the city constitutes part of the Gateway Cities...
, and his occupation was listed as a miner in a private mine.
His brother A.H. Ferbert was the president of the Pittsburgh Steel Co.
Ferbert died of a heart ailment in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
on January 15, 1943 at age 69.