In his book, KLONDIKE, Pierre Berton describes meeting George Carmack at the mouth of the Klondike River not long after Carmack had discovered the gold that would start off the Gold Rush of 1890. Lapierre and his companion, a French-Canadian named George Remillard went down the river towards Fortymile . The two men were quite discouraged and they also had no provisions. When Carmack told them about his discovery and tried to convince them not to go any farther, they were skeptical. By then they had heard many similar stories in the past eleven years in the North while trying to prospect for gold. However, when the famous discoverer showed them the gold he had found, they were immediately influenced. Lapierre and his friend emptied their boat, filled their backpacks and went towards the famous Bonanza Creek. They left so very quickly gesticulating with their two hands and discussing in a mixture of French and English that they forgot to fasten their boat. The next day,Lapierre and Remillard demarcated the boundaries of their concessions Numbers 11 and 12 on the famous Bonanza Creek.
According to archival documentaries, Alphonse Lapierre continued to exploit concession Number 10 on Bonanza Creek. On September 3, 1897 he had already paid $1200.00 in royalties on the gold he had found. The federal tax was 10% in 1898 so we can imagine the size of the personal wealth which Lapierre had.
Ref. Empreinte, vol.11, p. 19
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