R.C. Diehl

R.C. Diehl: Merchant and
prospector invested in Fort Wrangel

First published in the Wrangell Sentinel, August 24, 1995

It's not certain just when R.C. Diehl arrived in Fort Wrangel in the late 1800's. Diehl may have first relocated to Washington State from Colorado prior to coming to Fort Wrangel. In July 1898, he was advertising 30 acres from Spokane for Fort Wrangel improved property.

One of the founding fathers of Montrose, Colo., Diehl also played a part in the early day construction of Fort Wrangel. The Diehl Building, located on Front Street, is one of the few remaining buildings from 1898 still standing.

Diehl traveled to what is now Montrose from Hays, Kans., when he was 32 years old. He is listed as one of the trustees of Montrose, Colo., founded May 2, 1882. Diehl, along with A.E. Buddecke, started the first store in a tent with $650 in stock and then built the first store in Montrose from logs. They operated as "Buddecke and Diehl." The partners later built an opera house and several other buildings at Montrose.

Diehl reportedly had the first bath tub in town "made of wood and tin, and half the people of Montrose come to the Diehl home to take their bath."

At Fort Wrangel, Diehl was in partnership with several other men in property and business. His wife, Sarah, was also a partner with Diehl and the other gentlemen and purchased property in partnership with John E. Pelton who was one of Diehl's partners.

Diehl, L.H. Spilker, Pelton and D.D. Sharp filed a "Location Notice" in February 1898 with the U.S. Commissioner for the purchase of "Mercantile and Manufacturing."

Pelton and Mrs. Diehl purchased property in March 1898 from Charley Richards (known as "Blind Charley"), She-Wa and Charles Star, all Natives of Fort Wrangel and from John Sales, a local bachelor who prospected up the Stikine River. Most of this property was near the older part of Fort Wrangel, near what was the former Stikine Village near the area of the former town mill. A month later, the property was sold to Rufus Sylvester for $425.

The following month, Diehl was listed as one of the directors of the "Wrangell Commercial and Transportation Company." The other directors were Pelton, Spilker, H.E. Weymouth and Sharp. In addition to the directors, who were also shareholders, Diehls' wife, Sarah, and C.E. Ingersoll were also listed as shareholders in the corporation. Weymouth and Ingersoll were also involved in the first bank in Fort Wrangel.

The purpose of the new corporation was to construct a system of streetcars for carrying passengers and freight as well as buy and sell real estate. The corporation may have been pure speculation on the future growth of the town, but the investment of the shareholders amount to $50,000. Pelton, Sharp and Spilker each owned 10,000 shares with the Diehls owning 9,500 and 500 shares (Sarah's share). Ingersoll and Weymouth maintained control of 5,000 shares each.

Diehl bought property along Front Street from Kenneth Jackson, the U.S. Commissioner at Fort Wrangel, in May 1898, intent on building a two-story building for a grocery store. By August, Diehl was found prospecting with Wm. Bullock, another Fort Wrangel property owner,.

While Fort Wrangel was a bustling town, not all thoughts were of the gold rush or business. The Twenty-Five Thousand Club, forerunner of the local chamber of commerce, sponsored free socials and concerts. The July 1898 meeting of the organization was chaired by Diehl at the local opera house. The Rev. Thwing's wife, presided at the organ for the opening hymn, "America," followed by the invocation by the Rev. G.W. Kennedy. Poems, a reading, songs and even a performance by the "Soldiers' Quartette" were part of the evening's events.

But the lure of gold drew Diehl further north and eventually into the Atlin Lake area and then to Dawson. He entered into business with two other gentlemen ad the "Klondike Market," located at South 3^rd and 5^th Avenue.

Diehl spent several years in the Klondike. His wife and young daughter, Rose, returned to Montrose in mid-1898 leaving Diehl at Fort Wrangel. Evidently, without his spouse in Fort Wrangel, Diehl became eligible for membership in the Bachelor's Club. Membership in this exclusive men's club required that one be single. (The women weren't too fond of the idea of the club, which created a great fuss in the Fort Wrangell News for a bit.)

Diehl eventually returned to Montrose where he died in 1910 at the age of 59 years.

The Diehl building, built about May 1898, was moved 11 feet back from its original position in 1928, to straighten Front Street. Th Patenaude family owned the building until 1947. (Patenaude also owned what is now Millie's.") William Gunn, known as "Brother Gunn," purchased the building from the Patenaude family, continuing to operate the shoe repair shop. Gunn was an evangelical missionary and also managed the mission located down the street.

The building has served as commercial space downstairs and living quarters upstairs. It served again as a grocery store in 1927, owned by George Cowan and served also as the railway express office in 1947

"Neyman Supply" moved into the building after the 1952 fire which destroyed much of the water side of Front Street, including Neyman's general merchandise store. Gunn allowed Virgil and Dorothy Neyman to move their business into part of his building, assisting them to continue doing business in Wrangell. The building was purchased from Gunn in 1954 by the Neymans. Neyman Supply continued to operate until 1983 when Mrs. Neyman closed the business, having continued to operate the business alone after husband died in 1959. The Diehl Building recently changed hands once again and is finding new life as a fish market.

So, how come the name on the building says "Biehl?" Dorothy Neyman, former owner of the building, said the building underwent a refurbishing many years ago and during the painting the lettering was removed. The decision had been made to leave the name off the building once the refurbishing had been completed since they were so old and rotted. The townspeople didn't like that idea and let her know about it. Because the lettering was so far beyond repair, the first letter was thought to be a "B" and that's how the name went back up.

During the "Wrangell Building Survey and Inventory," conducted by Katherine Cohen for the Wrangell Historical Society in the mid-1980's, the name "Biehl" could not be found anywhere. It wasn't until researching for information on Wrangell history that this writer stumbled onto the possible theory that "Biehl" was really "Diehl." Diehl's building fit the location of the "Biehl" building. Mrs. Neyman corroborated that theory when she explained the replacing of the name on the building after refurbishing the building.

The building, even with the recent refurbishing, continues to contribute to the historic look of Wrangell, bringing to mind the town's gold rush history of 1898.