His diary relates the scenery he saw as well as his impressions of the territory. His words make the trip come alive once again for the reader with his attention to details: "…mountains with perpetual snow on its peaks…while in the valley pleasant hamlet with vegetation of all kinds…Dutch flat is a picturesque town among the mountains…"

From the spring of 1877, Spencer worked in the forest groves of the gigantic redwoods. Primarily, he worked at making railroad ties of the railroad at the prevailing wage of 1-1/2 cent for chopping, 3-1/2 cents for sawing, 4 cents for splitting and 4 cents for hewing.
Spencer finally pulled up stakes on April 4, 1877, and "started on tour" heading for San Francisco on the steamer in preparation for his trip to the gold fields of the north. On April 10 he boarded the steamer City of Panama for Victoria, British Columbia, a distance of 750 miles which they expected to cover in a little more than four days. While the trip was rough throughout the four days, the weather cleared up at the end of the trip, allowing for a beautiful view of the city of Victoria. Spencer wrote: "From the light house, entrance to the straights, the Vic (60 miles) is a beautiful body of water with mountains looming up on either side, making a grand and impressive view."

April 19 saw Spencer on board the steamer Gertrude on its way to Fort Wrangel by way of Nanaimo, Alert Bay and Bella Bella arriving at Fort Wrangel the evening of the 25th. Two days later Spencer was heading for Glenora arriving there on the 30th. May 1, the next day, he walked to Telegraph Creek which was about 15 miles beyond Glenora. No doubt because of high freight charges, Spencer noted that he had shipped his pack up in a canoe.

Spencer doesn't say who he was traveling with, but it is evident from his writings that he was traveling with others. From Telegraph Creek it was necessary to pack the gear along the trail to the Cassiar District.

He traveled the 90 miles from the mule trail at Telegraph Creek to the head of Dease Lake in five days carrying 80 pounds of gear. From there, he traveled over the ice to "Dease Town" and then headed for McDames Creek a few days later. Spencer wrote "…our mode of traveling was ina row boat having to break our way through the ice around the lake to Theiber [Thibert] Creek, a distance of 100 miles to Silvesters [Sylvester's ] Landing at the mouth of McDames Creek, then 15 miles up the trial to the mining towns.
Spencer set about prospecting soon after arriving at the mining camp and worked at it until early June when he began working, instead, for wages. Evidently he found little worth staying for in the Cassiar because he decided to leave. Of course, by 1878 most of the gold had been extracted from the Cassiar District.

July 20 found Spencer heading back from Victoria, working his way through the river for Glenora and then making it down to Fort Wrangel by canoe. On August 8, Spencer stood on board the Hudson's Bay steamer Otter as he watched Fort Wrangel disappear in the distance.

Spencer ended up in Nevada for awhile trying his luck at mining for silver at Eureka where his diary stopped. If he kept a diary after that period, it was never found, leaving us with a mystery.

Who was George Hamilton Spencer? He was born in Canada in 1851, coming to the States when he was a young boy. He wanted to see the world and set off for Florida and then the West Coast and then Alaska. He visited Mexico and Central America as well before returning to Michigan in 1878. He married Mary Nutter in 1880 and became successful in business until he suffered an attack of the grippe in 1891 from which never recovered. He died in 1893 at the age of 42. He was not quite 21 years old when he tried his luck in the Cassiar. But what an adventure he had!

While George Hamilton Spencer may not have struck it rich in the Cassiar, he is no doubt typical of many of the men who headed for the gold fields of the North hoping to get rich. It seemed such an exciting adventure that had to be attempted just for the experience. George Hamilton Spencer was just such an adventurer.

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I have had the pleasure of meeting (by phone and letter) the grandson of George Hamilton Spencer, Gaylord Smith. He and his wife reside in Michigan. As adventuresome as his grandfather, Smith has followed in his grandfather's footsteps seeing the towns and the sights he found written in the diaries, the notes and the letters sent home. Alaska is next on the list.