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Blue Parka Man
By Nathan Stille
On Cleary Summit, overlooking Goldstream Valley he
watched and waited. In the craggy valleys and along
Gilmore trail, he stalked. His prey: the traveling
merchants and the rich gold miners of the region. He
took their heavy sacks of gold, and then disappeared,
ghostlike.
This is the story of the Blue Parka Man, who lurked
north of Fairbanks in 1905 and 1906, during the height
of the Fairbanks gold rush. His adventures are
recounted in “The Blue Parka Man,” a book by H.C.
Landru, and in surviving audio interviews with
miners.
Historian Terrence Cole, a University of Alaska expert on the early
history of Fairbanks, briefly researched the story of
the Blue Parka Man some years ago, and found it to be,
“a classic and wild story of Fairbanks pioneer life,
but lacking a lot of documentation.”
One thing is certain from all accounts: the Blue Parka
Man’s daring and cunning feats captivated and alarmed
both the lawmen of Fairbanks and the gold miners of
the area now known as Goldstream Valley.
The miners working Goldstream Valley were instantly
rich in the summer and spring, after long winter days
of digging and stockpiling gold-bearing gravel in large
piles. The rising temperatures melted the ice on the
streams, which sent water tumbling through the miners’
sluice boxes, separating the gold from the gravel.
The rowdy miners did not waste any time in wasting
their money. The rambling frontier town of Fairbanks
was happy to oblige their every desire: Gambling,
booze and women all helped to relieve the miner of
his gold.
In the spring of 1905, the miners found a
far less pleasurable way to lose their gold. Robberies
became commonplace on the trails from
Fairbanks to the mining operations in Goldstream
Valley. One individual, in particular, became associated with
those robberies. He wore a blue parka that disguised
his face and carried a Sharp’s rifle. He came to be
known as the Blue Parka Man. His exploits became a
source of tavern gossip, and of outrage for merchants and businessmen.
Talk of vigilante action began to ferment among the
business owners, who were losing large shipments of
gold. A strong, decisive deputy marshal named
Frank Driebelbis stepped in to solve the problem
legally.
The Fairbanks News offered a reward for the Blue
Parka Man’s capture. The sum was large enough for citizens to eye
each other as possible suspects. Notwithstanding the angry
merchants and some citizens’ thirst for reward money,
the attitude of most was almost benevolent towards the
Blue Parka Man. Many struggling miners saw him as a kind of Robin Hood,
since he did not take from poor miners. On occasion even gave them a few
nuggets if he stopped them and found their pokes to be exceptionally light.
A story that was often repeated among the miners in
the saloons recounted how the local priest was given a
tidy sum to fund his parish by the Blue Parka Man, who
was appalled with the notion of holding up a member of
the clergy.
The Blue Parka Man’s luck did not hold in the boom and
bust times of the Goldstream Valley. Landru’s book does
not explain how the Blue Parka Man was first captured,
but a 1947 audio interview with Herman Webb, the night
guard of the Fairbanks jail in 1906, supplies the
missing information in a slow measured voice
“He was quite a notorious man. He went in to a
claim. I can’t remember the name; It was quite close to
the Gilmore Roadhouse. Well he took the strong box.
Well, the strong box weighed over 150 pounds, with the
gold and the iron box, so it was a little heavy to run
with. Well, the claim owners started shooting, and they
finally captured him”
The Blue Parka Man’s identity became known, and the
townspeople were shocked. His name was Hendrickson,
and he was a well known and likeable man who was good
with the ladies and always bought people drinks at the
saloons.
He was thrown in the Fairbanks jail, a damp, log-cabin,to await trial.
The trial convened, but had to be rescheduled due to inept prosecution.
Hendrickson, using a jeweler’s file, fashioned an intricate saw
out of an iron ring, cut a hole in the jail’s wall, and lit out
for the wilds of Goldstream
Valley. The jailbreak was not unusual, according to
Webb, who was on duty at the time. “ We had quite a
few jailbreaks back then, until the new jail was built
in 1907.”
The authorities tried to pursue, but Hendrickson had a
head start on the posse.
Scattered gossip and rumors regarding the whereabouts
of the Blue Parka Man were widespread. Finally in
December of 1906, a credible report came out of Birch
Creek, past Cleary Summit.
Driebelbis and another deputy by the name of Wiseman
set out by dogsled, braving high winds and cold
temperature. They found Hendrickson’s trail, surprised
him and marched him, in handcuffs, back along the trail.
The trip back to Fairbanks was arduous, and the party
barely survived. A dog died on the way, but
the party finally limped into Fairbanks. Hendrickson
was put into a cell with an inmate named Nichols,
while guards posted around the clock kept an eye on
him.
The cell proved stronger, but Nichols and Hendrickson
managed to escape by tossing pepper in a guard’s eyes.
Nichols fought with a guard, stabbing him severely,
while Hendrickson made a beeline for the woods.
Hendrickson was recaptured, as the weather was too
severe to travel very far.
He was tried and sentenced to 15 years in a federal
penitentiary on McNeil’s Island, off the coast of
Washington state. Along the way, he managed to cut a hole in the
steamship transporting him, and made an escape. The
reward for his arrest became his undoing. He was
apprehended two weeks later when he approached a boat
in an attempt to escape down the Yukon. Unfortunately, for the Blue Parka
Man, , the boat’s occupant had notice of the
reward, as well as a large shotgun.
Hendrickson escaped briefly from the two
federal penitentiaries that he was assigned to but
finished his 15-year sentence in Leavenworth, Kansas.
After his release, he was never heard from again.
Details of this frontier bandit’s exploits, along with the glorious
gold rush and the boom- town atmosphere of Fairbanks have faded through
the years. The hills of Goldstream Valley have given up most of their
gold, but there is still a goldmine of rich history, like the story of
the Blue Parka Man.
Like the miners of Goldstream, all you need to do
is dig a little, and the rewards are great.
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