Artifact of the Month: April 2022

George "Burn 'Em Up" Wilkes

Recently the Tongass Historical Museum was contacted for information about George Wilkes, an early Ketchikan resident and business owner. Little was known about him in our records. Since early Ketchikan newspapers are hard to find and largely not digitized, staff looked to other resources to learn more. Like one big small town, Southeast newspapers often reported on early Ketchikan comings and goings. One excellent resource to access digital newspapers is Chronicling America, a Library of Congress online database that searches a selection of newspapers from early Ketchikan and surrounding communities like Petersburg, Wrangell, Juneau, and Skagway. Chronicling America is available at http://www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov To search for local topics, select Alaska, a date range up to 1963, and your search term.

George Wilkes was known to many as "Burn 'Em Up" or "Burn 'Em Up Kid," a nickname he likely earned playing baseball or mining. He came to Alaska during the Klondike gold rush with his brother Harry, and was involved with restaurants. He worked at the Pack Train in Skagway for a few years before opening his own eatery, The Creamery, in 1906. The 1910 census lists George as a boarder in Juneau. Little is known about George's time in that community. He appears to have played baseball and may have met his future wife there.

By 1913, George was living in Ketchikan, had married Mattie Daniels, and had become the proprietor of the Poodle Dog Grill (former Montana Restaurant). By all accounts, George was a gruff but popular and enterprising businessman. In 1916, he expanded into the maritime world, selling engines and other boat parts to the growing fishing fleet. George died unexpectedly in January 1917, leaving Mattie widowed with a small son George Wilkes, Jr. Mattie remarried T. A. Eastman in 1919, the same year she sold the restaurant. The Poodle Dog Grill remained open until 1926.

This month's featured artifact is an early menu from the Poodle Dog Grill. The menu is on display at the Tongass Historical Museum in the exhibit Ketchikan is...

Ketchikan Museums, KM 99.2.74.5