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{{Short description|American gold prospector}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| birth_name = Ellen Cashman
| birth_name = Ellen O'Kissane
| image = Ellen Cashman.gif
| image = Ellen Cashman.gif
| image_size = 175px
| image_size = 175px
| caption = Ellen Cashman
| caption = Ellen Cashman
| birth_date = {{Birth-date|25 August 1845}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date text|25 August 1845}}
| birth_place = [[Midleton]], [[County Cork]], Ireland
| birth_place = [[Midleton]], County Cork, Ireland
| death_date = {{death-date and age|4 January 1925|1845}}
| death_date = {{death-date and age|4 January 1925|1845}}
| death_place = [[Victoria, British Columbia]], Canada
| death_place = [[Victoria, British Columbia]], Canada
| education =
| education =
| occupation = Nurse, restaurateur, entrepreneur, and gold prospector
| occupation = Nurse, restaurateur, entrepreneur, and gold prospector
| spouse =Never married
| spouse =
| parents =
| parents =
| children =Reared five nieces and nephews
| children = Reared five nieces and nephews
| footnotes = }}
| footnotes =
}}


'''Ellen "Nellie" Cashman''' (1845 – 4 January 1925),<ref name="DictCdnBioEllenCashman" /> was an Irish [[nurse]], [[restaurateur]], [[business]]woman and [[philanthropist]] in [[Arizona]], Alaska, [[British Columbia]] and the [[Yukon]].<ref name=loa>{{cite web|url= https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-nelliecashman/|title= Nellie Cashman – Pioneering the Mining Camps|website= legendsofamerica.com |access-date=1 October 2020}}</ref>
'''Ellen Cashman''' (1845 – 4 January 1925<ref name="DictCdnBioEllenCashman" />) was an Irish gold prospector, nurse, restaurateur, businesswoman and philanthropist in [[Arizona]], Alaska, [[British Columbia]] and [[Yukon]].<ref name=loa>{{cite web|url= https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-nelliecashman/|title= Nellie Cashman – Pioneering the Mining Camps|website= legendsofamerica.com|access-date= 1 October 2020|archive-date= 19 April 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210419181119/https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-nelliecashman/|url-status= live}}</ref>


Cashman led a rescue party to miners to the [[Cassiar Country]] gold mine in the [[Cassiar Mountains]] of [[British Columbia]] earning her the nickname "Angel of the Cassiar". In [[Tombstone, Arizona]], Cashman raised money to build the [[Sacred Heart Church (Tombstone, Arizona)|Sacred Heart Catholic Church]], and did charitable work with the [[Sisters of St. Joseph]]. She went to the [[Yukon]] during the [[Klondike Gold Rush]] for gold prospecting, working there until 1905. She became nationally known as a frontierswoman, with the ''[[Associated Press]]'' covering a later trip.<ref name=DictCdnBioEllenCashman>{{Cite news|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cashman_ellen_15E.html|title=Biography – Cashman, Ellen (also known as Nellie Pioche and Irish Nellie) – Volume XV (1921–1930) | work = [[Dictionary of Canadian Biography]] | access-date=13 November 2018}}</ref>
Cashman led a rescue party to miners to the [[Cassiar Country]] gold mine in the [[Cassiar Mountains]] of [[British Columbia]]. In [[Tombstone, Arizona]], Cashman raised money to build the [[Sacred Heart Church (Tombstone, Arizona)|Sacred Heart Catholic Church]], and did charitable work with the [[Sisters of St. Joseph]]. She went to the [[Yukon]] during the [[Klondike Gold Rush]] for gold prospecting, working there until 1905. She became nationally known as a frontierswoman, with the ''[[Associated Press]]'' covering a later trip.<ref name=DictCdnBioEllenCashman>{{Cite news|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cashman_ellen_15E.html|title=Biography – Cashman, Ellen (also known as Nellie Pioche and Irish Nellie) – Volume XV (1921–1930)|work=[[Dictionary of Canadian Biography]]|access-date=13 November 2018|archive-date=19 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419183431/http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cashman_ellen_15E.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A devout Catholic, she raised funds for hospitals, schools, and churches wherever she settled.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Forster |first=Merna |title=Nellie Cashman |publisher=Dundern |year=2004 |isbn=1550029525 |location=Canada }}</ref><ref name=":3" /> Her heroics and charity gained her the names the "Angel of Cassiar," the "Angel of Tombstone," and the "Saint of the Sourdoughs."<ref name="DictCdnBioEllenCashman" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite book |title=Dictionary of women worldwide: 25,000 women through the ages |date=2007 |publisher=Gale |isbn=978-0-7876-7585-1 |editor-last=Commire |editor-first=Anne |series=Yorkin publications |location=Detroit |chapter=Cashman, Nellie (1844–1925)}}</ref>


In 2006 Cashman was inducted into the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.alaskamininghalloffame.org/inductees/cashman.php |title= Ellen (Nellie) Cashman|website= Alaska Mining Hall of Fame Foundation |access-date=1 October 2020}}</ref>
In 2006, Cashman was inducted into the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame.<ref name=":4">{{cite web |url= https://www.alaskamininghalloffame.org/inductees/cashman.php |title= Ellen (Nellie) Cashman |website= Alaska Mining Hall of Fame Foundation |access-date= 1 October 2020 |archive-date= 19 April 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210419185935/http://alaskamininghalloffame.org/inductees/cashman.php |url-status= live }}</ref>


==Biography==
==Early life==
Ellen "Nellie" Cashman was born in [[Midleton]], County Cork in mid 1840s. Some sources give 1844 as her year of birth, while some other research indicates she was the Ellen Cashman baptised on 15 October 1845. Her family lived on Free School Lane (now known as Mc Donaghs Lane). Cashman was brought to the United States around 1850 by her mother, along with her sister Frances (known as Fanny); they settled first in Boston.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a1549|title=Cashman, Nellie|last=White|first=Lawrence William|date=2009|website=Dictionary of Irish Biography – Cambridge University Press|access-date=9 April 2020}}</ref>
Ellen "Nellie" O'Kissane was born in County Cork in the mid 1840s to Frances and Patrick O'Kissane. Their surname was later anglicized to Cashman.<ref name=":4" /> Some sources give 1844 as her year of birth, while some other research indicates she was the Ellen Cashman baptised on 15 October 1845. The exact location of her birth is uncertain; she was either born in [[Belvelly]] or in Middleton (now [[Midleton]]), which has claimed her as a "native daughter."<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Illing |first=Thora Kerr |title=Gold rush queen: the extraordinary life of Nellie Cashman |date=2016 |publisher=TouchWood Editions |isbn=978-1-77151-159-9 |location=Victoria, BC}}</ref> Her family lived on Free School Lane (now known as Mc Donaghs Lane). After Nellie was born, the Cashmans had another, Frances (known as Fanny). Likely while Fanny was still a baby, Patrick Cashman died. This was possibly due to starvation or another disease related to the [[Great Famine (Ireland)]].<ref name=":3" /> Between 1850 and 1852 (sources vary), the Cashmans immigrated to the United States, settling first in Boston.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a1549|title=Cashman, Nellie|last=White|first=Lawrence William|date=2009|website=Dictionary of Irish Biography – Cambridge University Press|access-date=9 April 2020|archive-date=19 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419203344/https://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a1549|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":3" />


As an adolescent, Cashman worked as a bellhop in a Boston hotel. In 1865 she and her family migrated to San Francisco, California.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/a-miner-with-a-heart-of-gold-an-irishman-s-diary-about-the-extraordinary-nellie-cashman-1.3063916|title=A miner with a heart of gold An Irishman's Diary about the extraordinary Nellie Cashman|work=The Irish Times|access-date=13 November 2018|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-nelliecashman/|title=Nellie Cashman Pioneering the Mining Camps Legends of America|website=www.legendsofamerica.com|access-date=13 November 2018}}</ref>
As an adolescent, Cashman worked as a bellhop in a Boston hotel.<ref name=":0" /> She also served as an elevator operator.<ref name=":3" /> One story notes that during the Civil War, she overheard a conversation while operating an elevator in Washington, DC. Nellie reported the conversation, contributing to the Union victory.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Zanjani |first=Sally |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xqwg2gJaNNIC&dq=nellie+cashman+elevator+operator&pg=PP11 |title=A Mine of Her Own: Women Prospectors in the American West, 1850-1950 |date=2000-09-01 |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-9916-0 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1865 or 1866, Cashman and her family moved to San Francisco, California.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/a-miner-with-a-heart-of-gold-an-irishman-s-diary-about-the-extraordinary-nellie-cashman-1.3063916|title=A miner with a heart of gold – An Irishman's Diary about the extraordinary Nellie Cashman|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=13 November 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=30 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130021943/https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/a-miner-with-a-heart-of-gold-an-irishman-s-diary-about-the-extraordinary-nellie-cashman-1.3063916|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-nelliecashman/|title=Nellie Cashman – Pioneering the Mining Camps – Legends of America|website=www.legendsofamerica.com|access-date=13 November 2018|archive-date=19 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419181119/https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-nelliecashman/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> Nellie and her mother likely moved to [[Virginia City, Nevada]] in 1870, where Nellie briefly worked as a camp cook. They later moved to [[Pioche, Nevada]], where they purchased the Miner's Boarding House. Nellie quickly took over managerial duties from her mother.<ref name=":3" /> This time gave Nellie her later sobriquet, Nellie Pioche. Nellie and her mother travelled to San Francisco, where Frances settled. In 1874, Cashman joined a group of prospectors from Nevada. They tossed a coin to decide if they would travel to South Africa or British Columbia, ultimately deciding to go to British Columbia.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" />


==British Columbia==
==British Columbia==
Cashman left her family home in 1874 for the [[Cassiar Country]] in British Columbia. She set up a boarding house for miners at [[Telegraph Creek]], asking for donations to the [[Sisters of St Anne]] in return for the services available at her boarding house.<ref name=DictCdnBioEllenCashman/> Cashman was travelling to [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]] to deliver 500 [[US dollar|dollars]] to the sisters of St. Anne when she heard that a [[snowstorm]] had descended on the Cassiar Mountains, stranding and injuring 26 miners, who were also suffering from [[scurvy]]. She took charge of a six-man search party and collected food and medicine to take to the stranded miners. Conditions in the Cassiar Mountains were so dangerous that the [[Canadian Army]] advised against attempting the rescue. Upon learning of Cashman's expedition, a commander sent his troops to locate her party and bring them to safety. An army trooper eventually found Cashman camped on the frozen surface of the [[Stikine River]]. After 77 days of harsh weather, Cashman and her party located the sick men, who numbered far more than 26. Some historical accounts credit Cashman with saving the lives of as many as 75 men. She administered a diet containing [[Vitamin C]] to restore the men to health. She was afterward fondly known in the region as the "Angel of the Cassiar".<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cashman_ellen_15E.html|title= Cashman, Ellen (Also Known As Nellie Pioche And Irish Nellie) |website= Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Volume XV (1921–1930)|access-date=1 October 2020}}</ref>
Cashman left her family home in 1874 for the [[Cassiar Country]] in British Columbia. She set up a boarding house for miners at [[Telegraph Creek]], asking for donations to the [[Sisters of St Anne]] in return for the services available at her boarding house.<ref name=DictCdnBioEllenCashman/> For the first time, Cashman became a miner herself. She used the talk in her boarding house to purchase promising claims at good times and learned elementary mining techniques and geology. She also invested in other prospectors.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite book |title=Women in world history: a biographical enyclopedia |date=1999 |publisher=Yorkin |isbn=978-0-7876-3736-1 |editor-last=Commire |editor-first=Anne |volume=3 |location=Detroit |chapter=Cashman, Nellie (1844–1925) |editor-last2=Klezmer |editor-first2=Deborah}}</ref>

Cashman was travelling to [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]] to deliver 500 [[US dollar|dollars]] to the sisters of St. Anne when she heard that a [[snowstorm]] had descended on the Cassiar Mountains, stranding and injuring 26 miners, who were also suffering from [[scurvy]]. She took charge of a six-man search party and collected food and medicine to take to the stranded miners. Conditions in the Cassiar Mountains were so dangerous that the [[Canadian Army]] advised against attempting the rescue.<ref name=":9" /> The snow was too deep for dogs, so the group used snow shoes to walk with the 1,500 pounds (680) kilograms of food they had brought. During one avalanche, Cashman was deeply buried, but dug her way out.<ref name=":3" />

Upon learning of Cashman's expedition, a commander sent his troops to locate her party and bring them to safety. An army trooper eventually found Cashman camped on the frozen surface of the [[Stikine River]].<ref name=":9" /> Cashman refused their escort back.<ref name=":3" /> After 77 days of harsh weather, Cashman and her party located the sick men, who numbered far more than 26. Some historical accounts credit Cashman with saving the lives of as many as 75 men. She administered a diet containing [[Vitamin C]] to restore the men to health.<ref name=":9" /> When the men improved, Cashman reopened her boarding house, which prospered.<ref name=":3" /> She was afterward fondly known in the region as the "Angel of the Cassiar".<ref name=":9">{{cite web|url= http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cashman_ellen_15E.html|title= Cashman, Ellen (Also Known As Nellie Pioche And Irish Nellie)|website= Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Volume XV (1921–1930)|access-date= 1 October 2020|archive-date= 19 April 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210419183431/http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cashman_ellen_15E.html|url-status= live}}</ref>

By 1876, there was considerably less production from Cassiar prospecting. Cashman left Cassiar for good. She went to Victoria again to deliver $543 to the Sisters of St Anne, which helped fund [[List of historic places in Victoria, British Columbia|St. Joseph's Hospital]].<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":3" /> She then went on to San Francisco, where her mother and sister still lived.<ref name=":3" />


==Arizona==
==Arizona==
[[File:NELLIE CASHMAN HOTEL - TOMBSTONE.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Nellie Cashman's Hotel in Tombstone]]
[[File:NELLIE CASHMAN HOTEL - TOMBSTONE.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Nellie Cashman's Hotel in Tombstone]]
In 1879, Cashman left California to travel to [[Tucson, Arizona]]. She opened the Delmonico Restaurant (likely named after [[Delmonico's|New York establishment]]). In Tucson, she befriended newspaperman [[John Clum]].<ref name=":3" />
About 1880, Cashman moved to [[Tombstone, Arizona]]. She raised money to build the [[Sacred Heart Church (Tombstone, Arizona)|Sacred Heart Catholic Church]], and committed herself to charity work with the [[Sisters of St. Joseph]]. She took a position as a nurse in a [[Cochise County, Arizona|Cochise County]] hospital but also opened another restaurant and boarding house.<ref name=":2" />


Around 1880, Cashman moved to [[Tombstone, Arizona]].<ref name=":2" /> She opened The Nevada Boot & Shoe store, likely selling products from her brother-in-law's factory. The store also sold other goods, including clothing and furnishing goods, cigars, and tobacco. She later opened another business, the Tombstone Cash Store. This store, which she opened with a friend, sold groceries and other provisions. The store was successful and Cashman bought out her friend. By 1881, Cashman was also leasing the Arcade Restaurant.<ref name=":3" />
Her sister Fanny Cunningham was widowed in 1881. Cashman arranged for Fanny and her five children to move to nearby [[Tucson, Arizona]]. Fanny died in 1884 of [[tuberculosis]], leaving her children in Cashman's care.<ref name=":1" />


In 1880, Cashman began raising money to build the [[Sacred Heart Church (Tombstone, Arizona)|Sacred Heart Catholic Church]], which opened the next year.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> She also became the treasurer of the Miners' Hospital Association and brought three [[Sisters of Mercy]] from Tucson to attend to the miners.<ref name=":3" /> Cashman committed herself to charity work with the [[Sisters of St. Joseph]], taking a position as a nurse in a [[Cochise County, Arizona|Cochise County]] hospital.<ref name=":2" /> When an epidemic swept Tombstone, she, along with local prostitute "Black Jack," nursed the sick at Russ House. Cashman also supported Irish causes, particularly the Irish National Land League.<ref name=":3" /> Further, she organized support for one of the first Tombstone schools.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":10" />
In December 1883, bandits committed the [[Bisbee massacre]] in Tombstone, killing four innocent bystanders and wounding two others in the course of a robbery. The five men were convicted and sentenced to die by [[hanging]] on 28 March 1884. The hangings proceeded as scheduled, but out of public view. When Cashman learned that a medical school planned to exhume the bodies of the convicts for study, she enlisted two prospectors to stand watch over the [[Boot Hill]] Cemetery for 10 days.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://southernarizonaguide.com/the-bisbee-massacre/ |title= The Bisbee Massacre|website= Southern Arizona Guide, LLC |access-date=1 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://truewestmagazine.com/angel-tombstone-nellie-cashman/ |title= The Angel of Tombstone–Nellie Cashman
|website=True West Magazine |access-date=1 October 2020}}</ref>


Cashman briefly leased the [[Bisbee Hotel]], but was unsuccessful, as Bisbee was not yet flourishing. She quickly returned to Tombstone.<ref name=":3" />
Cashman and her associate Joseph Pascholy co-owned and ran a restaurant and hotel in Tombstone Arizona called Russ House, now known as The Nellie Cashman Restaurant.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.nelliecashman.freeservers.com/|title= The Nellie Cashman Restaurant|website= nelliecashman |access-date=1 October 2020}}</ref>


Cashman's sister Fanny Cunningham was widowed in 1881. Cashman arranged for Fanny and her five children to join her in Tombstone. The sisters leased a boarding house, made extensive renovations, and opened Delmonico Lodging.<ref name=":3" /> A fire at the boarding house, which the community was able to quickly put out, led Cashman to gain the legend of being able to stop an advancing fire.<ref name=":5" /> Around this time, Cashman and her associate Joseph Pascholy purchased and ran a restaurant and hotel in called Russ House, which was later named after Cashman.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Nellie Cashman Restaurant |url=http://www.nelliecashman.freeservers.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126002206/http://www.nelliecashman.freeservers.com/ |archive-date=26 January 2021 |access-date=1 October 2020 |website=nelliecashman}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> One story notes [[Doc Holliday]] defending her cooking to a disgruntled Russ House customer.<ref name=":3" />
==Yukon and Alaska==
In 1898, Cashman left Arizona for the [[Yukon]] in search of gold, staying until 1905. Her prospecting ventures took her to [[Klondike, Yukon|Klondike]], [[Fairbanks, Alaska|Fairbanks]] and Nolan Creek in [[Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska|Yukon-Koyukuk County]], Alaska. She later owned a store in [[Dawson City, Yukon]]. She subsequently settled in [[Koyukuk, Alaska]], along with other established miners.<ref name=DictCdnBioEllenCashman/>


In December 1881, Cashman sold her half of Russ House so she could care for Fanny, who was showing signs of [[tuberculosis]]. Fanny also sold Delmonico's lodging. While Cashman continued to buy and sell mining claims, she devoted herself to caring for her sister, nieces, and nephews. In 1882, Fanny's tuberculosis went into remission. The sisters opened a new hotel, The American, which hosted a twenty-four hour dining room. Cashman also re-purchased the Russ House.<ref name=":3" />
In January 1925, Cashman developed [[pneumonia]] and [[rheumatism]]. Friends admitted her to the Sisters of St. Anne, the same hospital which she had helped to build fifty-one years earlier. She died there, and was interred at [[Ross Bay Cemetery]] in [[Victoria, British Columbia]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Judy Barrett Litoff|title=European Immigrant Women in the United States: A Biographical Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ZyYa0cAPbkC&pg=PA52|year=1994|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-8240-5306-2|pages=52}}</ref>


In 1883, Cashman led a group of miners (including [[Ten Percent Ring|Milt Joyce]] and [[Marcus A. Smith]]) to [[Baja California|Baja]], where gold had been discovered. She and five or six of the party went ahead as a reconnoitering party, but quickly were endangered by the harsh desert conditions. One legend claims that Cashman met a priest, who begged her not to disclose the gold near his parish for the sake of his community. Another claims that an angel guided her to a mission, where Cashman was able to obtain supplies, saving her companions. They reunited with the larger party and travelled to Trinidad Bay to arrange for a boat. When the boat captain appeared on deck drunkly deluded, some of the prospectors tied him up to sleep it off. When they arrived in Guaymas, the prospectors and crew were arrested for imprisoning the captain, but were rescued a few days later by the American consul.<ref name=":3" />
==Legacy and honors==
*The 1959–1960 season of the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] [[Western (genre)|western]] [[television series]], ''[[The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp]]'', with [[Hugh O'Brian]] starring as [[Wyatt Earp]], featured a fictional character based on Nellie Cashman played by actress [[Randy Stuart]] (1924–1996).<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0835836/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t20|title= Randy Stuart (1924–1996)|website= imdb.com |access-date=1 October 2020}} {{unreliable?|date=October 2020}}</ref>
*[[Grace Lee Whitney]] played Cashman in "The Angel of Tombstone" of the [[Television syndication|syndicated]] western series ''[[Death Valley Days]]'', hosted by [[Robert Taylor (actor)|Robert Taylor]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://imdb.com/title/tt0962296/|title=The Angel of Tombstone on ''Death Valley Days''|publisher=[[Internet Movie Data Base]]|access-date=14 July 2015}} {{unreliable?|date=October 2020}}</ref>


Cashman returned to Tombstone, where she resumed running her businesses. Fanny, health declining, moved to San Diego to be nursed by nuns until she died in July 1884.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> Cashman took up caring for her nieces and nephews, aged three to thirteen, and her mother. She supported the children's education, sending them away to religious institutions for further education. One of Cashman's nephews, Mike, attended college in Los Angeles and Santa Fe, becoming prominent in Cochise County. Mike named a daughter Ellen in honor of Cashman. Similarly, one of Cashman's nieces, upon becoming a nun, took on the name Sister St. Helena in tribute to Cashman.<ref name=":3" />
*On 18 October 1994, Cashman was featured on a United States postage stamp as part of the Legends of the West series.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.mysticstamp.com/Products/United-States/2869k/USA/ |title= 1994 29c Legends of the West: Nellie Cashman|website=Mystic Stamp Comp|access-date=1 October 2020}}</ref>


In December 1883, bandits committed the [[Bisbee massacre]] in Tombstone, killing four innocent bystanders and wounding two others in the course of a robbery. The five men were convicted and sentenced to die by [[hanging]] on 28 March 1884.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":12" /> The ''Tombstone Epitaph'' reported that Cashman was in "constant attendance" at the jail, where she joined clergy in visiting the men. When a local businessman constructed bleachers and sold tickets to the hanging, Cashman asked the sheriff to intervene and take down the bleachers. Although he refused to, local miners, possibly instigated by Cashman's request, tore down the bleachers the night before the execution.<ref name=":3" /> The hangings proceeded as scheduled, but out of public view.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":12" /> John Clum reported that Cashman's spiritual counsel converted the three non-Catholics in their last days.<ref name=":3" /> When Cashman learned that a medical school planned to exhume the bodies of the convicts for study, she enlisted two prospectors to stand watch over the [[Boot Hill]] Cemetery for 10 days.<ref name=":11">{{cite web |url= https://southernarizonaguide.com/the-bisbee-massacre/ |title= The Bisbee Massacre |website= Southern Arizona Guide, LLC |date= 11 November 2019 |access-date= 1 October 2020 |archive-date= 27 June 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210627004734/https://southernarizonaguide.com/the-bisbee-massacre/ |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name=":12">{{cite web |url= https://truewestmagazine.com/angel-tombstone-nellie-cashman/ |title= The Angel of Tombstone–Nellie Cashman |website= True West Magazine |access-date= 1 October 2020 |archive-date= 25 June 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210625062712/https://truewestmagazine.com/angel-tombstone-nellie-cashman/ |url-status= dead }}</ref>
*On 15 March 2006, Nellie Cashman was inducted [[Posthumous recognition|posthumously]] into the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame.<ref>[http://alaskamininghalloffame.org/inductees/cashman.php "Ellen (Nellie) Cashman (1845–1925)"], Alaska Mining Hall of Fame Foundation</ref>
*In 2007, she was inducted into the [[National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame]] in [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]], Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.cowgirl.net/portfolio_tag/2007/ |title=Nellie Cashman, an Irish-born pioneer |website= Hall of Fame Honorees |date= 29 October 2007 |access-date=1 October 2020}}</ref>


Another legend claims that Cashman learning the local mine superintendent was to be kidnapped and possibly hanged by protesting miners, quickly drove him out of town. He went to Tucson until things had calmed.<ref name=":3" />
*In June 2014, a monument in Nellie's honour was erected near her home in [[Midleton]] [[Co. Cork]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/corkgoldminernellie-cashman-set-for-honour-335151.html|title=CorkgoldminerNellie Cashman set for honour|date=8 June 2015|access-date=13 November 2018}}</ref>

As Tombstone quieted as the city died, Cashman sold claims and only ran the Russ House for some time, caring for her family.<ref name=":3" />

In 1886, Cashman left Tombstone. She moved around over the next several years. She looked at claims around the country. She opened and closed restaurants and boardinghouses and sold supplies in [[Nogales, Arizona|Nogales]], Tucson, [[Kingston, New Mexico]], [[Little Harquahala Mountains|Harquahala]], [[Globe, Arizona|Globe]], and [[Yuma, Arizona|Yuma]]. Her restaurant in Kingston was particularly notable as some biographers claim she hired oil tycoon [[Edward L. Doheny|Ed Doheny]] as a dishwasher.<ref name=":3" /> In Harquahala, she may have become close to marrying Mike Sullivan, who had discovered gold in the area.<ref name=":8" /> Her prospecting brought her to Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and possibly South Africa.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":3" />

==Yukon and Alaska==
In 1898, Cashman left Arizona for the [[Yukon]] in search of gold.<ref name="DictCdnBioEllenCashman" /> She likely arrived in [[Dawson City]] that April as one of the first stampeders to settle there. As an unmarried woman, Cashman was unable to purchase unestablished claims. However, she was able to obtain several claims. Cashman was one of the few women in Dawson to work her own claims. In 1898, she opened a restaurant, Delmonico, to finance her mining. She also established another restaurant, the Cassiar, a room called The Prospector's Haven of Retreat (meant to provide an alternative to saloons and gambling), and purchased a grocery store. Her nephew Tom joined her in Dawson and helped at the restaurant and her claims. She continued her charitable work in Dawson, raising funds for the local hospital to expand. While in the Yukon, Cashman was involved in several legal disputes.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":3" /> Notably, one involved [[Belinda Mulrooney]]. Cashman had several health problems while in Dawson, including a major surgery and a multi-month hospital stay.<ref name=":3" />

Cashman's prospecting ventures took her to [[Klondike, Yukon|Klondike]], [[Fairbanks, Alaska|Fairbanks]] and Nolan Creek in [[Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska|Yukon-Koyukuk County]], Alaska.<ref name="DictCdnBioEllenCashman" /> In 1904, she settled in [[Fairbanks, Alaska|Fairbanks]], where she opened a successful grocery and miners' supply store and raised funds for the local hospital. Memoirist Clara Heinz Burke recalled that Cashman would raise funds by waiting at a saloon until a gambling jackpot was large, sweep the funds off the table, and tell the gamblers that if they had funds to gamble, they had the means to donate the money to the hospital.<ref name=":3" />

In 1905, Cashman settled in [[Koyukuk, Alaska]], along with other established miners.<ref name="DictCdnBioEllenCashman" /> At one point, she owned eleven mines there.<ref name=":7" /> During the winters, Cashman travelled visit family and friends and do work in Dawson, Fairbanks, Seattle, California, and Arizona. She would then return to Koyukuk, where she had made her home. In 1921, Cashman travelled south to attempt to raise funds for the machines needed for mining. The next year, she created the Midnight Sun Mining Company to raise funds for the machinery. Looking for further investments, the seventy-seven year old Cashman travelled to Anchorage by dog team, aiming to eventually go to Florida to meet with an investor.<ref name=":3" />

In January 1925, Cashman fell ill. She was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Fairbanks, where she was diagnosed with [[pneumonia]] and [[rheumatism]]. She was sent to Seattle and, realizing her illness, asked to be sent to the Sisters of St. Anne, the same hospital which she had helped to build fifty-one years earlier. She died there, and was interred at [[Ross Bay Cemetery]] in [[Victoria, British Columbia]].<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Judy Barrett Litoff]]|title=European Immigrant Women in the United States: A Biographical Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ZyYa0cAPbkC&pg=PA52|year=1994|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-8240-5306-2|pages=52|access-date=16 August 2019|archive-date=4 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104123228/https://books.google.com/books?id=1ZyYa0cAPbkC&pg=PA52#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> As news of her death spread, obituaries were published in newspapers in mining towns like Dawson, Fairbanks, and Tombstone, as well as in leading papers like the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle.<ref name=":3" />

==Legacy and honors==
*The 1959–1960 season of the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] [[Western (genre)|western]] television series, ''[[The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp]]'', with [[Hugh O'Brian]] starring as [[Wyatt Earp]], featured a fictional character based on Nellie Cashman played by actress [[Randy Stuart]] (1924–1996).<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0835836/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t20|title= Randy Stuart (1924–1996)|website= imdb.com|access-date= 1 October 2020|archive-date= 25 June 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210625062720/https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0835836/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t20|url-status= live}} {{unreliable source?|date=October 2020}}</ref>
*[[Grace Lee Whitney]] played Cashman in "The Angel of Tombstone" of the [[Television syndication|syndicated]] western series ''[[Death Valley Days]]'', hosted by [[Robert Taylor (American actor)|Robert Taylor]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://imdb.com/title/tt0962296/|title=The Angel of Tombstone on ''Death Valley Days''|publisher=[[IMDb|Internet Movie Database]]|access-date=14 July 2015|archive-date=25 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625062805/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0962296/|url-status=live}} {{unreliable source?|date=October 2020}}</ref>
*In 1982, the Puget Sound-based group Women Business Owner established the Nellie Cashman Award, or the "Nellie," now known as the Women Business Owners of the Year Awards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Women Business Owners - History of WBO's Annual Awards |url=https://womenbusinessowners.org/page-18075 |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=womenbusinessowners.org}}</ref>
*In 1984, Cashman was inducted into the [[Arizona Women's Hall of Fame]]<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |title=Nellie Cashman |url=https://www.azwhf.org/copy-of-pauline-bates-brown-2 |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=AWHF |language=en}}</ref>[[File:Nellie Cashman - Angel of the Cassiar Mountains - geograph.org.uk - 5820253.jpg|alt=stone monument with an engraving of a woman|thumb|Monument in memory of Nellie Cashman in [[Midleton]]]]
*On 18 October 1994, Cashman was featured on a United States postage stamp as part of the Legends of the West series.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mysticstamp.com/Products/United-States/2869k/USA/|title=1994 29c Legends of the West: Nellie Cashman|website=Mystic Stamp Comp|access-date=1 October 2020|archive-date=18 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418084216/https://www.mysticstamp.com/Products/United-States/2869k/USA/|url-status=live}}</ref>
*On 15 March 2006, Nellie Cashman was inducted [[Posthumous recognition|posthumously]] into the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame.<ref>[http://alaskamininghalloffame.org/inductees/cashman.php "Ellen (Nellie) Cashman (1845–1925)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508012753/http://alaskamininghalloffame.org/inductees/cashman.php |date=8 May 2013 }}, Alaska Mining Hall of Fame Foundation</ref>
*In 2007, she was inducted into the [[National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame]] in [[Fort Worth, Texas|Fort Worth]], Texas.<ref name=":13">{{cite web |url= http://www.cowgirl.net/portfolio_tag/2007/ |title= Nellie Cashman, an Irish-born pioneer |website= Hall of Fame Honorees |date= 29 October 2007 |access-date= 1 October 2020 |archive-date= 19 April 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210419090835/http://www.cowgirl.net/portfolio_tag/2007/ |url-status= live }}</ref>
*In June 2014, a monument in Nellie's honour was erected near her home in [[Midleton]] [[County Cork]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/corkgoldminernellie-cashman-set-for-honour-335151.html|title=CorkgoldminerNellie Cashman set for honour|date=8 June 2015|access-date=13 November 2018|archive-date=13 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113170129/https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/corkgoldminernellie-cashman-set-for-honour-335151.html|url-status=live}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

==Other sources==
==Other sources==
*Don Chaput, (1995) '' Nellie Cashman, and the North American Mining Frontier''( Tucson, Westernlore Press) {{ISBN|9780870260933}}
*Don Chaput, (1995) '' Nellie Cashman, and the North American Mining Frontier'' (Tucson, Westernlore Press) {{ISBN|9780870260933}}
*Ronald Wayne Fischer (2000) ''Nellie Cashman: Frontier Angel,'' (Talei Publishers) {{ISBN|978-0963177261}}
*Ronald Wayne Fischer (2000) ''Nellie Cashman: Frontier Angel,'' (Talei Publishers) {{ISBN|978-0963177261}}
*John P. Clum (1931) "Nellie Cashman," ''Arizona Historical Review,'' v. iii, 9–34.
*John P. Clum (1931) "Nellie Cashman," ''Arizona Historical Review,'' v. iii, 9–34.
* Illing, Thora Kerr (2016) ''Gold Rush Queen: the extraordinary life of Nellie Cashman'' (Touchwood Editions) {{ISBN|978-1-77151-159-9}} }}
* Illing, Thora Kerr (2016) ''Gold Rush Queen: the extraordinary life of Nellie Cashman'' (Touchwood Editions) {{ISBN|978-1-77151-159-9}}
*Claire Rudolf Murphy and Jane G. Haigh (1997) "Nellie Cashman," in ''Gold Rush Women'' (Alaska Northwest Books, p.&nbsp;112–116) {{ISBN|978-0882404844}}
*Claire Rudolf Murphy and Jane G. Haigh (1997) "Nellie Cashman," in ''Gold Rush Women'' (Alaska Northwest Books, p.&nbsp;112–116) {{ISBN|978-0882404844}}

==Related reading==
==Related reading==
*Melanie J. Mayer, 1989, ''Klondike Women'', Ohio University Press.
*Melanie J. Mayer, 1989, ''Klondike Women'', Ohio University Press.
Line 71: Line 101:
* {{cite book| author = Banks, Leo W.| title = Stalwart Women: Frontier Stories of Indomitable Spirit| year = 1999| publisher = Arizona Highways Books| isbn = 978-0-916179-77-9 }}
* {{cite book| author = Banks, Leo W.| title = Stalwart Women: Frontier Stories of Indomitable Spirit| year = 1999| publisher = Arizona Highways Books| isbn = 978-0-916179-77-9 }}
* {{cite book| last = LeBlanc| first = Suzanne| title = Cassiar: A Jewel in the Wilderness| year = 2003| publisher = Prince George, B.C. : Caitlin Press| isbn = 978-0-920576-99-1 }}
* {{cite book| last = LeBlanc| first = Suzanne| title = Cassiar: A Jewel in the Wilderness| year = 2003| publisher = Prince George, B.C. : Caitlin Press| isbn = 978-0-920576-99-1 }}

==External links==
==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{Portal|Biography}}
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Revision as of 05:58, 6 April 2024

Nellie Cashman
Ellen Cashman
Born
Ellen O'Kissane

25 August 1845 (1845-08-25)
Midleton, County Cork, Ireland
Died4 January 1925 (1925-01-05) (aged 79)
Occupation(s)Nurse, restaurateur, entrepreneur, and gold prospector
ChildrenReared five nieces and nephews

Ellen Cashman (1845 – 4 January 1925[1]) was an Irish gold prospector, nurse, restaurateur, businesswoman and philanthropist in Arizona, Alaska, British Columbia and Yukon.[2]

Cashman led a rescue party to miners to the Cassiar Country gold mine in the Cassiar Mountains of British Columbia. In Tombstone, Arizona, Cashman raised money to build the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, and did charitable work with the Sisters of St. Joseph. She went to the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush for gold prospecting, working there until 1905. She became nationally known as a frontierswoman, with the Associated Press covering a later trip.[1] A devout Catholic, she raised funds for hospitals, schools, and churches wherever she settled.[3][4] Her heroics and charity gained her the names the "Angel of Cassiar," the "Angel of Tombstone," and the "Saint of the Sourdoughs."[1][5]

In 2006, Cashman was inducted into the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame.[6]

Early life

Ellen "Nellie" O'Kissane was born in County Cork in the mid 1840s to Frances and Patrick O'Kissane. Their surname was later anglicized to Cashman.[6] Some sources give 1844 as her year of birth, while some other research indicates she was the Ellen Cashman baptised on 15 October 1845. The exact location of her birth is uncertain; she was either born in Belvelly or in Middleton (now Midleton), which has claimed her as a "native daughter."[4] Her family lived on Free School Lane (now known as Mc Donaghs Lane). After Nellie was born, the Cashmans had another, Frances (known as Fanny). Likely while Fanny was still a baby, Patrick Cashman died. This was possibly due to starvation or another disease related to the Great Famine (Ireland).[4] Between 1850 and 1852 (sources vary), the Cashmans immigrated to the United States, settling first in Boston.[7][8][4]

As an adolescent, Cashman worked as a bellhop in a Boston hotel.[7] She also served as an elevator operator.[4] One story notes that during the Civil War, she overheard a conversation while operating an elevator in Washington, DC. Nellie reported the conversation, contributing to the Union victory.[9]

In 1865 or 1866, Cashman and her family moved to San Francisco, California.[7][10][4] Nellie and her mother likely moved to Virginia City, Nevada in 1870, where Nellie briefly worked as a camp cook. They later moved to Pioche, Nevada, where they purchased the Miner's Boarding House. Nellie quickly took over managerial duties from her mother.[4] This time gave Nellie her later sobriquet, Nellie Pioche. Nellie and her mother travelled to San Francisco, where Frances settled. In 1874, Cashman joined a group of prospectors from Nevada. They tossed a coin to decide if they would travel to South Africa or British Columbia, ultimately deciding to go to British Columbia.[4][9]

British Columbia

Cashman left her family home in 1874 for the Cassiar Country in British Columbia. She set up a boarding house for miners at Telegraph Creek, asking for donations to the Sisters of St Anne in return for the services available at her boarding house.[1] For the first time, Cashman became a miner herself. She used the talk in her boarding house to purchase promising claims at good times and learned elementary mining techniques and geology. She also invested in other prospectors.[4][11]

Cashman was travelling to Victoria to deliver 500 dollars to the sisters of St. Anne when she heard that a snowstorm had descended on the Cassiar Mountains, stranding and injuring 26 miners, who were also suffering from scurvy. She took charge of a six-man search party and collected food and medicine to take to the stranded miners. Conditions in the Cassiar Mountains were so dangerous that the Canadian Army advised against attempting the rescue.[12] The snow was too deep for dogs, so the group used snow shoes to walk with the 1,500 pounds (680) kilograms of food they had brought. During one avalanche, Cashman was deeply buried, but dug her way out.[4]

Upon learning of Cashman's expedition, a commander sent his troops to locate her party and bring them to safety. An army trooper eventually found Cashman camped on the frozen surface of the Stikine River.[12] Cashman refused their escort back.[4] After 77 days of harsh weather, Cashman and her party located the sick men, who numbered far more than 26. Some historical accounts credit Cashman with saving the lives of as many as 75 men. She administered a diet containing Vitamin C to restore the men to health.[12] When the men improved, Cashman reopened her boarding house, which prospered.[4] She was afterward fondly known in the region as the "Angel of the Cassiar".[12]

By 1876, there was considerably less production from Cassiar prospecting. Cashman left Cassiar for good. She went to Victoria again to deliver $543 to the Sisters of St Anne, which helped fund St. Joseph's Hospital.[3][4] She then went on to San Francisco, where her mother and sister still lived.[4]

Arizona

Nellie Cashman's Hotel in Tombstone

In 1879, Cashman left California to travel to Tucson, Arizona. She opened the Delmonico Restaurant (likely named after New York establishment). In Tucson, she befriended newspaperman John Clum.[4]

Around 1880, Cashman moved to Tombstone, Arizona.[10] She opened The Nevada Boot & Shoe store, likely selling products from her brother-in-law's factory. The store also sold other goods, including clothing and furnishing goods, cigars, and tobacco. She later opened another business, the Tombstone Cash Store. This store, which she opened with a friend, sold groceries and other provisions. The store was successful and Cashman bought out her friend. By 1881, Cashman was also leasing the Arcade Restaurant.[4]

In 1880, Cashman began raising money to build the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, which opened the next year.[10][4] She also became the treasurer of the Miners' Hospital Association and brought three Sisters of Mercy from Tucson to attend to the miners.[4] Cashman committed herself to charity work with the Sisters of St. Joseph, taking a position as a nurse in a Cochise County hospital.[10] When an epidemic swept Tombstone, she, along with local prostitute "Black Jack," nursed the sick at Russ House. Cashman also supported Irish causes, particularly the Irish National Land League.[4] Further, she organized support for one of the first Tombstone schools.[9][13]

Cashman briefly leased the Bisbee Hotel, but was unsuccessful, as Bisbee was not yet flourishing. She quickly returned to Tombstone.[4]

Cashman's sister Fanny Cunningham was widowed in 1881. Cashman arranged for Fanny and her five children to join her in Tombstone. The sisters leased a boarding house, made extensive renovations, and opened Delmonico Lodging.[4] A fire at the boarding house, which the community was able to quickly put out, led Cashman to gain the legend of being able to stop an advancing fire.[9] Around this time, Cashman and her associate Joseph Pascholy purchased and ran a restaurant and hotel in called Russ House, which was later named after Cashman.[14][10][4] One story notes Doc Holliday defending her cooking to a disgruntled Russ House customer.[4]

In December 1881, Cashman sold her half of Russ House so she could care for Fanny, who was showing signs of tuberculosis. Fanny also sold Delmonico's lodging. While Cashman continued to buy and sell mining claims, she devoted herself to caring for her sister, nieces, and nephews. In 1882, Fanny's tuberculosis went into remission. The sisters opened a new hotel, The American, which hosted a twenty-four hour dining room. Cashman also re-purchased the Russ House.[4]

In 1883, Cashman led a group of miners (including Milt Joyce and Marcus A. Smith) to Baja, where gold had been discovered. She and five or six of the party went ahead as a reconnoitering party, but quickly were endangered by the harsh desert conditions. One legend claims that Cashman met a priest, who begged her not to disclose the gold near his parish for the sake of his community. Another claims that an angel guided her to a mission, where Cashman was able to obtain supplies, saving her companions. They reunited with the larger party and travelled to Trinidad Bay to arrange for a boat. When the boat captain appeared on deck drunkly deluded, some of the prospectors tied him up to sleep it off. When they arrived in Guaymas, the prospectors and crew were arrested for imprisoning the captain, but were rescued a few days later by the American consul.[4]

Cashman returned to Tombstone, where she resumed running her businesses. Fanny, health declining, moved to San Diego to be nursed by nuns until she died in July 1884.[8][4] Cashman took up caring for her nieces and nephews, aged three to thirteen, and her mother. She supported the children's education, sending them away to religious institutions for further education. One of Cashman's nephews, Mike, attended college in Los Angeles and Santa Fe, becoming prominent in Cochise County. Mike named a daughter Ellen in honor of Cashman. Similarly, one of Cashman's nieces, upon becoming a nun, took on the name Sister St. Helena in tribute to Cashman.[4]

In December 1883, bandits committed the Bisbee massacre in Tombstone, killing four innocent bystanders and wounding two others in the course of a robbery. The five men were convicted and sentenced to die by hanging on 28 March 1884.[15][16] The Tombstone Epitaph reported that Cashman was in "constant attendance" at the jail, where she joined clergy in visiting the men. When a local businessman constructed bleachers and sold tickets to the hanging, Cashman asked the sheriff to intervene and take down the bleachers. Although he refused to, local miners, possibly instigated by Cashman's request, tore down the bleachers the night before the execution.[4] The hangings proceeded as scheduled, but out of public view.[15][16] John Clum reported that Cashman's spiritual counsel converted the three non-Catholics in their last days.[4] When Cashman learned that a medical school planned to exhume the bodies of the convicts for study, she enlisted two prospectors to stand watch over the Boot Hill Cemetery for 10 days.[15][16]

Another legend claims that Cashman learning the local mine superintendent was to be kidnapped and possibly hanged by protesting miners, quickly drove him out of town. He went to Tucson until things had calmed.[4]

As Tombstone quieted as the city died, Cashman sold claims and only ran the Russ House for some time, caring for her family.[4]

In 1886, Cashman left Tombstone. She moved around over the next several years. She looked at claims around the country. She opened and closed restaurants and boardinghouses and sold supplies in Nogales, Tucson, Kingston, New Mexico, Harquahala, Globe, and Yuma. Her restaurant in Kingston was particularly notable as some biographers claim she hired oil tycoon Ed Doheny as a dishwasher.[4] In Harquahala, she may have become close to marrying Mike Sullivan, who had discovered gold in the area.[11] Her prospecting brought her to Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and possibly South Africa.[9][4]

Yukon and Alaska

In 1898, Cashman left Arizona for the Yukon in search of gold.[1] She likely arrived in Dawson City that April as one of the first stampeders to settle there. As an unmarried woman, Cashman was unable to purchase unestablished claims. However, she was able to obtain several claims. Cashman was one of the few women in Dawson to work her own claims. In 1898, she opened a restaurant, Delmonico, to finance her mining. She also established another restaurant, the Cassiar, a room called The Prospector's Haven of Retreat (meant to provide an alternative to saloons and gambling), and purchased a grocery store. Her nephew Tom joined her in Dawson and helped at the restaurant and her claims. She continued her charitable work in Dawson, raising funds for the local hospital to expand. While in the Yukon, Cashman was involved in several legal disputes.[3][4] Notably, one involved Belinda Mulrooney. Cashman had several health problems while in Dawson, including a major surgery and a multi-month hospital stay.[4]

Cashman's prospecting ventures took her to Klondike, Fairbanks and Nolan Creek in Yukon-Koyukuk County, Alaska.[1] In 1904, she settled in Fairbanks, where she opened a successful grocery and miners' supply store and raised funds for the local hospital. Memoirist Clara Heinz Burke recalled that Cashman would raise funds by waiting at a saloon until a gambling jackpot was large, sweep the funds off the table, and tell the gamblers that if they had funds to gamble, they had the means to donate the money to the hospital.[4]

In 1905, Cashman settled in Koyukuk, Alaska, along with other established miners.[1] At one point, she owned eleven mines there.[5] During the winters, Cashman travelled visit family and friends and do work in Dawson, Fairbanks, Seattle, California, and Arizona. She would then return to Koyukuk, where she had made her home. In 1921, Cashman travelled south to attempt to raise funds for the machines needed for mining. The next year, she created the Midnight Sun Mining Company to raise funds for the machinery. Looking for further investments, the seventy-seven year old Cashman travelled to Anchorage by dog team, aiming to eventually go to Florida to meet with an investor.[4]

In January 1925, Cashman fell ill. She was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Fairbanks, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia and rheumatism. She was sent to Seattle and, realizing her illness, asked to be sent to the Sisters of St. Anne, the same hospital which she had helped to build fifty-one years earlier. She died there, and was interred at Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria, British Columbia.[17][4] As news of her death spread, obituaries were published in newspapers in mining towns like Dawson, Fairbanks, and Tombstone, as well as in leading papers like the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle.[4]

Legacy and honors

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Biography – Cashman, Ellen (also known as Nellie Pioche and Irish Nellie) – Volume XV (1921–1930)". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Nellie Cashman – Pioneering the Mining Camps". legendsofamerica.com. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Forster, Merna (2004). Nellie Cashman. Canada: Dundern. ISBN 1550029525.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am Illing, Thora Kerr (2016). Gold rush queen: the extraordinary life of Nellie Cashman. Victoria, BC: TouchWood Editions. ISBN 978-1-77151-159-9.
  5. ^ a b Commire, Anne, ed. (2007). "Cashman, Nellie (1844–1925)". Dictionary of women worldwide: 25,000 women through the ages. Yorkin publications. Detroit: Gale. ISBN 978-0-7876-7585-1.
  6. ^ a b "Ellen (Nellie) Cashman". Alaska Mining Hall of Fame Foundation. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  7. ^ a b c "A miner with a heart of gold – An Irishman's Diary about the extraordinary Nellie Cashman". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  8. ^ a b White, Lawrence William (2009). "Cashman, Nellie". Dictionary of Irish Biography – Cambridge University Press. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e Zanjani, Sally (1 September 2000). A Mine of Her Own: Women Prospectors in the American West, 1850-1950. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-9916-0.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Nellie Cashman – Pioneering the Mining Camps – Legends of America". www.legendsofamerica.com. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  11. ^ a b Commire, Anne; Klezmer, Deborah, eds. (1999). "Cashman, Nellie (1844–1925)". Women in world history: a biographical enyclopedia. Vol. 3. Detroit: Yorkin. ISBN 978-0-7876-3736-1.
  12. ^ a b c d "Cashman, Ellen (Also Known As Nellie Pioche And Irish Nellie)". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Volume XV (1921–1930). Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  13. ^ a b "Nellie Cashman". AWHF. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  14. ^ "The Nellie Cashman Restaurant". nelliecashman. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  15. ^ a b c "The Bisbee Massacre". Southern Arizona Guide, LLC. 11 November 2019. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  16. ^ a b c "The Angel of Tombstone–Nellie Cashman". True West Magazine. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  17. ^ Judy Barrett Litoff (1994). European Immigrant Women in the United States: A Biographical Dictionary. Taylor & Francis. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-8240-5306-2. Archived from the original on 4 January 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  18. ^ "Randy Stuart (1924–1996)". imdb.com. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2020. [unreliable source?]
  19. ^ "The Angel of Tombstone on Death Valley Days". Internet Movie Database. Archived from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2015. [unreliable source?]
  20. ^ "Women Business Owners - History of WBO's Annual Awards". womenbusinessowners.org. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  21. ^ "1994 29c Legends of the West: Nellie Cashman". Mystic Stamp Comp. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  22. ^ "Ellen (Nellie) Cashman (1845–1925)" Archived 8 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Alaska Mining Hall of Fame Foundation
  23. ^ "Nellie Cashman, an Irish-born pioneer". Hall of Fame Honorees. 29 October 2007. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  24. ^ "CorkgoldminerNellie Cashman set for honour". 8 June 2015. Archived from the original on 13 November 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.

Other sources

  • Don Chaput, (1995) Nellie Cashman, and the North American Mining Frontier (Tucson, Westernlore Press) ISBN 9780870260933
  • Ronald Wayne Fischer (2000) Nellie Cashman: Frontier Angel, (Talei Publishers) ISBN 978-0963177261
  • John P. Clum (1931) "Nellie Cashman," Arizona Historical Review, v. iii, 9–34.
  • Illing, Thora Kerr (2016) Gold Rush Queen: the extraordinary life of Nellie Cashman (Touchwood Editions) ISBN 978-1-77151-159-9
  • Claire Rudolf Murphy and Jane G. Haigh (1997) "Nellie Cashman," in Gold Rush Women (Alaska Northwest Books, p. 112–116) ISBN 978-0882404844
  • Melanie J. Mayer, 1989, Klondike Women, Ohio University Press.
  • Anon. (1999). The Islander, Portraits of Cobh, (No.3), Cobh Museum, Co. Cork, 1999.
  • Banks, Leo W. (1999). Stalwart Women: Frontier Stories of Indomitable Spirit. Arizona Highways Books. ISBN 978-0-916179-77-9.
  • LeBlanc, Suzanne (2003). Cassiar: A Jewel in the Wilderness. Prince George, B.C. : Caitlin Press. ISBN 978-0-920576-99-1.