Nellie Cashman: The Angel of the Cassiar Mountains British Columbia
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| Nellie Cashman |
From Irish Famine Survivor to Western Legend
On January 4, 1925, one of the most remarkable women in North American mining history passed away in Victoria, British Columbia. Ellen "Nellie" Cashman died at St. Joseph's Hospital, the very institution she had helped establish half a century earlier. Her death marked the end of an extraordinary life that spanned the mining camps of the American West and Canadian North, earning her legendary status as the "Angel of the Cassiar," "Angel of Tombstone," and "Saint of the Sourdoughs."
Early Life and Immigration
Born in Midleton, County Cork in 1845, during the first year of Ireland's Great Hunger, Nellie's early years were marked by the catastrophic potato famine that devastated Ireland. Her father Patrick died when she was just a young child, leaving her mother Frances to raise Nellie and her sister Fanny alone during one of Ireland's darkest periods.
In 1850, Cashman, her mother, and her sister Fanny departed Ireland for America, first settling in Boston. While working as a bellhop in a prominent Boston hotel, young Nellie reportedly met General Ulysses S. Grant, who encouraged her to seek her fortune out west. In 1865, when Nellie was 20, they made the long journey to California.
The Making of a Mining Queen
After arriving in San Francisco around 1869, Nellie began working as a cook in various Nevada mining camps, including Virginia City and Pioche. Her entrepreneurial spirit soon emerged. In 1872 the Cashmans opened the Miner's Boarding House in Pioche, marking the beginning of Nellie's lifelong pattern of operating businesses to support her mining ventures.
The Cassiar Gold Rush and the Legendary Rescue
The defining moment of Nellie Cashman's life came in 1874 when she joined approximately 200 Nevada miners heading to the newly discovered goldfields in the Cassiar Mountains of British Columbia. At Telegraph Creek, she set up another boarding house for miners, asking for donations to the Sisters of St Anne in exchange for services.
While traveling to Victoria in the winter of 1874-75 to deliver donations to the Sisters of St. Anne, Nellie received devastating news. A snowstorm had fallen upon the mountain range, trapping dozens, some accounts say as many as 77, gold miners. These men were suffering from scurvy and starvation, with no access to fresh food or medical supplies.
Without hesitation, Nellie rallied together a search party with six men and several pack animals carrying 1,500 pounds of supplies, including vital limes and other foods containing Vitamin C to treat scurvy. The conditions were so treacherous that the Canadian Army had refused to mount a rescue operation.
Upon learning of Cashman's expedition, a commander sent his troops to locate her party and bring them to safety. When soldiers found her camped on the frozen Stikine River, she refused their escort back, insisting she would not return without the miners.
After 77 days of harsh weather, Cashman and her party located the sick men. To her shock, there were far more than the 26 initially reported. Historical accounts suggest she found and saved between 75 and 77 miners, though exact numbers are difficult to confirm given the remote location and era. She administered a diet rich in Vitamin C and nursed them back to health, earning her the enduring nickname "Angel of the Cassiar."
The Tombstone Years
By 1880, Nellie had moved to Tombstone, Arizona, during the height of the silver boom. During her years in Tombstone, Nellie gained a reputation as an angel of mercy, and became a prominent and influential citizen. She opened multiple businesses including the Russ House boarding establishment, restaurants, and stores.
A lifelong, devout Catholic, Nellie convinced the owners of the Crystal Palace Saloon (one of whom was Wyatt Earp) to allow Sunday church services there until she had helped raise enough funds for construction of the Sacred Heart Church. Her charitable work extended to the Salvation Army, Red Cross, and the local Miner's Hospital.
In 1881, tragedy struck when her widowed sister Fanny died of tuberculosis, leaving five orphaned children. Nellie immediately took them in and raised them as her own, while continuing to manage her businesses and mining operations.
The Klondike Gold Rush and Alaska Adventures
In 1897, at her hotel in Yuma, Arizona, Cashman heard of the great gold discoveries in Canada's Yukon territory. Unable to resist the call of another gold rush, she organized a party and headed north in 1898.
Cashman was among the 30,000 or more stampeders who descended on Dawson in the early summer of 1898. Though she arrived too late to stake the richest claims, the one she purchased on Bonanza Creek yielded over $100,000. True to form, she spent it all on additional prospecting ventures.
In 1904, she settled in Fairbanks, where she opened a successful grocery and miners' supply store and raised funds for the local hospital. In 1907, at age 62, she ventured even further north to the remote Koyukuk district, about 60 miles from the Arctic Circle. Legend has it that in her sixties, she completed a 750-mile dog sled journey in just 17 days.
A Life of Service and Adventure
Nellie Cashman wore many hats: nurse, businesswoman, restaurateur, Catholic philanthropist. Throughout her decades of wandering the frontier, she maintained an unwavering commitment to helping others, particularly miners in need. She was known for feeding the hungry without payment, grubstaking prospectors who couldn't afford supplies, and organizing relief efforts for those in distress.
When asked by a reporter why she never married, Nellie replied with characteristic wit: "Why child, I haven't had time for marriage. Men are a nuisance anyhow, now aren't they? They're just boys grown up."
Legacy and Recognition
In January 1925, Cashman fell ill and was admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital in Fairbanks, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia and rheumatism. Recognizing her time was near, she asked to be sent to Victoria, to the Sisters of St. Anne hospital she had helped build more than fifty years earlier. She died there on January 4, 1925, at approximately 80 years old.
News of her death spread across North America, with obituaries published in newspapers from Dawson and Fairbanks to the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and San Francisco Chronicle. Throughout her life, she had earned multiple nicknames reflecting her charitable nature: the Frontier Angel, Miner's Angel, Saint of the Sourdoughs, Angel of the Cassiar, and Angel of Tombstone.
Her legacy has been honored in numerous ways:
- 1959-1960: Featured as a character in the ABC television series "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp"
- 1982: The Nellie Cashman Award established by Women Business Owners (now Women Business Owners of the Year Awards)
- 1984: Inducted into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame
- 1994: Featured on a United States postage stamp in the "Legends of the West" series
- 2006: Posthumously inducted into the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame
- 2007: Inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
- 2014: Monument unveiled in her birthplace of Midleton, Ireland
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Conclusion
Nellie Cashman's life exemplifies the indomitable spirit of the frontier era. She was described as "pretty as a Victorian cameo and, when necessary, tougher than two-penny nails". From fleeing the Irish Famine as a child to becoming one of the most celebrated figures of the North American mining frontier, she demonstrated extraordinary courage, business acumen, and compassion.
Her legendary 77-day winter rescue mission in the Cassiar Mountains remains one of the most remarkable feats of frontier heroism. While many sought gold for personal gain, Nellie consistently used her wealth to help others, fund charitable causes, and build institutions that would serve future generations.
Today, Nellie Cashman stands as a symbol of resilience, entrepreneurship, and selfless service—a true pioneer whose legacy continues to inspire more than a century after her death.
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| Credit - Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria, BC |
References
- Dictionary of Canadian Biography. "CASHMAN, ELLEN (Nellie Pioche, Irish Nellie)." https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cashman_ellen_15E.html
- "Nellie Cashman." Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Cashman
- "On This Day: Nellie Cashman, aka the 'Angel of the Yukon', died in 1925." Irish Central, January 6, 2026. https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/nellie-cashman-rescue-gold-miners
- "Nellie Cashman – Pioneering the Mining Camps." Legends of America. https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-nelliecashman/
- Alaska Mining Hall of Fame. "Ellen (Nellie) Cashman." https://alaskamininghalloffame.org/inductees/cashman.php
- "Nellie Cashman." CERC (Catholic Education Resource Center). https://catholiceducation.org/en/culture/nellie-cashman.html
- "Nellie Cashman, The Angel of Tombstone." DesertUSA. https://www.desertusa.com/desert-people/nellie-cashman.html
- "Nellie Cashman - Angel of the Cassiar." Wrangell History Unlocked. https://www.wrangellhistoryunlocked.com/nellie-cashman
- "The Midleton Woman who became a Queen in America." Ring of Cork, February 13, 2020. https://www.ringofcork.ie/blog/the-midleton-woman-who-became-a-queen-in-america/
- O'Toole, Fintan. "A miner with a heart of gold – An Irishman's Diary about the extraordinary Nellie Cashman." The Irish Times, April 27, 2017. https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/a-miner-with-a-heart-of-gold-an-irishman-s-diary-about-the-extraordinary-nellie-cashman-1.3063916
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