A tea party in Skagway marked the 164th anniversary of Harriet Pullen’s birth. Guests honored the famous entrepreneur and highlighted her contributions.
Skagway residents celebrated a special birthday on Aug. 18 at the public library. The guest of honor wasn’t present, because she died in 1947.
Even the youngest party guest knew a little about Harriet Pullen, the Skagway pioneer who started out baking pies during the gold rush and ended up one of the most successful business women in town.
Mila Nelson is nine years old. She enjoyed the cake, and hearing the stories about Pullen, known affectionately as Ma Pullen.
“She ran a hotel, I think,” Mila says. “And they had very good beds.”
The Skagway Public Library started the birthday tea party last year. They receive countless inquiries about Skagway’s notorious outlaw, Soapy Smith, and wanted to highlight a different kind of gold rush pioneer.
Pullen’s great-great granddaughter, Katherine Moseley, works at the library. Her mother, Maxine Selmer, read an essay she wrote about her great-grandmother.
“So, Harriet Pullen arrived in Skagway aboard the steamship Rosalie on September 12, 1897,” Selmer says. “She arrived alone and set out to make her fortune. However, the gold nuggets did not lay on the streets for picking as she’d imagined. With only $7 in her pocket, she knew she had to find work, and thus began her 50 year commitment to this beautiful place that we call home.”
Pullen cooked, peddled pies, sold newspaper articles down south, worked in a general store and opened a freight business before she started a boarding house in 1901. Her establishment grew into elegant accommodations with electricity, running water, telephones and central heating. She met her guests at the wharf with her horse-drawn carriage and brought them back to the hotel to enjoy delectable meals and wild tales of the North. After the gold rush ended, she collected what was left behind and opened a small museum at Pullen House.
“Harriet led the way as a lady entrepreneur of her day,” Selmer says. “A day when women were expected to remain in the home. She was courageous, adventurous, tenacious, friendly and strong. She carved out her life on her own terms. She set out to find gold lying on the streets, but what she found was gold of another kind, the kind that you carry in your heart. So happy birthday, Harriet. Thank you for leaving us such a legacy. In honor of Harriet’s birthday, let’s remember all the women entrepreneurs in our community who helped to bring us to this new day.”
On display at the event were pictures of the matriarch, a black sequined dress worn by Pullen, china that bore the mark of Pullen’s hotel and tokens for one meal at the Pullen House.
Sunday’s guests enjoyed vegetable trays flown in from Juneau with the freshest cucumbers they’d seen in months and home baked goods, including of course, pies.
Library employee Crystal Harris did much of the organizing for this year’s event. She wore a period dress of pale blue and made sure everyone’s tea cup was full.
When asked if the celebration would happen again, Harris answered in the affirmative.
