Members of the Kotzebue Commercial and Mining Company working the beach at Nome. The Kotzebue Commercial & Mining Company was founded in San Francisco early in the spring of 1898 to take advantage of the reputed gold riches of the Kobuk drainage. All together, the investors raised one million dollars to fund a retail and mining business in northwest Alaska. With the money, they purchased the schooner Charles Hanson, and a large river steamer for travel along the Kobuk when they reached Kotzebue Sound. They also purchased supplies to sell to the miners in the new mining communities with they were sure would spring up near the discoveries. Most of the investors and prospectors in the company were from the San Jose, California area.
The Kotzebue Commercial & Mining Company's steamer, the Agnes E. Boyd, was one of the largest boats to navigate the Kobuk River. This steamer carried supplies and personnel for the company. Carrington A. F. Swete served as the First Mate, and W.R. Ames as the Chief Engineer. The Kobuk is a shallow river with many sand bars so the company hired a Native man to pilot the steamer for the first two trips.
The company purchased thousands of dollars' worth of supplies with the intention of operating a retail business to serve the area's miners. A company warehouse was located at the Lower Hanson Camp, about four miles down river from the confluence of the Kobuk and Hunt Rivers. This camp supplied the company's mining camp farther upriver, on the Kollioksak River, where most of the company's members and the Agnes E. Boyd wintered in 1898-1899.
