"Rosie's Gold Nugget," a manuscript written by the late Joel Wing, was incomplete at the time of his death in 1987. Former Wrangell resident and Anchorage author Trish Neal promised Wing before he died that she would make sure the story was published.
Joel Wing died in 1987 before finishing a manuscript about mining for gold in the Cassiar district.
It's a story more than 100 years in the telling. Finally, a book that started being written last century is finding new progress at the hands of an Anchorage author.
Patricia Neal is undertaking the publishing of a book that the late Joel Wing began writing about his family's adventures at the Cassiar Mining District before he retired as the Wrangell magistrate in 1973.
Neal, who's written books about Wrangell history, met Wing in 1981 when she was the curator for the museum. As they got to talking, Wing mentioned that he was writing about the experiences his family had while mining for gold in British Columbia at Quartz Creek.
"I encouraged him to finish it. It was in process," Neal said. "I told him, 'If you get it done, I'll definitely help you get it published.'"
Wing, a quiet man who kept to himself, died in 1987 at age 79. After his death, Neal received a stationery box containing a manilla envelope. Inside was Wing's 212-page incomplete manuscript. At the time, self-publishing was expensive and trying to get anyone interested in publishing the book was fruitless.
As technology has advanced over the years, Neal said self-publishing has become extremely affordable. Having made the promise to Wing that she would publish his book, Neal said she has begun transcribing his manuscript and gathering other biographical information to help complete it.
The manuscript, titled "Rosie's Gold Nugget: The Life of the Wing Family on Quartz Creek in the Cassiar," was based on Wing's father's diaries between 1916 and 1947, his own experience in his youth and later just before retiring. Neal said Wing kept his own diaries, but she believes all his photos and writings were sent to a family member.
Neal said she knows the project could take quite a bit of time. She has been researching genealogy, Social Security records and chasing every lead she can find to paint a biography of Wing and his family to include in the book. Thanks to permission from the Friends of the Museum foundation, Neal is able to take up the work of transcribing, editing and adding biographical content to the manuscript.
Along with being a magistrate, aeronautics administrator, air traffic controller and adventurer, Wing also ran a curio booth at the age of 19. According to a story in the July 14, 1927, Wrangell Sentinel, "Joel Wing has opened a curio booth on the vacant lot belonging to W.C. Waters on Front Street adjoining the Everson store."
Just over two years later, Wing went on one of many trips with his family in British Columbia. An excerpt from the Aug. 15, 1929, Sentinel reads: "When Wrangell friends inquired about the Dave Wing family, (Logan) Jones answered that they were planning on staying on their mining property through winter. He reported that Joel Wing ran quite a trap line last winter and that he and his father did very well on their catch of fur."
To get to the mining camp, over 300 miles northeast of Wrangell, was no easy feat as Wing detailed in a letter to Rev. H.P. Corser in 1926:
"By the time you have received this letter you may wondered why you did not receive one before, but we just arrived at our mine two days ago, that is, it took us from 2 a.m., May 13, until 2 p.m., June 7 to travel from Wrangell to Quartz Creek, about 352 miles," Wing wrote.
The trip required several modes of transportation, including a car, Caterpillar tractor, horse, boat and a lot of walking. "Thus far my idea of the Cassiar is not half bad," Wing wrote in his letter. "The worst thing is, of course the bad roads and poor transportation."
Since Wing was the last surviving member of his immediate family and he never married and had no children, tracking down information has not been easy for Neal. However, she's used to projects like this taking months if not years to complete.
"I spent almost 40 years researching the women who owned the Garnet Ledge," Neal said. "Pat Roppel helped me on that. We discovered that nobody knew their names," but she kept at it, discovering new information throughout the four decades.
Neal can only commit to transcribing Wing's manuscript on the weekends for now since she works through the week, but she has a promise to keep.
"The reason he was writing this book was there were no living children after them," she said. "David Wing's family died out after Joel. This is something to leave to the legacy of the Wing family."
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