You Don’t Know Anything About Admiral George Dewey

Admiral George Dewey – Mustache hero!

A lot of natural landmarks around Skagway are named after some person named Dewey. There is Upper Dewey Lake, Lower Dewey Lake, and two Dewey Peaks often called the Twin Dewey Peaks. One thing is for sure, Dewey must have been an essential part of Skagway’s history and played a dramatic role in the town’s development.

Actually, no.

Dewey never set foot in Skagway

All of the Dewey landmarks are named after Admiral George Dewey. Dewey never once set foot in Skagway and it’s highly likely he never even knew it existed. So, how did Dewey become a household name in Skagway? That’s what this blog is about and I’m guessing that you don’t know anything about Admiral George Dewey.

George Dewey was a U.S Navy Admiral

Dewey began his career by enrolling at Norwich University in Vermont. Two years later Dewey was expelled from college for drunkenness and herding sheep into the barracks. Presumably, these two events were related in some way. On the plus side, the college dorm prank tradition was born.

Dewey eventually graduated from the U.S.Naval Academy because rich people always get a second chance. A few years later, the Civil War broke out and Dewey became a Lieutenant for the Union. With his amateur sheep herding career well in the past, Dewey found success as a soldier and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander at the war’s end.

In 1899, Dewey was promoted to Admiral and was considered a hero by Americans across the country. So, how did that happen? We are about to find out and you will soon realize how this all fits together.

Dewey was a war hero so people named things after him

In April of 1898, The United States went to war with Spain in what we call the Spanish American War. Toward the start of the war, Dewey won a decisive victory in Manila Bay where only one U.S soldier was killed. In a single attack, Admiral Dewey sank or captured every vessel in the entire Spanish fleet. It’s the kind of victory that makes you famous, and when you’re famous people want to honor you in some way.

Dewey was immediately promoted to Rear Admiral. The following year he became a full Admiral. More importantly, Dewey became a household name and was considered a national hero. When he returned to New York in 1899, he was given a hero’s welcome complete with one of those ticker-tape parades you see in the old-time movies.

Do you know what else was going on in 1898 and 1899? You guessed it – The Klondike Gold Rush. While the lakes and mountains around Skagway already had names given by the indigenous Tlingit people, stampeders went around naming everything again because that’s how people are. Because Dewey happened to be a national hero at this moment in time, prominent mountains and lakes around Skagway now bear his name.

Imagine if the Gold Rush happened in a different year

People think what’s happening at the moment is very important, which is how you end up with lakes and mountains named after someone with zero relevance to your local history. If the Gold Rush was a few years earlier or later, it’s likely the landmarks named after Dewey would be named something else entirely.

If the Gold Rush happened in 1972, you could have ended up with Lower Bee Gees Lake or Upper Nixon Lake. In 1974, Jolene was released by Dolly Parton. If the Gold Rush happened in 1974, Skagway’s most prominent landmark could be named the Twin Parton Peaks. Life sure is funny.

Anyway, Admiral Dewey was a hero at the time and it’s nice he was able to get over the whole weird sheep thing and make a name for himself. Today, we honor Admiral Dewey with some names on natural landmarks even though hardly anyone living in Skagway remembers why they have that name.