The Mystery of the Cache Creek Murders

by Roberta Sheldon

In 1939, four brutal murders occurred at three separate locations on a single day in Cache Creek country, a remote Alaska gold-mining region near Talkeetna. Two of the victims, Dick Francis and Frank Jenkins, had mined there for almost three decades, but disputes over mining claims in the 1930s launched the two men into protracted court battles and an arena of antagonism. By 1938, when Francis claims were auctioned to satisfy courtordered damages awarded to Jenkins, everyone in the scattered but close-knit mining community of Cache Creek country was aware of the bitter feud. At the end of the 1939 mining season Jenkins and one of his young employees were bludgeoned to death in Wonder Gulch; three miles away, Helen Jenkins was murdered near the Jenkinses cabin along Little Willow Creek; and, in his Ruby Creek cabin, Francis was found shot in the head with a revolver in his hand an apparent suicide. He was thought to have first vengefully murdered the others. But an autopsy revealed that Dick Francis had been shot twice in the head. The shocked and outraged mining community began to suspect that the Jenkins/Francis feud had been ruthlessly exploited for caches of gold long rumored to be hidden on the Jenkinses property. The case assumed sensational proportions in Alaska and, because law enforcement was minimal in this remote region, angry Alaskans clamored for a full-blown investigation by the FBI. More than sixty years later, the evidence never made public before whispers that justice may not have been served.

Genres: True Crime

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've just visited Talkeetna, and I am besotted with Alaska anyway, so this book was very engaging for me. Even then I found I had to skim some of the detail, which I don't blame the author for including. I just didn't need the full grocery list to appreciate the dilemmas. This was a very good read for anyone who likes mysteries and true crime.

[Scooter McGee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it to be a very interesting historical read. Is written more as a historical documentary without dramatic embellishments so is a bit of a drier read but is a thoroughly researched book with very detailed aspects of the events leading up to the murders and the ensuing investigation. It also sheds light on what life was like for miners and settlers in the Alaskan territory of that time which is another interesting facet of the book.

[Audley · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having visited Talkeetna, a couple of months ago, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about this "unsolved" mystery that took place in an area which has actually not changed much since the murders took place.

[Yvonne Leutwyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't put this book down! It is based on true events, and gives a vivid image of the life of people in the town of Talkeetna, Alaska, and "the men who moil for gold" in the nearby Peters Hills. Knowing the area, and having visited some of the buildings mentioned in the book that are still standing today made this story captivating for me.

[Romina Maneval · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excelent read based on Pioneering Alaskan Goldmining. I read it as we were mining our first Gold Claim in this very area. Can't even explain how it felt knowing the history, techniques and attitudes of our fellow miners are very simular to those in the book...minus the murder of course.

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the book I picked up in Talketna, Alaska last summer. It details the factssurrounding the murders of four people in the 1939 that was never solved. Interesting backround on life as a gold "miner" in Alaska at that time. A little dry.