V.A. Johnson was born Dec. 6, 1864. He worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad in the western United States (North Dakota, Montana, Nevada, and California) and left for Nation, Alaska on March 22, 1909. He traveled via Skagway, Whitehorse, and down the Yukon by foot to Nation where he joined Arthur and Sadie Reynolds on their gold claim. After the summer work where they took 134 oz. of gold, he took the steamer Campbell to Russian Mission, where he wintered with C. Betsch and was involved in trading. On April 19, 1910, he continued down river to St. Michael where he worked for the Northern Commercial Company preparing riverboats and barges for the summer season. He left Alaska on August 15 aboard the S.S. Victoria, bound for Seattle to visit friends. He traveled on to San Francisco and Los Angeles, visiting along the way. By the end of 1910 he was back to work for the Southern Pacific Railroad at Citrus, California.
From the description of Johnson diary, 1909-1910. (Anchorage Museum Atwood Resource Center). WorldCat record id: 760130342
