After two years at the University of California Berkeley, John W. Ryerson (1917-1996) came to Alaska with a friend in the summer of 1938. They were employed in construction of a wooden gold dredge on a tributary of the Goodnews River. That fall, they took a short course in mining at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks and remained enrolled through the spring semester. Ryerson spent July and August of 1939 working at a placer mine on Harrison Creek near the Yukon River, and from September to November he worked for the Fairbanks Exploration Company at Ester. He left Alaska soon thereafter.
From the description of John W. Ryerson photographs, 1938- 1950s. (University of Alaska, Fairbanks). WorldCat record id: 497948450
