Klondike Kate

By this time, she was desperate enough to return to her former husband to ask for money. She went to his mansion in Los Angeles to see if he would help her. He was very rude to her and gave her only a few dollars. Later he was accused of rape. Kate refused to testify for him even though she sat through the trial. She spoke publicly to the press about him though, which embarrassed him greatly. When she returned to Oregon, she moved to Bend. At Bend she was called "our destitute prostitute." She had to take labor jobs, such as cooking or cleaning. She had cracked her knee when she fell from a wagon and could no longer dance. But she was also generous with her money even though she didn't have much. And she helped tend the sick during the flu epidemic. She was also probably one of the first people to go rock-hounding in central Oregon. She gathered a huge rock collection and constructed an elaborate fireplace and chimney with them.

In 1931, Johnny Maddson, who had been infatuated with Kate when he saw her in the Yukon, began a correspondence with her. In 1933 they met in Canada and got married. He returned to the Yukon afterward. Kate returned to Bend. They wrote but never lived together. They met only once a year at Dawson or Vancouver. Maddson refused to move to Bend. He died in 1946 still searching for the big strike.

At that point Kate started touring the country and appearing on shows. She became the darling of the Bend Voluntary Fire Department, which made her an honorary volunteer. This allowed her to ride on the fire truck during parades. At 71 years old, Kate married again to longtime friend Bill Van Duren. They moved first to Jefferson, then to Sweet Home, Oregon. She died there in 1957 at 80 years old. At her request she was cremated and laid to rest in the central Oregon high desert.

SOURCES:

Thunder Over the Ochoco, Volume V: And the Juniper Trees Bore Fruit, Gale Ontko, Maverick Publications, Inc., Bend, Oregon, 1999.

Little Known Tales from Oregon History, Geoff Hill, editor, Volume 1, Sun Publishing, Bend, Oregon, 1988.

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