Kathleen Rockwell

Kathleen Eloise Rockwell (October 4, 1873/1876/1880 (year of birth disputed) – February 21, 1957), known as "Klondike Kate" and later known as Kate Rockwell Warner Matson Van Duren, was an American dancer and vaudeville star during the Klondike Gold Rush, where she met Alexander Pantages who later became a very successful vaudeville/motion picture mogul.

Rockwell was born in Junction City, Kansas, according to her death certificate, and lived in North Dakota for a while but grew up in Spokane, Washington.

However, economic failure created tension in the family, and this lack of home stability echoed throughout Rockwell's sometimes stormy life.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police held a tight leash on prospective miners and various hangers-on trying to get to the Yukon and find fortunes in gold.

First working as a tap-dancer in Whitehorse, Rockwell found her stride in Dawson City as a member of the Savoy Theatrical Company.

[1] The intense love affair between Pantages and Rockwell became the stuff of legend in the Yukon, although streaks of jealousy ensured that they found more stability in their professional lives than in their personal ones.

[2] In 1902, the Klondike Gold Rush was already dying out and Rockwell headed south, first to British Columbia, where she set up a store-front movie theater, and eventually to Oregon, where she homesteaded 320 acres of land.

After performing for years on stage even into her 40s, Kate Rockwell headed to Brothers, Oregon, with $3,500 in cash and $3,000 worth of jewelry, and trunks filled with dresses, gowns and hats.

While waiting out the five years to earn the title to the land, Rockwell fell in love with and married a cowboy named Floyd Warner.