Ellen Cashman (1845 – 4 January 1925[1]) was an Irish gold prospector, nurse, restaurateur, businesswoman and philanthropist in Arizona, Alaska, British Columbia and Yukon.

In Tombstone, Arizona, Cashman raised money to build the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, and did charitable work with the Sisters of St. Joseph.

The exact location of her birth is uncertain; she was either born in Belvelly or in Middleton (now Midleton), which has claimed her as a "native daughter.

She used the talk in her boarding house to purchase promising claims at good times and learned elementary mining techniques and geology.

[4][11] Cashman was travelling to Victoria to deliver 500 dollars to the sisters of St. Anne when she heard that a snowstorm had descended on the Cassiar Mountains, stranding and injuring 26 miners, who were also suffering from scurvy.

[4] In 1880, Cashman began raising money to build the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, which opened the next year.

[4] Cashman committed herself to charity work with the Sisters of St. Joseph, taking a position as a nurse in a Cochise County hospital.

[10] When an epidemic swept Tombstone, she, along with local prostitute "Black Jack," nursed the sick at Russ House.

[4] In December 1881, Cashman sold her half of Russ House so she could care for Fanny, who was showing signs of tuberculosis.

While Cashman continued to buy and sell mining claims, she devoted herself to caring for her sister, nieces, and nephews.

[4] In 1883, Cashman led a group of miners (including Milt Joyce and Marcus A. Smith) to Baja, where gold had been discovered.

One legend claims that Cashman met a priest, who begged her not to disclose the gold near his parish for the sake of his community.

When they arrived in Guaymas, the prospectors and crew were arrested for imprisoning the captain, but were rescued a few days later by the American consul.

One of Cashman's nephews, Mike, attended college in Los Angeles and Santa Fe, becoming prominent in Cochise County.

[4] In December 1883, bandits committed the Bisbee massacre in Tombstone, killing four innocent bystanders and wounding two others in the course of a robbery.

[15][16] The Tombstone Epitaph reported that Cashman was in "constant attendance" at the jail, where she joined clergy in visiting the men.

Although he refused to, local miners, possibly instigated by Cashman's request, tore down the bleachers the night before the execution.

[4] When Cashman learned that a medical school planned to exhume the bodies of the convicts for study, she enlisted two prospectors to stand watch over the Boot Hill Cemetery for 10 days.

[15][16] Another legend claims that Cashman learning the local mine superintendent was to be kidnapped and possibly hanged by protesting miners, quickly drove him out of town.

[4] As Tombstone quieted as the city died, Cashman sold claims and only ran the Russ House for some time, caring for her family.

She opened and closed restaurants and boardinghouses and sold supplies in Nogales, Tucson, Kingston, New Mexico, Harquahala, Globe, and Yuma.

Her restaurant in Kingston was particularly notable as some biographers claim she hired oil tycoon Ed Doheny as a dishwasher.

She also established another restaurant, the Cassiar, a room called The Prospector's Haven of Retreat (meant to provide an alternative to saloons and gambling), and purchased a grocery store.

[4] Cashman's prospecting ventures took her to Klondike, Fairbanks and Nolan Creek in Yukon-Koyukuk County, Alaska.

[1] In 1904, she settled in Fairbanks, where she opened a successful grocery and miners' supply store and raised funds for the local hospital.

[5] During the winters, Cashman travelled visit family and friends and do work in Dawson, Fairbanks, Seattle, California, and Arizona.

Looking for further investments, the seventy-seven year old Cashman travelled to Anchorage by dog team, aiming to eventually go to Florida to meet with an investor.

She was sent to Seattle and, realizing her illness, asked to be sent to the Sisters of St. Anne, the same hospital which she had helped to build fifty-one years earlier.