Bill Gates

Male, Deceased Person

1860 – 1935

60

Who was Bill Gates?

"Swiftwater" Bill Gates was an American frontiersman and fortune hunter, and a fixture in stories of the Klondike Gold Rush. He made and lost several fortunes, and died in Peru in 1935 pursuing a silver strike.

In one famous Klondike story he presented Dawson dance hall girl Gussie Lamore her weight in gold.

Gates was married briefly to Grace Lamore in 1898; he later married Bera Beebe, with whom he fathered two sons, Fredrick and Clifford. Gates subsequently abandoned her for 15-year-old Kitty Brandon, his niece.

His biography "The True Life Story of Swiftwater Bill Gates" was authored by Iola Beebe, his mother-in-law.

Swiftwater Bill was known to be at the gold fields of Nome, Alaska at the same time as William H Gates I, grandfather of the Microsoft founder. However, despite the similarity in name and coincidences of geography, there is no apparent family relationship between "Swiftwater Bill" and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

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Born
1860
Idaho
Also known as
  • Swiftwater Bill
Spouses
Nationality
  • United States of America
Lived in
  • Seattle
  • Circle
  • Nome Census Area
  • Fairbanks
Died
1935
Peru

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

Citation

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"Bill Gates." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Dec. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/bill_gates_idaho>.

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