Berry Petroleum Company History
Some men are born under a lucky star and Berry was certainly one of them, although he didn't think so during his youth in Fresno County. He grew up resenting the hard life on the farm and what poverty had done to his parents.
Clarence was a man of vision and daring. He was always out front of the pack, and sensed opportunity long before it hit the front page of the newspaper. In 1894 he borrowed money from family, friends and strangers to finance a trip to Alaska - two years before the Klondike discovery.
He stayed 18 months in Alaska and when he returned he married Ethel Bush who had promised to wait for him. Ethel and her four sisters and brother lived on a farm near the Berry family. After she and Clarence were married on March 10, 1896, in her mother's front parlor, Ethel set out on a honeymoon to Alaska. There were no silks and satins in her trousseau. Under Clarence's direction she packed long underwear, woolen stockings, rubber boots and flannel dresses.
The newlyweds almost missed the boat in Seattle when C.J. came down with the mumps, but he recovered in time to travel the Inside Passage to Skagway. They were accompanied by his younger brother, Fred.
They crossed the Chilkoot Pass, a difficult feat for a man, but a strenuous and hazardous venture for a young woman from the sunny fields of California. They walked miles and miles over the frozen lakes, stopping at night to pitch a tent and sleep on spruce boughs in the snow.
Ethel stood up well under the ordeal. It was six months before the folks back home heard from them. Ethel reported that they were well and happy and having a wonderful adventure. By that time they were at Fortymile where Clarence tended bar at Bill McPhee's saloon to earn enough money for food.
One day the Fortymile camp was in a spin when news of a strike upriver whipped through the camp like a brush fire. Clarence and Fred were frantic to go; this was the break they had been waiting for, and now that it had come, they had no money, no grub, no dogs.
Clarence went to McPhee for help. "Sure, Clarence," he said. "Here is the key to the cache. Help yourself". Ten years later when McPhee's saloon was destroyed in the Fairbanks fire of 1906, a telegram came from Clarence in San Francisco telling him to rebuild, restock and draw on him for all the money he needed. Berry also provided McPhee with a life-long pension.
Meanwhile, back on the Yukon, the Berry boys broke camp. Ethel was posted on the riverbank to flag down a boat going upriver. The two men grabbed bedding, tent, tools and food. Everything else was left behind.
The Berry's were among the first in line and staked claims on Bonanza. In an act of generosity and friendship, Clarence grubstaked fellow miner Antone Stander who then traded some of his claims on Eldorado for some of Berry's on Bonanza. In that way Berry got a piece of the richest placer creek in the world.
