Posted on 09/20/2015 1:38:41 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
Canadians amused by the improbable presidential run of Donald Trump might be surprised to learn the role their own country played in shaping his story.
Trump's grandfather started the family fortune in an adventure that involved the Klondike gold rush, the Mounties, prostitution and twists of fate that pushed him to New York City.
Friedrich Trump had been in North America a few years when he set out for the Yukon, says an author who's just completed a new edition of her multi-generational family biography.
That Canadian chapter proved pivotal for the entrepreneurial German immigrant, says Gwenda Blair, author of The Trumps: Three Generations That Built An Empire.
"It allowed him to get together the nest egg he'd come to the United States for," the author and Columbia University journalism professor said in an interview.
"Whether he could've accumulated that much money somewhere else, in that short a period of time, as a young man with no connections, and initially not even English, is certainly ... unlikely."
He'd left Europe in 1885 at age 16, a barber's apprentice whose father died young.
Trump wanted a life outside the barber shop, far from the family-owned vineyards his ancestors had been working since they'd settled in Germany's Kallstadt region in the 1600s carrying the soon-altered surname Drumpf.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbc.ca ...
The Roosevelt fortune came from selling opium to the Chinese.
Fun article.
Best laugh all day!
My Grandfather was a Cheorkee Indian and partially illerate. He could read and read voraciously. His son had Phd in engineering.
Oh my.
It can be lucrative. Al Swearengen, owner of the Gem Saloon in Deadwood pulled in $4000 to 10,000 a day at the height of the boom.
Cave-in survivor making love to his wife for first time since rescue:
Miner: ‘Can we switch the lights off?’ . . .
Wife: ‘Of course honey’ . . .
Miner: ‘Can I have you from behind?’ . . .
Wife: ‘Anything you want my brave boy’ . . .
Miner: ‘Can I call you Bob? . . . . . ‘
Obama’s mother posed nude.
Hey, Mitt Romney can trace his family line to a Mexican chicken ranch.
This disqualifies TRUMP, now!! It Probably will with the Evangelicals!!
Truly pathetic the desperation... funny too.
In Alaska too.
"Are we telling stories about our grandfathers? I've got some great stories!"
“I’m gonna guess historical fiction. There are soooooo many fairy tales in a family. “
Better to check it out than to guess.
We were told this on a recent train ride in Skagway and I checked it out.
Grandpa Trump changed his name from Trumpf to fit in easier.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Trump
Oh, I’m definitely not voting for him now! On the other hand, he may have gained a lot of new supporters...
> Obamas father was forced to leave the US.
Overstay his visa? Flunk out of school?
The Gold Rush was 1848. The California Gold Rush.
This article is referring to the Alaskan Klondike Gold Rush.
That story would make a great movie, wouldn’t it?
Glad he was for free markets and had an entrepreneurial spirit!
Changing names was common. My mother’s was spelled differently. My in laws changed their name. And my uncles...their real names were totally different from what we always called them.
Obama’s stepfather made his money.....in oil!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.