FILSON COMPANY HISTORY: 

Filson - rugged quality for over 100 years

Born in 1850, C. C. Filson inherited his father's pioneer spirit and love of the outdoors. After homesteading in Nebraska and roaming the country as a railroad conductor, he moved to the small city of Seattle, Washington in the 1890's.

Filson's timing couldn't have been better. By 1897, the Great Klondike Gold Rush was on, and thousands of fortune hunters were stampeding into Seattle, headed north. Armed with a strong work ethic, a reputation for honesty, and several years' experience operating a small loggers' outfitting store, C. C. Filson was ready to stake his claim to fame.

"TO OUR CUSTOMERS: if a man is going North, he should come to us for his outfit, because we have obtained our ideas of what is best to wear in that country from the experience of the man from the North -- not merely one -- but hundreds of them. Our materials are the very best obtainable, for we know that the best is none too good and that quality is of vital importance. YOU CAN DEPEND ABSOLUTELY UPON OUR GOODS BOTH AS TO MATERIAL AND WORKMANSHIP."  

n        C.C. Filson, 1914 Catalog

The Gold Rush Years: 1897-1899

In 1897, Filson opened C.C. Filson's Pioneer Alaska Clothing and Blanket Manufacturers, specializing in goods to outfit the stampeders to the Klondike Gold Rush.

Stories of harrowing experiences in the Yukon were widely reported. The diary of Hume Nisbet, 1897 painted this picture: "Try to recall your sensations on the coldest night you have ever known: try to intensify the most bitter ice blast that has ever pierced your marrow by a thousand fold; even then you will not be able to realize spring in the Chilkoot Canyon, far less midwinter on the Klondike."

It was for these terrible conditions that Filson designed his goods. He owned his own mill and manufactured Mackinaw clothing, Mackinaw blankets and knit goods, as well as selling boots, shoes, moccasins and sleeping bags specially designed for the frigid North. Filson kept in close contact with his customers, improving his goods to meet their specific needs. The stampeders depended on Filson. In that era, clothing wasn't a matter of choice, but of survival.

Tough, comfortable outdoor clothing for hunters and fishermen, engineers and explorers, mariners and miners.

The Gold Rush faded into history, but Filson kept listening to his customers, and outdoorsmen kept coming to Filson for rugged clothes. Drawing from his past experience outfitting loggers, he soon added clothing for the timber industry, including the Filson Cruiser, the garment that was to earn Filson a place in history. Designed and named by C.C. Filson and patented on March 3, 1914, US Patent #1088891, the Cruiser has remained Filson's best selling item. Today, Filson has sold over half a million of this trademark coat.