Thorine Osric Knornsson

Thorine Osric Knornsson was born on August 12, 1889, the ninth child of the famous Norwegian circus family. His mother died the following year while on tour in Germany during the birth of his younger brother, Sverr. Their father was obsessive about his work and so the care and raising of the younger children fell to his two oldest sisters, Annika and Ilona, with whom Thorine remained close, amassing an impressive correspondence over the years.

The Knornsson's began their circus career with Thor Knornsson, a renowned escape artist in the 1850-60's. He married an acrobat (only ever referred to as Bestemor) who trained their four sons in the art. Through out the second half of the 19th century, they traveled Europe with a number of circuses.

Thor Knornsson, Thorine's grandfather
Thor Knornsson, Thorine's grandfather. c. 1865
The Knornsson Family
A poster from a tour of France, 1896

Thorine manifested an independent streak early in life - along with a love of making people laugh. By the time he was ten, he had already had several arguements with his father about the family show. To the elder Knornsson, acrobatics was a serious business, an art form; Thorine's attempts to inject a little humor into the show were not acceptable. When Thorine expressed a desire to be a clown around the age of 12, a great rift split the family. One side felt that this was a degradation to an old family of circus nobility; the other that he should do what made him happy. In the end, he had his way, but his father never stopped disapproving. After three years of mounting tensions between the two, Thorine decided to seek his fortune elswhere - but he never forgot the circus.



In the summer of 1904, just before his 15th birthday, Thorine left the circus and his family. He worked passage on a fishing boat to Canada, arriving in Halifax in the autumn at the end of the season. It was on this ship that he met Geoffrey Moore, originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. With his acrobat's reflexes, Thorine managed to save Geoffrey's life during a violent storm at sea, and the two became close friends. It was Geoffrey who first planted the idea of prospecting in Thorine's head, with stories of the gold fields of the Yukon. Thorine joined him on his return to the Moore farm and met Geoffrey's sister, Louise - it was love at first sight. He stayed on the farm a year and the were married in the spring of 1906; he was rising 17 and she had recently turned 18. Louise was enchanted by his stories of the circus and he began teaching her what he knew, starting with a low tightrope. In later years, he often told the story of how they tied a rope across the river he was panning and she would cross out to bring him dinner and never get her feet wet.

Louise Moore Thornsson
40 Mile Cabin

They followed the Chilkoot pass and crossed into Alaska from Selwyn. They had an idyllic first summer, gathering enough gold to spend their first winter in Valdez. The summer of 1907 found them back in the eastern Tanana River area, with Louise expecting their first child. An early and particularly harsh winter forced them to stay, in a hastily constructed cabin. Sadly, both Louise and the child died during the birth that January. Thorine never remarried and never left their graves. Over the years that followed, he solidified the cabin and as more settlers came in and stayed, they saw his sign: "TOK."

The 1940's brought the Alaska Highway project through Tok, Alaska, and with it more residents. Thorine was a sociable man who particularly delighted in children, and of course never missed an opportunity to make someone laugh. In 1943 he began the custom of "Clown Day," to celebrate his birthday (and birth way) and amuse his neighbors. Gradually, the town joined him and it became something of an Autumn festival - a way to unwind as the labors of the summer came to a close. Thorine died on July 4, 1976 - an appropriate day for an immigrant, pioneer, and survivor; a true American and we will never forget him.

The First Clown Day