Donald Trump's grandfather laid the ground work for the family success in, of all places, the restaurant catering business.
In fact Donald Trump's money had it's beginings with a restaurant during the Klondike gold rush by Donald's grandfather, Friedrich, (photo above) earning a fortune that gave birth to the family's dynasty.
German-born Friedrich Drumpf arrived in the United States in 1885, he was16 years old.
He spent six years in New York City, working as a barber and living in immigrant apartments with his sister and brother-in-law.
Eventually he decided to travel west, to Seattle.
At age 22 he changed his name to Fred Trump and started his first business, a late-night restaurant in a rough part of town, but that was just the beginning for Fred.
In July of 1897, the big gold strike in the far north was spreading all through Seattle, Fred saw an opportunity and opened another restaurant catering to the thousands of Gold-rushers who were after their own fortunes.
In March 1898, Fred set sail on a ship to Skagway.
He and his friend named Ernest Levin set up a tent on the path known as Dead Horse Trail.
(Below is a photo of the Dead Horse Trail)
The pair began serving up hot meals to the prospectors passing through, with horsemeat one of their best sellers.
A few months later, the men had moved their business from the tent to a two-story building in Bennett Town they called the New Arctic Restaurant and Hotel.
The hotel stood tall among the tents nearby and the restaurant was decadent.
Moving on from horse meat, now the menu included salmon and a variety of meats, including duck, ptarmigan, grouse, goose, and swan, as well as caribou, moose, goat, sheep, rabbit, and squirrel.
In addition to all the meat choices, the New Arctic served fresh fruit: red currants, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, even cranberries.
By 1897, a railroad now linked Skagway and Whitehorse and their Bennett Town location was no longer a thoroughfare, so Trump rebuilt the New Arctic on Whitehorse's Front Street.
The new location was around the clock, serving as many as 3,000 meals a day.
After just over three years in the north, Trump ahead of the herd, cashed out and shipped out, as stampeders left the north in masses.
After the Arctic's success, Trump left as a respectable businessman with a enough cash to travel to Germany where he found a wife and returned with her to New York City.
In 1905, his son Fred Jr, Donald's father, was born.
Apparently Fred Jr, inherited his father's entrepreneurial talent and his attitude towards hard work.
He continued on, earning hundreds of millions as a New York City real-estate tycoon.
Donald Trump continues the family empire to this day. (that's Donald Trump photo above, in case you didn't know)
