By the fall of 1887, after traveling through the White Pass to Lake Bennett, Moore somehow knew that gold would soon be discovered in the Yukon and wasted no time in preparing for the day his prediction would come to pass. With his son, Ben, Moore struck out for Juneau, Alaska by canoe. When they passed what would later be named Skagway, Moore noted that it would be a good place for a wharf. Loading up with supplies in Juneau, they swiftly returned through the Lynn Canal to Skagway Bay where Moore preempted at the mouth of the Skagway River at a place the Indians called Skagua, and named it Mooresville. He built a log cabin, a sawmill, and began the construction of a wharf in anticipation of the ships that would land there, offloading thousands of eager gold-seekers.