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1896: The true story of the Klondike Gold Rush
Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush
What you need to know before your trail
With the building of the railroad and the settlement of the plains, the North West was opening up. The Klondike stampede was a wild interlude in the epic story of western development, and here are its dramatic tales of hardship, heroism, and villainy. We meet Soapy Smith, dictator of Skagway; Swiftwater Bill Gates, who bathed in champagne; Silent Sam Bonnifield, who lost and won back a hotel in a poker game; and Roddy Connors, who danced away a fortune at a dollar a dance. We meet dance-hall queens, paupers turned millionaires, missionaries and entrepreneurs, and legendary Mounties such as Sam Steele, the Lion of the Yukon.
Locations
Reset- Canada - Yukon - The Klondike
- A: Klondike
- B: Yukon River/Klondike River
- C: S.S. Keno National Historic Site
- D: Yukon Dawson Airport
Travel Guide
The Klondike Gold Rush
Between 1896 and 1899 some 100,000 prospectors rushed to the Klondike region to find gold. It was discovered by local miners and when news reached Seattle and San Francisco, it caused a stampede.Some became wealthy, but the majority went in vain.
To reach the gold fields, most took the route through the ports of Dyea and Skagway in Southeast Alaska. Here, the Klondikers could follow either the Chilkoot or the White Pass trails to the Yukon River and sail down to the Klondike. The Canadian authorities had told them to bring a years supply of food to set off starvation but this meant that a great deal had to be carried by each person making the journey.
Together with mountainous terrain and cold climate, this meant that those who persisted did not arrive until summer 1898. Once there, they found few opportunities, and many left disappointed.
Those who did stay however needed somewhere to live. Boom towns sprang up along the routes and at their end Dawson City was founded at the confluence of the Klondike and the Yukon River. From a population of 500 in 1896, the town grew to house around 30,000 people by summer 1898. The Native Hän people, on the other hand, suffered from the rush, being moved into a reserve to make way for the stampeders, and many died.
From 1898, the newspapers that had encouraged so many to travel to the Klondike lost interest in it. The Klondike Rush it seemed, was over.
Streetview Maps
B) Canada - Yukon _ Klondike River
C) Canada - Yukon - SS Keno and Dawson City
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush
Destination : Yukon Author/Guide: Pierre Berton Departure Time: 1896 onwards
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