The Klondike Gold Rush, infrequently referred to as the Yukon Gold Rush, was a frenzy of gold rush immigration to and for gold prospecting, along the Klondike River near Dawson City, Yukon, after gold was discovered there in the late 19th century. A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers into the area of a dramatic discovery of commercial quantities of Gold. Immigration refers to the movement of people among countries While the movement of people has existed throughout human history at various levels modern immigration implies long-term Gold prospecting is the act of going equipped to find Gold in rocks or in stream beds with a view to exploiting that discovery The Klondike River is a Tributary of the Yukon River in Canada that gave its name to the Klondike Gold Rush. Yukon (ˈjuːkɒn is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three territories. Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 In total, about 12. 5 million ounces of gold have been taken from the Klondike area in the century since its discovery. The Klondike or Clondike is a region of the Yukon Territory in northwest Canada, east of the Alaska border [1]
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Discovery
In August 1896, three people led by Skookum Jim Mason (a member of the Tagish First Nations whose birth name was Keish) headed north, down the Yukon River from the Carcross area, looking for his sister Kate and her husband George Carmack. Keish ( c 1855 &ndash July 11 1916) better known by his European name Skookum Jim Mason, was a member of the Tagish First Nation The Tagish or Tagish Khwáan are a group of Athabaskan First Nation people that lived around Tagish Lake and Marsh Lake, in the First Nations is a term of Ethnicity that refers to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis people The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. Carcross, originally known as Caribou Crossing, is an unincorporated community in the Territory of Yukon, Canada on Bennett Lake and Nares Shaaw Tláa, also known as Kate Carmack ( c 1862 &ndash 29 March 1920) was a Tagish First Nation woman born George Washington Carmack ( September 24, 1860 &ndash June 5, 1922) was a Contra Costa County California -born prospector The party included Skookum Jim, Skookum Jim's cousin known as Dawson Charlie (or sometimes Tagish Charlie) and his nephew Patsy Henderson. Dawson Charlie or Káa goox, (ca 1860s &ndash 26 December 1908) was a Tagish / Tlingit First Nation person and one of the After meeting up with George and Kate, who were fishing for salmon at the mouth of the Klondike River, they ran into Nova Scotian Robert Henderson who had been mining gold on the Indian River, just south of the Klondike. Nova Scotia (ˌnəʊvəˈskəʊʃə ( Latin for New Scotland; Alba Nuadh Nouvelle-Écosse is a Canadian province located on Canada 's Henderson told George Carmack about where he was mining and that he did not want any "Siwashes" (meaning Indians) near him.
On August 21, 1896, the Skookum party discovered rich placer gold deposits in Bonanza (Rabbit) Creek which is located in the Yukon, northwest Canada. Events 1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the De facto ruler of Japan. Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Placer mining (pronounced "plass-er" refers to the mining of alluvial deposits for Minerals This may be done by open-pit (also called open-cast Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page It is not clear who made the actual discovery, but some accounts say that it was Kate Carmack, while others credit Skookum Jim. George Carmack was officially credited for the gold discovery because the actual claim was staked in his name. The group agreed to this because they felt that other miners would be reluctant to recognize a claim made by an Indian, given the strong racist attitudes of the time.
Stampede begins
The news spread to other mining camps in the Yukon River valley. Gold was first discovered in Rabbit Creek which was later named Bonanza Creek because so many people came to the creek for gold. The Bonanza, Eldorado, and Hunker Creeks were rapidly staked by miners who had been previously working creeks and sandbars on the Fortymile and Stewart Rivers. A shoal or sandbar (also called sandbank) is a somewhat Linear Landform within or extending into a body of Water, The Fortymile River is a River in Alaska and the Yukon. Prior to the Klondike Gold Rush, there was considerable mining activity along this tributary Robert Henderson, who was mining a couple of miles away over the hill, learned about the discovery only after all the rich creeks had been staked.
News reached the United States in July 1897, when the first successful prospectors arrived in San Francisco, California on July 15 and in Seattle, Washington on July 17, setting off the Klondike stampede. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city Events 1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final Events 180 - Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians In 1898, the population in the Klondike may have reached 40,000, which threatened to cause a famine. A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any Faunal species which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional Malnutrition, Starvation
Most prospectors landed at Skagway, Alaska, or the adjacent town of Dyea, Alaska, both located at the head of the Lynn Canal. Prospecting is the physical search for Minerals Fossils precious metals or mineral specimens and is also known as Fossicking. Skagway (ˈskægweɪ is a first-class borough in Alaska, on the Alaska Panhandle. Dyea (ˈdаɪiː is a former town in the US state of Alaska. There are a few people living on individual small homesteads in the valley however it is largely The Lynn Canal is an Inlet (not an artificial Canal) into the mainland of southeast Alaska. From these towns they traveled the Chilkoot Trail and crossed the Chilkoot Pass, or they hiked up to the White Pass into the Yukon and proceeded thence to Lake Lindeman or Lake Bennett, the headwaters of the Yukon River. The Chilkoot Trail is a 33 mile (53 kilometer trail through the Coast Mountains that leads from Dyea Alaska, to Bennett British Columbia. Chilkoot Pass (el 1067 m/3500 ft is a high Mountain pass through the Coast Mountains in the U This article refers to the pass between Alaska and British Columbia Here, some 25 to 35 grueling miles (40 - 56 km) from where they landed, prospectors built rafts and boats that would take them the final 500-plus miles (800-plus km) down the Yukon to Dawson City, near the gold fields. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand Stampeders had to carry a year's supply of goods — about a ton, more than half of it food — over the passes to be allowed to enter Canada. At the top of the passes, the stampeders encountered Canada's North West Mounted Police (NWMP and now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) post that enforced that regulation. It was put in place to avert shortages like those that had occurred in the previous two winters in Dawson City.
Once the bulk of the prospectors arrived at Dawson City, most of the major mining claims of the region were already established. However, any major potential unrest with the idle population was averted with the firm authority of the NWMP under the command of Sam Steele. Major General Sir Samuel Benfield Steele, CB, KCMG, MVO ( 5 January 1848 – 30 January 1919) was a distinguished
.
Cultural legacy
Amongst the many to take part in the gold rush was writer Jack London, whose books White Fang, The Call of the Wild, and To Build a Fire, a collection of short stories, were influenced by his northern experiences, and adventurer "Swiftwater" Bill Gates. Jack London (January 12 1876 &ndash November 22 1916 was an American author who wrote The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The This article is about the novel For films and other uses see White Fang (disambiguation. The Call of the Wild is a Novel by American writer Jack London. "To Build a Fire" is a Short story by American author Jack London. "Swiftwater" Bill Gates was an American frontiersman and fortune hunter and a fixture in stories of the Klondike Gold Rush. Part I of Jack London's 1910 novel Burning Daylight is centered around the Klondike Gold Rush. Another literary luminary connected with the rush, and whose cabin still stands in Dawson City, was folk-lyricist Robert W. Service, whose short epics The Shooting of Dan McGrew and other works describe the fierce grandeur of the north and the survival ethic and gold fever of men and women in the frozen, gold-strewn north. Robert William Service ( January 16, 1874 &ndash September 11, 1958) was a poet and writer The Shooting of Dan McGrew is a short narrative poem by Robert W Service's best-known line is the opening of The Cremation of Sam McGee, which goes;
There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
One of the most thorough popular histories of the Klondike Gold Rush, titled simply Klondike, was written by Canada's Pierre Berton, who was raised in the Yukon (In the United States, Berton's book is entitled The Klondike Fever. " The Cremation of Sam McGee " is among the most famous of Robert W For other people with the same name see Pierre Berton (disambiguation. ) Berton covers nearly every misadventure of the nightmarish and harrowing journeys taken by the many parties on different routes bound for Dawson City, and also covers in fair detail the goings-on in that town up until about 1904. His mother Laura also wrote a book recounting her own experiences entitled "I Married The Klondike".
One of the last books of Jules Verne, "Le Volcan d'Or" or "The Volcano of Gold" in English, deals with the terrible hardships endured by the gold-seekers in the Klondike. Jules Gabriel Verne ( February 8 1828 &ndash March 24 1905) was a French Author who pioneered the science-fiction The book was written in 1899 but was unpublished until 1989.
Charlie Chaplin's silent film The Gold Rush (1925), the highest grossing silent comedy, was set in the Klondike, as was the silent epic The Trail of '98 (1928) and Mae West's Klondike Annie (1936). The Gold Rush is a 1925 Silent film comedy written directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin in his Little Tramp The Gold Rush is a 1925 Silent film comedy written directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin in his Little Tramp The Trail of '98 is a 1928 Western film featuring Harry Carey. Mae West (August 17 1893 &ndash November 22 1980 was an American actress, Playwright, Screenwriter, and Sex symbol. Klondike Annie is a 1936 Black-and-white comedy film starring Mae West and Victor McLaglen. Life in Dawson City during the gold rush was also the subject of the award-winning 1957 National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentary City of Gold, narrated by Pierre Berton. The National Film Board of Canada (usually National Film Board or NFB) is Canada's public film producer and distributor City of Gold is a 1957 Canadian documentary by Colin Low and Wolf Koenig, chronicling Dawson City during James Stewart's 1955 movie The Far Country is a Western set in Skagway and Dawson City during the gold rush era. James Maitland Stewart (20 May 1908 – 2 July 1997 popularly known as Jimmy Stewart, was an American Film and stage Actor The Far Country is a 1955 American Western movie directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart in their fourth It was directed by Anthony Mann and written by Borden Chase. Anthony Mann ( June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American actor and film director Borden Chase ( January 11, 1900 &ndash March 8, 1971) was an American writer The 1978 TV special What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown! is also set during the Gold Rush but is disputed to be the 1925 serum run to Nome. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic A television special is a Television program, typically a Short film or Television movie, which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally What a Nightmare Charlie Brown! is one of the primetime animated TV specials based upon the popular Comic strip Peanuts, During the 1925 serum run to Nome, also known as the " Great Race of Mercy " 20 mushers and about 150 Sled dogs relayed Diphtheria
James A. Michener's novel Alaska (chapter VIII) describes the harsh realities of the Klondike Gold Rush using fictional characters. James Albert Michener ( February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American author of more than 40 titles the majority of which Alaska is a Historical novel by James A Michener. Like other Michener titles Alaska spans a considerable amount of time
Carl Barks' 1950s Scrooge McDuck comics established the character as a successful participant in the Klondike rush when he was a young man, around the turn of the century. Carl Barks ( March 27, 1901 &ndash August 25, 2000) was a famous Disney Studio illustrator and Comic book creator who Scrooge McDuck or Uncle Scrooge is a fictional
The gold rush was celebrated in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, with Klondike Days (now Edmonton's Capital EX), an annual summer fair with a Klondike gold rush theme. Edmonton (ˈɛdmɨntɨn is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta. Alberta (ælˈbɝtə is one of Canada's prairie provinces. It became a province on September 1 1905 Edmonton's Capital EX, formerly known as Klondike Days or K-Days, is an annual 10-day exhibition held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Though far away from Dawson City and the Klondike River, Edmonton became known as a "Gateway to the North" for gold prospectors. It was in the city that many would collect the necessary goods for trekking up north in search of wealth. Individuals and teams of explorers arrived in Edmonton and prepared for travel by foot, York boat, dog team, or horses. The York boat was an inland boat used by the Hudson's Bay Company to carry furs and trade goods along inland waterways in Canada. Sled dogs, known also as sleightman dogs sledge dogs or sleddogs are types of Dogs that are used to pull a wheel-less vehicle Travel to the Yukon over land via what was sometimes called the "all Canada" route--and the prospectors that took this route--were often referred to as "overlanders". While few overlanders made it to the Klondike (160 out of about 1,600 that started[2]), Alberta's Northlands Association, which is based in Edmonton, honored the memory and spirit of the overlanders with Klondike Days. For many years, Klondike Days was a fun summer exhibition with themed events such as the Sunday Promenade, the Sourdough raft race, free pancake breakfasts, saloons, gold panning and era costume parties. Despite the many sad realities of the gold rush, Edmonton appreciated the Klondike spirit, which was characterized by a tenacious hope for success in the face of hardship, and an energetic zest for life. As a fair theme it was meant to provide the impetus for fun fantasy characters (e. g. , Klondike Mike and Kate) and fun events celebrating an interesting time. The sentimental aspect of the gold rush lost its popular appeal in the 1980s and 90s and in 2005 the theme was dropped.
In addition, the gold rush proved to be one of most famous eras of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's history. Not only did the exemplary conduct of the force ensure its continuation at a time when its dissolution was being debated in the Parliament of Canada, but the Force's depiction in popular western culture is often set at this time. The Parliament of Canada (Parlement du Canada is Canada 's legislative branch, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. The most popular examples include dramatic depictions such as the radio series Challenge of the Yukon and comedic ones like Dudley Do-Right
A certain amount of slang came out of the gold rush. Challenge of the Yukon was a long-running Radio series that began on Detroit 's station WXYZ (as had The Lone Ranger and Dudley Do-Right was the Eponymous hero of a segment on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show which Experienced miners were often known as Cheechakos, while potential miners, new to the klondike, were known as Sourdoughs. These two names live on in Dawson City in tourist literature, and enjoy occasional usage by miners still working the tributaries of the Yukon River and [Klondike River]] as well as in literature relating to the gold rush era. The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America.
See also
- Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
- Carcross/Tagish First Nation
- Gold mining in Alaska
- Alaska Boundary Dispute
References
Further reading
- Pierre Berton - Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush, 1896-1899 Espn 0-385-65844-3 and other editions
- James A. Michener - Journey espn 0-394-57826-0 hoo
External links
- Klondike. The Chicago Record's book for gold seekers (1897) (Digitized by the Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
- Klondike: The Quest for Gold (documentary film)
- Victorian Order of Nurses Official Website
- Women of the Klondike
- Map of the Chilkoot and White Passes
- The life of Jack London as reflected in his works
- Skagway: Gateway to the Klondike
- Gold Fever! Seattle Outfits the Klondike Gold Rush, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
- University of Washington Libraries Exhibit
- Both Old and Recent Photographs of the Gold Rush Route, from Skagway to Dawson
- An article on the Klondike Gold Rush from The Canadian Encyclopedia
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