The Klondike gold Rush

The Klondike is a region of the Yukon Territory in northwest Canada, just east of Alaska border. It lies around the Klondike River, a small stream that enters the Yukon River from the east where the town of Dawson is situated. The Klondike is famous for the Klondike Gold Rush which started in 1897. Gold is still mined in the area.

The Klondike Gold Rush was a frenzy of immigration to the Klondike and gold prospecting after gold wads discovered there in the late 19-th century. On August 16, 1986 rich gold deposits were discovered by George Carmack in Bonanza Creek, a tributary of the Klondike River near Dawson. News reached the United States on July 17, 1897, when the first successful prospectors arrived in Seattle and within a month the Klondike stampede had begun. The population in the Klondike in 1898 may have reached 40000, threatening to cause a famine. Most prospectors landed at Skagway at the head of Lynn Canal and crossed by Chilkoot Pass or White Pass to Bennet Lake. Here, prospectors built boats that would take them the final 500 miles down the Yukon River to the gold fields. The Chilkoot Pass was steep and hazardous, rising a thousand feet in the last half mile. It was too steep for pack animals and prospectors had to pack their equipment and supplies to the top. Some 1500 steps were carved into the ice to travel up the pass. Conditions on White Pass were even worse. It was known as the Dead Horse Trail with about 3000 animals dying along the route. Throughout this period the North West Mounted Police under the command of Sam Steele maintained a firm grip on the activities of the prospectors to ensure the safety of the population as well as enforcing the laws and sovereignty of Canada. As a result this gold rush has been described as the most peaceful and orderly of its type in history. The effectiveness of the Mounties in this period made the police force famous around the world. The gold Rush remains an important event in the history of the city of Edmonton, which to this day celebrates Klondike Day, an annual fair with a Klondike gold rush theme.