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DID YOU KNOW...
 | There was a man named Erastus Brainerd who helped make Seattle more popular than San
Fransico. |
| There was a place called Dead Horse Gulch, because people thought that horses would help
them get up to Dawson. The horses helped carry equipment for a little while but after that
they were no good. People would either have to leave them behind or kill them. |
| The Golden Stairs were steps carved in the snow that people would climb. When weather
turned out good, people would climb the stairs in a line that strectched out two miles
over the trail. When you got in line and you wanted to take a break you would step
out to the side, but you couldn't get back in line for at least and hour or two. |
| The Gold Rush really isn’t all in Alaska as you would think. Most of it was in
Canada. Actually Dawson is in Canada (Dawson was the final destination). If you look at a map you’ll notice it’s really not that far to go even on
foot. With the cold weather and crowds of people traveling the trail was tough going. |
Klondike Miners with Gold Nuggets
Alaska State Library photograph PCA 20-41
Klondike nuggets (Alaska Purchase Centennial)
| Joe Juneau and Dick Harris made a big strike around what is now called Juneau. There
were a number of deposits (strikes) found in the interior. There was one at Forty Mile in
1886 and in Birch Creek in 1892. Every time there was a new discovery it brought hundreds
of men and women thirsty for gold. But the biggest strike was yet to come. There was a
discovery of gold around the Klondike area of Canada’s Yukon Territory in 1896 which
caused a small amount of gold fever. Because of the gold rush Alaska’s population
grew almost 100% in ten years after the beginning of the gold rush! But, that was soon to
end. |
| When the word of gold had come down to the lower 48, there were herds of stampeders who
came up to the Klondike. At the beginning it was almost impossible to leave without gold.
In fact, there were very few who left with more than $5,000.00. Some of them even became
millionaires! When they left on the boat there was at least two tons of gold on it. |
| The weather during the winter was very harsh and sometimes it got down to -20 F. Most of
the men weren’t prepared for the weather. Some people came back with lots of gold,
some people came back with a little and some people didn’t even come back at all.
But, at least their final resting place was the Klondike, the home of the gold rush. |
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