Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park

Visited: June 2018

Nearby town: Skagway, AK

"There are strange things done in the midnight sun

By the men who moil for gold;

The Arctic trails have their secret tales

That would make your blood run cold;

The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,

But the queerest they ever did see

Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge

I cremated Sam McGee."

-from "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert W. Service, a British-Canadian poet referred to as the Bard of the Yukon

Gold fever...it can drive people mad. The promise of incredible wealth drove many Americans west to California during the 1849 gold rush. As the 20th century approached, discovery of gold high in the Yukon, drove thousands of gold-seekers north to Alaska.

Alaska - that wild, incredibly vast and remote territory - was purchased by the USA from Russia in 1867. For decades, growth in this newly acquired territory inched forward at a snail's pace. By the late 1890s, all that changed. On August 16, 1896, a group of local miners, led by George Carmack and Skookum Jim, discovered gold in the Klondike River valley (near the present-day town of Dawson City) in the Yukon Territory, Canada. For the next 18 months, over 100,000 people stampeded their way from San Francisco and Seattle, on their way north to Alaska.

The tiny settlement of Skagway was the terminus of the boat trip from either San Francisco or Seattle, and the sleepy hamlet transformed into a boomtown. From Skagway, gold-seekers would hike either the White Pass or the steep Chilkoot Pass over the mountains, then to the Yukon River, and travel hundreds of miles to Dawson City. It was a very long and arduous journey. Canadian officials required each prospector to bring a year's supply of food to make the journey from Skagway to Dawson City. These provisions would weigh nearly a ton. Prospectors would carry all this, usually by themselves, and would transport it in stages. The most memorable images of the Klondike Gold Rush are the long stream of prospectors heading directly up and down the steep mountain-side hauling all their gear and provisions on the Chilkoot Pass.

There was an alternative, all-water route from Seattle all the way to the Bering Sea and the mouth of Yukon River. Then, they would take the Yukon River all the way to Dawson City. This was an "easier" method, but it was prohibitvely expensive, very long, and the window to do it was very narrow (most of the year, the Yukon River ices over and is not navigable). 

Many noteworthy people tried to strike it rich, including John McGraw (the second governor of Washington), Frederick Burnham (a scout and explorer who would later fight in the Boer War), and a 21-year old struggling author named Jack London. London did not strike it rich. However, he later wrote two books set during the Klondike Gold Rush, Call of the Wild and White Fang, that brought him great fame and success. 

Like London, most prospectors did not strike it rich. The conditions and the elements were incredibly harsh and many seekers were not even able to complete the journey to Dawson City. In 1900, the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad was completed and made the trip from Skagway to the Yukon interior much easier. However, by then, the stories of failure had reached the mainland and discouraged many would-be prospectors, the gold mines dried up, and the Gold Rush quickly ended.

The Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park tells the story of these prospectors and the colorful town of Skagway. Skagway is now a popular cruise ship stop. There's a good museum and you can stop by the historic homes and saloons, etc. Skagway was a wild, rough-and-tumble town. Lawlessness was rampant. During the height of the boom, June 1898, Skagway reached nearly 10,000 people and was the largest town in Alaska at the time. Today, the town has a year-round population of about 1,000.

depiction of prospectors heading up Chilkoot Pass

"House of Negotiable Affection" (aka a brothel)

this giant machine attached to the train would clear snow

We did an excursion and took a bus to Carcross, Yukon Territory. We got to see the beautiful mountains, lakes, a swinging bridge, and got to see some sled-dogs. It was a lot of fun.

the dunes of the Carcross Desert

the stunning colors of Emerald Lake

the small town of Carcross, Yukon Territory, Canada

The approach and departure on our cruise ship to Skagway was incredible. We had a great time in this corner of Alaska. Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park also has a small unit in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. There is a museum and visitor center. Link to more info: https://www.nps.gov/klgo/index.htm

Land of the Midnight Sun indeed.

"There's a land where the mountains are nameless,

And the rivers all run God knows where;

There are lives that are erring and aimless,

And deaths that just hang by a hair;

There are hardships that nobody reckons;

There are valleys unpeopled and still;

There's a land - oh, it beckons and beckons,

And I want to go back - and I will.

from "The Spell of the Yukon" by Robert W. Service