Someone up here tried to tell me once that the Yukon plays up the gold rush. I didn’t want to agree with them but at the same time who wouldn’t flaunt one of their best features? They started the conversation with “None of you are from the Yukon right? I have something to tell you that they wouldn’t like.” I assumed it was a scandalous tidbit of gossip, but instead they proceeded to inform me that the gold rush wasn’t a big deal. The Yukon totally hyped it up for tourism.
To be fair, I’ve never been in the Yukon during tourist season but I am still going to disagree with what he said. Looking at the facts, the Klondike Gold Rush only really lasted about 2 years. Those were the two years that produced more gold than any other and by a long shot. It’s not like there was no gold found and the suddenly for two years BOOM, we’re rich. Early prospectors were out searching years before those 2 big years and there were many more after.
A lot of what I perceive as part of the gold rush is the decline of the gold rush. I’ve learned quite a bit about it from reading I Married the Klondike by Laura Berton. One things is for sure, the gold rush did last more than two years.
Word didn’t get out as easily back in the day. By the time the first miner struck rich, it took a year for the news to travel down south to Seattle. A year! That’s when the prospectors arrived in hordes, some 22 000 people by some accounts. Many took the famous Chilkoot Trail. It was mandatory to carry a year’s worth of supplies across the border. However, many would discard items soon after crossing the border. A lot of these items still litter the trail and backpackers today can see them when they hike the Chilkoot.
The gold rush also brought new transportation systems and opened up much of Alaska and Yukon. The White Pass & Yukon Route (WP & YR) railway , now a scenic ride from Skagway to Carcross, was a cornerstone service of the Yukon. It utilized a second, longer route to the Yukon headwaters where people would begin travel by boat. The WP & YR ran year round which meant dealing with some pretty nasty winters and a lot of snow. A fun fact, the White Pass & Yukon Route railway is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark – a title shared by 36 feats around the world.
You could watch a TV show called Klondike to get a feel for what it might have been like but please don’t. It’s not great. It’s not worth watching. It’s better to read about the Klondike Gold Rush.
I would say the gold rush extended far beyond its peak. Many never gave up the quest for gold while others struck rich mining for other minerals like silver. There are some interesting stories from the gold rush and of those who stayed behind. One thing is for sure, I understand how some were romanced by the gold rush and headed up north. It also opened up and populated Alaska and Yukon which I’m thankful for. Now on the weekend I can venture into the land of the free and take a quick look at Russia.
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