The Story of the Klondike Gold Rush

University of Washington

Map of the Klondike gold fields

Three men were responsible for the discovery that started the Klondike Gold Rush. In August, 1896, almost a year before the world heard about the news, Skookum Jim Mason, Dawson Charlie, and George Carmack found the gold shining “like cheese in a sandwich” near Dawson City on Bonanza Creek.  Bonanza Creek is a tributary of the Yukon River in Canada. 

The Yukon River, North America’s fourth longest river, flows north and west through Canada and Alaskan wilderness with many wild tributaries. Two small and remote creeks the Bonanza and the Eldorado, flow into the Klondike River and then on to the Yukon. It is on these small streams that the old time prospectors found some of the richest gold deposits in the world. 

NPS Archives

Seattle Post Intelligencer Headlines

With the Seattle Post Intelligencer newspaper headlines proclaiming “GOLD, GOLD, GOLD, GOLD!...Stacks of Yellow Metal!” The stampede was on. In the first ten days of the gold rush, over 1,500 people left for the Klondike to find their portion of Gold!

KLGO Archives

Routes to the Klondkie gold fields

There were several ways to get to the remote gold fields. The all-water route, often referred to as the rich man’s route was a 4,700-mile trip that began in Seattle then passed through the mouth of the Yukon River at St. Michael and continued up the Yukon to Dawson City. 

The second way people went to the Klondike was the all-land route starting in Edmonton, Alberta. The journey took about two years. Only one in five people who attempted this dangerous 1,600-mile route made it to Dawson City. 

The third route was by far the most popular. The land/sea route left from Seattle and headed north through the Inside Passage to the towns of Skagway and Dyea. If the Stampeder chose to land at Skagway, he could go over the White Pass Trail to Lake Bennett. If the Stampeder chose to land at Dyea, he would hike over the Chilkoot Pass to Lake Bennett. From Lake Bennett, it was a 550-mile boat trip to Dawson City and the Klondike goldfields.

NPS Archives

The Golden Stairs on the Chilkoot Trail

The Chilkoot and White Pass trails were by far the most difficult obstacles facing the stampeders on their journey to the Klondike. Before the stampeders started using the trail in 1897, the Tlingit Indians used the trail for centuries as a trade route.  The Tlingits were active in the Gold Rush as well, charging for their packing and guiding experience. 

The Chillkoot Trail was sometimes called “the meanest 33 miles in history.” The trail ran from Dyea to Lake Bennett. Fifteen miles north of Dyea is the Chilkoot Pass, the high point of the trail. The final climb to the summit, a distance of ¾ mile, was so steep that steps were cut into the snow and ice to keep the stampeders from slipping down the nearly 45-degree slope. This portion of the trail got a nickname, the “Golden Stairs”, and it was so difficult that many stampeders turned back at this point. 

The White Pass Trail was promoted as a horse-packing trail. That meant a person should have been able to take all of their goods by pack animal up over the 45-mile trail. Even though this trail was supposed to be easier than the Chilkoot Trail, it turned out to be more difficult because of muddy bogs and steep rocky cliffs. Even experienced stampeders could not lead the horses around the obstacles. The trail was so rough on horses that 3,000 died along the way, and it was quickly renamed the “Dead Horse Trail.”

NPS Archives Maslan

Dyea Waterfront

The Stampeders were driven towards the gold fields by desire, but they could not survive very long in the Yukon on desire alone. They needed supplies and lots of them. The North West Mounted Police began enforcing the “One Ton Law of 1898”. The law required that all stampeders entering Canada bring a year’s supply of food plus equipment equaling approximately 2,000 pounds. 

The great amount of equipment the stampeders had to carry made the journey much harder. A stampeder, for example, could carry about 40 to 50 pounds on his/her back. Therefore, if you were a stampeder you would need to divide all of your goods into 50-pound bundles and make 30 to 40 trips to get all of your gear up over the trail. These trips made the relatively short hike of 33 miles on the Chilkoot trail into a 1320-mile journey. 

NPS Archives

Discouraged Stampeders

Once they had gotten their goods to Lake Bennett, their journey was not over. The last segment of the journey from Seattle to Dawson was a 550-mile boat trip down the Yukon River. The river is only free from ice five months out of the year from mid-May to mid-October. Because of their timing, most stampeders had to spend the winter at Lake Bennett biding their time building boats to carry their ton of goods down the river.

On May 29, 1898 the ice broke up on the lake and over 7,000 boats left for Dawson in two days. The major obstacle on the Yukon River was the White Horse Rapids. Within the first few days, the rapids sunk over 150 boats. The Mounties then set up a checkpoint on the river and only allowed seaworthy craft with competent pilots to attempt the rapids. The regulations established by the Mounties saved many stampeders lives. 

The Klondike gold fields were the ultimate destination for the stampeders. After about a ten-month journey, they were very excited to reach Dawson City. During the height of the gold rush, the population of Dawson peaked between 40,000 and 50,000 people. 

Unfortunately, when the stampeders arrived in Dawson, they found most of the gold claims already taken by miners who arrived before them. Many stampeders hung around Dawson a few weeks and then sailed back home. Although most of these seekers never found any gold, they did have an adventure they remembered for the rest of their lives.