The Gold Fields Of The Klondike

In 1896, a small group of prospectors discovered a stunningly rich pocket of gold at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers, and in the following two years thousands of individuals traveled to the area, hoping to find wealth in a rugged and challenging setting. Ever since that time, the Klondike Gold Rush - especially as portrayed in photographs of long lines of gold seekers marching up Chilkoot Pass - has had a hold on the popular imagination. In this first environmental history of the gold rush, Kathryn Morse describes how the miners got to the Klondike, the mining technologies they employed, and the complex networks by which they obtained food, clothing, and tools. She looks at the political and economic debates surrounding the valuation of gold and the emerging industrial economy that exploited its extraction in Alaska, and explores the ways in which a web of connections among America�s transportation, supply, and marketing industries linked miners to other industrial and agricultural laborers across the country. The profound economic and cultural transformations that supported the Alaska-Yukon gold rush ultimately reverberate to modern times. The story Morse tells is often narrated through the diaries and letters of the miners themselves. The daunting challenges of traveling, working, and surviving in the raw wilderness are illustrated not only by the miners� compelling accounts but by newspaper reports and advertisements. Seattle played a key role as �gateway to the Klondike.� A public relations campaign lured potential miners to the West and local businesses seized the opportunity to make large profits while thousands of gold seekers streamed through Seattle. The drama of the miners� journeys north, their trials along the gold creeks, and their encounters with an extreme climate will appeal not only to scholars of the western environment and of late-19th-century industrialism, but to readers interested in reliving the vivid adventure of the West�s last great gold rush.

With the building of the railroad and the settlement of the plains, the North West was opening up. The Klondike stampede was a wild interlude in the epic story of western development, and here are its dramatic tales of hardship, heroism, and villainy. We meet Soapy Smith, dictator of Skagway; Swiftwater Bill Gates, who bathed in champagne; Silent Sam Bonnifield, who lost and won back a hotel in a poker game; and Roddy Connors, who danced away a fortune at a dollar a dance. We meet dance-hall queens, paupers turned millionaires, missionaries and entrepreneurs, and legendary Mounties such as Sam Steele, the Lion of the Yukon. Pierre Berton's riveting account reveals to us the spectacle of the Chilkoot Pass, and the terrors of lesser-known trails through the swamps of British Columbia, across the glaciers of souther Alaska, and up the icy streams of the Mackenzie Mountains. It contrasts the lawless frontier life on the American side of the border to the relative safety of Dawson City. Winner of the Governor General's award for non-fiction, Klondike is authentic history and grand entertainment, and a must-read for anyone interested in the Canadian frontier.

“A thrilling narrative of personal experiences and adventures in the wonderful gold regions of Alaska and the Klondike, with observations of travel and exploration along the Yukon. Portraying the dangers, hardships, and privations of a gold-seeker's life; with a faithful description of life and scenes in gold mines and camps. Including full and authentic information of the countries described, their underground treasures, how to find them, etc.” This classic first-hand account contains the following chapters: I. My Boyhood and Early Life—What Led Me to Adopt the Life of a Gold-seeker—Why My Eyes Were Turned Towards Alaska II. Ho For Alaska!—Extent of Our Great Territory— Getting Ready For the Start—Our Outfit and What It Consisted Of III. Choosing a Route—Our Voyage Along the Coast-arrival at Dyea—First Experience With Natives IV. Life on the Trail—Strange Sights and Scenes—Storm Bound in Sheep Camp—a Woman’s Adventures and Experiences V. The Dreaded Chilkoot Pass—How We Crossed It—Sliding Down the Mountains at Lightning Speed—“There Comes a Woman” VI. Camp Life in Alaska—We Build a Boat to Continue Our Journey— Adventures With Bears VII. A Dangerous Voyage—Overturning of Our Boat—Loss of an $800 Outfit—We Escape With Our Lives—Hunting For a Camp Thief VIII. Some Thrilling Experiences—Discovery of the Thief—His Summary Punishment—Pictures by the Way IX. Life on a Yukon Post—Our First Glimpse of the Klondike—How Miners Administer Justice in Alaska—The Plague of Mosquitoes X. Arrival at Circle City—Dance Halls and Other Places of Amusement—The Yukon Sled—Alaskan Dogs and their Peculiarities XI. Guarding Against Evil-Doers—Life in a Gold-Seeker’s Cabin—How It Is Built and Furnished XII. Work and Wages in Alaska—Agricultural Possibilities in the Icy North—Cost of Living XIII. We Reach the Gold Diggings—Locating a Claim—How Gold Is Mined—The Miner’s Pan, Rocker, and Sluice Boxes XIV. My Voyage Down the Mighty Yukon—Incidents and Experiences During the Trip—In the Shadow of the Arctic Circle XV. Still Journeying Along the Dreary River—Sights and Scenes on the Way—Habits and Peculiarities of the Indians XVI. Arrival at Forty Mile—Wonderful Stories of New Diggings—Ho! For the Klondike!—Mad Rush of Excited Gold-Seekers XVII. My First Tramp in the Klondike Gold Fields—What a Place For Gold!—A Peep into the Sluice Boxes—I Stake a Claim XVIII. the Discovery of Eldorado—The Founding of Dawson—Confusion and Queer Complications Over Claims—“Three inch White” XIX. Richness of the Klondike Gold Fields—The Great Winter Exodus From Circle City—First Results From Testing Pans—Miners Wild With Excitement XX. Winter in the Klondike—Camp Life and Work—A Miner’s Domestic Duties—Christmas in a Gold-Seeker’s Camp XXI. Alaskan Weather—On the Verge of Starvation—How We Pulled Through—Dangers of Winter Traveling—Painful Experiences XXII. Preparing For Sluicing—The Spring “Clean-Up”— Astonishing Results When Dirt Was Washed Out—Some Lucky Strikes—The Romance of Fortune XXIII. Stories of Great Hardships and Scanty Rewards—A Romance of the Klondike—Claim Jumpers—An Old Slave’s Lucky Strike XXIV. Incidents of the Trail—Death and Burial of a Baby—A Woman’s Thrilling Experiences XXV. The Opportunities For Money-Making in Alaska—The Costly Experience of Two Tenderfeet—Appalling Price of a Supper—A Horse Missing With $49,000 in Gold XXVI. Dawson and ItsIniquities—Gambling Places, Their Devices and Their Ways—Night Scenes in the Dance Halls—Real Life in New Mining Camps XXVII. A Refuge For Criminals—The Mines More Profitable Than Sporting Devices—Pursuing a Fugitive—A Chase of 25,000 Miles For an Escaped Murderer XXVIII. Women in the Klondike—Some Romantic Stories—Experience of a Woman on the Trail—How Women Have Made Fortunes ... and 12 more chapters.

This classic in Yukon gold rush literature was originally published in 1900 and has long been out of print. Tappan Adney, a New York journalist, was dispatched to the Yukon in 1897, at the height of the gold fever, to 'furnish news and pictures of the new gold fields.' The pages contain excellent descriptions of the people, places, events, and experiences of the Klondike stampede. Adney was not only a good writer, he was also an accomplished photographer, and there are over 150 photographs and drawings in the text, adding an important visual dimension to the book.

This Canadian classic, by one of the country's beloved authors, is a personal journey through time and space to the heart of family and the soul of the Canadian experience. Drifting Home is an account of a journey by Pierre Berton and his family as they raft down the Yukon River from Lake Bennett, British Columbia, to Dawson in the Yukon Territory. It is a meditation on family and childhood and the small moments from which memories are drawn. It is also a tribute by a son to his father. During the Klondike summer of 1898, Francis George Berton paddled the waters of this historic river. Berton was one of the pioneering adventurers who sought his fortune in the goldfields of the north. When the gold rush ended and the crowds left, he stayed on in Dawson City, Yukon, as government mining recorder, married and started a family. It was there, in Canada's most famous ghost town, that Pierre Berton spent his vividly remembered childhood. Through a unique blending of nostalgia, his deep love of the land and his unrivalled knowledge of the history and the area, Pierre Berton has created this magical tale.