1896 : Gold discovered in the Yukon
While salmon fishing near the Klondike River in Canada's Yukon
Territory on this day in 1896, George Carmack reportedly spots nuggets
of gold in a creek bed. His lucky discovery sparks the last great gold
rush in the American West.
Hoping to cash in on reported gold strikes in Alaska, Carmack had
traveled there from California in 1881. After running into a dead end,
he headed north into the isolated Yukon Territory, just across the
Canadian border. In 1896, another prospector, Robert Henderson, told
Carmack of finding gold in a tributary of the Klondike River. Carmack
headed to the region with two Native American companions, known as
Skookum Jim and Tagish Charlie. On August 16, while camping near
Rabbit Creek, Carmack reportedly spotted a nugget of gold jutting out
from the creek bank. His two companions later agreed that Skookum
Jim--Carmack's brother-in-law--actually made the discovery.
Regardless of who spotted the gold first, the three men soon found
that the rock near the creek bed was thick with gold deposits. They
staked their claim the following day. News of the gold strike spread
fast across Canada and the United States, and over the next two years,
as many as 50,000 would-be miners arrived in the region. Rabbit Creek
was renamed Bonanza, and even more gold was discovered in another
Klondike tributary, dubbed Eldorado.
"Klondike Fever" reached its height in the United States in mid-July
1897 when two steamships arrived from the Yukon in San Francisco and
Seattle, bringing a total of more than two tons of gold. Thousands of
eager young men bought elaborate "Yukon outfits" (kits assembled by
clever marketers containing food, clothing, tools and other necessary
equipment) and set out on their way north. Few of these would find
what they were looking for, as most of the land in the region had
already been claimed. One of the unsuccessful gold-seekers was
21-year-old Jack London, whose short stories based on his Klondike
experience became his first book, The Son of the Wolf (1900).
For his part, Carmack became rich off his discovery, leaving the Yukon
with $1 million worth of gold. Many individual gold miners in the
Klondike eventually sold their stakes to mining companies, who had the
resources and machinery to access more gold. Large-scale gold mining
in the Yukon Territory didn't end until 1966, and by that time the
region had yielded some $250 million in gold. Today, some 200 small
gold mines still operate in the region.
history.com/tdih.do
1812 : Detroit surrenders without a fight
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5264
1948 : Babe Ruth dies
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5265
1972 : Moroccan king survives attack by own air force
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5266
1977 : Elvis Presley dies
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6991
##########################################
While salmon fishing near the Klondike River in Canada's Yukon
Territory on this day in 1896, George Carmack reportedly spots nuggets
of gold in a creek bed. His lucky discovery sparks the last great gold
rush in the American West.
Hoping to cash in on reported gold strikes in Alaska, Carmack had
traveled there from California in 1881. After running into a dead end,
he headed north into the isolated Yukon Territory, just across the
Canadian border. In 1896, another prospector, Robert Henderson, told
Carmack of finding gold in a tributary of the Klondike River. Carmack
headed to the region with two Native American companions, known as
Skookum Jim and Tagish Charlie. On August 16, while camping near
Rabbit Creek, Carmack reportedly spotted a nugget of gold jutting out
from the creek bank. His two companions later agreed that Skookum
Jim--Carmack's brother-in-law--actually made the discovery.
Regardless of who spotted the gold first, the three men soon found
that the rock near the creek bed was thick with gold deposits. They
staked their claim the following day. News of the gold strike spread
fast across Canada and the United States, and over the next two years,
as many as 50,000 would-be miners arrived in the region. Rabbit Creek
was renamed Bonanza, and even more gold was discovered in another
Klondike tributary, dubbed Eldorado.
"Klondike Fever" reached its height in the United States in mid-July
1897 when two steamships arrived from the Yukon in San Francisco and
Seattle, bringing a total of more than two tons of gold. Thousands of
eager young men bought elaborate "Yukon outfits" (kits assembled by
clever marketers containing food, clothing, tools and other necessary
equipment) and set out on their way north. Few of these would find
what they were looking for, as most of the land in the region had
already been claimed. One of the unsuccessful gold-seekers was
21-year-old Jack London, whose short stories based on his Klondike
experience became his first book, The Son of the Wolf (1900).
For his part, Carmack became rich off his discovery, leaving the Yukon
with $1 million worth of gold. Many individual gold miners in the
Klondike eventually sold their stakes to mining companies, who had the
resources and machinery to access more gold. Large-scale gold mining
in the Yukon Territory didn't end until 1966, and by that time the
region had yielded some $250 million in gold. Today, some 200 small
gold mines still operate in the region.
history.com/tdih.do
1812 : Detroit surrenders without a fight
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5264
1948 : Babe Ruth dies
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5265
1972 : Moroccan king survives attack by own air force
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5266
1977 : Elvis Presley dies
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6991
##########################################
No comments:
Post a Comment