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The Klondike Gold Rush occurred in the late 19th century after gold was discovered near the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory. An estimated 25,000 to 40,000 prospectors rushed to the area, causing a famine. The Golden Spike Monument now stands as a memorial to the rush.
The Klondike Gold Rush refers to the frantic immigration to the area near the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory to pan for gold. This rush occurred in the late 19th century after gold was discovered there in 1896. This rush is sometimes referred to as the Yukon Gold Rush.
In August 1896 three travelers were traveling down the Yukon River in Canada, led by a guide from the Tagish First Nations Indian tribe. The group was looking for one of the men’s sisters and her husband. That man, Skookum Jim Mason, was the group’s unofficial leader. The travelers found Mason’s sister and husband near the mouth of the Klondike River, where they were fishing for salmon.
Shortly thereafter a man named Robert Henderson stumbled across the travelers and began telling them that he was mining for gold along the nearby Indian River. Skookum’s party then traveled to nearby Bonanza Creek where they discovered large deposits of placer gold. The claim was placed under the name of George Carmack, who was Mason’s brother-in-law. Staking this claim helped ignite the Klondike Gold Rush.
The news of this discovery spread very quickly to other mining camps in the area. Shortly thereafter, miners working the Fortymile and Stewart Rivers, which are tributaries of the Yukon, abandoned their stations. These miners then began claiming rights along Bonanza, Eldorado, and Hunter creeks in the Yukon.
It would be nearly a year before news of the discovery reached the United States. At the time, the banking sector was in severe financial turmoil and the country was in a deep recession. Americans who had been affected by this recession chose to try their luck at gold mining and joined the Klondike Gold Rush.
An estimated 25,000 to 40,000 prospectors descended on the area between 1897 and 1898. This rush to the area is sometimes referred to as the Klondike Stampede. The influx of people created a famine and food supplies had to be rationed for the new inhabitants.
Many who arrived in late 1898 found that most of the credits in the area had already been set up. However, some of these adventurers remained in the area. Several gold seekers have found themselves victims of schemes hatched by ruthless crooks who wanted to rob them of the artifacts they had discovered during the Klondike Gold Rush.
Today the Golden Spike Monument stands on the site where the first placer deposits were found during the Gold Rush. This monument is located in Carcross, Yukon. This monument is a memorial to the thousands of prospectors who came to this area during the famous Yukon Gold Rush
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