Page 77 - eatg

a single, instantaneous eruption. It began in the winter
and spring of 1897 with a thousand or two individuals, Downtown Dawson City
steaming north on the basis of a rumor that gold had photo by:
been struck in the Klondike. It gained momentum VC Travel Guide
in July 1897 after ships docked in Seattle and San
Francisco bearing their cargo of Klondike gold. The
massive press coverage recording the event, together
with contemporary economic conditions, the mobility
of the 19th century labor force and the fact that
Klondike gold was placer gold and therefore capable
of being mined by hand, made for a volatile mixture
that transformed the trickle of the previous spring into
a veritable torrent.
It is estimated that while more than 100,000 people
set out for the Klondike (including the Mayor of
Seattle), less than 40,000 actually made it. Between
the dream and the reality of arriving was the hardship
of transporting tons of goods through harsh wilderness
along trails such as the Chilkoot and White Pass,
building boats and rafts and ferrying to Dawson City.
There were other routes just as difficult; the longest
was the all-water route by ocean steamer around
Alaska’s west coast to St. Michael at the mouth of the
2,000-mile long Yukon River, followed by the long
voyage up river by stern-wheeler to Dawson.
The dramatic influx of eager cheechakos (new
comers) in 1898 changed Dawson from a seasonal
fish camp and log cabin boomtown to the largest city
west of Winnipeg and north of San Francisco. By See Video
the turn of the century, Dawson was a refined city
boasting many stately homes and grand government
buildings, complete with such amenities as running
water, telephones, and electricity.
By 1903, many moved on to participate in
stampedes to Nome and other points in Alaska. A
sturdy government and mining fraternity were left to
maintain an aura of big city worldliness until WWI. Yukon River near Dawson City
photo by:
In later years, Dawson nearly became a ghost town. VC Travel Guide
Each year a few more buildings were abandoned by

99