Introduction:
One of the most exciting chapters in the history of North America was written more than 2,000 miles from civilization. The time was the late 1890s and the event was the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon Territory of Canada.
The Western Hemisphere experienced gold rushes from the time of the 16th Century Spanish adventures in Latin America to the last rush in Alaska in the early 1900s. The history of the western United States and Canada was greatly influenced by the search for gold. No one can say how long it might have taken to settle these lands if prospectors had not led the way.
No gold rush in history could match the Klondike Rush of 1896-99 in the almost insane drive of people to conquer distance and weather conditions to reach the rich deposits of placer gold in the frozen, barren area of the Klondike River.
By the 1890s news could be flashed around the world rapidly, and the mass exodus to the Klondike gold fields was completed in just one year.
Human nature has really not changed much through the years. The uranium rush to the American West in the 1950s was the same sort of instant madness that characterized the Klondike. The next great precious metal strike might occur in the jungles of Africa, Brazil or New Guinea, and people would probably act in much the same way–assuming that government controls and world politics did not restrain them.
This book compares scenes of the gold rush period with the same scenes today. I have included many early pictures to tell the story as completely as possible. Time and mankind have not been kind to the sites and artifacts of the period, but it is surprising how much remains. Government agencies in the United States and Canada have preserved some of the history of the period.
Many good books have been written about this period and I urge the reader to search them out. It was a fascinating time. It should not be forgotten.
STAN COHEN
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