Gold Rush Towns and Places
Place names add spice to a Klondike Derby. The more you know about the places, the more atmosphere you can add to the "Towns" and events that carry their names. Names useful for Towns and Events are in bold below.
There were four main routes to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896-9). One of them (the All Water Route) also led to the later Alaska Gold Rush (1898-9).
The earliest, traditional, fastest, most expensive, and the path followed by much of the supplies, the rich folks, the gamblers, and the entertainers was the All Water Route. This route started in San Francisco (for those leaving the California Gold fields heading to the Yukon), Seattle (for most other Americans) or Vancouver (for many Canadians). Depending on the steamship company, the ship might stop at Valdez, Alaska (the start of the ill fated Valdez Glacier Trail to the Klondike), Seward, Alaska (an all season safe harbor and access to central Alaska and the interior, also mile zero of the Iditerod Trail made famous by the transport by dog sled of diphtheria serum from Seward to Nome in 1925), and Nome, Alaska (the heart of the Alaska Gold Rush which followed on the tail of the Klondike Rush).
In Nome or St. Michael, Alaska (a trading post since the 1840's and a brand new fort) travelers switched from ocean ships to river boats and headed up the Yukon River. In 1897 about 1800 people were on this route and were stranded along the way by an early (October) river freeze over. The towns they were stranded in became linked to the rush. They included Fort Yukon, Alaska (a Hudson's Bay Trading Post serving pre-rush miners and prospectors), Circle City, Alaska (or just Circle, a mining town almost on the Arctic Circle that virtually emptied in 1896 as folks rushed to the new strike), Eagle, Alaska (a trading post right on the Alaska/Yukon border) and 40 Mile City, Yukon (or Forty Mile, another mining town that emptied in 1896).
In 1897 only 43 people managed to reach Dawson City (called just Dawson by the locals) by the All Water Route. Interestingly 35 of them only made it by abandoning all or part of their Ton of required gear and they were forced to leave by the Mounties.
The most popular, and cheapest, route was the Skagway/Dyea Route. This route went by sea to the head of a fjord called the Lynn Canal and landed at either Dyea, Alaska or Skagway, Alaska. Dyea (a small shallow water port) was the start of the Chilkoot Trail which led over Chilkoot Pass. At Chilkoot Pass Klondikers had to stop at The Scales where Mounties inspected their gear to insure they had the required 1250 pounds of food plus about 800 pounds of other required gear to enter the Yukon. They then climbed the 1500 carved snow/ice steps of the Golden Staircase many times (typically 40 - 50) to move their Ton of stuff to the top of the pass. Then on to Lake Lindeman where they camped and built boats or rafts to run the Yukon River via Lake Bennett. Although higher than the alternative (White Pass), the trail was thought easier, was probably safer, and became the most popular trail.
Skagway (a larger deep water port) was the start of the White Pass Trail. This trail was narrow and had many obstacles. So many horses and mules died on the trail that it was ultimately named the Dead Horse Trail and White Pass was usually referred to as Dead Horse Gulch. From the pass they headed cross country to Lake Bennett where they camped and built boats or rafts to run the Yukon River. This trail was ultimately declared too dangerous and was closed in 1897.
As soon as the ice went out they sailed down Lake Bennett to Caribou Crossing (the last mail stop before running the river, now called Carcross). While running the river, many stopped at the coal mine town of Carmacks (named after George Washington Carmacks who found the coal in 1893 and later, in 1896 with Skookum Jim and Tagish Charlie, found the gold which started the Klondike Rush.) and at Canyon City by the White Horse Rapids (now known as Whitehorse, it was a regrouping point for people who had lost their boats and gear in the rapids). There were also camps along Lake Lebarge (20 miles of slow going).
If they survived, their destination was Dawson City (the heart of the Klondike Rush). The trigger for the rush was the gold found on Rabbit Creek which was renamed Bonanza Creek. Two weeks after gold was found on Rabbit Creek more was found on a nearby creek in the Klondike Valley (for which the rush was named). This unnamed creek was quickly named El Dorado.
The other routes in were less successful and very hazardous. I have already mentioned the Valdez Glacier Trail. About 3000 people attempted to get to Dawson via Valdez. This trail involved crossing either the Valdez Glacier or the Malaspina Glacier. Both were extremely difficult. About 200 managed to reach Dawson via the Valdez Glacier. Although one expedition managed to cross the Malaspina Glacier they were forced to turn back and none reached Dawson that way. Most who attempted Valdez suffered and quite a few died. This was essentially a huge scam by unscrupulous steam ship companies and the tale makes excellent material for a Scout's Own.
A few approached from unusual places. Some hardy souls went up the Stikine River valley from Wrangell, Alaska and then took a river and trail system north from Glenora to Teslin Lake where they joined the Yukon River. Nineteen men tried to go over the Saint Elias Mountains from Yakutat, Alaska in a very ill considered trip. After incredible hardship and two years of wandering in the wilderness, only seven returned to the Yakutat area alive. By the time they were rescued by the Revenue Marine three had died and the other four were snow blind.
Finally there were the Inland Routes. These were mostly used by Canadians and Brits who wanted to avoid US Customs. It was a poor tradeoff. Some were like the Valdez route, scams promoted to make money off of gullible Klondikers. Most started at either Ashcroft, B.C. Or Edmonton, Alberta and proceeded, by a combination of river and trail, to Dawson. Of the 7500 people known to have started on these routes, less than one in three reached Dawson, and many of those took over a year to make the journey.
Atmosphere and Local Color
I am a Sourdough (loosely defined as one who has spent a winter in the Alaska/Yukon Gold Country). I had the good luck to live in Seward, Alaska from the summer of 1970 to the summer of 1972. I have driven the Alaska Highway its entire length three times and have been fortunate enough to spend several weeks in the Yukon. I have also cruised the Inside Passage three times and routinely cruised the coast of Alaska from Juneau to Nome. This was a great way to become steeped in the lore of the Gold Rush and life in the North. Everyone should get to do this but, because most can not, I would like to point you Cheechakos (Greenhorns, anyone not a Sourdough) at some literature.
When I first drifted through Dawson in 1970 I had the good luck to run into a fellow reciting the poetry of Robert W. Service while sitting on the porch of Service's cabin. Later the same day I found the same fellow sitting on the porch of Jack London's in-town cabin reading passages from his Stories of the North. I knew of London because we were assigned stories from his books to read for Klondike Derbies when I was a Scout. (Claim Jumpers would pounce on the teams along the race trail with questions about London's books and Scout lore. Failure to answer the question led to penalty time in the Grand Race.) I had never heard of Service.
Both of them became my companions during, and after, my time in the North. In very different ways they each captured the spirit of the place and their descriptions of the cold, the dark, the wind, and the isolation and loneliness were true to my own experience. To feel the old Klondike and Alaska come alive take on the books by Jack London, especially To Build a Fire, White Silence, White Fang, and The Call of the Wild. I would not neglect the short stories in Stories of the North.
For a more whimsical view, and some of the best "every man" poetry ever written, try Robert W. Service. Almost all his work is available at the web site http://www.robertwservice.com/. It is also available in various books and collections. Start with classics from Spell of the Yukon like: The Cremation of Sam McGee , The Shooting of Dan McGrew , The Men That Don't Fit In , The Spell of the Yukon, or from Bar-Room Ballads: The Ballad of the Ice-Worm Cocktail and then branch out. Even if you do not like poetry you may well like these.
All of the works of both of these men are available in the public domain.