Gold Mining
'Gold in the Klondike' screamed the Newspaper headlines in 1897 after a Steamship returned from the Klondike and docked in Seattle, USA with sixty seven gold miners carrying between them the legendary 'ton of gold' from the previous year's discovery.
Word was out and the stampede was on! Klondike is located in the mountainous, forested region of Yukon in Northwest Canada. Although the journey was treacherous, around 100,000 people made the attempt over the next three years. Prospective miners took an average of six months to reach their destination with most people travelling over 3,000 miles. Of the 100,000 who set out on the journey around 50,000 turned round at some point and headed for home before even reaching the Klondike.
On arrival in Dawson City, a brand-new town built at the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike Rivers, the successful arrivals found a Town housing 500 in 1896 which grew to house 30,000 by 1899. With no running fresh water and no sewerage, Dawson City was rife with dysentery, malaria, and typhoid. None of that mattered. The lure of instant riches was as powerful then as it is today.
All booms reward the early speculator. By the time most miners got themselves established in the Klondike they found that all the best claims had already been staked. Quickly impoverished by the huge cost of living, most found themselves working as employees for mining operators already up and running.
Of the 50,000 who successfully made the journey it's probable that only a few thousand covered their costs and a few hundred made serious money. Over one billion dollars of gold in today's money was pulled from the ground between 1896-1899 and many people did indeed become 'overnight millionaire's' after striking it lucky.
By 1899 all the easy gold had been found. New strikes were discovered in Alaska and other areas of Canada and thousands left the Klondike over the next months and years to try their luck elsewhere.
The boom was over as quickly as it had begun.