The story traces back to August 16, 1896, when Skookum Jim Mason, Dawson Charlie, and George Washington Carmack stumbled upon a gold-rich tributary of the Klondike River. Interestingly, their pursuit of gold in this river was not entirely happenstance; they had received a tip from Robert Henderson, a Canadian gold prospector, which piqued their curiosity enough to investigate.
To their astonishment, they struck authentic gold in this modest tributary, and soon realized the gravity of their discovery. George Washington Carmack wasted no time in delineating mining claims and evenly dividing them into four distinct areas: two for himself and one each for Jim Mason and Dawson Charlie. These mining rights were formally registered at the police station located at the mouth of the Fortymile River, swiftly spreading the news and attracting gold miners from all around.
At the end of August of the same year, many other gold miners also found gold in the creeks flowing into Bonanza. At the same time, they also discovered many other “mines” of goldaong the length of the river. As it turns out, the truth is that at the bottom of the Klondike River there are huge reserves of gold, with all sizes large and small. the strange thing is, after each rainy season, the amount of gold is more and more abundant.
Usually after the rainy season, the water washes away some rocks and mud, revealing the yellow layer underneath. therefore, after each rainy season, this river attracts many people to come here to mine gold. Of course there are also a lot of people who come just for the sake of tourism.
Although it is after the rainy season, the terrain is also quite difficult, but that does not stop the gold diggers coming here to make a living. therefore, many people have harvested large batches of gold, even changing their lives. Not that long after discovering gold at the bottom of the river, George Washington Carmack quickly became rich. It is estimated that he has mined more than 1 million USD in gold.
Many miners have chosen to buy and sell occupied lands, spend huge sums of money and rent them out. On July 14, 1897, the steamship Excelsior entered the port of San Francisco. Anyone who has gold sand in hand can sell it immediately to collect money. the minimum amount of money is 5,000 USD and the maximum is 130,000 USD. At current prices, the person who earns at least has up to 100,000 USD in his pocket.
Attracting huge numbers of tourists and gold miners, towns were built around the mining sites. Initially, the population at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers was just over 500 people, but after 3 years, the population here has surpassed 30,000 people. Many other types of services have also sprung up such as cinemas, pubs, ….
the peak was when there were times when the population of these “gold mining towns” reached more than 200,000 people, equivalent to a large Canadian city at that time. thanks to that, it is estimated that the value of the mined gold is equivalent to nearly 7 billion USD.
With gold reserves that will probably never be exhausted, to this day there are still more than 200 active gold mines around the river. thanks to modern machines, experts discovered that in addition to gold, the river bed also contains many other rare minerals. However, to ensure ecological balance, the government only allows gold mining, not other minerals.
