essay on The Gold Rush

The largest gold rush of all attracted about 100 000 people to the Yukon. It was sparked off by George Carmack and his native brothers-in-law, "Tagish Charley," and "Skookum Jim" Mason. They found gold on Rabbit Creek, a tributary of the Klondike River, on August 16, 1896. The creek proved to be so rich in gold that local miners renamed it Bonanza, just as they called the adjoining creek Eldorado. At first, the Yukon discoveries were limited to miners …

…were saloons, dance halls, gambling parlours, and a range of stores which sold everything from carpentry materials to the latest Paris fashions. But Dawson's heyday was brief. The rush ended as quickly as it had begun, when discoveries in Alaska drew away many of the miners. Others returned home to avoid a subarctic winter. By the fall of 1898 Dawson's population had dwindled to a core of stalwarts who formed the basis of a permanent settlement.