Call of the Wild Jack London

1. Call of the WildJack London Jack London's classic story from 1903 about Buck, a dog kidnapped from his home in California and taken to the Yukon where he is mistreated until a prospector discovers him and relates to his situation. Although the two are bonded, Buck yearns to run free with the wild dogs in the wilderness.

2. The Klondike Gold Rush, infrequently referred to as the Yukon Gold Rush or Alaska Gold Rush, was a frenzy of gold rush immigration to and for gold prospecting, along the Klondike River near Dawson City, Yukon, Canada after gold was discovered there in the late 19th century. In total, about 12.5 million ounces of gold (about 20.12m3) have been taken from the Klondike area in the century since its discovery.

3. On August 16, 1896,[the Skookum party, three people led by Keish (Skookum Jim Mason), a member of the TagishFirst Nations (Indians), discovered rich placer gold deposits in Bonanza (Rabbit) Creek, of the Yukon Territory.

4. It is not clear who made the actual discovery but, George Carmack was officially credited for the gold discovery because the actual claim was staked in his name.

5. The group agreed to this because they felt that other miners would be reluctant to recognize a claim made by an Indian, given the strong racist attitudes of the time.

6. The news spread to other mining camps in the Yukon River valley. Gold was first discovered in Rabbit Creek which was later named Bonanza Creek because so many people came to the creek for gold. News reached the United States in July 1897 at the height of a significant series of financial recessions and bank failures in the 1890s.

7. A severe depression called the "Panic of '93" rocked the American economy, putting prosperous businesses into bankruptcy and sending the nation's morale into a downward spiral. There was no end in sight to the desperation felt by the thousands unemployed.

8. Why would someone leave their home to travel to the Klondike goldfields? The answer cannot be found in bank accounts or photo albums. Instead, consider the human spirit of the late 1890s.

9. The first successful prospectors arrived in San Francisco, California on July 15 and in Seattle, Washington on July 17, setting off the Klondike stampede.

10. Cooper and Levy, Pioneer Outfitter, First Avenue and Yesler, circa 1898 A KLONDIKE LEGACY Once the stampeders arrived in major towns such as San Francisco or Seattle, they sought out stores which specialized in gold rush “gear”.

11. These stores outfitted the stampeders with the appropriate food, clothing and tools for the trek north.

12. Men from all walks of life headed for the Yukon from as far away as New York, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Surprisingly, a large proportion were professionals, such as teachers and doctors, even a mayor or two, who gave up respectable careers to make the journey. Most were perfectly aware their chance of finding significant amounts of gold were slim to none, and went for the adventure.

13. Most prospectors landed at the Alaskan towns of Skagway, or Dyea ; both are located at the head of the Lynn Canal.

14. Klondike Outfits at Dyea, 1898, Starting point for the trail to the Northern Gold Fields

15. Stampeders camping at the foot of Dyea Canyon in Alaska.

16. From these towns they traveled the Chilkoot Trail and crossed the Chilkoot Pass, or they hiked up to the White Pass and proceeded to Lake Lindeman or Bennett Lake, the headwaters of the Yukon River. Summit of the Chilkoot Pass Yukoners in the Dyea Canyon, Alaska, ca. 1897

17. Chilcoot PassSupplies brought by sled had to be taken off and carried in small relays on a man’s back. This could take up to three weeks to complete.

18. Stampeders had to carry a year's supply of goods — about a ton, more than half of it food — over the passes to be allowed to enter Canada.

20. At the top of the passes, the stampeders encountered Canada's North West Mounted Police (NWMP and now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) post that enforced the one-ton regulation, as well as customs and duties.

21. At the summit, stampeders unloaded goods and went back down for more.

22. Miner's camp at the head of the Yukon River during the Klondike Gold Rush, from the Canadian National Archives

23. Once the bulk of the prospectors arrived at Dawson City, most of the major mining claims of the region were already established.

25. Dawson

26. Ready for Trails, Interior Alaska, Mail Dog Team

27. A Stalwart Dog Survives the Chilkoot Avalanche    The notation in an old album read: "Shorty Fisher's dog Jack who lived 8 days under a snowslide." The picture speaks volumes about the role of the sled dog in the North. On April 3, 1898, tons of wet snow buried hundreds of stampeders struggling up "The Scales" in the Chilkoot Pass. Volunteers dug for days to rescue the living and retrieve the dead. Jack the dog was among the living, and by the time the picture in the album was taken on April 30, he was back in the harness, hauling supplies to the gold fields. Mongrels of all sorts were pressed into service, but a good sled dog was worth its weight in gold.

28. Fishing and hunting were a necessity for survivial.

29. Entire families often went to the Yukon in search of gold.

30. Tens of thousands of would be prospectors rushed to the gold fields, but they were mostly too late. Most of the payin' claims were staked out and filed in the six months after August 16, 1896.

31. 100,000 people have left for the Klondike. 40,000 people have made it to Dawson City. 4,000 people have found gold.