ALASKAN GOLD RUSH. In 1896 three prospectors found gold on the Klondike River in the Yukon and staked a claim. Within days the creeks around the area had been "staked" end to end by local prospectors and people of all walks of life living in the area. By the spring of 1897 more than 20 thousand had crossed the mountains and spent the winter building 7000 boats so they could float down the lakes and rivers 500 miles to Dawson and on to the Klondike to try and strike it rich.

The summer of 87, 80 passengers and three tons of gold took two freighters to Seattle and San Francisco and reporters let the world know about Gold in Alaska and the Gold Rush was on. There were two passes over the mountains, White Pass from Skagway and the Chilkoot trail from the town of Dyea, both steep and dangerous. Soon more than 100,000 stampeders headed for the klondike. Very few made it to claims and even fewer ever got rich In 1898 British investors started to build the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad which was completed in 1900. With the railroad Dyea became a ghost town and development along the trails ceased but by then the rush was over.

Skagway is now a "booming" tourist town, a destination for many cruise ships, (Dave said it was like Alaska Disney) and the railroad still runs taking sightseers up the pass to the Yukon.