This Day in Yukon History

Klondike is a sliver of a vast territory

July 11, 1902 – “Mr. F. C. Wade, K.C., Crown Prosecutor in the Yukon since 1897, read a paper at a meeting of the Royal Colonial Institute, London – Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal in the chair. M. Wade said the Klondike is but a fragment of the Yukon territory, which is 196,800 square imiles in extent, or 77,000 square miles greater in area than England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland put together, and is watered by 7,000 miles of rivers and creeks.

Of this vast area of territory the Klondike occupies 800 square miles, and the total area of the creeks which are being worked for gold is estimated at 50 miles. It was to this country that the attention of the whole world was turned when George Carmack staked Discovery claim on Bonanza creek on August 16, 1896. Through the narrow defiles of the White and Chilcoot Passes the terrible stampedes of 1897-98 in search of gold were directed, with such fatal consequences that 3,700 horses lay dead on the White Pass trail after the autumn rush of 1897, and the whole district had the appearance of a battlefield. That it justified all the hopes that were entertained of it the lecturer gave figures to demonstrate.

The total gold product of Canada for 40 years from 1862 to 1902 exclusive of the Yukon had been $84,097.81. The Klondike alone produced $10,000,000 in 1898, and by the time the present cleanup is completed the output will in all likelihood equal the total product of Canada in 40 years – an equal amount in one-tenth of the time.”

(The News – Lynchburg, Virgina)

Murray Lundberg

Travelling, writing, and photographing for articles and blog posts at ExploreNorth.

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