Archives West Finding Aid

In 1896 the Klondike Gold Rush started in the Yukon Territory, Canada, with the discovery of gold in Bonanza Creek on the Klondike River. The gold rush transformed Dawson, originally a native summer fishing camp, into the "Paris of the North." The town was staked out by Joe Ladue and named after George M. Dawson, director of the Geological Survey of Canada, who explored the region in 1887. Dawson was located near the Klondike River. The route the gold seekers took to reach Dawson was via the Yukon River, Miles Canyon, and Bennett Lake. Transportation to Dawson was limited to steamboat, dogsled, and horseback.

By 1898 Dawson, with 40,000 residents, was the largest Canadian city west of Winnipeg. Elaborate hotels, theaters, and dance halls were erected. It also included such amenities as telephone service, running water, and steam heat. The Bank of British North America opened offices in Dawson in a tent and business grew quickly. The Bank of Commerce opened its doors a month later, exchanging bank notes totaling over a million dollars for gold. The bank notes lasted only two weeks, with the bank shipping out over $750,000 in gold. By 1899 most the gold bearing creeks had been claimed by prospectors, with speculators claiming the rest. With the news of gold in Nome, Alaska, people started to leave Dawson in large numbers; 8,000 people left in the summer of 1899 alone. By 1902 the population was less than 5,000.

Major mining operations took over most of the Klondike gold beds in the years following the gold rush. The Klondike Mines Railway was finished in 1905 and helped mining companies transport resources in and out of the isolated goldfields. Gold production declined after an all-time high in 1911. In the early 1960s Dawson City was declared a National Historic Site.

During the height of its popularity, Dawson suffered four major fires, all between 1897 and 1900. While the fire in 1897 only burned down the opera house and two saloons, the 1898 fire destroyed 26 buildings. In the fires of 1899 and 1900, nearly the entire business district was wiped out. After 1900 the danger of fire diminished with improved fire protection and equipment, along with the shift toward building materials of galvanized iron and tin. However, due to continued fires, including one in September 1904, one section of Dawson became known as the "Burned District."