Arthur Clarence Pillsbury photographs, approximately 1898-1906

Three men are credited with the co-discovery of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1896: Skookum Jim Mason, Dawson Charlie, and George Washington Carmack. Their finding of gold in a Klondike River tributary inspired gold seekers to make the perilous journey to the Yukon region. From 1897-1898, thousands of stampeders entered the towns of Dyea and Skagway, Alaska. These two Alaskan settlements were crucial starting points as they were among the few ports in the Chilkoot Inlet.

There were two major trails for prospectors in the Klondike: the Chilkoot and White Pass Trail. The Chilkoot Trail began in Dyea and the White Pass Trail began in Skagway. It was very difficult for animals to travel along the Chilkoot trail because of its difficult, rocky terrain. This meant that prospectors had to go on foot and carry their supplies on their backs. Fortunately for them, the later introduction of the tram ways made this trek easier. Animals were able to travel along the White Pass trail. Unfortunately, these animals were often overworked to the point of exhaustion and death. One area of the trail was dubbed “Dead Horse Gulch” due to the overwhelming amount of animal bones. In addition to these other challenges, there were also reports of hypothermia, disease, malnutrition, avalanches, murder, and suicides.

In present day, the cities of Dyea and Skagway are very different. Skagway has preserved many of its Yukon era buildings and is in charge of maintaining the Klondike Gold Rush Historical National Park. In addition, the city is now a popular destination for Alaskan cruise ships. Unlike Skagway, Dyea began to shrink following the Yukon Gold Rush and is now all but abandoned.

Around 1899, Jafet Lindeberg, Erik Lindblom, and John Brynteson discovered gold in Anvil Creek near modern day Nome. For their discovery, these three men became known as “The Three Lucky Swedes”. However, only Lindblom and Brynteson had Swedish heritage; Lindeberg had Norwegian ancestry. News of their discovery inspired prospectors from the Yukon, Seattle, and San Francisco to make the trip to the Nome mining district. The Nome mining district started out as a seaport located near the Bering Straight, and while the district was located near the ocean, it had no proper harbor, so new arrivals needed to be ferried to shore. The settlement ended up with a population of around 10,000. This influx of new miners encouraged some of the new prospectors to try to reserve previous mining plots. The practice of reserving previous claims was common and became known as “claim jumping”. Some politicians and judges permitted this practice until the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals put an end to it. The court ruled the original claims to be valid.

Finding gold in Nome was considerably easier than in the Klondike. This was because there was no need to travel arduous trails like White Pass or Chilkoot. Instead, the gold was found in the sand of the beaches and in the creeks near the settlements. While there was a lot of overlap of both routes and prospectors, the Nome Gold Rush is a separate gold rush from the Klondike.

Today, very few of the original structures stand in Nome. This is due to large fires and storms. However, visitors still venture to Nome to look for gold. The city also offers other tourist attractions, including the Iditarod dog sledding race.