Gullrushet i Klondike og Alaska

Kart over Klondike

The Gold rush trail.png

Miners and packers climbing the Chilkoot Pass, September 1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush

The Dyea waterfront during the Klondike Gold Rush.Hegg, Eric A., 1867-1948 (Lib. Uni. Wash., description) - NPS

Aerial view of Skagway, Alaska, 2009.Christopher Michel from San Francisco, USA

Aerial view of Dawson City and the Yukon River

I august 1896 vandret tre menn, amerikaneren George Washington Carmark, indianeren Tagish Carmark og lederen Skookum Jim Mason. Den 16. august 1896 fant Skookums følge rike gullforekomster i Bonanza Creek i Yukon, opprinnelig Rabbit Ceek. Funnet ble fort kjent og ved slutten av 1896 bodde 1000 i områdene rundt funnstedet.

Våren 1897 gikk det ut 2 dampskip med gullgravere fra St. Michael (der elva Yukon renner ut i Beringstredet) til San Francisco (Exelcior) og Seattle. Da startet gullrushet for alvor da budskapet nådde de store byene. Mange nordmenn skulle i perioden 1857-1902 bli gullgravere i dette området. Mange startet dit med båt fra Seattle, andre fra Tacoma, San Francisco og andre havner på kysten.

Det var to hovedveier til Yukon. Den mest berømte var en ca 50 km lang rute fra Skagway i Alaska over White Pass til Lake Lindeman og Lake Bennet, og deretter med selvbygget båt på sideelver til Yukon River og Dawson City i Klodike-regionen i Canada. Det var også en rute fra Dyea over Chilkoot Pass. I juli 1900 ble det åpnet Yukon Railway fra Skagway til byen Whitehorse ved Yukon. Dyea ble da lagt ned.

Senere kom det båtruter (elvedampere) fra munningen av Yukon opp til Dawson City, "Vannveien" eller "Rikmannsruta"

De canadiske myndighetene forlangte at alle som skulle inn i Yokon Territory måtte ha med seg utstyr for ett år, noe som i praksis veide ett tonn.

Allerede i 1860 var det blitt funnet gull i fjordområdene i Alaska. Mange gullgravere hadde i etterkant av gullrushet i California reist nordover til British Colombia, og senere til Alaska. 3.oktober 1880 gjorde iren Richard Harris og franskmannen Joe Juneau gullfunnet "Dicovery Point" ved Gold Creek. De bosatte seg ved et sted de kalte Harrisburgh, som de senere endret til Rockwell, og som så ble Juneau- hovedstaden i Alaska. I desember 1880 var det også et gullfunn på Douglas Island av fransk-canadieren Pierre Joseph Erussard. Rettighetene ble senere solgt til John Treadwell som utviklet Treadwellgruvene her.

Kart over rutene til Klondike

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Brev fra L.C.Anderson til Washington posten, September 22. 1897:

The approximately three hundred Yukon gold seekers who left Seattle on August 18.1897 aboard the steamer "Humboldt" have finally after many delays and difficulties reached the famous river and are steaming upstream toward the land of gold. Arrangements for building the steamer that was to take the passengers up the river were made immediately. We encampeded a short distance from the headquarters of the North American Trading and Transportation Company. Finally, on September 18 the boat was launched in St. Michael. The boat, was christened "Seattle No. 1", is 152 feet long and 30 feet wide.

Round about Klondike there are no claims available for newcomers. We have heard nothing from the Stewart River region, but rich strikes have been made along Minook Creek, which flowes into the Yukon a short way above the Tanana river. It is impossible to say just where the Humboldt passengers will spend the winter. We just met the steamer "Alice" on its way down the river. Because of the low water level, it did not get beyond Fort Yukon. No boat can reach Dawson City this fall.

Brev fra L.C.Anderson til Washington posten, March 25. 1898:

This letter was carried by dog sled from Woodworth to Dawson City and from there to Juneau by the United States mail.

On September 27, we reached Tanana station. We ran into ice floes in great quantities. We set our course toard the mouth of Tozikakat river. The steamer wa laid upfor the winter, and the passengers began building log houses. Within two weeks a little town had sprung up which we called Woodworth in honor of Mayor Wood and Captain Worth, leader of the of the "May West", another stemer which had been laid up here for the winter.

About 85 miles above Woodworth lies Rampart City, where a large mining town has developed. As soon as a trail could be laid out, about a half of the Humboldt expedition went up there. Several tributaries flow into Minook Creek, and gold claimes are found everywhere.

Several large lumps of gold have been found, one being worth a hundred dollars. Fiften miles below Woodworth, near Gold Hill on Dahlquist Creek, R.C.Washburn of Seattle and I have settled down in a log cabin, and here we expect to stay until we find out what the creek hides in its deep bosom.

Brev fra pastor C.J.Larsen til Washington posten, September 18. 1897:

Yuesday evening, November 2 1897 I left Juneau abord the little steamer "Detroit", bound for Skagway. After a trip of 100 miles, we reached Skagway, which has been so famous during the last three months because of of the reputedly exellent road from here to the Klondike.

Three wharves, extending a a mile out to deep water, are under construction. A tramway is also being built on the mountain pass over which the road runs to Lake Bennett. There are about two hundred Scaninavians in Skagway, but most of them intend to leave for Yukon next spring.

The future of Skagway would seem o be uncertain, because the trail from here to Yukon is not so excellent as was at first believed and claimed. Most of those who tried the crossing came back. It is dreadful to hear some of the men tell the hardships they endured trying to get across White Pass. Not less than 2.800 dead horses are lying along the trail.

On Tuesday th 9th I took a little sailboat to Dyea, some 6 miles north of Skagway. As a town it is only four weeks old, but is already world-famous, since it is the gateway to the shortest and best crossing to the Yukon. A tramway to Sheep Camp is under construction, and from there a steel cable, propelled by a steam engine, is to be strtched along the slope to the top of the mountain. Baskets will be attached to the cable, and freight carried all the way up. Once the top is reached, it is easy to haul the goods by sleigh down to Lake Lindeman, where boats for the trip to Yukon are built

(But, Dyea was doomed to defeat because in July 1900 the White Pass and Yukan Railway was completed, connecting Skagway with Whitehorse and the Yukon.)

Brev fra Andrew Nerland til Washington posten, April 29, 1898:

Brev fra Andrew Nerland til Washington posten, June 10, 1898:

Brev fra H.Field til hans foreldre til Washington posten, February 18. 1898:

Brev fra Andrew Nerland til Washington posten, Desember 30, 1898:

Brev fra Andrew Nerland til Washington posten, April 28, 1899:

Brev fra H.Field til hans foreldre til Washington posten, February 18. 1898:

Brev fra Wm. A. Kjellman til Washington posten, May 11, 1901:

Brev fra Conrad M.Thuland til Washington posten, August 30, 1901:

Brev fra Conrad M. Thuland til Washington posten, Juni 21, 1901:

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Se også

• Norsk bosetting i Alaska

Kilder

• Norwegian - American Studies and Records XVI. Life in the Klondike and Alaska gold fields. Letters Translated and edited by C.A.Clausen
• From the Klondike to the Kougarok. By Carl L. Lokke
• Klondike saga : the chronicle of a Minnesota gold mining company
• Tor S. Halvorsen: Klondike : gullrushet mot Yukon 1896-1899
• Klondike Gold Rush
• The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Wikipedia.no