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Album: Seattle, Washington 2007
Image: 495 / 545
Date: 2007-09-03 11:15:12
Tags: Seattle

What Started it All

George Carmack arrived in Alaska in the 1880s, joining several hundred other white Americans in the region. Carmack soon became friends with a group of Tagish people including Keish (called Shookum Jim) and Kháa Ghoox (called Dawson Charlie). Over the next several years, he traveled and hunted with them and learned many of the Tagish ways. Through them, Carmack met and married Keish's sister, Shaaw Tlaa to whom he gave the name Kate Carmack. They had a daughter, Graphie.

The small group moved through the region, hunting and occasionally looking for gold. In early August 1896, the group passed through the camp of prospector Robert Henderson. He suggested that Carmack join him in exploring a drainage where he had seen a small amount of "color." When Henderson refused to include Carmack's Tagish family, the group left, furious over the slight, and continued to explore in the direction Henderson had suggested.

Several days later, on August 16, in a nearby drainage, Shookum Jim paused for a drink. As he bent over he noticed many golden flakes in the shallow water. He returned to camp and informed his partners. They returned to the spot, confirmed the size of the discovery, and celebrated.

Gold and Prejudice

By Carmack's account, he worried that, because of prejudices against Native people, Shookum Jim would not be allowed to record the "discovery claim" which legally consisted of two adjacent 500 foot claims. Acoordingly, Carmack staked the Discovery Claim for himself. Dawson Charlie and Shookum Jim staked adjacent claims. As Carmack's wife, Kate could not file her own claim. The three men agreed to share labor for, and proceeds from, all four claims. They then traveled to Forty Mile to register their claims and buy supplies for mining.

While in Forty Mile, Carmack went into a bar and announced his discovery. According to an unwritten "miner's code," Carmack should also have informed Robert Henderson. However, still angry about Henderson's slight to his family, Carmack returned to Rabbit Creek without informing him. When Henderson finally heard about the strike several weeks later, all the good claims were staked. Henderson's prejudice had cost him a fortune.

Klondike Kings

George Carmack had a nickname in Forty Mile - "Lyin' George." This time he was telling the truth and Forty Mile quickly emptied as prospectors rushed to Bonanza Creek. Within a matter of days, Bonanza Creek and nearby Eldorado Creek were staked from end to end.

Throughout the fall and winter, those first prospectors mined the gravels of the Klondike and accumulated a tremendous amount of gold. Many of these "Klondike Kings" returned to the United States the following summer on the SS Portland. Their arrival in Seattle on July 17, 1897 confirmed rumors of gold in the region, and the stampede to the Klondike began.