KLONDIKE GOLD RUSH NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK the stampeoe•W^BBST ftwk atam"** ftTBaanVafanV awaUaaa, .awaaV .aflhfll .anflaa, aaKvati t VISITOR'S GUIDE VOLUME 1 , 2001
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t is my pleasure to welcome you Ito Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Skagway, Alaska. 2001 is a particularly auspicious year in the history of the park since June 30 will mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the park. On Chilkoot Trail into Canada. In addi that date, President Gerald R. Ford The Last Great Adventure tion to the historic district of Page 2 created the park by signing a bill Skagway, White Pass, Dyea, and the sponsored by two prominent Chilkoot Trail are important compo Alaskans, Senator Ted Stevens and nents of Klondike Gold Rush Congressman Don Young. During National Historical Park today. The the past quarter century, the park has Chilkoot Trail, jointly managed by been a major player in a community the US National Park Service and enterprise to restore historic buildings Parks Canada, still thrills modern and educate the public about the hikers with beautiful panoramas, significance of the 1898 gold rush. steeply pitched inclines, and numer In the process, the town has been re ous artifacts discarded by the weary vitalized as an attractive visitor desti Stampeders during their arduous trek nation by those seeking tangible to the Klondike. (Please help us pre evidence of Alaska's frontier heritage. serve those valuable artifacts by leav ing them in place.) Trail hikers also The Stampeders of 1898 had many discover that the park is not just i^Trnnnry,^.. complex steps in a long and difficult about history, but also includes a journey to the Klondike. For most, treasure trove of plants, wildlife, and Seattle was an important transporta other natural features contained with tion nexus where gold-seekers board in a temperate rainforest ecosystem. ed ships for the voyage to Alaska. cr Today, the Seattle unit of Klondike Please have a safe and enjoyable visit Gold Rush National Historical Park in Skagway and take advantage of I a commemorates the important contri the opportunity to visit other spectac o butions that city made to the quest ular national parks in Alaska and s for the Klondike. Upon reaching throughout the nation. p Alaska, those bound for the Klondike —Bruce Noble s gold camps either disembarked at SUPERINTENDENT, SKAGWAY UNIT > Skagway prior to crossing the White KLONDIKE GOLD RUSH Skagway, Gateway to the Klondike Pass or at Dyea to follow the NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK Page 4 3 Walk up and down Broadway and enjoy the historic The Last Groat Adventure architecture and shops and 4 Visit the restored Mascot Saloon at Broadway and The last grand adventure of the 19th century began Valley and by Christmas most of the miners already Come and see my trained trout. Third. For other opportunities, stop at the Skagway August 14, 1896 on a small stream in the middle in the region had deserted their diggings and con Martin Itjen Convention and Visitors Bureau, across the street from of the vast Canadian Yukon wilderness when gold verged on the Klondike and its tributaries. the Visitor Center. was discovered on Rabbit Creek, a tributary of the Word to the Outside leaked out more slowly Four Boiu*s Klondike River. Skookum Jim, the Tagish Native and the coming of winter made communications who had led Captain William Moore over White exceedingly difficult for the next eight months. 1 Do everything on the 2 hour list plus; Pass from Skagway nine years before, was the However, in mid July "Klondike Fever" struck the If you Only Have 2 Go on a free Ranger-led walking tour of the Skagway first to locate the yellow metal that started the Outside world with full fury when two steamships Historic District or hear a Ranger presentation in the stampede. loaded with Klondike gold reached the West Coast. A. Little Time Park Visitor Center; Jim and his companions Dawson Charley and The S.S. Excelsior arrived in San Francisco on the 3 Visit the City Museum at Seventh Avenue and Spring; George Carmack spent the next two days investigat evening of July 14th; the S.S. Portland pulled into Skagway is a very busy place in the summer with lots of 4 Visit the Moore Homestead at Fifth and Spring and ing the creek. After staking their claims, Carmack Seattle on the morning of July 17th, 1897. Klondike activities for everyone. Visitors usually find out quickly that learn about the founding of Skagway and early headed downriver to Fortymile to register them with miners on the two ships brought with them over there is just too much to do in one visit, so we've Skagway society. three tons of gold. "GOLD! GOLD! GOLD! Canadian officials. Word of their discovery spread decided to suggest some ways you still get the highlights of a GOLD!" screamed the headlines, and the world like wildfire. Within a fortnight, the creek of discov visit to Skagway and Klondike Gold Rush National Eight Hours went mad over the news. Millions dropped every ery, renamed Bonanza, was claimed from end, to Historical Park, even if you only have a short time. I Do everything on the 4 hour list, plus end, and a nearby stream was claimed and named thing to rush to an area that few had even heard of Eldorado when its riches were revealed. Word of the and only a handful really knew. Two Hours 2— Go on a 2-1/2 hour motortour over White Pass, or discovery spread rapidly up and down the Yukon Klondike gold fired the imagination of a restless 1 Go to the National Park Service (NPS) Visitor Center at — Go on a 3-1/2 hour train trip over White Pass, or western world. Wearied by economic depression, Broadway and Second Avenue and watch the free 30 — Go to Dyea and join an NPS Ranger on a Dyea unsettled by industrialization and urbanization, and minute film, Days of Adventure Dreams of Gold to Townsite tour, or struggling with the social unrest caused by massive learn what the rush was all about; — Go on an excursion into the countryside by airplane, immigration to the new world, the Klondike gold 2 Visit the park Museum and see what the stampeders helicopter, vehicle, raft, bicycle, horse, or hiking trail. The man who had a family to support who offered escape, a place where individuals could had to do to get to the gold fields. could not go was looked on with a sort of regain an identity lost in the anonymous hordes in pity—The man who didn't care to leave his factories and cities, and a place where people could business or for other trivial reasons, was gain the means for a better life. Everyone who went north was changed by the looked on with contempt as a man without Ranger-led Walking Tours of Skagway Historic District journey. Whether their dreams were ended in a pile Park Activities at 9,10, and Ham, 1, 2, and 3pm ambition who did not know enough to take of sodden supplies sold at a loss in a rainy forest on Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park offers Junior Ranger program advantage of a good thing when placed the Alaskan coast, or whether they struggled all the many programs, activities and opportunities to learn about Evening Presentations (ask for details) way to the goldfields only to find that all the good within his reach; but the man who could go, the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98, and to enjoy and Special Presentations and exhibits (ask for details) claims had already been staked, all were trans appreciate Skagway and the gold rush country. Here are and would go, and was going to the Educational and interpretive materials Klondike, the man who could not be stopped formed by the experience. They were changed by the activities provided daily: the hard, physical work of hauling gear through Historic Moore Homestead (Fifth Avenue and Spring) from going, by any means short of a wire rugged mountain passes in the depth of a northern • Visitor Center open May 7-September 26, 8am-6pm in open May 20-September 8, 10-12, 1-5. Fee Area—$2 or cable anchored to a mountain, was a hero. winter. They were changed by the overwhelming May and September; 8am-8pm in June, July, and August $l/< 16yrs or > 62yrs He was looked up to; he was envied by sense of awe inspired by a great and rugged land. • Visitor Information Roving Rangers available downtown 8-12 to answer your questions everybody; he was pointed out in the streets. They were changed by exposure to the Native peo • Exhibits and Museum ples. Success or failure, all were changed by their Trail Center (Second Avenue and Broadway) open • Chihkoot Trail video J.E. Fraser dream and the experience. The Klondike Gold Rush May 30-September 4, 7:30-4:30 to issue Chilkoot Trail of 1897-1898 was truly the last grand adventure of • Orientation Film— Days of Adventure Dreams of Gold permits, orient hikers and provide trail information. its kind that the world will ever see. at 8, 9, and Ham, 12, 1, 2, 4, and 5 (6 and 7)pm Dyea Townsite Tours June 10-September 7, 2pm. Meet • Ranger Presentations at 10am and 3pm at Dyea Townsite parking area.
August 16,1896 August 1898 Gold discovered on Rabbit Crold XKuslaL .X^unoljjno Winter, 1897-98 May 29,1898 Most stampeders (later Bonanza) Creek, a MW'il- ^BM^ mats ^aWHW SHIP Wm MmmlMNMfMHlMK Ml MnlWflHllll ^Mr MtlMMiNRi ^nnr July 14,1897 An estimated 20,000 Yukon River Summer 1898 give up and head for Fall of 1898 tributary of the Klondike SS Excelsior lands Fall of 1897 stampeders spend the breaks up. Within An estimated home after finding all First gold rush River, by "Skookum" Jim Fall of 1896 in San Francisco "Stampeders" rush to the winter at Bennett, and 48 hours, 7,124 40,000- 50,000 the gold-bearing lands to Nome begins, Mason (Keish), Dawson Rush for the Klondike with 68 miners who towns of Skagway and 10,000 at Lindeman, vessels leave people arrive at have been claimed. signaling the Charley (Kaa Goox) and gold by those already had struck it rich in Dyea. Skagway's building boats and waiting Bennett for Dawson and The next gold rush, final end of the George Washington within northern Canada the Klondike gold population booms from 5 for the Yukon River to Dawson, 550 the Klondike to Atlin, British Klondike Gold Carmack. and Alaska. fields. to 5,000 in one month. thaw and break up. miles away. gold fields. Columbia, begins. Rush.
2L 3 Most of the gold rush mob had no intention of staying Pass and Yukon Route Railway provided the stability Skagway- for long, and hopeful stampeders quickly headed north. The Skagway needed to survive. Dyea, however, died a quick local merchants were just as mobile, and when the ice broke death because it lacked a good harbor and an easy passage G-a.tews1.3r to the Klondike on the Canadian lakes in late May 1898, many of them over the Coast Mountains. Although the Klondike Stampede headed over the passes and on to Dawson. quickly fizzled, Skagway has remained the gateway to the Skagway exploded into prominence in July 1897 when mountains. He foresaw the day when a wagon road and Skagway's deep water and the completion of the White Klondike and the rest of the Yukon. news of the Klondike Gold Rush reached the outside possibly a railroad would be built over the steep coastal world. Within months of the announcement, the gold rush mountains, and he lived to see his dream come true. thrust Alaska and Skagway into the world's consciousness. Following his dreams, Captain Moore and his son J. Skagway, at the foot of one of the two best passes between Bernard established a homestead in the Skagway Valley in the civilized world and the gold fields, became indelibly 1887. For a decade, a growing number of gold prospectors s office was established the next year. stamped with the madness of the gold rush. headed north into the Yukon each spring, mainly traveling a, When word of the Klondike gold strike O reached the Outside in July 1897, the majority of Ten years earlier, the Canadian government had sent the Chilkoot Trail, a route used by the Tlingits and Tagish CL > expeditions to explore the country and determine the people as a trading route for hundreds of years. Few 0) stampeders headed for the Chilkoot Trail boundary between the U. S. and Canada. William Ogilvie followed Moore's lead over the White Pass, but the X because it was the best known route to the gold o of the Geological Survey of Canada sent 65 year-old Captain's dreams turned into reality in July 1897, after he fields. Dyea quickly became a bustling town of Captain William Moore and Skookum Jim, his Tagish had finished a small wharf, a sawmill, and had blazed a W 5-8,000 people. Native guide to investigate, and they confirmed a lower trail to the summit. After a tragic avalanche on the Chilkoot Trail but longer White Pass route over the mountains. The news of Klondike gold ended the area's tranquility in April 1898 killed more than 60 people, thou Moore believed it was only a matter of time before there ' as hundreds of thousands of stampeders dropped everything sands of stampeders switched to the White Pass would be a large gold strike in the Yukon interior. A and headed north. Unfortunately, the magnitude of the event Trail. With the ending of the stampede in the visionary, Moore saw Skagway as the link for gold seekers caught Captain Moore by surprise, and within a few weeks summer of 1898 and the completion of the rail disembarking from steamships and then ascending the after the arrival of the first ship of stampeders, a miners' road from Skagway over White Pass, Dyea w committee platted a townsite over Moore's homestead. The faded. The 1900 census reported only 250 peo CD ple in Dyea. By 1902 the post office had closed, a captain managed to save only 5 acres of his 160 acre | homestead for himself, and after a long legal battle won and a year later the town had only 3 residents. E In 1915 Harriet Pullen established a dairy 1 25% of the assessed valuation of the property that had been Dyea, - Start of the diilhoot 5" taken from him. farm in Dyea which supplied the Pullen Hotel in O Meanwhile, Skagway had become a city overnight. The For hundreds of years before the Klondike Gold Rush, the Skagway with fresh dairy products for two decades. After SS Queen discharged the first 200 stampeders at Moore's Chilkoot Trail was an important trade and travel route that, the land lay fallow until 1976 when Klondike Gold Wharf on July 29, 1897, and within a month, the tent town connecting the coastal Tlingets with interior Athapascan Rush National Historical Park was authorized and pur had grown to 5,000 to 6,000. Tents gave way to simple peoples. The trail was opened to whites for the first time chased most of Pullen's old farmstead. wood frame shacks and then hotels, offices, theaters, saloons, in 1880. Today the historic town of Dyea is a major archeologi- and stores. By early 1898 Skagway was proclaiming herself As the number of non-Natives on the trail increased, cal site with thousands of artifacts and hundreds of ruins the "San Francisco of Alaska" with a population of 8,000 to the Tlingits started a lucrative packing business. In the spread throughout its area. Daily Ranger-led walks through the Dyea townsite are offered daily at 2 pm from 10,000. Across the fjord, Dyea competed as the primary early 1880s only a trading post served Dyea, and in 1887, June 10 to September 7. Enjoy your walk through the gateway to the Yukon country reaching 5,000 to 8,000 the population had grown to 138. In 1895 a thousand past but please do not disturb or remove any artifacts. during the hectic winter of 1897-98. prospectors hiked over the Chilkoot Pass, and a post
A. Vox* of Goods Food Equipment Clothing 1 heavy Mackinaw coat Bacon, 100-200 lbs. Stove 3 suits heavy underwear Flour, 400 lbs. Gold Pan Seattle merchants were quick to discover that there was as much, and sometimes more 2 pairs heavy Mac trousers Dried fruits, 75-100 lbs. Granite buckets money to be made by outfitting Klondikers as there was in digging gold out of the frozen 1 dozen heavy wool socks Com meal, 50 lbs. Cups and plates (tin) Yukon muck. Because food supplies in the Yukon were limited (and toward the end of win 6 heavy wool mittens Rice, 20-40 lbs. Knives, forks and spoons ter could not be bought for any amount of money), the North West Mounted Police refused 2 heavy overshirts Coffee, 10-25 lbs. Coffee/tea pot 2 pairs rubber boots to allow anyone into Canada unless he carried a year's supply of food and equipment. Tea, 5-10 lbs. Picks and handles A year's "outfit" might range from $300 to $2,000, depending on how much an Sugar, 25-100 lbs. Saws and chisels 2 pairs heavy shoes individual wanted to spend and how much cash he had on hand. Most of the money Beans, 100 lbs. Hammers and nails 3 pairs heavy blankets 2 rubber blankets went to Seattle businessmen, and less than two weeks after the Portland docked, Seattle Condensed milk, 1 case Hatchet 4 towels merchants had already sold an estimated $325,000 worth of goods, and the miners were Salt, 10-15 lbs. Shovels Drawknife 2 pairs overalls. still lining up at the doors. Pepper, 1 lb. Rolled oats, 25-50 lbs. Compass 1 suit oiled clothing Though it is impossible to provide a complete inventory of the typical miner's outfit, Butter, 25 cans Matches Assorted summer clothing the following listing and the accompanying illustration will convey some idea of the type Assorted evaporated meats Small assortment of medicines and amount of food, clothing and equipment the stampeders carried with them into the and vegetables. goldfields. 4 5 PLAN FOR YOUR RETURN from the trail. CHILKOOT TRAIL EQUIPMENT WP&YR train from Bennett. Local shuttle serv CHECKLIST Chilkoot Trail or White Pass Trail? ices are available with prior arrangement from Before leaving Skagway for the Chilkoot trailhead One man who had been upon both expressed himself thus, Dyea, Log Cabin or Fraser (see Trail Center). in Dyea, be sure you have everything you will need to complete your hike safely. There are no Which ever way you go, you will wish you had gone the other. READ THE CURRENT TRAIL REPORT Tappan Adney stores, services or telephones in Dyea or along the Updated daily at the Trail Center, Visitor Center trail. Early season hikers (
One Woman's Gold Rush, by Cynthia Brackett 7 3 2_ staff all worked hard to preserve these buildings. In all, 5" the NPS has invested over $20 million on these properties. Restoration of the buildings was completed in 2000. These buildings are now used x for museums, exhibits, offices and staff housing, and eight are leased to private interests for compatible commercial purposes under the provi sions of the National Historic Preservation Act. Annual lease payments help offset the costs of painting, repairing, and maintaining these and other historic buildings in the park. The Historic Building Leasing Program is now in its fifteenth year of helping to preserve some fine old buildings while reducing the federal budget, and keeping the streets of Skagway just that much livelier! Look for the brass plaques near the entrances describing the construction date and original use. Historic Preservation The IWCaLSOot Saloon Opened in 1898, the Mascot Saloon was one of eighty socialize with the men at the bar. Cigars were sold from a saloons then in Skagway. In 1899 the imposition of a glass case near the door. smcl Restoration $1,500 license fee closed most of Skagway's saloons, but Doors behind the bar led to the adjacent business and the Mascot's new owners paid the fee and expanded provided access to an area reserved for gambling. No CO stampede and the subsequent economic decline, their popular business. The Mascot offered cigars, a clu- chairs or tables were provided. Patrons had to stand to o o many gold rush era buildings were abandoned broom, locally brewed pilsner beer, and free foods. The drink and socialize. A bar rail, brass spittoons, and bar § and later demolished. Many other buildings were Skagway Daily Alaskan newspaper describes fights, towels were provided for customer use. A center for threatened. drawn pistols, and broken windows at the Mascot. information and activities around Skagway, the Mascot CD Local efforts to create a national park began The Mascot remained prosperous even after the also allowed weary stampeders to "flop" their bedrolls in the early 1930s but failed. However, national gold rush. However, the prohibition movement gained down on the floor to sleep before setting out on the trail. sensitivity for historic preservation was develop strength and a new Skagway law banned the sale of all Newspapers from Skagway and Seattle were read ing and in 1935 and 1966 Congress passed legis but medicinal alcohol. On August 21, 1916 the out loud at the bar so everyone knew the happenings lation calling for the identification, protection, Mascot Saloon closed for good. It soon reopened as a of the day. Later, a telegraph line brought in news and and enhancement of historic properties. The drug store, specializing in sporting events to the Skagway and White Pass National Historic cough syrup and operating bar patrons. The hot and Landmark was designated on June 13, 1962. This into the 1940s. The spicy free lunches served enabled local property owners to obtain federal National Park Service to the customers attract and state historic preservation loans, grants, and acquired the Mascot in ed business and encour tax relief. Buildings along Broadway were 1976 when Klondike Gold aged miners to drink. Part of the National Park Service's Congressional repainted, shops were reopened, and a city muse Rush National Historical National Park Service mandate was to purchase and restore historic um was established. Park was established. archaeologists have found structures in Klondike Gold Rush National In 1969, the White Pass & Yukon Route The Mascot has been many artifacts from the Historical Park and tell the stories behind them, Railway donated its old Broadway Depot and restored to its 1912 appear saloon, and some are dis the characters, and the events of that time that General Office buildings to the National Park ance when it was a fancier played in exhibits there. present the spirit and flavor of the Klondike stam Foundation, who held the property until 1976 bar than most. The bottles You may take photo pede. when Klondike Gold Rush National Historical on display are the brands graphs in the Mascot, In 1901, Ben Moore, son of Skagway founder Park was created by the US Congress. The park distributed by the Mascot. and we hope you enjoy Captain William Moore, set aside his father's was dedicated in 1977, and park staff was hired Women and children were the exhibits and the rest cabin, the first structure in Skagway, "to preserve and land and 15 buildings purchased. required to use a separate of Klondike Gold Rush the building and contents in their entirety as a Historians, Archeologists, Historical entrance and not allowed to National Historical Park. memento of the city." With the collapse of the Architects, Museum Curators and a construction 8 9 Partnering with i>fa.e X*surhi Skagway Wolcoirnos "Sou. Alaska is a naturally beautiful place. This beauty • PUBLISHING books and other educational Thanks for choosing Skagway as a vacation desti In October you may want to consider our emerges from Alaska's extensive public lands— materials nation. Our little town offers many opportunities "Abduct and Release" paranormal symposium, approximately 80% of the state. Shrinking govern • EARNING vital financial support for education for exploration and experiences in an unmatched when UFO investigators and leaders in the field of ment budgets make it harder and harder to offer al and scientific programs setting. But Skagway is much more than a summer psychic phenomena come to town. services to the many visitors and neighbors of public place, with activities and events to help residents In December, our traditional Victorian Yuletide lands in Alaska. At the same • OPERATING over 50 bookstores in public land and visitors pass the time all year long. is known throughout Alaska and the Yukon, and time, more people come every visitor centers In March, the annual Buckwheat Ski Classic finds provides a great opportunity to start the Christmas year increasing demand. Non No matter where you live—no matter how often Nordic skiers from Canada, Europe and America season and get into the Christmas spirit. profit organizations, such as you visit—membership with the Alaska Natural competing over a course designed for the lazy, the Come back to Skagway in the off-season! For the Alaska Natural History History Association is a great way to show your infirm and a few who are fast. Entrants choose from more information contact the Skagway Convention Association and the National passion and commitment to Alaska's parks, forests 2-, 5-, 10-, 25-, and 50-kilometer trails, and the em and Visitors Bureau at POB 1Q25, Skagway, AK Park Foundation, help fill these and refuges. phasis is just plain fun. Also in March, the Windfest 99840 or call °~f" Ibi, gaps and provide either direct r Celebration is named for Skagway's famous winds, 1-888-762-1898. Erft ^r^ 1 services or vital support for ongoing educational £7 For more information contact: and offers the last "mostly locals" party before prepa experiences that people enjoy in our public places. 1 rations begin for the frantic summer season. o Alaska Natural History Association •" "D The Alaska Natural History Association is a non 750 West Second Avenue, Suite 100 2 profit educational organization dedicated to sharing Anchorage, AK 99501 TJ the natural and cultural history of Alaska's amazing 907.274.8440 www.alaskanha.org lands by: National Park Foundation • ENHANCING visitor experiences through 1101 17th Street NW, suite 1102 Tongass National Forest is the largest in the nation information, exhibits and displays Washington, DC 20036 www.nationalparks.org with 17 million acres, or slightly larger than West Virginia. The Tongass is rich Available from the Alaska Natural History Association Catalog with magnificent scenery, vast Look for these and other wonderful sources of information about the cultural history of Klondike forests and abundant natural While most of the Gold Rush National Historical Park and Southeast Alaska in the Association's catalog and website: resources. It is a land of mountains, Tongass is wild by any www.alaskanha.org or call (907) 274-8440 or fax (907) 274-8343. glaciers, waterways and thousands of islands. measure, Congress has designated 19 areas total The Tongass National Forest offers a broad range ing 5.8 million acres as Wilderness, to be preserved of recreational opportunities such as glacier helicopter forever. The Tongass also manages the wild and spec Southeast Alaska: Early A Hiker's Guide to Hiking with Ghosts: The Photographs of the Great the Chilkoot Trail Chilkoot Trail, Then and Now flights, hunting, fishing, kayaking and other adven tacular Admiralty and Misty Fjords National Land This new, full-color map and Author Frances Backhouse and pho ture sports. The Forest Service also offers access Monuments. Step back in time and experi trail guide identifies and de tographer Adrian Dorst hiked the ardu roads, 450 miles of trails, canoe routes, caves, camp Hundreds of species of terrestrial and marine ence historic Southeast Alaska scribes historic landmarks and ous 53-km Chilkoot Trail and wrote this in this collection of 125 archival provides hiking and camping book to share the natural beauty of grounds, recreational cabins and Visitor Centers. The wildlife, fish and shellfish abound, including bald photographs. information. Pro-duced by the spectacular mountain scenery while Forest Service also partners with the Alaska Marine eagle and brown bear. Visitors can experience close Association with the National reflecting on the how the First Nations $12.95 Park Service and Parks people used the trail before the Gold Highway System ("ferries") to provide information encounters with both black and brown bears at Pack ISBN 0-9681955-4-7 Canada. Rush. and interpretation to passengers travelling along these Creek in Admiralty National Monument, Fish Creek English $18.95 "floating visitor centers." near Hyder, and Anan Creek near Wrangell. ISBN 0-930931-35-1 French ISBN 1-55192-276-2 ISBN 0-930931-36-X. For more public lands information contact: Southeast Alaska Discovery Center, Ketchikan Alaska Public Lands Information Centers Children of the Gold The Klondike Gold Great Tales of the Gold www.nps.gov/aplic Rush Rush: Photographs Rush (907) 228-6220 By Claire Rudolph Murphy from 1896-1899 News of the gold strike on the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, Juneau Ketchikan 907-228-6214 and Jane G. Haigh. This These 125 archival Klondike River in the Yukon (907) 586-8800 charming book describes in photographs document sparked thousands of people Anchorage 907-271-2737, TDD 907-271-2738 individual stories, vintage the Klondike Gold Rush from all over the world to Petersburg Visitor Information Center photographs and historic abandon their lives and head Fairbanks 907-456-0527, TDD 907-456-0532 and tell the day-to-day (907) 772-5934 memorablia, what life was stony of the ordinary stam- north. Writers, too, joined the Tok 907-883-5667 like for these indomitable peder. This is the Official rush for gold. This paperback National Cabin Reservation System kids a century ago. Book of the Klondike Gold book edited by Ted Stone brings together a sampling of State of Alaska Office of Tourism Rush Centennial. http://wvw.reserveusa.corn/ ** $14.95 the best of these stories. 907-465-2010 or www.state.ak.us./tou!5sm/ $9.95 Tongass National Forest website ISBN 1-57-98-257-0 $16.95 ISBN 0-968 http://www.fs.fed.us/rlO/tongass/ * * ISBN 0-88995-217;5.,.,i 10 11 Ca,na,diam RJeigfli!box*s Canada's National Parks and Historic Sites in Yukon are Dredge No 4, the largest of its kind in North America, or part of national system of heritage places offering unpar better yet, go for tea and a chat with Martha Black at the alleled experiences and quality services. From the vibrant Commissioner's Residence. and colorful Klondike Gold Rush to the pristine wilder While Vuntut and Ivvavik National Parks are remote ness of Kluane, national parks and national historic sites and accessible by air only, Kluane offers spectacular road in the Yukon have it all! side viewpoints, interpretive exhibits and trails. Be sure to While traveling across the Yukon you will find one or visit the information centers in Dawson City, Haines more of our National Historic Sites along any major road. Junction, and Whitehorse. Ask for a vacation planner to In Whitehorse be sure to visit the S.S. Klondike, a restored assist you in making the most of your visit. sternwheeler representative of steamers and other vessels For more information contact Parks Canada, 300 Main that traveled the Yukon River since 1866. In Dawson Street, Room 205, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada Y1A 2B5, City, take a guided tour of this historic townsite, visit Telephone (867) 667-3910.
Tlie Moores - Skngwaar Pioneers n 1887 Captain William Moore arrived in years in Skagway, and he intends to preserve the Klondike Gold Rush Skagway, then ascended and named the White building and contents in their entirety as a I Pass. He believed there would be a gold strike memento of the city." International Historical Park in the Yukon interior. He saw Skagway as the Bernard and Minnie left Skagway in 1906, gateway for gold seekers arriving on steamships, divorced, and rented the house to Herman and hen the commercial usefulness of the Trail Center in Skagway. then ascending the mountains over a trail he Hazel Kirmse. The Moores died outside Alaska, WChilkoot Trail ended with the com Prime Minister Jean Chretien and would build. He also saw the day when a railroad and after Herman died in 1912, Hazel purchased pletion of the White Pass & Yukon Route President Bill Clinton proclaimed the inter would be built over the steep coastal mountains. the house. Over the years, Hazel Kirmse and her Railway in 1900, people began hiking the national historical park in a joint statement Captain William Moore labored for a decade, children placed a fireplace in the parlor, widened Chilkoot Trail solely for recreation. It was on August 5, 1998 and a colorful, interna building a wharf, a sawmill, a trail, and he saw doorways, and added a bathroom and indoor in the early 1960s that increased interest in tional ceremony held in Skagway, Alaska, the railroad built. plumbing. However, underneath everything the the route caused Alaska prison inmates to aboard a historic train, and in Bennett, Also in 1887, Captain Moore and his son original paint, wallpaper and siding were intact. be assigned the task of reopening it. Yukon British Columbia, celebrated the achieve J. Bernard built the log cabin at 5th and Spring. Herman and Hazel Kirmse acquired the Corrections started a similar trail project ment of Klondike Gold Rush International They used the cabin only seasonally until 1896 Moore house furnished, including an upright later in the decade. At the same time both Historic Park. This is the world's only when Bernard and his Native wife Klinget Say piano. Elinor Dusenbury, a friend of the Kirmses the US and Canadian park services began International Historicalal Park, truly "one- Yet, whom he called "Minnie", moved in, from Haines, often visited them in Skagway. On work commemorating the Klondike Gold of-a-kind". installed a floor, doors and windows, and chinked her visits in 1939, Elinor began composing the Rush at sites from Seattle to Dawson. the logs to keep the cold Skagway winds out. music that later became the music to the Alaska Work on a grand international historic park was seri Inside they built crude furniture and covered the State Flag Song. This piano is on loan from the ously underway by the spring of 1968. The central feature walls with newspapers of the late 1880s and Alaska State Museum and on exhibit in the of this park was the Chilkoot Trail and the gateway town 1890s, many of which can still be seen through Moore house. of Skagway. By 1970 both countries had committed them the cabin windows. The National Park Service purchased the selves to "the protection of the unspoiled and remarkable The poor ginks have just got to In the summer of 1897, Bernard and Minnie house and cabin from the Kirmses in 1979, and historic and scenic attractions of both [the US and Moore began building the larger home now in 1985 work began on the cabin to restore it to Canadian] Trails by the acquisition of land from skyline spend it, they're that scared that known as the Moore House. The home was built its 1904 appearance, the apex of the Moore's to skyline on the Chilkoot Trail from Skagway to in stages around the cabin as the Moore family work on the property. Restoration of the Moore Bennett." they'll die before they got it all out grew to in-clude three children. A kitchen and House was begun in 1995 and completed in 1997 'A joint effort for historic park development was main porch were added, then a parlor. In 1900 the log in time to mark it's 100th anniversary. Portions of tained through the next three decades. Originally focussed of the ground. cabin was moved west of the house, replaced with the interior of the home today are much as they upon a shared signage and marking system, this fruitful three new rooms. were when the Moores lived there. Visit the cross-border partnership has expanded to include the co Diamond Tooth Gertie Bernard Moore deliberately preserved the cabin restored Moore House at 5th Avenue and Spring ordination of public safety measures for hikers, a reserva because he believed in the importance of tourism Street to see how the family lived. A User Fee of tion system and a co-authored history of the trail. More for Skagway's future. In 1901, a Skagway newspa $2 for adults and $1 for children and seniors is recently, the US National Park Service and Parks Canada per wrote "The rooms still contain the old crude ^U„~„PA ~„a ,-Up fcriUtv .- ~~o~ A^.Ur f,„™ UitUttCU, illlU 1.11V. AC4V.11H.V 19 UUV.il V-ILIUV 1AAA111 have cooperated in the establishment of a jointly staffed furniture...which Mr. Moore used during his first 10am-12pm and l-5pm. 12 13 "Weleome to Seattle Welcome to the Seattle Unit of Klondike Gold Square Historic District and portions of Skagway, Rush National Histotical Park, the starting point Alaska. We hope that you will take some time to of the stampede to the Yukon's Klondike Gold enjoy the various programs at the park and all of Fields. The National Park Service is honored to the services Pioneer Square has to offer. This year play an important role in helping to protect the we are celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of historic settings of the gold rush, the Pioneer the establishment of the park and we would like c to take this opportunity to thank all of the visi o tors, supporters, and friends who have made £ Q Klondike Gold Rush an important part of this | 91 community. The park rangers and staff are com to : fclojthiers, even sled dogs and pack horses. Thousands TJ *•• ^ aE_x_ ^rl^fc Par* Par* I aCse. "~ HJ rD mitted to the mission of the National Park Service of miners purchased "outfits" costing millions of in preserving the natural wonders and historic dollars in the opening months of the gold rush. places of the United States for the public's enjoy Seattle's proximity to the gold fields and its ment. Klondike Gold Rush is a special place that swd the transportation links were important advantages we hope you can enjoy and help us preserve for that no other city could offer. Merchants and future generations. Klondike city boosters created a Bureau of Information to Have a great experience at the park! promote the services that the merchants of Pioneer Square offered the stampeders. Seattle newspaper —Willie Russell Grold Rush. man Erastus Brainerd spearheaded the promotional effort, purchasing advertising in weekly and daily SUPERINTENDENT, SEATTLE UNIT On July 17, 1897, newsboys from the Seattle Post- newspapers across the county and mailing press KLONDIKE GOLD RUSH Intelligencer hawked their newspapers crying out the releases thinly disguised as NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK day's headline "Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold! Sixty-Eight information circulars to publi Rich Men on Steamer Portland]" When the cations across the country. Portland tied up to Schwabacher's wharf later that Brainerd also secured help day, thousands of people watched the weary from the Post-Intelligencer to From June 17 to September 3 the park offers sever is like to hike over this historic trail. Open cap Klondike miners unload their golden cargo onto print and distribute advertising al audiovisual and ranger-led programs. These pro tioned for the hearing impaired (12:00). waiting wagons. News of the discovery quickly inserts to people traveling into spread and the Klondike Gold Rush was on! While Seattle. These efforts secured grams tell the stories of the Klondike Gold Rush of Gold Panning Demonstrations (15-20 minutes) 1897-98. the Klondike Gold Fields lay 1,500 miles north of Seattle's position as the illustrate historic prospecting techniques used by primary outfitting center for Days of Adventure, Dreams of Gold (27 minutes) the stampeders in the Klondike gold fields (1:00, rt> the Klondike Gold Rush. uses historic photographs to provide an overview 3:00). o In the aftermath of the 2. of the Klondike Gold Rush. Narrated by Hal Walking Tours of Pioneer Square Historic District • rush, Seattle had earned a reputation as the premiere Holbrook, the program follows the stampede (60 minutes) Rangers take visitors on a stroll commercial center of the Pacific Northwest. Business north to Skagway, then the arduous journey over C through the historic district, recounting the role ra success fueled explosive growth and the city's popu mountain passes and down the Yukon River to that the neighborhood played in the development lation swelled from 42,000 Dawson City and the gold fields. Open captioned of early Seattle and the Klondike Gold Rush. The i people in 1890 to over =r ,||^ffY|fpy|4^,gffifHfflBtff for the hearing impaired (10:30, 1:30, 3:30). tour is wheelchair accessible (10:00). D 80,000 by 1900. With the Editor Seattle: Gateway to the Goldfields (15 minutes) Ranger Programs (25 minutes) are offered every tax revenues that poured David Eslinger This slide program focuses on the role that Seattle into the city's coffers, Seattle Contributors day during the summer and tell stories of the Marc Blackburn, "Buckwheat" Donahue, and Pioneer Square played as the chief outfitting people and events of the Klondike Gold Rush built a comprehensive fresh David Eslinger, Karl Gurcke, Reed and transportation center during the Klondike water and sewer system McCluskey, Bruce Noble, David Neufeld, (11:30). Lisa Oakley, John Quinley, Willie Russell, Gold Rush. Historic and contemporary photo and funded a sweeping The park is located in historic Pioneer Square in Seattle, Seattle emerged as the chief outfitting and Tim Steidel, Jane Tranel, Michael J. Weber graphs help the visitor understand the pivotal role construction project. In downtown Seattle, accessible from Interstate 5 transportation center for the stampede. Production Seattle played in preparing the stampeders for 1909 Seattle commemorat Lisa Tremaine, ANHA and Highway 99 and close to METRO bus routes Thousands of people flocked to Seattle's commer their journey north (9:30, 12:30, 2:30, 4:30). ed the tenth anniversary of Design and Layout and the waterfront trolley. Admission is free and cial district, Pioneer Square, to prepare for the ardu the Klondike Gold Rush Kathy Lepley, Galaxy Graphics Hiking the Chilkoot Trail (15 minutes). For open daily from 9:00 to 5:00. Street parking is ous trip north. Newly completed transcontinental Printing with the Alaska-Yukon many of the stampeders headed to the available and is free on Sundays and holidays. For trains delivered the prospective miners on the Great Consolidated Press, Seattle, WA Pacific Exposition, Klondike Gold Fields, crossing the Chilkoot more information contact Klondike Gold Rush Northern, Northern Pacific and Canadian Pacific The Klondike Stampeder is made possible announcing to the world in part through generous donations of Pass was the defining experience of their jour NHP, 117 S. Main Street, Seattle WA 98104, or at railroads. As the closest, largest American commercial funds from the Alaska Natural History center to the gold fields, Pioneer Square offered that Seattle had truly Association and the Northwest Interpretive ney. Today the Chilkoot is one of the most (206) 553-7220 or visit our web sites Association. all of the services a stampeder needed—steamship become the Queen City of popular trails in Southeast Alaska. This slide www.nps.gov/klse and ©2001 Alaska Natural History Association ticket agents, grocery stores, hardware outlets, the Northwest. 14 program gives potential hikers a taste if what it [email protected] 15 Working for the National Park Service
Every year, more than 270 million people from the United Service positions include jobs such as rangers, biologists, States and other countries visit national park areas. In the archaeologists, engineers, administrative technicians, 16 national park areas in Alaska, visitors can float rivers, firefighters, managers, mechanics, pilots and education hike trails, be surrounded by Gold Rush and Russian- specialists. A similar variety of seasonal jobs are also filled American history, explore rugged coastlines and learn about each year, most often during the summer. There are also important parts of our American heritage. Serving these special programs for hiring high school and college students, visitors, helping to protect park resources for the future and for volunteers. and teaching the stories contained in national parks is Employment information for specific parks is available a tremendously rewarding career choice. The National Park from the administrative staff at that park. For information Service employs both a permanent and seasonal workforce on jobs around the country, the Park Service website of about 20,000 people in the 386 park units across the http://www.nps.gov/persomiel/index.htm is a good starting United States and in several central administrative offices. place. Seasonal employment application procedures are In Alaska and elsewhere in the country, National Park outlined at http://www.sep.nps.gov/.
"What is a National Park? On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed and enjoyment of the people." The founding of Yellowstone the act creating the National Park Service, a new agency in began a worldwide national park movement. It has been said the Department of the Interior, responsible for protecting that the Constitution and the National Park System are the 40 national parks and monuments then in existence and America's two greatest contributions to the world. Today those yet to be established. more than 100 nations contain some 1,200 national parks or similar preserves. Today's national park system still contains famous "out CO" door" parks such as Yellowstone, Grand Canyon and 3 CTYosemite , but has grown to embrace the larger history of the United States with sites such as the birthplace and home of
c Martin Luther King Jr., the Statue of Liberty, the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial and Thomas Edison's laboratory. Alaska contains two-thirds of the acreage of the o National Park System, and includes the nation's largest o CD national park — Wrangell-St Elias — with about 13.2 mil 3 lion acres, or more than six times the size of Yellowstone. o > Alaska's 15 park units also represent a great sweep of his tory, from archaeological sites in the Northwest that chroni cle activities of North Americans from more than 10,000 years ago to the Russian colonial period at Sitka National Historical Park The Service is mandated by the 1916 law "to conserve the and the 1897-98 gold rush at Klondike Gold Rush National scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife Historical Park in Skagway. therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such The National Park Service cares for special places saved manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired by the American people so that all may experience our her for the enjoyment of future generations." itage. EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA The National Park System has grown to some 386 units with more than 83 million acres in 49 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and the Virgin Islands. P.O. Box 517 The first national park pre-dates the National Park Skagway, Alaska 99840 Service. In 1872, Congress established Yellowstone National (907) 983-2921 or (907) 983-9232 Park "as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit www.nps.gov/klgo/home.htm