1871

From the Klondike muck to Madison Square Gardens

They were dreamers, quacks, salesmen, cowboys, and - mostly - gamblers. Some found gold but most did not. However, a few used their gold rush experiences to good advantages in later life. Such was the case of George Lewis Rickard.…

1879

From the Flora Dora to the Chinese Theatre

He was one of the select few of his day who understood showmanship, a craft he learned in Dawson City. With this talent, he would go on to turn a sleepy little town in California into a world famous motion…

1882

Joe Ladue

Most Klondikers of the 19th century staked gold claims if they could. Joe Ladue staked what could be called land claims. And they brought him a fortune.

Joseph Ladue came to the Yukon from Schuyler, New York. He arrived in…

1897

Canyon City

If finding the gold was rough enough for newcomers to the Klondike, getting there was twice as tough. When news of gold by the handfuls in Klondike Creeks reached the outside world in 1897, the rush was on. Not until…

1904

Robert Service

God bless the cakes and bless the jam
Bless the cheese and cold boiled ham
Bless the scones Aunt Jenny makes
And save us all from belly aches. Ahmen.

You'd hardly think that bit of doggerel would…

1910

Michael Heney

Michael James Heney, the son of an Irish immigrant who farmed in the upper Ottawa Valley, was not cut out to be a farmer. A good thing for the Yukon. Otherwise, the White Pass and Yukon Railway would likely never…

1918

Who was Dan McGrew?

A bunch of the boys were a whooping it up in the malamute saloon.
The kid that handled the music box was playing a jagtime tune,
Back of the bar in a solo game sat Dangerous Dan McGrew,

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1926

The Pantages Theatre

He joined the gold rush in 1898, along with tens of thousands of others would be Klondike millionaires. Though he staked no ground and found no gold, he became one of the wealthiest and most controversial characters of his time.

1929

From the OK Corral to the Nome Gold Rush

Among the gold-fevered stampeders who tried to cash in on the Gold Rush was a professional gunfighter named Wyatt Earp. Yep! The same man who was once the Sheriff of Dodge City. The same guy who carved his name in…

1930

Gene Allen - Newspaperman

He was a salesman, from the American Midwest, who moved to Seattle to sell goods for a local printing company. In 1897, when he saw miners coming off a ship on the Seattle waterfront carrying their life's possessions and wealth…

1951

Phelps

I didn't really know the elderly gentleman who spent his days in the back room of the little Yukon Electrical clapboard office on Main Street, except that my school chum, Willard, enjoyed stopping there to say hello. To me, he…

1977

Al Kulan

Canada's centennial year, 1967, was an exciting time in the Yukon. There were all kinds of celebrations and projects. Unnamed mountains were being climbed. The Yukon River flotilla saw boats of every description heading from Whitehorse to Dawson. Most of…