Hard Drive to the Klondike
Hard Drive to the Klondike

Author: Lisa Mighetto

Publisher:

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13:

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The Alaskan Klondike Gold Rush coincided with major events, including the arrival of the railroad, and it exemplified continuing trends in Seattle's history. If not the primary cause of the city's growth and prosperity, the Klondike Gold Rush nonetheless serves as a colorful reflection of the era and its themes, including the celebrated "Seattle spirit." This historic resource study examines the Klondike Gold Rush, beginning in the early 1850's with the founding of Seattle, and ending in 1909 with the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition commemorating the Klondike Gold Rush and the growth of the city. Chapter 1 describes early Seattle and the gold strikes in the Klondike, while the following three chapters analyze how the city became the gateway to the Yukon, how the stampede to the Far North stimulated local businesses, and how the city's infrastructure and boundaries changed during the era of the gold rush. Chapter 5 looks at how historians have interpreted the Klondike Gold Rush throughout the 20th century. The final chapter brings the Klondike story up to the present, describing the establishment of Seattle's Pioneer Square Historic District and the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. The chapter titles include: (1) "'By-and-By': The Early History of Seattle"; (2) "Selling Seattle"; (3) "Reaping the Profits of the Klondike Trade"; (4) "Building the City"; (5) "Interpreting the Klondike Gold Rush"; and (6) "Historic Resources in the Modern Era." Contains an extensive 147-item partially annotated bibliography; 12 appendixes contain historical documents and photographs.

Gamblers and Dreamers
Gamblers and Dreamers

Author: Charlene Porsild

Publisher: UBC Press

Published: 2011-11-01

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 0774842253

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The popular image of the Klondike is of a rush of white, male adventurers who overcame great physical and geographical obstacles in their quest for gold. Young, white, single American men carried forward the ideals and structures of the western frontier. It was a man's world made respectable only after the turn of the century with the arrival of white, middle class women who miraculously swept out the corners of dirt and vice and 'civilized' the society. These impressions endure despite recent attempts to correct them. Gamblers and Dreamers tackles some of the myths about the history of the North in the era of the gold rush. Though many inhabitants came and went, Charlene Porsild focuses on the concept of community commitment to show that many put down roots. This in-depth study of Dawson City at the turn of the century reveals that the city had a cosmopolitan character, a stratified society, and a definite permanence. It examines the lives of First Nations peoples, miners and other labourers, professionals, merchants, dance hall performers and sex trade workers, providing fascinating detail about those who left homes and jobs to strike it rich in the last great gold rush of the nineteenth century. In the process, Gamblers and Dreamers puts a human face on this compelling period of history.