When I say that Seattle is the grandest old town on earth, I really mean it. The National Park Service has a Klondike Museum here on 2nd and Jackson. And it's free! Which is much less than what those old stampeders back in '97 spent when they got here. This afternoon Bridgette and I went downtown to check it out. After being cheerfully greeted by some friendly park rangers at the front desk (yes Dad, it's true! a nice parkie!) we marched through the exhibit. I don't want to spoil all the surprises since those of you in the area should definitely see this place for yourself but I'll give a history lesson at the end of the post for those who are interested. Some of the things we learned is to 1) Not trust showy champagne salesmen from Quebec.
And 2) Though none of us thought that Jack London made the Klondike sound like a week in Aruba, reality was worse than fiction. This is sourdoughers climbing Chilkoot Pass or "The Golden Staircase of Outer Darkness". Not sure if those last two words were part of the official name but probably were.
After the museum, we decided to stop at the Seattle Library downtown on 4th and Marion since it's a sight to behold. Here's the type of books you can find.
And also practical stuff, these books are all about helping.
It was a great little field trip.
Okay, optional history lesson: Back in 1896 Skookum Jim and two friends were on Rabbit Creek (a tributary of the Klondike River) when they hit paydirt, literally, obviously. News spread rapidly down the west coast and across the country of "Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold! Stacks of Yellow Metal!". Seeing as how the country was in a severe depression, many left their homes and took of to Seattle which was marketing itself as the Gateway to Said Gold. Seattle mined the miners for piles of cash as the Canadians were sick of rescuing stupid Americans and required all travelers to carry supplies for a year with them. That meant about 1 ton including
300 pounds of bacon but only two shirts. I can admire people that value bacon over shirts. I think we would have gotten along. Anyway, after getting outfitted in Seattle, they took the Inner Passage up to Skagway or Deah (?) which were only about three miles apart. You unloaded your 2000 pounds of swag and then chose one of two trails. Both were only about 25 miles and led to the same series of lakes. Option 1 was called Dead Horse Trail and went over White Pass. The perk was that the elevation of the pass was lower but the trail was not a misnomer. Jack London described livestock falling off cliffs and trails and hearing the bones cracking as their backs wrapped around trees and snapped. Men would drive the horses to death through the punishing mud and then return to the beach for more. Option 2 was up to Chilkoot Pass which was an easier trail overall but had a tortuous 30 degree incline staircase carved from ice. It was rare for men to be able to make more than one trip a day. So men would take 50 lb. packs up the staircase over 40 times to get their supplies to the summit. Over either trail, you didn't make one trip, you made bajillions. Back and forth and back and forth to get your goods to the lake. Then, once you got to the lake, it was time to build a boat. Your own boat. Most of these obviously leaked etc. and when spring came, it was time for two sets of dangerous rapids on your homemade boat, carrying all those supplies. Many had to dock every night, unload supplies, dry out the boat, and start again the next day. At this point of the exhibit/movie, I told Bridgette "and then, you had to face DRAGONS!!!". After the dragons (which were cut from the film for length) the stampeders finally made it to Dawson. Where they were promptly told that there were no claims available. The end. Here's a picture of me spinning the wheel of fortune.
I didn't win. But no one else did either. Only 300 out of every100,000 actually made any significant amount of money, and only about 50 of those would not die broke. The end.
When I say that Seattle is the grandest old town on earth, I really mean it. The National Park Service has a Klondike Museum here on 2nd and Jackson. And it's free! Which is much less than what those old stampeders back in '97 spent when they got here. This afternoon Bridgette and I went downtown to check it out. After being cheerfully greeted by some friendly park rangers at the front desk (yes Dad, it's true! a nice parkie!) we marched through the exhibit. I don't want to spoil all the surprises since those of you in the area should definitely see this place for yourself but I'll give a history lesson at the end of the post for those who are interested. Some of the things we learned is to 1) Not trust showy champagne salesmen from Quebec. 
And 2) Though none of us thought that Jack London made the Klondike sound like a week in Aruba, reality was worse than fiction. This is sourdoughers climbing Chilkoot Pass or "The Golden Staircase of Outer Darkness". Not sure if those last two words were part of the official name but probably were.
After the museum, we decided to stop at the Seattle Library downtown on 4th and Marion since it's a sight to behold. Here's the type of books you can find. 
And also practical stuff, these books are all about helping. 
It was a great little field trip. Okay, optional history lesson: Back in 1896 Skookum Jim and two friends were on Rabbit Creek (a tributary of the Klondike River) when they hit paydirt, literally, obviously. News spread rapidly down the west coast and across the country of "Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold! Stacks of Yellow Metal!". Seeing as how the country was in a severe depression, many left their homes and took of to Seattle which was marketing itself as the Gateway to Said Gold. Seattle mined the miners for piles of cash as the Canadians were sick of rescuing stupid Americans and required all travelers to carry supplies for a year with them. That meant about 1 ton including 300 pounds of bacon but only two shirts. I can admire people that value bacon over shirts. I think we would have gotten along. Anyway, after getting outfitted in Seattle, they took the Inner Passage up to Skagway or Deah (?) which were only about three miles apart. You unloaded your 2000 pounds of swag and then chose one of two trails. Both were only about 25 miles and led to the same series of lakes. Option 1 was called Dead Horse Trail and went over White Pass. The perk was that the elevation of the pass was lower but the trail was not a misnomer. Jack London described livestock falling off cliffs and trails and hearing the bones cracking as their backs wrapped around trees and snapped. Men would drive the horses to death through the punishing mud and then return to the beach for more. Option 2 was up to Chilkoot Pass which was an easier trail overall but had a tortuous 30 degree incline staircase carved from ice. It was rare for men to be able to make more than one trip a day. So men would take 50 lb. packs up the staircase over 40 times to get their supplies to the summit. Over either trail, you didn't make one trip, you made bajillions. Back and forth and back and forth to get your goods to the lake. Then, once you got to the lake, it was time to build a boat. Your own boat. Most of these obviously leaked etc. and when spring came, it was time for two sets of dangerous rapids on your homemade boat, carrying all those supplies. Many had to dock every night, unload supplies, dry out the boat, and start again the next day. At this point of the exhibit/movie, I told Bridgette "and then, you had to face DRAGONS!!!". After the dragons (which were cut from the film for length) the stampeders finally made it to Dawson. Where they were promptly told that there were no claims available. The end. Here's a picture of me spinning the wheel of fortune. 
I didn't win. But no one else did either. Only 300 out of every100,000 actually made any significant amount of money, and only about 50 of those would not die broke. The end.
1 comment:
I love this story, especially the dragons . . . according to this history, it sounds like that might have been the easiest part.
My aunt actually mines for gold in local rivers. I've done it with her a couple times. It's the old swish dirt and water around in a deep set plate and see if anything sparkles. She's found a smattering of pieces, but nothing to pay off the house. . . either way, it's still fun.
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