Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park

DESCRIBING: A historic black and white, horizontal image of a town square.

SYNOPSIS: A panoramic view of a bustling city square, two building lined streets are visible with many people walking the sidewalks, horse drawn carriages in the roads and electrical wires crisscrossing in from 4 story tall posts on the street corners. The buildings are between three and six stories tall based on the rows of windows visible on the exterior. Each is made from a different shade of stone or brick, neatly constructed. Most buildings have arched windows and flat roofs. The thinnest building all the way to the right has a sign, "Hotel Seattle" atop of it. 

IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION: The image is busy with buildings. It is faded from white on the top edge, and fades into a gray bar on the bottom where the caption, credit and related text are. From left to right, the first item in the image is an electrical pole in the foreground. We only see the top half, giving perspective that we are at a high vantage point looking down on the town square. The first building on the left is the lightest in color with larger bricks or stones making up the bottom level. The second story has large, two story windows that are arched. The next three stories have thin windows lining the two sides of the building we can see. Leading from the left the buildings start to obscure as they line the rest of the street that leads away from the viewer. On the right side of the main street, a three story building leads the viewer to the largest building that sits on a street corner. This building is six stories tall and has a steeple in the middle front. The large building sits on the left side of the next street visible. This street is much thinner than the main street and leads the viewer to the right. The final building visible, "Hotel Seattle", sits on a small corner making the building thin enough that the front is only a window wide. The building is five stories high and looks like it is wide enough on the long edge for five windows.

CAPTION: Pioneer Square about 1897

CREDIT: Library of Congress

RELATED TEXT: The Pioneer Building dominated both Seattle’s skyline and its gold rush era commerce. Built in 1892, it faces historic Pioneer Place (see map). Between 1897 and 1908, the building housed 48 mining firms.

DESCRIBING: A black-and-white historic photograph of merchants standing on the street in front of a storefront.

SYNOPSIS: On a dirt-covered road in front of a store called 'Cooper and Levy', a group of men are posing for the photograph. The men appear to be of various ages while all are wearing clothes that cover their seen arms and legs which include darker-colored pants, jackets, and hats. Most men are looking at the camera with a smile or a closed, straight mouth. The foreground of the image includes white colored text in the bottom right that overlays the image which contains the dirt-covered road with thin tire tracks and footsteps imprinted into the mud. The men are lined up in the middle of the image, with most standing in front of light-colored bags and boxes of supplies that are similar in height to the men. Some men are sitting on top of the supplies while posing for the image. Behind the men and supplies is the storefront of 'Cooper and Levy' with large windows that are framed with drapery. 

IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION: Among the men standing in front of bags and boxes of supplies, there is also a wood pole, similar in width to a man in the photograph. The wood pole with pegs evenly spaced, appears sturdily placed in the dirt-covered road. The wood pole is taller than the dimensions of the photograph. The storefront which is located in the backdrop of the image has a sign in bold, capital letters reading, 'Cooper and Levy'. The storefront appears to be made of large stone blocks that create the framework for the windows, where goods can be seen through the glass. The clothing includes boots, long pants, button-up shirts, jackets, and hats with various brim-widths. 

CAPTION:  Sudden, huge demand for outfits and goods for the Klondike forced merchants to pile their wares many feet deep on Seattle sidewalks. Stampeders scrambled to assemble their so-called “ton of goods” that Canada’s Mounties would require before admitting gold-seekers to Canada, where the gold fields were. What might be called the “Klondike Outfit Rush” pulled or jerked Seattle out of economic depression. A number of today’s national retailers got their big break here from the gold rush. Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries.

CREDIT: Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries.

We strive to make our facilities, programs, and services accessible to all. For information, visit us at the visitor center or check our website.

Website: www.nps.gov/klse

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park is one of over 400 parks in the National Park System. Learn more at, www.nps.gov.

Start your journey by getting information at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park visitor center, 319 2nd Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98104, 

Or contact:

Phone: 206-220-4240

Website: www.nps.gov/klse

DESCRIBING: A map of Pioneer Square National Historic District in Seattle, WA. This map shows where Gold Rush-era buildings and other historic buildings are located in this downtown area, east of Elliott Bay.  

SYNOPSIS:  This is a graphic wayfinding map, aimed at tourists, which shows the boundary of the Pioneer Square National Historic District in downtown Seattle, WA. It also shows the location of the National Park Service's Visitor Center, in the historic Cadillac Hotel, and other historic buildings from the Klondike Gold Rush-era as well as important buildings in this neighborhood not related to the gold rush. The historic district is adjacent to Elliott Bay, which provides the western border of the map. The map emphasizes the historic buildings, the baseline grid of streets, and the area's architectural landmarks. 

As the compass on the map indicates, north is at the top, with a directional arrow showing Pier 59 just outside the scope of this rendering. Pier 59 is where the S.S. Portland arrived with gold from the Klondike on July 17, 1897. Today, Pier 59 is the location of the Seattle Aquarium and Waterfront Park. 

The other reference points to the north, besides to Pier 59, and mostly outside of this historic district, are Madison, Marion, Columbia, Cherry, James, Jefferson, and Terrace streets. To the south is South King Street and the Seattle football stadium. To the east is Elliott Bay, where the Washington State Ferry provides transport to Bremerton and Bainbridge Island. To the west is Fifth Avenue South. The Pioneer Square National Historic District, inside these boundaries, is outlined with a dark-green line, creating a shape that appears roughly like a rectangle with a jagged top. The numbered streets, such as First, Second, Third, etc., run north-south, and the named streets, generally speaking, run east-west.

The map uses colors to represent different types of map designations. The streets are white. City blocks are represented by beige shapes that correspond to the shapes of the blocks in real life. Parks are represented by light-green shapes. Gold Rush-era buildings are smaller dark-gray rectangles on top of their representative locations on the city block shapes. Other historic buildings are in light-gray. Elliot Bay is represented along the left edge of the map in a light blue shape that corresponds to the shape of the waterfront in real life.

IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION: 

Connecting Pier 52 at Elliott Bay, on the western border, with the rest of the neighborhood, is Alaskan Way, which is the primary road facing the waterfront. The eastern border of the map is Fifth Avenue South. 

About in the middle of this map, at Yesler Way, the streets switch from a rigid north-south baseline grid to taking 45-degree angles away from those cardinal directions. Most of this historic district, except the most northern parts, are in the area of the neighborhood with the north-south streets. Yesler Way is adjacent to multiple map landmarks, including Pioneer Place, about two blocks east of the bay, Pioneer Building (1892), just east of Pioneer Place, and Smith Tower (1914), a block east of Pioneer Building. Smith Tower is the only one of those shown in light-gray, meaning it is not Gold Rush-era.

One block south of Yesler Way is South Washington, and a block south of that is South Main Street. Washington and Main therefore provide the north-south boundaries of Occidental Park. First and Second avenues provide the east-west borders of the park. 

Other notable and named buildings nearby each other in the area are: Merchants Cafe (1889), just south of Pioneer Place. The Schwabacher Building (1890) is one block west, and the Metropole Building (1895) is one block east of Merchants Cafe. Occidental Park and Grand Central Hotel (1889) are just a block south of Merchants Cafe.

Waterfall Garden, a block east of Occidental Park, is about two blocks northwest of Union Station and AMTRAK's King Street Station. Those two historic buildings are shown in light gray, meaning they are important but not directly related to the Gold Rush era.

RELATED TEXT: This "Seeing Gold Rush-era Seattle Today" map has accompanying texts that are provided in the project descriptions above this one.

CREDIT: NPS

DESCRIBING: A photo of a black and white photo in poor condition, depicting 4 men posing in front of a painted backdrop. 

SYNOPSIS: Picture shows a photograph with torn and curling edges, held in place at the top with a long horizontal clasp. There are 4 mustachioed men dressed in old fashioned clothing posing in a variety of positions in front of a backdrop of the outdoors.

IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION: In the background of the photo are painted small evergreen trees and some rock face. In the foreground are 4 men. The first man on the left is sitting on something draped in a fur. He has a mustache and is wearing a light colored, brimmed hat with a band around it. He is wearing a light shirt and dark vest with a jacket over his arm, his knees are bent and slightly apart, his hands are in his lap. The second man from the left is standing, he has a mustache and is wearing a rounded cap with no brim, a dark vest and jacket. The thumbs of each hand are hooked in the armpits of his vest and one leg is slightly bent at the knee. The third man from the left is standing he has a mustache and is wearing a dark, rounded hat with a short brim, a dark vest and jacket, the fingers of his hands are in the front pockets of his trousers. The fourth man is laying leisurely at the feet of the others. He has a mustache and is wearing a dark, brimmed hat, a dark vest and jacket. He is on his side propped on his elbow, his other arm at his side with his hand resting in front of his hip. His legs are straight and crossed at the ankles. Under him is a fur. 

CAPTION:

The Klondike Gold Rush was well documented. Hopeful stampeders posed at painted backdrops in Seattle studios. Few realized what hardships awaited in interior Canada’s Yukon or on rugged trails leading to the gold fields.

CREDIT: Provincial Archives of Alberta

DESCRIBING: A horizontal image with an illustration of a man plus dozens of individually illustrated items, stacked neatly, and organized into six columns of irregular widths, sort of like a ledger, to show what a stampeder might need when looking for gold. It appears like an illustrated list of items to buy at a general store.

SYNOPSIS: The image is made up of six columns of items, or goods as they are called here. They are illustrated in a realistic style. All are shaded with sepia tones, mixes of light browns. From the left to right, there are items shown on a sled including sacks of food, a rifle, a pickaxe, a gun, and blankets. The sled makes up the first column, which is much wider than the rest and about half as tall. The other columns are all about the same width and height. Everything but the tools in that first column are tied to the sled with rope. Those tools are arranged above the sled, so the viewer of this illustration can better see the items included in this collection. The illustrations of the rest of the items are organized in a similar fashion, all laid out individually. The sixth column of the illustration has only a man standing in it, dressed for prospecting.

IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION: From left to right, top to bottom, here is the list of items in each column: 

Column 1: What appears to be a small piece of paper, a long rifle, a shovel, and a pickaxe, above the thin sled, which has the following tied to it on top: three sacks of flour, a box with writing too blurred to make out, a blanket and pillow, and a bundle of fabric that seems like a tent. 

Column 2: A teacup and saucer, a knife, a skillet, fork, spoon, knife, pick, eight nails, an axe, a compass, a drill, and two drill bits, a hammer and seven sacks of flour. 

Column 3: What looks like a piece of paper, a gold pan, a long saw (this spans into column 4), three items of food in a can, and five items of food in boxes; it is hard to read all, except the largest, which reads "Butter," and seven sacks of sugar. 

Column 4: A hand saw, the other part of the long saw from column 3, a box that reads "Bacon," a box that reads "Salt," a box that reads "Queen Oats," a cup, two unlabeled boxes, and a box labeled "Crackers and Cakes." 

Column 5: An item that looks like a walking stick, gloves, a hat, thin socks, thick socks, a button-up jacket, a button-up shirt, folded, trousers, half-folded, and shiny black boots.

Column 6: A person appearing to be a man, because of the thick build and facial hair, looks directly at the illustration's viewer. He is wearing a wide-brimmed dark hat. He has an upturned head, tilted slightly to his right, and a closed mouth. He has a dark mustache. He is wearing a dark, collared, button-up shirt and trousers held up with light-colored suspenders. The trousers are tucked into knee high boots and laced up to the knee. This person is holding a hammer with his right hand at his waist and has his left hand resting on his waist, with his thumb tucked into his pant pocket.

CAPTION: The ton of goods (shown here) gives a physical sense of a stampeder’s life and diet. Considered essential were 350 pounds of flour, 150 of bacon, and 100 each of beans and sugar. Outfits cost $250 to $500.

CREDIT: NPS / John Dawson

DESCRIBING: A cut out of a historic image in a portion of the brochure that has images and text collaged very close to each other. The image described here is placed diagonally from the bottom left corner to the top right corner of the crop.

SYNOPSIS: Eight figures carrying large backpacks appear to be hiking in a line upwards on a steep slope. The image treatment uses green overlay (looks like it would be a black and white image, but all tones are green). The way this image has been cropped shows all individuals, who appear to be men, hiking alongside a rope hung waist height to their right. The background and the ground have been removed from the image so only the subjects are seen.

IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION: All individuals are wearing long trousers, hats and coats. From the bottom left, the first person is obscured and faded behind the text of section 3. The next person is the only one in just a long sleeved shirt and also the only one leaning into the sloped ground with their left hand on the ground and their right on the rope guide. The third person climbs behind the only visible post that is holding up the guide rope. The next four people are using a staff, or walking stick.

The fourth person in line is leaning on their staff, looking down at the ground. The fifth person leans into their walking stick with their left hand and rests their right hand on their right knee, looking ahead to the people in front of them. The sixth leans into their staff with the left hand and holds to the guide rope with their right hand, looking down at the ground. The seventh person is the only person with a slightly larger backpack, and they are turned slightly to the right looking in that direction. This person has their left hand on their staff and their right hand holds the guide rope. The eighth and last person is only half visible and blurred guiding our view off the page.

CAPTION: The Chilkoot Trail’s fabled Golden Stairs humbled argonauts intent on the summit. This vivid image, an endless line of prospectors toting enormous loads like worker ants, became the Klondike Gold Rush icon. It took three months and 20 to 40 trips to carry their ton of goods over the pass.

CREDIT: University of Washington Libraries

RELATED TEXT: This image and caption are to the right of section 2, "Dyea and The Chilkoot Trail."

DESCRIBING: Black-and-white photographs of two people, side by side, Chiefs Doniwak (left) and Isaac of the Tlingit.

SYNOPSIS: Chief Doniwak stands in the background and to the left of Chief Isaac of the Tlingit, who is seated in a wooden chair. Both have a neutral expression and are looking directly at the viewer of the image. Doniwak is standing with his hands on his hips. He is wearing a formal and broad brimmed hat, a suit with tie and a long overcoat that hangs past his knees, long pants, and shoes. Isaac of the Tlingit is seated on a chair with his hands in his lap, with both of them holding a cane that is propped up on the floor and held between his legs. His elderly appearance and the cane indicates that Isaac of the Tlingit might have trouble with mobility without the cane. He is wearing a cap with a short bill, a button-up cape that hangs over his shoulders and is buttoned only at the top, long pants, and high boots.

IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION: The two images appear to be from photographs, but it is unknown if both individuals posed for the same photograph or if an editor cut the image of each individual out of separate photographs and pasted them together. Either way, an editor appears to have erased the background of the images, so that the background is white and all that remains to be seen are the two individuals, their clothing, a chair, and a cane. 

CAPTION: 

Chiefs Doniwak (left) and Isaac of the Tlingit were pivotal in transmountain packing and trading as gold prospecting increased in Canada’s interior. As the Klondike stampede intensified, demand for Native packers exceeded supply. Pack horses, aerial tramways, and other schemes would soon reduce the Tlingit’s packing business.

CREDIT: Alaska State Library

DESCRIBING: A small black and white photograph of 4 people dressed in old fashioned outerwear standing in knee high water.

SYNOPSIS: Four people stand in knee high water. They are dressed in what appears to be old-fashioned clothing. They appear to be wearing boots of some sort. The person to the left seems to be holding a small bag. The person farther to the right appears to be holding the fourth person on their back.

IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION: Four people stand in calm knee-high water. The water appears to be somewhat murky. They appear to all be women. They are in the foreground of the photo, with the background being a sandy, rocky terrain and trees taking up the back of the photo up to the skyline. There is some object seemingly on the shoreline, but it’s unable to be made out. Of the four people, the woman farthest to the right is wearing a hat and holding the fourth woman on her back. All four women are dressed in dark, almost black old-fashioned clothing with what appears to be poncho styled overcoats, and some form of boot that ends at about the knee. The woman to the left holds a cylindrical looking bag no bigger than a loaf of bread that is dark in color, with the highlights of the photograph hitting the top left of the bag.

CAPTION: Women and a few children joined the stampede. Many women who went north were spouses, mining partners, or business owners. Some prostitutes, styled as “actresses,” went north to ply their trade.

CREDIT: University of Washington Libraries 

DESCRIBING: A square black and white image.

SYNOPSIS: The image shows a graphic scene, trigger warning - a dead animal. The image is tinted blue and cropped to focus on a dead horse slumped over a tree stump. The horse appears to be white, or light in color, with its shoulders and neck resting on the top of a thick tree stump. The horses limp neck and head are draped over the stump, almost turning towards the rear of the horse. The horse had a mane and tail slightly darker in color perhaps because they are dirty from apparent mud. The horse also has spots of mud over its body. The surrounding area is hard to make out exactly, but looks to be debris leftover from a snowmelt, mixing in with mud to make a mushy looking ground.

CAPTION: Falsely dubbed “all weather,” the White Pass Trail boulder fields, sharp rocks, and bogs earned the name Dead Horse Trail. Over the 1897–1898 winter 3,000 horses died on it “like mosquitoes in the first frost,” Jack London wrote.

CREDIT: University of Washington Libraries

DESCRIBING: Black and white photo of two men kneeling down.

SYNOPSIS: Two individuals are shown kneeling, the person to the left on some logs, and the person to the right on the ground. Both are holding buckets, and the person on the left holding a spoon. There is a round loaf of bread the same shape as the bucket laying on the ground in front of the person on the right.

IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION: Two individuals pictured. They appear to be men. The man on the left is holding a bucket by the handle, and a spoon. He is kneeling on some logs. He is dressed in a mid-toned long sleeve shirt, lighter vest, lighter pants, and socks. He is also wearing a light gray hat that is circular on his head with a flat brim around the bottom. He is facing towards the left, with the right side of his body facing the camera. He is looking towards the man to his left. The man on the right is kneeling on the ground on his left knee. This man is clothed similarly to the person on the left only with darker shades of pants and shirt, and no vest. He wears a hat similar to the man on the left as well, except darker. He is holding a bucket in his left hand. A round, almost circular loaf of bread sits on the ground in front of his left knee.

CAPTION: Diets of beans, bacon, and bread (see big round loaf,) lacking vitamin C from fresh produce, made scurvy all too common.

CREDIT: National Archives of Canada

DESCRIBING: Photo of stamp

SYNOPSIS: Oval blueish grayish stamp hailing from Canada. The stamp is tilted to one side. The stamp is ink, and therefore various parts are blotchy or missing. 

IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION: Blueish grayish stamp that is oval and slanted to the right. Scalloped edges surround the perimeter. The scallops are shaped like half eggs. Along the inside of the top curve reads “Customs Canada” with a royal crown in between the two words. In the center of the oval reads “MAR 22 1898.’ Along the bottom curve reads “White Pass.” Parts of the stamp are blotchy, due to it being an ink stamp.  

CREDIT: National Archives of Canada

DESCRIBING: A black and white photo of 4 people standing around a flag on a pole, outside a building in deep snow. 

SYNOPSIS: A black and white photo with the roof of a building in the background and 4 Canadian Mounties around a flag on a pole, standing on deep snow that is as high as the roof they are standing in front of. 

IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION: This is a photo with a rippled or corrugated metal roof surrounded by snow in the background. Some glass panes in the building are slightly visible under the roof where there is less snow. In the foreground standing on the snow at roof level are four men and a flag pole with a flag. The flag is limp and is an early representation of the Canadian government. The men are standing and looking at the camera. The man on the left is wearing a wide brimmed hat that signifies the Canadian Mounties, a thick coat with a high collar and fully buttoned, a bag buckled around his waist on the outside of the coat, long, dark pants that are tucked into boots that stop mid calf. The second man from left has a slight smile with his lips closed, he is wearing the same hat as the first man and a dark uniform jacket with a short collar and dark trousers with a stripe down the side, they are tucked into boots that stop mid calf. He is standing with his left hand gripping the flag pole, the other hand is in front of him with the thumb hooked between the closed buttons of his jacket, one knee is bent and his feet are crossed at the ankle. The third man from left is dressed similarly, but he has gloves that pass his wrists and knee high boots. His right hand is on the flag pole and his left is at his hip and it is holding a long stick-like object with its tip resting on the ground in front of him. The fourth man is dressed in the same uniform. His pant cuffs are not tucked into boots but fall to the snow. His hands are behind his back and his feet are together. Behind the man on the right, is an over turned wooden sled with metal rails on the bottom and two connected ropes hanging off the side.

CAPTION: 

At the Chilkoot and White Pass summits, Canada’s Mounties gave properly outfitted stampeders official entry into Canada. “It didn’t matter which one you took,” said a stampeder who had traveled both trails, “you’d wished you had taken the other.”

CREDIT: Glengow Archives, Calgary, Alberta

DESCRIBING:  A small sepia-toned photograph.

SYNOPSIS: 

This photo is of a building site in a mountain setting.  The mountains in the background are fading into the distance.  They are smooth, rounded, and covered with snow.  They don't appear to have trees on them.  

A body of water is visible on the left edge in the middle of the photo.  The center of the image is a large white structure that may be a tent with canvas walls.  To the right of it is a row of evergreen trees.  There are two people on horses immediately in front of the tent.  There is a row of upside down boats in front of the row of trees.  

On the left of the photo below the water body is a man working on a large, upturned boat.  To the right of this boat is the wooden frame of a boat under construction.  To the right of this is a group of three men facing the camera.  Right of them are several wooden planks.

At this point, the image is covered on its right and bottom edge by the middle image of the photo collage. 

IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION: [The rest of the description, if needed]

CAPTION:  Whipsawing trees into planks, stampeders built boats or rafts—and then waited for a long Arctic winter to end.

CREDIT: National Archives of Canada

RELATED TEXT: 

4.  Yukon via Bennett Lake

It took three months just to cross the mountains to the interior. Then most of the 30,000 stampeders sat out the 1897–1898 winter in tents by frozen lakes Lindeman, Bennett, or Tagish—still 550 miles from the gold fields. They built 7,124 boats from whipsawn green lumber and waited for lake ice to melt.  Finally, on May 29, 1898, the motley flotilla set out. In the next few days five men died, and raging rapids near Whitehorse crushed 150 boats. After the rapids it was a long, relatively easy trip, but bugs and 22 hour sunlit days drove boaters nearly mad. Near Dawson some feuding parties split up—cutting in half even their boats and frypans. Then, finally, Dawson City!

DESCRIBING: A horizontal and sepia-toned photograph showing, from a great distance, a group of men whipsawing lumber. Because the photo was taken from far away, the details are difficult to ascertain.

SYNOPSIS: A makeshift scaffold has been built out of logs, looking like a giant table frame but with an additional leg brace splayed out from each of the platform's corners, ensuring the structure's stability. Two men are on top of the scaffold, and two men are below it, but only a pair, one above and one below are holding onto a whipsaw, starting to cut a log together. The other man on top of the scaffolding platform is hunched over, looking down at something, and the man below the platform is looking off into the distance. The focus of the photo is on the broad action of people cutting the log with the whipsaw. The men are indistinguishable at this distance, all dressed in similar long-sleeved shirts, with long pants, and hats. 

IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION: The platform for this table-like structure is roughly 7 feet off the ground, based on the height of the man underneath it and the space between his head and the bottom of the platform. The structure looks like a simple log table, with four main legs and four support beams, but there also are a few much-longer logs hanging off each end of the table, waiting to be cut to size by the men. The two men engaged in doing the whipsawing at this moment are roughly above and below each other, with the log they are cutting set up on the platform for the saw to work and the cut logs to fall off each edge once done. The men doing the cutting both have their hands on a saw handle, about shoulder height, with the saw blade positioned to cut into the log. The blade is nearly perpendicular to the log, and one can envision from this positioning that the person on top would push the saw blade down from the shoulders to about his knees, which would drop the blade's height for the man below at about the same levels, from shoulder to knees, and they would in a coordinated motion whip the saw up and down in synchronicity until the cut was complete. 

CAPTION: Whipsawing trees into planks, stampeders built boats or rafts — and then waited for a long Arctic winter to end.

CREDIT: University of Washington Libraries.

DESCRIBING: A square crop of a collage with historic images with the caption on the top left of the image.

SYNOPSIS: This sepia toned (brown and white) image is not very sharp, but the environment and silhouettes of people on a river are able to be seen. The image is only a portion of a roaring river, waves splashing from the current into the raft about eight people are maneuvering. The people are all holding what seem to be oars and are standing in a way that makes it appear like they are fighting the strength of the river. The river bed is lined with thin, tall pine trees making a dense forest.

CAPTION:  A hundred miles of lakes led into the Yukon River, where canyon rapids soon gave way to smooth water beyond Whitehorse.

CREDIT: NPS Photo

DESCRIBING: A small black and white photo and a single image with text to the left and above both images.

SYNOPSIS:  A postcard sized black and white photo of a woman and 3 men standing in front of a wood paneled building. The man standing at the door has on a white apron. The woman on the far left, has a floor length dress, with her hand on her hip. The man next her with a cap, holds his hands behind his back. The two other men, both with different hats have their hands in their pockets. On the building just above the door a sign: Waffles and Coffee 25 cents. To the right another sign: open day and night. The building appears to have some sort of overhang to the far left and on the far right a clothesline hangs with clothing and a pair of boots just above the heads of the men on the right. 

This photo overlaps the edge of a scuffed-up gold mining pan, slightly tilted, about 18 inches in a circular shape, appearing to be 2 to 3 inches deep with nuggets of gold in the bottom quarter of the pan. 

CAPTION: 

In Dawson City and Seattle more fortunes were made off miners than by mining. By 1906 Klondike gold exceeded 108 million dollars at 16 dollars per ounce.

CREDIT: Canadian Museum of Civilization

DESCRIBING: A black and white photo. 

SYNOPSIS: This is a comparison photo of what minors actually endured versus, stampeders posing in a Seattle studio in the picture above. (Referenced in text).

9 people posing for a photo, 5 holding candles, all huddled and seated on the floor of a mine. The ceiling of the mine just above their heads. Two of the minors appear to be male children. All the minors have various styles of hats. The photo offers the appearance of the minors being tucked in the corner of the mine with their feet resting on a mound of rock that has splashes of an element running through it.

IN-DEPTH DESCRIPTION:

The miners are dressed in dark clothing. Long sleeve shirts and durable pants. Some men are wearing hats.  The two individuals that are children have their faces blurred. The boy on the far right has some debris around his knees as if he was standing on his knees at some point. 

CAPTION: 

Compare real miners in a Klondike drifting tunnel (right) to stampeders posing in a Seattle studio (shown above). The photos reflect the same gold rush, one as a romantic notion, one as the harsh reality, the last grand adventure of its kind that the world will ever know.”

CREDIT: University of Washington Libraries