https://albertashistoricplaces.wordpress.com/
Michael Donnelly is a freelance historian.
In 1896, gold production in Edmonton reached $55,000,[i] with local banks purchasing gold dust off miners at $15 an ounce.[ii] No small amount for a town of roughly 1200 people. However, this amount was nothing compared to the following year when parties of gold seekers, upon news of rich gold strikes in the Yukon, began outfitting themselves in Edmonton on their way to the Klondike. By the summer of 1898, the stampede was over with local merchants having taken in $500,000.[iii]
When parties slowly began arriving in Edmonton by train in the summer of 1897, the business community quickly seized upon the opportunity and began actively advertising Edmonton as the, ‘All Canadian Route to the Klondike’, ‘The Back Door to the Yukon’, and ‘The Poor Man’s Route to the Yukon.’[iv]
By Christmas, there were people from Chicago, eastern Canada, the Atlantic seaboard, Europe, and Australia camped in small groups all over town. Historian J.G. MacGregor wrote that by mid-winter 1898, “…the town was knee deep in Klondikers.”[v]
On a map, distances could be deceiving, and many lacked the experience required for such a rigorous journey. One man writing to the editor of the Edmonton Bulletin inquired as to the feasibility of travelling to the Yukon by bicycle,[vi] and two Parisians who set off from Athabasca Landing admitted to having originally entertained the idea of travelling to the Klondike by balloon.[vii] The distances alone were daunting but the real challenge was carrying with them two years of supplies. This amounted to 2500 lbs of food and gear for each individual, and, depending on the route and the season, they required horses, dog teams, sleds, sleighs, and boats.
The two most established routes to the Klondike were by sea -through the Aleutian Island chain, Bering Sea, then up the Yukon River by steamboat. Or the most common – by way of Seattle or Vancouver, up the Inside Passage to Alaska, and over the mountains into the Yukon (Chilkoot Pass). Heading north from Edmonton, were two additional routes that Klondikers could choose from.
For the rest of this article: https://albertashistoricplaces.wordpress.com/2018/11/29/the-lure-of-gold-in-albertas-history-part-ii/?fbclid=IwAR3r2yPFosHOI3HJsL7n-yEXAs1KdyYmC7-Fd3nxh28orTVJ8QpOyAEARms