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Seattle, Washington 2007

Weekend trip from September 1st to 3rd, 2007 to Seattle, Washington including a day trip to the Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon.

2007 September 1 2 3

Aquarium (130) Erica (29) Portland (157) Ruben (17) Seattle (387)

All

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Dalton Trail Jack Dalton, a long-time Alaska frontiersman, expanded on a traditional Tlingit trade route into the interior. Dalton charged a toll for use of the trail and advertised it as an easy trek for livestock. Because of the stampeders' heavy usage, however, the Dalton Trail, like the White Pass Trail, soon became a rocky, muddy mess in which livestock were easily mired. The trail began at Haines Mission, slightly southwest of Skagway. It followed the Chilkat River before crossing the mountains at Fort Selkirk, 125 miles upriver of Dawson.
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Chilkoot Trail Chilkoot Pass had been used for centuries by the Chilkoot and other bands of Tlingit Natives as a trading and hunting route. At the time of the gold rush, the trail was in relatively good shape. The first sections of it had been improved for pack animals in 1895. The first fifteen miles of trail followed Taiya River and gained only 1,000 vertical feet. After Sheep Camp the trail rose more steeply, culminating in an exhausting 35 degree slope for the final ascent. Once across the pass, a short, steep descent led to the headwaters of the Yukon River.
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"Whichever way you go, you will wish you had gone the other."
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Alaska and Beyond Most stampeders stepped onto Alaskan soil in Skagway or Dyea on their way to one of the tortuous passes that would take them into the Yukon. Dense forests, rugged mountains, snow-covered trails, and unforgiving weather awaited them. Illness, frostbite, accidents, and crime posed additional risks on the arduous journey ahead. Most stampeders crossed Chilkoot Pass from Dyea or White Pass from Skagway to reach Lake Bennett. There stampederrs built a variety of watercraft to travel downriver to Dawson City and the Klondike gold fields.
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Stampeders who camped at Lake Lindeman during the winter of 1897-98 paid 15 cents per letter (the equivalent of $3.30 in 2005) to unofficial carriers who packed the mail over Chilkoot Pass from Sheep Camp. At Miles Canyon, the Yukon River narrows from 300 feet to 40 feet wide with dangerous rocks below at Whitehorse rapids. Most stampeders portaged their goods around this stretch and hired an experienced pilot to take their boat through.
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Building the boats with hand tools.
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At Tagish Lake, stampeders were required to stop and have their boats inspected and licensed by the Northwest Mounted Police. By mid-June 1898, Mounties had inspected and registered over 7,000 boats. At times, the waiting crowd of boats stretched for a mile white boats tied two or three across.
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A Wild River Ride Once over the passes, stampeders arrived at a series of lakes, headwaters of the Yukon River. The gold fields still lay 550 miles north by river. New challenges awaited the weary stampeders who managed to get this far. Makeshift Cities Stampeders who had left Seattle promptly after the arrival of the SS Portland were able to cross the passes and continue by boat before the waterways froze for the winter. Most, however, arrived during the winter months and joined makeshift tent cities at Lake Lindeman and Lake Bennett. Here they anxiously awaited the thawing of the lakes and rivers so they could continue their journey. Some stampeders purchased prefabricated boats that were hauled over the passes in pieces and reassembled. Those with sufficient means hired others to build a boat. Most faced the daunting task of building a boat from scratch - something few had done before. Some rose to the challenge and a good-natured camaraderie developed as stampeders shared skills and tools to get the job done. For others, it was a cause of argument and the breakup of partnerships. Backbreaking Work Finding suitable wood for boat-making was difficult. Forrests near the lakes were quickly stripped of useable timber. Logs were floated down rivers or carried or dragged considerable distances from other areas. The logs were then set on elevated log platforms and tediously sawn into planks using two-person whipsaws. Once the timber was cut, crude boats were fashioned. The most common was a flat-bottomed skiff 22 to 25 feet in length that could carry a two or three-ton load. Seams between planks were packed with oakum - tar soaked hemp or jute fiber - and covered in pitch. Launch Day Arrives On May 29, 1898, the day the stampeders had been waiting for, finally arrived. The ice began to break, clearing the waterways for travel. On the first day, 800 boats set sail for the Klondike. In all, nearly 7,000 boats began the 550-mile journey from the lakes to Dawson. The journey took about three weeks. A series of rapids challenged the stampeders, many of whom had no previous boating experience. In the first few days, more than 150 boats were wrecked and ten people drowned. Mounties to the Rescue Trying to protect lives and keep control over the stampede, Canada's Northwest Mounted Police established specific regulations for boats descending the Yukon. Boats were inspected and licensed at Lake Bennett before proceeding. The name and next of kin of each passenger was recorded and each boat was required to display a registration number. These numbers were sent to police posts in order to track boats. Family members were notified in the event of a mishap.
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Descending the Yukon Lucille Hunter's Story Most stampeders descended the Yukon from its headwaters just across Chilkoot and White Passes. Lucille Hunter and her husband, however, had taken the Stikine River Route to Teslin Lake. Here many stampeders paused, just as at Lake Bennett, to build a boat and await the spring thaw to start their journey down the Teslin and Yukon rivers to Dawson. But, shortly after New Year's Day, 1898, Lucille and Charles, now with infant Teslin, courageously pressed on alone through the wilderness. They travelled more than 150 miles by dog team over the frozen rivers and through frigid temperatures, howling blizzards, and deep snow drifts. The undoubtedly exhausted family of three arrived in Dawson in February 1898.
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Finally Arrived! It is hard to imagine the grit and stamina required to get this far - to the Klondike gold fields. Still, arrival was no guarantee of success. The Herculean efforts led to riches for very few. In fact, by the time even the earliest stampeders arrived, most good claims had been taken by miners already in the vicinity at the time of the original strike.
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"I tell you this is more than I barained for. ... If any person had told me I could stand this I would certainly have thought they were crazy. ... I would not go through it again for all the gold in Alaska." - Jonas Houck, 1898 "Do not worry about any danger, for there is no more here than in Detroit except what comes with hard work. ... Plenty of that will be at hand. ... I fully expected hard work and lots of it and I shall not be disappointed." Mac McMichael, 1898
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Sourdough, a form of yeast, was used to make bread or pancakes rise during the gold rush. A person who spent at least one full winter in Alaska was called a "Sourdough."
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The Harsh Reality In the spring and summer of 1898, Dawson was flooded with new arrivals. They discovered that news of the initial strike in August 1896 had spread quickly among prospectors already in the region. These 'locals' had quickly filed most available claims. Disappointed, many of the newcomers left, tired and empty-handed. Some stayed and worked for others with claims. Some with sufficient means bought or leased established claimes. Still others remained to work in Dawson or to start businesses there.
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Boom Town When the whispers of the gold rush started, Joseph Ladue, who operated a small lumber mill on the Yukon River, foresaw that there was wealth to be made supplying the stampeders. He quickly planned a townsite on the swamp where the Klondike River joined the Yukon. The cabin he built was the first structure in Dawson City. By April 1897, even before the news of the SS Portland's arrival in Seattle had shaken the world, Dawson City had about 1,500 inhabitants. At the peak of the gold rush, Dawson's boom town population was estimated at between thirty and fifty-thousand people. Life in Dawson Business, industry, and government responded quickly to supply an overnight city. Even in this remote location, Dawson City soon boasted a telephone system, running water, steam heat, electricity, dozens of hotels, motion pictures theaters, a hospital, restaurants and, of course, a number of bars and dance halls. Compared with Skagway and Dyea, where law enforcement was absent and crime was rampant, Dawson City and the Canadian territories were markedly safer. This was due to the presence and hard work of the Northwest Mounted Police. Dawson City was no utopia, though. There was no sewer system or means of garbage disposal. By midsummer 1898, the city was a reeking swamp. Malaria, typhoid, and dysentery swept through the city. Due to the poor diets of many stampeders, scurvy was common. Life on the Gold Fields Those in the gold fields worked long and backbreaking hours panning, digging sluicing, and rocking to process gravel in search of gold. Most miners lived in exceedingly primitive conditions in small shacks and make-shift cabins with only the bare necessities. Some with successful claims, however, began building larger and more elaborate dwellings, re-creating the civilization they had left behind.
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What Started it All George Carmack arrived in Alaska in the 1880s, joining several hundred other white Americans in the region. Carmack soon became friends with a group of Tagish people including Keish (called Shookum Jim) and Kháa Ghoox (called Dawson Charlie). Over the next several years, he traveled and hunted with them and learned many of the Tagish ways. Through them, Carmack met and married Keish's sister, Shaaw Tlaa to whom he gave the name Kate Carmack. They had a daughter, Graphie. The small group moved through the region, hunting and occasionally looking for gold. In early August 1896, the group passed through the camp of prospector Robert Henderson. He suggested that Carmack join him in exploring a drainage where he had seen a small amount of "color." When Henderson refused to include Carmack's Tagish family, the group left, furious over the slight, and continued to explore in the direction Henderson had suggested. Several days later, on August 16, in a nearby drainage, Shookum Jim paused for a drink. As he bent over he noticed many golden flakes in the shallow water. He returned to camp and informed his partners. They returned to the spot, confirmed the size of the discovery, and celebrated. Gold and Prejudice By Carmack's account, he worried that, because of prejudices against Native people, Shookum Jim would not be allowed to record the "discovery claim" which legally consisted of two adjacent 500 foot claims. Acoordingly, Carmack staked the Discovery Claim for himself. Dawson Charlie and Shookum Jim staked adjacent claims. As Carmack's wife, Kate could not file her own claim. The three men agreed to share labor for, and proceeds from, all four claims. They then traveled to Forty Mile to register their claims and buy supplies for mining. While in Forty Mile, Carmack went into a bar and announced his discovery. According to an unwritten "miner's code," Carmack should also have informed Robert Henderson. However, still angry about Henderson's slight to his family, Carmack returned to Rabbit Creek without informing him. When Henderson finally heard about the strike several weeks later, all the good claims were staked. Henderson's prejudice had cost him a fortune. Klondike Kings George Carmack had a nickname in Forty Mile - "Lyin' George." This time he was telling the truth and Forty Mile quickly emptied as prospectors rushed to Bonanza Creek. Within a matter of days, Bonanza Creek and nearby Eldorado Creek were staked from end to end. Throughout the fall and winter, those first prospectors mined the gravels of the Klondike and accumulated a tremendous amount of gold. Many of these "Klondike Kings" returned to the United States the following summer on the SS Portland. Their arrival in Seattle on July 17, 1897 confirmed rumors of gold in the region, and the stampede to the Klondike began.
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Gold pans were extensively used. Panning was known as the "poor man's method" as nearly anyone could afford a gold pan.
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