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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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Tool for searching for gold.
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Sluices were very common and used running water to seperate gold from gravel.
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A sluice.
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1. & 2. Miner's candle - A candle was the miner's primary source of light in the tunnels. 4. Gold pan with "black sand" - Gold dust can be seperated from "black sand" by mercury amalgamation. Liquid mercury is placed in the pan which picks up the gold and forms an amalgam. When the amalgam is heated, the mercury vaporizes, leaving he pure gold behind.
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3. Ore bag / poke - A gold poke is a cylindrical leather sack used to hold gold dust and nuggets.
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Bring on the Gold The Klondike is home to the largest concentration of placer gold deposits ever found. Placer mining requires separating the gold - fine particles, flakes, and nuggets - from the surrounding gravel and other sediments. While the seperating process is relatively simple, it can require great effort and take many forms. Prospecting What Skookum Jim and George Carmack discovered in 1896 was a placer gold deposit. Placer deposits occur when rock containing gold veins is uplifted into mountains and, very gradually over time, is carved by glaciers, streams, and wind. The gold veins become exposed and are eroded into small pieces. When the solid pieces are carried into streams and rivers, they are deposited amidst gravel and other sediments. Prospectors on the Klondike hiked along streambeds looking for "color" and used simple gold panning to find traces of gold that might indicate a larger placer deposit. Staking a Claim When prospectors found a promising spot, they staked a claim by placing posts at each corner, one with their name and date on it. The prospector then had three days to go to town and file a legal claim. Because the claims were usually measured by crude means, disagreements over exact boundaries were common. The first claim in a new location was called the "discovery claim." Subsequent claims were legally referred to by their relationship to this claim, along with the name of the creek - 5 Above Eldorado, or 6 Below Bonanza, for example. Tunneling and Spring Cleanup Klondike miners found that they could extract gold not just from active streambeds, but also from ancient streambeds buried under many feet of frozen earth. They used fires to thaw the earth and dig shafts. Once they reached the buried stream deposits, they tested for gold. If they found gold, they tunneled along the streambed, thawing and hauling the sediments to the surface. Gold-bearing streambed deposits, or "paystreaks", were also found along hillsides above the current creek level. In the fall of 1897, Oliver Millet staked a claim on Cheehako Hill, far above Bonanza Creek. Many scoffed at him - until Millet found gold. Just as along the active streambeds, miners dug tunnels through frozen permafrost and brought primising sediments, or "paydirt" to the surface for processing. Miners worked throughout the Klondike region during the winter of 1897-98 digging, tunneling, and piling sediments above ground, awaiting spring. Once the streams thawed, flowing water was used to process the diggings. Panning and Sluicing The simplest method of separating gold from other material was panning. Though it was simple and inexpensive, panning was limited by the small amount of material that could be processed at one time. Klondike miners used other methods to process larger amounts of sediment. They constructed sluices - sloping wooden troughs with small strips of wood, or "riffles," attached across the bottom. Running water was used to wash lighter materials out of the sluice while the denser materials settled and were trapped against the riffles. The material accumulated by the riffles was removed and panned to seperate the gold. Some of the bench mines and tunnels where sediments were piled were located some distance from flowing streams. At these locations, water-guzzing sluices could not be used. Rocker boxes that required far less water were employed instead. Hard Work and Luck For some, the deprivation, backbreaking work, and harsh living conditions of the Klondike paid off. For others it led to disappointment. Even with a promising claim, success was not assured. Some claims that looked promising produced little. Others that seemed worthless were sold to prospectors who subsequently made a fortune. Thomas Lippy, for example, staked 36 Below Eldorado but traded it for 16 Below. Over one million dollars was produced from his new claim and very little from the original.
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Free Miner's Certificate (license) which entitled the holder to prospect for gold in Canada.
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A mutual agreement between twelve individuals to form a 'company' to go prospecting and mining in the Yukon Territory. This agreement 'spells out' the cost of joining ($1000), what equipment will be purchased, and how disputes will be solved.
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This Memorandum of Agreement guarantees that in exchange for $500 (or half of a stampeder's expenses) the person providing the loan is entitled to half of the stampeder's profits.
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An Article of Indenture was used by a man lending $25 and making monthly payments on a stampeder's life insurance policy. If the stampeder died in the far north, then the lender became the beneficiary of the policy.
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Placer Mining Claim for Claim #6 on a "pup" (creek) which enters Bonanza Creek at Claim #21 above the Discovery Claim.
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In Search of Gold Henry Daum's Story Henry Daum's children wrote: "He landed safely in Dawson City and proceeded to stake claims on the Klondike and Bonanza Creek. Uncle Fritz joined him sometime later and then proceeded to eke out some success on the claims. This was a tough way to make your fortune." Seeing the many miners who got sick from scurvy from a lack of Vitamin C, Henry got the idea that he could make more money growing and selling fresh produce. He paid $23.50 for eleven acres on an island where the Yukon and Klondike Rivers meet. The Daum brothers built a greenhouse and heated it with wood to start vegetables in the spring. As the weather warmed, starts were moved into cold frames and then into the field. With 20 hours a day of summer sun, the vegetables grew quickly. The farm produced cabbages weighing as much as 29 pounds as well as a variety of other greens and vegetables.
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Gardening book and title for the property of Henry Daum.
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Experience of a Lifetime The men and women who joined the gold rush of 1897 and 1898 endured unbelievable harships in their quest for fortune. Many turned back. Some died en route. Only one in five ever prospected for gold. Despite the risk, deprivation, and struggle encountered, many men and women - even the ones who returned home empty-handed - later named the gold rush as one of the most rewarding experiences of their lives and one, if given the chance, they would repeat again.
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Using this wheel, one can imagine the chances to have found gold. The orange area means that one didn't find gold, the blue area means that one found some gold and the gold area means that one found a lot of gold.
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Wheel of Fortune Though the ability to adapt and endure hardship served people well in getting to the Klondike, it did not guarantee success. Most stampeders arrived too late to stake their own claim. For those able to work claims, there was still a huge element of chance. Some claims produced great wealth while others alongside produced nothing. It is estimated that: 100,000 people embarked to the Klondike 40,000 reached the Klondike 20,000 worked claims or prospected 300 made more than $15,000 in gold Of the 300 people who struck it rich, only 50 kept their wealth for ay length of time.
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