Tales of Gold 1 Trivia Quiz

Answer: True

The northwestern part of Canada has been inhabited for quite a long time considering the fact that many people who crossed Beringia, the Bering Strait land bridge, thousands of years ago decided to stay in the area. One of the most densely populated areas of indigenous people in Canada, the region benefited from a mild climate and plentiful natural resources.

It was relatively easy to secure necessities for the group, and the spare time available was used to create art and music. Copper nuggets were used by the tribes in trade; there is a general consensus among historians that the people knew about the presence of gold, but it did not hold any value for them. Unfortunately the Hän people who lived in the area were moved to a reservation during the time of the stampede, and many died.

Answer: Furs

From the earliest days of French and English colonization in Canada in the 1600s, the fur trade had been a major source of economic gain for both countries. The French seemed to be able to develop a better relationship with the Native Americans than the English did, and trading out of their base in Montreal continued to be very profitable even after the French loss in the French and Indian War.

The maritime fur trade on the northwest coast of Canada, first developed by Russian traders in the mid-18th century, was overtaken by British and American traders by the late 1700s. Returns were enormous under the right conditions with some being recorded as 2,200% or higher, although the average profit was more like 300-400 per cent! While there were periods of decline and boom in the fur business, many Europeans and Americans continued to explore the northwest coast of Canada, but they were really only interested in one thing - fur trading!

Answer: George Carmack

While it is not clear exactly who in the small party of four people first saw the gold while fishing on August 16, 1896, it was decided that George Carmack would take the credit; the others in the party, his wife, brother-in-law, and nephew, were Native Americans.

The group feared that a claim by a Native American would not be accepted. Altogether four claims were made by the group along Bonanza Creek, and within two weeks all of the area of Bonanza Creek had been claimed. It took a year for the news to make its way to Seattle and San Francisco, and the stampede occurred from 1897-98.

Interestingly, the group of original treasure hunters did not fare entirely well. George left his wife and remarried, his brother-in-law, Skookum Jim, continued to be a prospector until his death, and the nephew, Dawson Charlie, died young.

Answer: Klondike

Named after a small river, the word Klondike comes from a native word, "Tr'ondëk", meaning "hammerstone water". Located in a fairly remote part of Canada, it was no easy feat to reach the gold field. Sailing on the river was the only way to reach the Klondike, however, most of the miners had a ways to go before even reaching the river.

There was a water route; leaving Seattle, Washington, it was 4700 miles long and, at the beginning of the stampede, cost $150. The other passages were overland; the All-Canadian Routes stayed on Canadian soil to avoid U.S. customs fees, and the All-American Routes stayed on U.S. soil to avoid Canadian customs.

The bottom line? The Klondike location was so remote that there wasn't an easy way to get there.

Answer: Chilkoot Trail

It has been said that Chilkoot Trail was more commonly used than the other trails, in spite of the fact that the trek through the mountains was more difficult; it was considered to be more direct and less expensive. The first stop on the Chilkoot Trait was in Alaska at the town of Dyea; passage from Seattle, Washington, to Dyea cost $40 for a cabin in the beginning, however, prices soared as the stampede to the gold fields intensified. From Dyea, there was a 33 mile hike to Bennett, British Columbia, where miners would buy or build rafts or boats to taken them the last 500 miles down the river. By 1898 an aerial tramway made it easier to move supplies up the trail.

Answer: Anyone entering the Yukon territory had to bring a year's supply of food.

Making one's way to a mining camp was an especially arduous task; miners were required by the Canadian government to bring a year's supply of food alone with them in order to prevent starvation; this is said to have included 200 pounds of bacon and 400 pounds of flour! It has been estimated that each miner had about a ton of provisions - food and necessary tools - and that many of them carried smaller packages in stages and made many trips to destinations along the route.

There were packers, usually Native Americans, along the trails who would carry packages for $1 a pound! Some people were able to bring pack animals with them, but even a poor-quality horse purchased along the route could cost as much as $700.

The cost and difficulty in traveling to the gold field explains why only an estimated 30,000-40,000 of the 100,000 aspiring miners made it to their destination.

Answer: The Canadian government was offering subsidies to encourage mining.

It has been estimated that 60-80 per cent of the prospective miners who came to northwestern Canada were either from the United States or recent immigrants to the country. The Panic of 1893 and Panic of 1896 in the U.S. had caused not only a financial crisis, but unemployment problems.

In 1893 a gold run on the U.S. Treasury due to crop failures in Argentina, fueled the first crisis, which had not been resolved by 1896 as gold reserves continued to decrease. The lure of the gold fields was so strong that many areas lost too many people; for example, in Seattle, the mayor, twelve policemen, and a number of streetcar operators resigned from their positions to go for the gold.

Answer: Yukon

All of the trails or other routes to the gold mining region of northwest Canada led to some point on the Yukon River. It was really only possible to travel on the river during the summer months, even though the temperatures were very hot. In fact, travel down the river was said to be difficult, as it was very winding through a mountainous region. If a miner didn't make it down the river before October, he would have to wait until early summer. From October-June the temperatures could drop to below −50 °C.

The rush with all of the people, of course, created a great need for river-traveling vessels. It is said that anything that could float - fishing boats, barges, and even coal mining boats - was employed by the miners, however, many of the boats were overloaded and sank somewhere along the way.

Answer: True

The dispute had actually been ongoing between the U.S. and Canada since the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. Both countries claimed the ports of Dyea and Skagway, both in Alaska today, which were starting points for important trails to the gold mining area.

The situation became so heated that the U.S. Army sent a detachment to Circle City, Alaska, and the Canadian government seriously considered closing the mining area to Americans. An agreement was finally made that Canadian ships would be allowed to enter the port of Dyea, and Americans would be allowed to mine for gold, although apparently the decision was not well accepted in either country.

Answer: Dawson City

Joe Ladue and Arhtur Harper purchased 178 acres at the junctions of the Klondike and Yukon Rivers, a region that had long been used by Native Americans in the area, from the government, and laid out the plans for a new settlement. Originally known as "Harper and Ladue town site", Dawson City was named after George M. Dawson.

It didn't take very long for the town to grow; by the winter of 1896, shortly after the discovery of gold, it had a population of 500 people. By 1898 the city had a population of 40,000 people, however, a year later the gold stampede was over and all but 8,000 left. Dawson City remained the capital of the Yukon until 1952, when it was moved to Whitehorse.