Brief History of the Gold Rush

During the years 1897-98, three words, “Gold”, "Yukon" and “Klondike” electrified the world. The Great Klondike Gold Rush was on, some 40,000 people from around the world, most of them Americans and Canadians, joined in an awesome trek, traveling north to the Klondike Region of Canada’s Yukon Territory. They shared one common bond, the quest for Gold. This classic journey was one of the strangest mass movements in history. Each Klondiker shuttled one ton of food and supplies over unfamiliar and incredibly rugged terrain, through wilderness, climbing the infamous Chilkoot Pass, living in tents with temperatures at times plummeting below minus 60° Fahrenheit, eating bacon and beans for months at a time. Then building a flotilla of 7,000 boats, barges, sloops and scows, using boards hand cut from wilderness timber, to then navigate Yukon River Canyon Rapids north to Dawson City and the gold bearing creeks of the Yukon.

Exhibit Components and Set-up

• Sixty 2 ft. by 4 ft. exhibit panels, covered with colorful Velcro fabrics, photographs and captions, forming six walk around table top exhibits. Each viewable from four sides, standing seven feet tall, eight feet long and two feet wide.
• Display cabinet shows Gold Rush artifacts and memorabilia, standing three feet tall, eight feet long and three feet wide.
• Activity table for gold panning. All gold panners find real gold, theirs to keep.
• Exhibit set-up and viewing space requires 1,500 to 1,800 square feet of floor space.