Klondike Gold Rush History Podcast

Just like no one can agree on exactly how the Klondike Gold Rush started, how and when the stampede ended is also the topic of fierce dispute. We wrap up the podcast with a look at this debate, clean up a few errors we made along the way, and let you know what happened to our favourite ... and not so favourite ... characters after they left the Yukon.

What do Harrison Ford, Charlie Chaplin and Bugs Bunny have in common? They've all starred in films about the Klondike Gold Rush. Join us as we turn the camera on Hollywood and its classic ... and sometimes not so classic ... portrayals of the Gold Rush.

The Mountie is one of the iconic images of the Klondike Gold Rush, whether in red serge in Dawson or behind a dogsled on a rugged Yukon patrol. We'll talk about the feats that made the reputation of the North-West Mounted Police in the Yukon, and their complicated relationship with First Nations. And we'll get to know Sam Steele, who some call the quintessential Canadian man of action in the Victorian era.

The gold rush is at its peak. Just a year ago, Dawson was a moose pasture with a few cabins. Now it has dance halls, Parisian fashions, electricity, running water and a restaurant where you could eat pâté de foie gras while listening to a string orchestra. And it has stories, tons of stories. Some true, some not so much. We'll share some of them which, factual or not, will give you a feel for Dawson's brilliant but brief spell as the Paris of the North.

Getting to the Klondike was just the start of your mining adventure. Next, you had to learn how to get the gold out of the frozen muck under your feet. The Sourdoughs had developed a huge range of ingenious techniques from rockers to sluice boxes to steam points. But they all had one thing in common: back-breaking manual labour.

Klondike Kate was the most famous of the women who graced the stages of Dawson's dance halls. Her fascinating life story is layers of popular myths, hard realities and enduring mysteries. Join us to find out why the New York Sun said "Klondike Kate is a legend, and legends, unlike old soldiers, neither die nor fade away."

We are honoured to share our interview with Bill Webber, a Kwanlin Dün elder and well-known community leader involved in organizations such as the Skookum Jim Friendship Centre. Bill was also part of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation team that published the recent and highly acclaimed book, Our Story in Our Words. We hope you enjoy the interview!

It's October 1897 and you've finally made it to Dawson City! The city is one year old, and halfway on its meteoric rise from moose pasture to Paris of the North. Find out what life was like for the newly arrived stampeders as they hurried to slap together a cabin and get ready for their first Yukon winter (and maybe spending a few nights dancing at Pete's Place!).

This episode steps back to the 1700s to look at the experience of Indigenous peoples as the first Europeans - the Russians - arrived in the region. As anyone who has read recent books looking at this period from a Tlingit perspective will know, what happened during the Russian American period is critical to understanding the impact of the Klondike Gold Rush.

You've made it over the Chilkoot and built your home-made boat. Now winter is coming and it's a race against time to get to Dawson before the Yukon River freezes up. All that stands in your way is around 500 miles of wilderness, lake storms, Miles Canyon and a few sets of rapids.

Pascale and Keith interview Alice Cyr, former Skagway interpretive guide for the National Parks Service and Alaskan cruise ship lecturer, about why the Klondike Gold Rush continues to fascinate, her favourite stampede tales and who pulled the trigger first in the shootout between Soapy Smith and Frank Reid.

Soapy Smith is one of the gold rush's most notorious names, even though he never made it to the Klondike. He found his gold in the pockets of other men. After Frank Reid shot him in Alaska's most famous shoot out, a Seattle newspaper remarked that he remained "the most popular man in Alaska."

With our stampeder Tappan Adney safely at Lindeman building his boat for the final push to the Klondike, we'll take a look at the other routes to the Klondike. Other than the so-called Rich Man's Route, most of them make the Chilkoot look like a walk in the park.

Time for the final push from Sheep Camp to the Summit. You stand at the Scales looking up at what looks like an impassable wall of grey rock, until you see a long line of Stampeders ahead of you moving slowly up the mountain. You can't turn back now, so you shoulder your pack, and try to put the Chilkoot Trail below and behind you.

In this episode, we'll follow the muddy, exhausted footsteps of a Stampeder along the Chilkoot Trail, and find out why the route is still notorious 120 years later.

Ships full of goldseekers anchor off Skagway, Alaska. There's no dock and it's chaos on the beach. How do you get your outfit off the ship and, once you do, should you take the shorter Chilkoot Trail or the flatter White Pass? One oldtimer tells you, no matter which you choose, you'll wish you took the other.

So you've decided to go get some Klondike gold. First you have to find out where the Klondike is, how to get there, and what you'll need to survive.

The S.S. Excelsior docks in San Francisco carrying a bunch of Klondike miners and an eye-popping load of gold. Mix in an economic depression and some inspired newspaper headlines, and it's enough to spark collective madness.

When Lyin' George Carmack and Kaa Goox poured the gold from their new discovery onto a saloon table in Forty Mile, the town emptied almost overnight. The biggest gold rush of all time was on, even if no one Outside knew about it yet!

The day Rabbit Creek became Bonanza Creek, and the mayhem that ensued. Wait till word reaches Outside...

The early days. The Chilkats kick the Hudson's Bay Company out of the Yukon, but prospectors begin to filter in looking for gold. The frontier mining town of Fortymile gets going, and miners won't give up looking for the fabled motherlode.

Episode 1 of a new podcast aiming to bring the epic stories of the Klondike Gold Rush to you in an easy-to-listen format, hosted by Yukon descendants of 1898 stampeders who grew up listening to tales of the greatest gold rush of all time.