Located on a
bend of the Yukon River – the River of Gold – Dawson City was a
moose pasture one day and a Klondike boomtown the next. Today it’s
a living museum where the townsfolk wear gold rush era costumes
and give guided tours of the historic buildings that line the
unpaved streets.
The hardest part
about getting rich in the Klondike was getting there. One popular
route was the White Pass trail from Skagway. Another was the
shorter but steeper Chilkoot Pass from nearby Dyea. Forced by the
Royal Northwest Mounted Police to haul a year’s supply of food,
prospectors had to carry over 2,000 pounds on their backs, 200
pounds at time. Unfortunately for all but a handful of these men,
the best claims were staked long before they arrived.
Soapy Smith, the
leader of a villainous gang of 1890’s Skagway con artists, got his
name running a street-corner bunco game selling soap bars for $5
each. When his shills opened their soap bars and found $50 bills,
he had no trouble selling to every passerby. They always came up
with nothing but soap. Then Soapy opened a telegraph office
charging $5 for each message and delivering wordy replies
—collect, of course. Yet real telegraph service didn’t come to
Skagway until after the Gold Rush was over and done.