While salmon fishing near the Klondike River in Canada’s
Yukon Territory on August 16, 1896, George Carmack
reportedly spotted nuggets of gold in a creek bed. His
lucky discovery sparked the last great gold rush in the
American West.

Hoping to cash in on reported gold strikes in Alaska,
Carmack had traveled there from California in 1881. After
running into a dead end, he headed north into the isolated
Yukon Territory, just across the Canadian border.

In 1896, another prospector, Robert Henderson, told
Carmack of finding gold in a tributary of the Klondike
River. Carmack headed to the region with two Native
American companions, known as Skookum Jim and
Tagish Charlie.

George Washington Carmack
(September 24, 1860 – June 5, 1922)

Klondike Gold Rush Campsite.

River.

On this day in 1896 – Gold was discovered in Canada’s Yukon
Territory. Within the next year more than 30,000 people rushed
to the area looking for gold.

Miner’s camp at the head of the Yukon River during the Klondike
Gold Rush.