Con Artist Soapy Smith Ran a Criminal Empire in Skagway

The great irony of the Klondike Gold Rush is that the merchants, outfitters, and service providers made far more reliable fortunes than most gold miners. Entrepreneurs like Samuel Benfield Steele and businesses that supplied food, tools, and lodging prospered enormously. One of the most famous examples: Levi Strauss & Co. sold durable denim pants to miners — and built a lasting American clothing brand.

The Klondike Gold Rush essentially ended in 1899 when gold was discovered on the beaches of Nome, Alaska. Thousands of disappointed Klondike miners abandoned Dawson City and streamed toward Nome, an easier location accessible by sea. By 1900, Dawson City's population had plummeted. Only about $1 of every $20 invested in the Klondike rush was ever recovered in gold.

Jack London, the future author of 'The Call of the Wild' and 'White Fang,' arrived in the Klondike in 1897 at age 21. He spent the winter of 1897–1898 in a cabin near the Yukon River, surviving scurvy and intense cold. Though he found little gold, the experience became the raw material for dozens of wilderness adventure stories that made him one of America's most beloved authors.

Unlike American gold rushes, the Klondike Gold Rush was remarkably lawful due to the presence of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), forerunners of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). They enforced strict regulations at border posts, prevented violence, confiscated weapons, and managed the enormous flow of humanity. The contrast with the lawless American frontier was stark and widely noted.