The Yukon., Bernard Spragg Photo

The Yukon is best known for it's role in the Klondike gold rush. In 1896 gold was discovered in Rabbit Creek (later named Bonanza Creek),a small stream feeding the Klondike river which inturn sparked the "Klondike Stampede" of 1897... the last great North American gold rush, and probably the last. Tens of thousands of people flooded the region from Seattle, up the Inside Passage to Skagway, then over the Chilkoot Trail to the headwaters of the Yukon river. At this point the adventurists built wooden rafts and continued their journey about 500 miles down the river to the heart of the Klondike in Dawson City.