THE YEAR 1898 IS A MILESTONE in the Gold Rush annals of Alaska. One hundred and one years ago the SS Portland docked in Seattle with a reported "Ton of Gold," sparking the greatest rush for gold North America has ever known. Gold was discovered in Bonanza Creek in the Yukon a year earlier by George Washington Carmack, Tagish Charlie, and Skookum Jim. By 1898 the word had spread and the stampede began in earnest. Over 60,000 gold seekers set out for the Klondike in 1897-98, despite the tremendous odds against their success.

Most of the adventurers sailed for Skagway, Alaska, the gateway to the Canadian Klondike. The journey was fraught with peril, with an average of three shipwrecks per month in 1897. Prospectors who made it to Skagway were greeted by "Soapy" Smith, a con man whose gang ran the town and preyed on the eager goldrushers.

The trials of Skagway were just the beginning of their hardships. The Canadian Royal Mounted Police required each would-be miner to transport 1,200 pounds of supplies and provisions up the steep White Pass and Chilkoot trails to prevent the starvation and illness that had taken hold of early stampeders.

The Klondike find was not the first Gold Rush to have an impact on Alaska, although it did yield the greatest response. Juneau was the hotspot just 16 years earlier, and it was gold seekers en route to Juneau who put Ketchikan on the map.

The spirit of the Klondike Gold Rush lives on! Come and catch a glimpse of Alaska's rich and intriguing history. You're bound to get caught up in the fever that had everyone crazy for GOLD.