Gold at Fortymile Creek: Early Days in the Yukon [Paperback]

Michael Gates (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1994

"Gold at Fortymile Creek" tells the story of the search for gold in the Yukon basin prior to the famous Klondike gold rush of 1896-8. Based on the accounts of dozens of prospectors who visited the area and searched for gold between 1873 and 1896, it chronicles the trials, heartbreaks and successes as the number of goldseekers grew and a unique community of hardy individualists set the stage for the world's most famous goldrush. With names like Swiftwater Bill, Crooked Leg Louie, Slobbery Tom and Tin Kettle George, these men lived in total isolation beyond the borders of civilization. They were eccentrics and outcasts who shaped their own rules, their own justice and their own social order. "Gold at Fortymile Creek" follows the first goldseekers from their arrival in 1873 till 1896 when George Carmack, Skookum Jim and Tagish Charlie started the Klondike Stampede. Beginning along the burs of the great Yukon River, it follows the gradual growth of the search for gold over thousands of square miles and it describes the methods of mining, the significant discoveries and the rough-and-ready settlements which grew up around each new find, including Fort Reliance, Forty Mile, Circle and Dawson City. Into this no-man's-land without boundaries came the harbingers of civilization: the surveyors and the North West Mounted Police who established law, peace and order. They were joined by traders, missionaries, gentlemen travellers, journalists, pioneer women and countless other followers of the quest for gold. "Gold at Fortymile Creek" tells about survival and hardship, life and death, good times and bad in the harshest wilderness on the continent. It is a readable and thoroughly researched account of the search for gold and the opening of one of the last frontiers. Michael Gates is Curator of Collections for Klondike National Historic Sites in Dawson City, Yukon. This book is intended for.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This meticulous study ientifies the major implications of attempting to "MacDonalize" the delivery of social services.
– Gerd Schroeter, Canadian Public Policy (Reviews)

A fine introduction to the pre-Klondike history of the Yukon River valley, and an excellent primer for historians interested in the years leading up to the great gold rush in the North.
– Ken Coates, Western Historical Quarterly

Gates presents an especially vivid picture of the material and social lives of Yukon prospectors. Piecing together an array of primary sources, the author vividly describes how white miners endured the harsh and remote environment; the struggle to obtain food, heat and shelter; the problem of mining in frozen earth; and the danger of travel in northern winters. Maps and numerous photographs illustrate the anecdotes. Gates succeeds admirably in his goal of showing that “the life of the miners was very difficult indeed (p. xii).” Historians of material culture, especially, will welcome this addition to the growing literature on mining camp life.
– Janet Ore, Pacific Northwest Quarterly

About the Author

Michael Gates is Curator of Collections for Klondike National Historic Sites in Dawson, Yukon.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press (January 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0774804920
• ISBN-13: 978-0774804929
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,963,640 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great Klondike read, December 5, 1999

By 

Duane Froese (Calgary, Alberta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gold at Fortymile Creek: Early Days in the Yukon (Paperback)

I've been working in the western Yukon off and on over the last several years and made a point of learning as much about the area as I can. To say the least, there have been a few books written about the history of the gold rush- just try an Amazon search!

Where Gates' book has its strength is that it starts before the goldrush with the early Russian explorers, and move into the early prospectors that plied the hills of the Fortymile country which were responsible for the Klondike discovery. In contrast to many of the Klondike books, Gates' is well-researched and referenced, and reads well. If you're looking for a starting point on the history of the Upper Yukon and perhaps looking for a book on the area to plan a trip, this is the one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history book., February 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Gold at Fortymile Creek: Early Days in the Yukon (Hardcover)

Michael Gates' book is an excellent history of gold exploration in the Yukon region prior to the Klondike gold rush stampede of 1897-98. Gates points out very well how important transportation and communciations were at the time, as well as the logistical difficulties of food supplies, and the role of poor diet to the miners' health. He also shows how little it took to create a stampede even among experienced prospectors, the development and role of the trading companies, the code of behavior among the early-day prospectors, and the personalities of the miners.

Gary Christenson

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Gold Rush" is excellent reading, February 18, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Corinth, Mississippi) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gold at Fortymile Creek: Early Days in the Yukon (Paperback)

I throughly enjoyed this book. Gates does an excellent job in going into enough detail to make the book interesting but not heavy and boring. Having been an Alaska resident for 11 years and answering people's questions about that great state I was surprised in my knowledge gap concerning the gold rush. They still mine gold in Alaska today but not like they did then. It was dangerous just to get to where the gold was not to mention getting it out of the ground and trying to survive the harsh winters. This book is an educational, informative piece of work. It covers all aspects of a miner's life and several colorful characters from the gold rush. A great, fun to read book. If Alaska and the Yukon spark you interest and daydreams, this book, both paperback and hardcover, are well worth the asking price. This book will be one of the gems of your library. J.Grimes