Klondike Gold Rush Research Paper

1221 Words5 Pages

Name: Joshua Shou
Mrs. Farley, Mr. Kennedy
Humanities 9 Niemoller
November 16th
The Effect of Harsh Environment, The Role of Women, and Economical Trade on the Klondike Gold Rush. Have you ever heard of something and thought something was too good to be true, and then you realize it was a fraud all along? The Klondike Gold Rush caused a similar reaction, as over 90,000 prospectors left their jobs and homes to journey into the Klondike in search of Gold to end up empty-handed. During their journey, they had to cope with extreme harsh conditions through Alaska as well as interact and trade with the natives. Although most people regard the Klondike gold rush event to be of just mining gold and striking rich, the Klondike gold rush consisted more …show more content…

Though the exchange of gold nuggets and gold dust has boomed the economy and changed trade, there were also very significant trade through buying claims and trading supplies during the Klondike Gold Rush. It has been reported that over 1,139,000 (1000 million in today’s money) dollars worth of gold has been brought back from the Klondike. This mass response has led to hundreds of thousands of prospectors to the Klondike region. However, the average prospector spent around 342 dollars more than the money an average miner had earned, causing a decline in economical profit through the Klondike Gold Rush. Selling claims contributed …show more content…

One women actually became a millionaire without even having to work a sweat, instead, she sold claims for miners. However, by the time most stampeders arrived, at around 1898, 10,000 of the best claims have already been taken. The huge amount of stampeders in Dawson city also led there to be trade and business going on. Near the mine, there were many restaurants and shops, and many took on the businness there to be waitress, entertainers, etc. This allowed natives to earn more money because they gained more business opportunities. “Not only did the gold rush bring new economical opportunities for the territory’s First Nation people, it also caused great social and cultural upheaval.” Out of the 100,000 prospectors that set off on the journey, only 30,000 made it to Dawson city, 300 of which found enough gold to call themselves rich. Sadly, there were only a handful of those 300 who managed to not abuse their wealth. Though it is not interpreted by many, the Klondike gold rush brought in other economical value as well. The Klondike gold rush helped people learn more about mining, laboring, and trading. The Klondike gold rush helped developed technology in mining that is used today. In summary, the Klondike gold rush has been a failure in the means of gold gained and profit lost, but it allowed more economical trade in the natives, developing of future technology, and causing a boom in the prices of