1. Let’s Get Started! The Klondike Gold Rush
You are about to engage in the Guidebook unit Call of the Wild. The purpose of this video is to learn about the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896, which will help you understand the plot and setting of the book.
Link to handout
LINK TO ONE-PAGER

2. BE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR HANDOUT AND SOMETHING TO WRITE WITH FOR THE VIDEO.

3. In 1896, thousands of people left their warm homes to travel across a freezing wilderness. Why?
Imagine traveling across wilderness like this without the comfort of a car, plane, or train. Why would someone be willing to give up a life full of food, warmth, and family, to travel through a place like this? What would motivate you to travel across freezing wilderness?
Image source: (Not sure yet if this is a site that is a) reliable, and b) available for me to take images from)
Image source:

4. Why? The Klondike Gold Rush
The answer is simple; gold (INSERT). (INSERT) In 1896, three men found gold near the Klondike River in the Yukon Territory in Canada. Words spread quickly, and people flocked to the area for their chance to become rich, and even make what is equivalent today to millions of dollars worth of gold. (INSERT) This period of time was called the Klondike Gold Rush.
(CLICK TWICE TO DELETE THEN INSERT) This pictures shows the amount of gold that one group of miners found in one day! You can see why the promise of this amount of riches was so strong for so many people.
Image Source (man holding pan):
Image of bowls of gold source:

5. Where?
Where did the Klondike Gold Rush take place? Most of the activity began in Alaska and ended in Canada’s Yukon territory, (INSERT) in this part of the continent. Let’s get a closeup of this. (INSERT)
While there were many routes to reach the site of the rumored gold, most prospectors, or people who search for gold, began in Dyea or Skagway, Alaska (INSERT twice) and ended near the town of Dawson, in Canada (INSERT). In order to get there, they had to cross hundreds of miles of dangerous Alaskan wilderness. There were no roads, railroads, and certainly no planes to help them make this treacherous journey. Notice that Dawson is near the Klondike River (INSERT), after which the gold rush was named.
Image source (bigger scale map)
Image source (more detailed map)

6. When?
1800s
1896
1600s and 1700s
To understand what came before the gold rush, let’s look at a brief timeline of some of the events leading up to it.
(INSERT) In the 1600’s and 1700’s, much of Canada was colonized by the French, who made money there by trading in fur.
(INSERT) In the 1880’s, some gold was found in the Yukon River, near the Klondike River. Word spread, and a few hundred prospectors moved in. The Han people, native Americans living in the area, knew where to find the gold, and often made deals with the prospectors to help them find it.
(INSERT) In 1896, one of these prospectors, George Carmack, discovered a large deposit of gold on a tributary, or stream leading to the Klondike River. More miners came to the region and found lots of gold.
Image sources:
Fur traders:
Gold panner:
George Carmack:

7. When?
1897
July 1897
(INSERT) By that same July, ships carrying many of these miners and lots and lots of gold showed up in Seattle, Washington and San Francisco, California. People took notice, and soon word spread around the country that there was a fortune to be made in the Yukon Territory.
(INSERT) Later that year, thousands of hopeful prospectors showed up in Alaska to claim their own share of the fortune. The “Klondike Stampede” had begun.
Image sources:
Gold Headline:
Alaska harbor:

8. 1 Answer the question on your handout.
Now you are ready to summarize what you’ve learned so far. Pause the video, and follow the directions on the slide. Press play when you are ready to continue.

9. 1
Your answer should be something like this: The Klondike Gold Rush describes the time in the late 1800s when thousands of gold prospectors from around the country flocked to the Klondike River in Canada in search of gold in order to become rich.

10. Hardships on the Trail:
high mountains with no passes
many icy rivers, too rough to pass
2,000 pounds worth of supplies
temperature as low as 60 degrees below zero
As exciting as it seemed, many prospectors turned back once they realized what it took to get to the gold fields. (INSERT) For one, the journey throughout the Klondike River was hundreds of miles long, and the passage consisted mostly of high, jagged mountains with hardly any paths between them. (INSERT) They also had to contend with countless rivers, many of which were too rough to cross.
(INSERT) As if that weren’t enough, travelers had to carry a year’s worth of supplies with them - everything from food to shelter to rope and tools. The weight of flour alone was about 800 pounds. The typical weight of the mountain of supplies they had to carry was about 2,000 pounds. Most travelers, who were too poor to hire horses or dog sleds (like the one you will read about in Call of the Wild), had to make many trips across the trail so that they could carry all of these supplies themselves.
(INSERT) To make matters even worse, winters in the area were long and cold. It wasn’t unusual for temperatures to drop to 60 degrees below zero.
Source of information:
Image Sources:

11. 2 Follow the directions on your handout.
Now you are ready to put this information together in your own words. Pause this video to record your answers on your handout at stop sign #2. Hit play when you are ready to continue.

12. 2
You may have mentioned that (INSERT) the gold prospectors had to cross high mountain passes with no roads; (INSERT) that they had to traverse icy, rapid rivers; (INSERT) they had to carry about 2,000 pounds worth of supplies with them; (INSERT) and that they dealt with sub-zero temperatures.

13. It was a hard day’s run, up the cañon, through Sheep Camp, past the Scales and the timber line, across glaciers and snowdrifts hundreds of feet deep, and over the great Chilkoot Divide, which stands between the salt water and the fresh and guards forbiddingly the sad and lonely North. They made good time down the chain of lakes which fills the craters of extinct volcanoes, and late that night pulled into the huge camp at the head of Lake Bennett, where thousands of goldseekers were building boats against the breakup of ice in the spring.
Call of the Wild, London, 12
Now that we know what the Klondike Gold Rush was, let’s read an excerpt from Call of the Wild together so we can get a sense of how this incredible setting is described in the book. (INSERT) Buck, the main character, is a dog who helps pull people and gear on sleds through this landscape. Here, he is describing his travels for one day of work.
It was a hard day’s run, up the canon, through Sheep Camp, past the Scales and the timber line, across glaciers and snowdrifts hundreds of feet deep, and over the great Chilkoot Divide, which stands between the salt water and the fresh and guards forbiddingly the sad and lonely North. They made good time down the chain of lakes which fills the craters of extinct volcanoes, and late that night pulled into the huge camp at the head of Lake Bennett, where thousands of goldseekers were building boats against the breakup of ice in the spring.
Image source:

14. 3
Follow the directions on your handout.
It was a hard day’s run, up the cañon, through Sheep Camp, past the Scales and the timber line, across glaciers and snowdrifts hundreds of feet deep, and over the great Chilkoot Divide, which stands between the salt water and the fresh and guards forbiddingly the sad and lonely North. They made good time down the chain of lakes which fills the craters of extinct volcanoes, and late that night pulled into the huge camp at the head of Lake Bennett, where thousands of goldseekers were building boats against the breakup of ice in the spring.
Call of the Wild, London, 12
Let’s make some connections between this excerpt from the book and some of the places on your map. Pause the video, and circle the highlighted places from the text on your map next to stop sign 3. Note that on the map, the Chilkoot Divide is called the Chilkoot Pass. Press play when you are ready to continue.

15. 3
You probably found Sheep Camp (INSERT) here, not far from the start of the trail in Dyea. The Chilkoot Pass, also known as the Chilkoot Divide, (INSERT) is here, below the Chilkoot Trail; and Lake Bennett is at the top of the map, here (INSERT).
These places were central to the Klondike Gold Rush and to Buck’s travels and experiences that you will read more about in the novel, Call of the Wild.
Image source: (from Pinterest:

16. Now I’m becoming an expert on the Klondike Gold Rush!
Turn your completed handout in to your teacher.
In this video, you learned about the Klondike Gold Rush - what it was and where and when it took place. This will help you understand the setting and the main events as you read the book, Call of the Wild. When you finish this video, be sure to turn in your completed handout to your teacher.