Yukon Territory
This month marks 120 years since gold was discovered in the Yukon, in 1896.
Over the following year, more than 100,000 prospectors from all over Canada and beyond, rushed to the area to look for gold, but less than half of them eventually made it.
It was known as the Klondike Gold Rush, and between 1896 and 1904, over $100 million worth of gold was uncovered from the depths of the Yukon River.
It all began when an American prospector and his family were traveling south of the Klondike River. Following a suggestion from another prospector, they began to look for gold in Bonanza Creek - and they found it in huge quantities!
George Carmack registered four claims, and from there word spread rapidly to the other mining camps along the Yukon River valley. By the end of August, the whole of Bonanza Creek had been claimed, and others had begun advancing on other creeks in the area, where even more gold was discovered.
Of the men and women who made it to the Yukon, most had no experience in the mining industry. There were only around 15,000 of the original 100,000 who finally became prospectors, and of those, no more than 4,000 struck gold, and only a few hundred became rich.
Nonetheless, tales of its wild, mountainous, and untamed land, where dreams were made, and hopes were shattered, made it perfect material for a radio show, and nothing could be more exciting for listeners than to hear stories of gold discoveries, tracking down smugglers, helping injured trappers, greed, deceit and murder. And so came along the Challenge of The Yukon, a radio series first heard on February 3rd, 1938.
One of my favorite programs, it was a fabulous adventure series about Sergeant William Preston of the North-West Mounted Police and his lead sled dog, Yukon King, as they fought evildoers in the Northern wilderness during the Gold Rush of the 1890s.
There are over 300 of the Challenge of the Yukon shows available on RUSC, with more being added every week. I hope that you enjoy them as much as Joy and I do!
Happy listening my friends,
