This Day in History August 16, 1896

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Anyone up for some gold?  If you had been around on this date in 1896, you may have joined the 100,000 people who made their way towards the Klondike for the last big gold rush.  George Carmack (a prospector given to braggadocious claims and often not taken seriously)  and his two Native American comrades were salmon fishing near the Klondike River.  They happened to find a nugget of gold on the river bed.  His claim was not taken seriously at first, but in about a year, the area was swamped.  By the time most arrived in the Klondike, all the gold was claimed.

By Klondike_Gold_Rush_map.jpg: unknown derivative work: Borrow-188 (Klondike_Gold_Rush_map.jpg) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

For more information, please check out:

http://library.thinkquest.org/5181/

http://content.lib.washington.edu/extras/goldrush.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klondike_goldrush

http://famousdaily.com/history/klondike-gold-rush-discover-gold-tributary.html