The Cremation of Sam McGee

Renowned as the richest gold strike in North American mining history, the Klondike Gold Rush (1896-1899) set off a “stampede” of more than 100,000 people on a colossal journey from Alaska to the gold fields of Canada’s Yukon Territory. The boomtown of Dawson City emerges as the heart of this story of determination, luck, fortune and loss. Known as the “Paris of the North,” it’s filled with banks, saloons, stores and hotels; for the stampeders and the outside world, it’s a place where lives can in fact be revolutionized. Award-winning author Charlotte Gray and historians Terrence Cole and Michael Gates bring new insights and perspective to the event. Excerpts from Tappan Adney’s celebrated book The Klondike Stampede (1900) bring the Harper’s Weekly correspondent to life. Present-day characters reveal that the Klondike still resonates with the frontier spirit.