Guard Island Lighthouse: An Alaska Family Station

In early July 1897, gold was discovered in Rabbit Creek near Dawson City in the Yukon. A few weeks later, several grubstake miners arrived in Seattle and San Francisco, showing off their bags of gold. One nugget was said to be the size of a walnut! The Klondike Gold Rush began, sending a shockwave of excitement around the world. The "Panic of 1893" and the subsequent "Panic of 1896" had sent the United States plummeting into the throes of a recession, with serious bank failures, high unemployment, and businesses out of money. Suddenly, everyone realized riches awaited in the far-flung territory in the American north called Alaska!