How a nation desperate for wealth fell prey to ‘gold fever’
In July 1896, a trapper and occasional prospector in Alaska discovered in a tributary of the Klondike River “so much gold layered between the slabs of bedrock, he thought they looked like cheese sandwiches.” He staked claims for himself and a few family members, made the three-day trek to the settlement of Fortymile to file the legal paperwork – and set off the largest gold rush in United States history.
“Stampede: Gold Fever and Disaster in the Klondike” is
