American writer Jack London was among the gold seekers. He became famous for writing about his experiences in Alaska and Canada. He wrote a short story that perhaps best explains the terrible conditions gold seekers faced. It is called “The White Silence.”
In the story, Mister London explained how the extreme cold made the world seem dead. It caused strange thoughts. He said the cold and silence of this frozen world seemed to increase a man’s fear of death. This cruel cold could make a man afraid of his own voice.
The story also tells what could happen to a person who had an accident. There were not many doctors in the gold fields. A seriously injured person could only expect to die. Jack London’s many stories truthfully explained just how hard it was to be a gold seeker in eighteen ninety-seven.
By the end of winter, the area around Lake Bennett was a huge temporary town of more than ten thousand people. They were all waiting for the ice to melt so they could continue on to the gold fields. On May twenty-eighth, eighteen ninety-eight, the Yukon River could again hold boats. The ice was melting. That day, more than seven thousand boats began the trip to Dawson.
Many of these gold seekers did not survive the trip on the Yukon River. All of the boats had to pass through an area called the White Horse Rapids. The water there was fast and dangerous. Many boats turned over. Many of the gold seekers died.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25