Jack London and the Klondike Gold Rush Read online

  Dawson, George Mercer

  Dead Horse Trail (White Pass Trail)

  death

  on Chilkoot Trail

  in Dawson

  freezing to

  of horses on trail

  of London

  of Stampeders

  Deep Lake

  discovery claim

  dogs

  of Dawson

  dogfights

  huskies

  mail delivery by dog team

  wolf half-breeds

  dogsleds

  drift

  Dyea

  mudflats

  waterfront

  Dyea River

  Eldorado Creek

  cabin

  claims

  Eldorado Kings

  Excelsior

  famine, in Dawson

  First Nations

  Five Finger Rapids

  food supplies. See also cooking; gear and food

  Dawson

  scurvy and

  year’s worth of

  fool’s gold

  Fort Selkirk

  freeze-up

  friendship

  gear and food. See also food supplies; supplies

  carrying and packing

  year’s worth of

  Gepfert, Cornelius M.

  glaciers

  gold

  fool’s

  overview

  placer

  sifting

  Yukon gold fields

  Yukon gold strikes

  Golden Stairs

  Goodman, Big Jim

  journey to Klondike

  in Klondike

  Goodman, Dan

  Goodman, Zella

  Graveyard. See Whitehorse Rapids

  Hän People (Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in)

  Happy Camp

  Hargrave, Bert

  Harnish, Elam

  Harper’s Weekly

  Harvey, Doc

  Head of Canoe Navigation

  Henderson, Robert

  Henderson Creek

  cabin

  claim

  December 3, 1897–late January 1898

  mine

  horses

  Dawson horse-drawn cart

  death on trail

  pack trains

  Hudson’s Bay Company

  hunting

  huskies

  “Husky: The Wolf-Dog of the North” (London)

  “In a Far Country” (London)

  Irving, Washington

  Jack London and the Klondike (Walker)

  Jack London Museum

  Jack London’s Klondike Adventure (Wilson)

  Jensen, Emil

  Judge, William Henry (Saint of Dawson)

  Juneau

  Káa Goox (Dawson Charlie)

  Keish (Skookum Jim Mason)

  Keogh

  King of the Klondike. See McDonald, Alexander “Big Alec”

  Klondike. See also specific topics

  miner-ravaged land

  overview

  sawmill

  Klondike, trip to

  August 7–September 8, 1897

  September 9–October 9, 1897

  “A Klondike Christmas” (London)

  Klondike fever

  Klondike Hotel, Dawson

  Klondike Nugget

  Klondike plague. See scurvy

  Klondike River

  The Klondike Stampede (London)

  Klondike stories

  Klondike Valley

  Klondikers

  Laberge (lake)

  Ladue, Joseph

  Lady of the Chilkoot

  lakes

  alpine

  journey across

  “Like Argus of Ancient Times” (London)

  Lindeman (lake)

  Lindeman, Lindeman City

  lining, line down

  Little Salmon River

  log cutting

  London, Jack. See also specific topics

  American hobo adventure

  books about Klondike and

  death

  desire for learning

  drinking of

  early life

  education

  home arrival in 1898

  public speaking

  as sailor

  timeline

  as “Wolf”

  as writer

  youthful reading of

  London, John (stepfather)

  Mahoney, Mike (“Klondike Mike”)

  mail delivery, by dog team

  Malemute Kid

  Mane of the Horse

  Mason, Skookum Jim (Keish)

  McDonald, Alexander (“Big Alec,” “King of the Klondike”)

  McDonald Hotel

  McKinley, William

  Miles Canyon

  mine

  Henderson Creek

  working in

  miners

  cheechakos

  friendship of

  working in shaft

  miner’s cabin. See also cabin

  mining. See also specific issues

  crib

  near Split-Up Island

  placer

  in winter

  Mitchell, Dawne

  Moosehide

  Moosehide Slide

  Mounties. See North West Mounted Police

  muck

  mush, mushing, musher

  mush-ice

  Native Americans. See First Nations

  New York Herald

  North, Dick

  North West Mounted Police (NWMP)

  Oakland, California

  Oakland High School

  oakum

  “An Odyssey of the North” (London)

  outfit

  Overland Monthly

  oyster pirates

  packers

  native

  packhorses. See horses

  panning

  Paris of the North. See also Dawson

  pay dirt

  pay streak

  Pelly River

  permafrost

  placer gold

  placer mining

  porters

  pyrite

  Rabbit Creek. See also Bonanza Creek

  Razzle-Dazzle sloop

  reading

  of London as youth

  in Yukon

  riverboats

  Robeau, Father

  Sailor on Snowshoes: Tracking Jack London’s Northern Trail (North)

  Saint of Dawson (William Henry Judge)

  saloons, Dawson

  San Francisco

  San Francisco Call

  sawpits

  Scales

  scurvy

  sealing schooner

  Service, Robert

  Shaaw Tláa (Kate Carmack)

  shaft

  Sheep Camp

  Shepard, Eliza

  Shepard, James

  Skookum Jim. See Keish

  Slide (Moosehide Mountain)

  Sloper, Merritt

  journey to Klondike

  in Klondike

  sluice, sluicing

  snowshoes

  socialism

  The Son of the Wolf (London)

  Sophia Sutherland

  sourdough bread

  sourdoughs (Alaskan long-term residents)

  Southern Pacific Railway

  “The Spell of the Yukon” (Service)

  Split-Up Island

  cabin

  spring

  Arctic

  river ice breakup

  St. Mary’s Hospital

  Stampede. See also specific topics

  Stampeders. See also Argonauts; cheechakos; specific topics

  boat building

  on Chilkoot Trail

  in Dawson

  death of

  Dyea River crossing of

  at Lake Bennett

  log cutting

  portaging over canyon and rapids

  tensions and strains of

  water journey of

&
nbsp; steamers (steamboats)

  Stewart cabin

  Stewart camp

  Stewart City

  Stewart Island

  Stewart River

  strike

  Carmack strike

  Yukon gold strikes

  summer, Arctic

  supplies. See also gear and food

  Dawson

  sweep

  sweeper

  Tagish

  Tarwater, Martin

  journey to Klondike

  Taylor, Charlie

  Thirty Mile River

  Thompson, Fred

  journey to Klondike

  in Klondike

  Thorson, John

  Tlingit

  “To Build a Fire” (London)

  “To the Man on Trail” (London)

  Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. See Hän People

  Twain, Mark

  University of California, Berkeley

  Upper Island. See Split-Up Island

  vein

  Walker, Franklin

  water journey

  through canyon and rapids

  across lakes

  through tributaries spitting ice

  Wellman, Flora (mother)

  letter to

  whipsaw

  White Fang (London)

  White Pass Trail (Dead Horse Trail)

  “The White Silence” (London)

  Whitehorse

  Whitehorse Rapids (Graveyard)

  wilderness

  Wilson, Mike

  windlass

  winter

  Arctic

  cabin living

  cold

  in Dawson

  freezing to death

  mining in

  wolves

  half-breeds

  Yukon

  Yukon

  frozen landscape

  gold fields

  gold strikes

  reading in

  wolves

  Yukon Belle

  Yukon Code

  Yukon Field Force

  Yukon Midnight Sun

  Yukon River

  freezing of

  heading home on

  rafting down

  spring ice breakup

  Yukon stove

  Yukon Territory

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Peter Lourie has written many award-winning nonfiction books for young readers. A true adventurer, he has traveled all over the world to research his subjects—from the cloud forest of Ecuador in search of Inca treasure, to Lake Turkana in northwestern Kenya on the Ethiopian border, to Tierra del Fuego, and to the jungles of Rondonia, Brazil. He is the author most recently of three books about the Arctic: The Polar Bear Scientists, Whaling Season, and Arctic Thaw. In Peter’s words: “Jack’s spirit reminds me how I love wild places—especially the far North.” Peter lives in Vermont with his family. Visit him online at peterlourie.com, or sign up for email updates here.

  Wendell Minor is the award-winning and bestselling illustrator of numerous books, including Ghost Ship, by Mary Higgins Clark. He lives in Washington, Connecticut. You can sign up for email update here.

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  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Epigraph

  Dedication and Gratitude

  Introduction

  PART ONE

  August 7–September 8, 1897: From the Coast of Alaska over the Mountains to Lake Lindeman

  The Trail Begins

  Cheechako

  Oyster Pirate and Sailor

  Dead Horses

  Sheep Camp

  Tarwater

  The Scales

  Down to Lindeman

  PART TWO

  September 9–October 16, 1897: Down the Yukon River to Split-Up Island

  Building and Launching the Boats

  More Lakes

  Miles Canyon and Whitehorse Rapids

  Lake Laberge

  Tributaries Spitting Ice

  Split-Up Island at Stewart River

  PART THREE

  Late October–December 2, 1897: Dawson

  The City of Gold

  The Bond Brothers and Their Cabin

  Lingering in Dawson

  Big Alec McDonald, King of the Klondike

  The Dogs of Dawson

  PART FOUR

  December 3, 1897–Late January 1898: Henderson and the Creeks

  Henderson Creek

  Cabin Living

  Working the Mine

  Friendships in the Cold

  Scurvy in the Creeks

  PART FIVE

  March–July 1898: Heading Home Down the Long Yukon River

  Ice Breakup and Leaving the White Silence

  Dawson One Last Time

  Father Judge and His Hospital

  Shoving Off

  HOME

  1898–1899

  Capturing the Klondike in Stories

  Afterword

  Notes from the Author

  Notable Places

  Jack London’s Writing

  Jack London Time Line

  Glossary

  Jack London Bibliography and Sources

  Index

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Text Copyright © 2017 by Peter Lourie

  Illustrations Copyright © 2017 by Wendell Minor

  Henry Holt and Company

  Publishers since 1866

  Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.

  175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

  mackids.com

  All rights reserved.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Lourie, Peter, author.|Minor, Wendell, illustrator.

  Title: Jack London and the Klondike gold rush / Peter Lourie, with illustrations by Wendell Minor.

  Description: First edition.|New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2017.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016012053 (print)|LCCN 2016027771 (ebook)|ISBN 9780805097573 (hardback)|ISBN 9780805097580 (Ebook)

  Subjects: LCSH: London, Jack, 1876–1916—Juvenile literature.|Authors, American—20th century—Biography—Juvenile literature.|Adventure and adventurers—United States—Biography—Juvenile literature.|Klondike River Valley (Yukon)—Gold discoveries—Juvenile literature.|BISAC: JUVENILE NONFICTION / Biography & Autobiography / Literary.|JUVENILE NONFICTION / Adventure & Adventurers.

  Classification: LCC PS3523.O46 Z6144 2017 (print)|LCC PS3523.O46 (ebook)|DDC 813/.52 [B]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016012053

  Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by e-mail at [email protected].

  First hardcover edition 2017

  eBook edition March 2017

  eISBN 9780805097580