1897 New Official Map of Alaska...
New Official Map of Alaska Showing Also British Columbia with Portions of Northwest Territories, Athabasca, and Alberta, with Routes to the Klondike District in Red.
By: Rand McNally & Co.
Date: 1897 (dated) Chicago
Dimensions: 17 x 23.25 inches (43 x 59 cm)
A scarce map of Alaska published at the height of the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Yukon Territory. The map was published by Rand McNally & Company with the purpose of delineating the various routes (in red) to the Klondike Region from San Francisco, Seattle, Sitka, and Edmonton.
The Klondike Gold Rush ran from 1896 when gold was discovered by local miners to 1899 when many prospectors had been unsuccessful and gold was discovered in Nome, which sent many further north, thus beginning the Nome Gold Rush (1899 - 1909). It took roughly one year for word to reach American cities such as San Francisco and Seattle that gold had been discovered in the Klondike and another year for one to make the journey to the Klondike. Prospectors were encouraged to take a year's worth of supplies for their journey as there were no railroads in the region and most had to make the arduous journey on foot.
Along the various routes sprouted numerous towns and forts that made a good deal of money resupplying prospectors and offering a warm bath, shower, and saloon. Dawson City, the town located within the Klondike Region grew in population from 500 in 1896, to approximately 30,000 people by summer 1898. Such rapid growth brought on fires, disease, and inflated prices for basic goods. While some made life-changing fortunes in the Klondike, the vast majority of prospectors left penniless, either homebound or onto their next opportunity in Nome.
- OCLC locates just one institutional example of this map at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Condition: This map is in A condition, issued folded, now mostly flat with a few minor tears along the left edge that have been repaired on the verso. Margins are whole on all sides, colors are bright, and the paper is clean.
Inventory #11967
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