Searching for Gold in the Canadian Klondike
Updated June 2022
Gold was discovered at Bonanza Creek in the Klondike area of the Yukon in northern Canada in 1896. Unfortunately, all the easy pickings were taken by 1902, but there is still plenty of gold in the ground around Dawson City.
After the stampeders took all the gold near the surface, dredging machines took over. These giant machines would scoop up bucket after bucket of soil with large scoops on a conveyer belt. After the gold is separated from the dirt, the dredge spits out the dirt and gravel at the other end.
A dredge is something like a boat. The machine digs a hole for its own little pond to search for gold. As the machine slowly moved forward, it digs new ground and fills in the hole behind it. Both the dredge and the pond creep slowly forward. The result was long rows of gravel, known as tailings. You can see these tailings all around Dawson.
These dredges operated around Dawson from the early 1900s until the 1960s. Dredge number four is now owned by Parks Canada. You can see it on Bonanza Creek, near where gold was discovered in 1896. This dredge found an incredible eight tons of gold over its 46-year life.
Since the great increase in the price of gold, the rush is on again to discover gold in the Klondike.
Not many people search for gold by hand anymore. Instead, most are using some type of machinery. For example, big companies use heavy equipment to move the earth.
Stake your claim
It is still possible to stake a claim and search for gold. Here’s how:
- Go to the mine recorder office on Front Street in Dawson and get the instructions on how to stake a claim.
2. Study the maps and find a place that is not already staked.
3. Pay your fee ($10) (subject to change).
4. Make or buy (from a lumberyard) your stakes (another $10).
5. Go and physically find your claim on the ground.
6. Put in your first stake. Then measure off 500 feet (152.4 meters) and put a second stake on the other side of your claim.
7. Go back to the mine recorder office and get a tag to put on your stake with your claim number. Then, return to your claim and put the tags on your stakes.
8. Start digging. Good luck.
Notice. Anyone can stake a claim, but this is for people who are serious about finding gold. It is not a day trip for tourists. You will need to spend a few days doing the research and paperwork and getting your stakes. All of the claims near a creek or road have been taken, so your claim will be well into the forest. If you stake a claim, you are required by law to put a reasonable amount of work, effort, and expense into searching for gold. You can camp on your claim or erect a tent or small cabin, but you are not allowed to build a permanent structure.
Reenact the Klondike Gold Rush – Part Six: Search for Gold.
It is possible to try your hand at gold panning without staking a claim. Ask directions at the visitors centre to get to claim 6 above Discovery, known as the “free claim”. Anyone is allowed to look for gold here without filing a claim. You will need a shovel and a gold pan which you buy, borrow or rent in town.
Do not search for gold in random places. Searching for gold on another person’s claim is a serious offence and you can get yourself into a lot of trouble.[
Part one to five of reenact the Klondike Gold Rush. Click Here.