The Nature of Gold: An Environmental History of the Klondike Gold Rush

Contents

contents Foreword by William Cronon ix Acknowledgments xv Introduction: On the Chilkoot 3 1 / The Culture of Gold 16 2 / The Nature of the Journey 40 3 / The Culture of the Journey 67 4 / The Nature of Gold Mining 89 5 / The Culture of Gold Mining 115 6 / The Nature & Culture of Food 138 7 / The Nature & Culture of Seattle 166 Conclusion: Nature, Culture, and Value 191 Notes 203 Selected Bibliography 255 Index 275 vii maps 1. Geography of the Alaska-Yukon gold rush 5 2. Selected transportation routes to goldfields in the Yukon and Alaska, including the “Rich Man’s Route,” the “Poor Man’s Route,” and the Teslin Trail 41 3. Transcontinental railroad routes in western North America, 1898 46 4. Transportation routes to the goldfields: the Chilkoot Trail, White Pass Trail, Yukon Headwater Lakes, Upper Yukon River, and White Pass & Yukon Railroad (built 1898–1900) 52 5. Transportation routes to the goldfields: the Upper Yukon to Dawson City 54 6. The Klondike goldfields, Yukon Territory 90 7. Yukon River gold creeks in Alaska 91 viii ...