 Gold was discovered in Canada’s Yukon Territory in 1897  The city exploited the discovery › Stores opened that sold supplies to the prospectors › Hotels housed the miners before they left › Ships left from Seattle to the Yukon  Seattle was the closest port to the Yukon

 Tens of thousands fled north › 1,500 on the first ship from Seattle, 9 more followed › Even the mayor of Seattle quit his job and headed north to the gold fields  Each miner had to take about 2,000 pounds of supplies with him › This included 1,000 pounds of food

 Seattle billed itself worldwide as “The Gateway to the Klondike” › Advertised in newspapers and magazines, even sent letters to other world leaders  People stampeded to Seattle › They were actually called “Stampeders” › People were under the impression that gold nuggets were lying all over the ground  People brought gunny sacks expecting to just pick them up and take them home

 Less than half of the 100,000 people the set out, actually got there  The “Rich Man’s Route” was an all water route that included 2,000 miles on the Yukon River  The “Poor Man’s Route” was shorter but much harder › They had to climb over steep mountains and then build a boat and travel 500 miles down the Yukon River  Most arrived to find the best claims were already staked

 John Nordstrom invested $13,000 into a shoe store in Seattle › Became the Nordstrom department store chain › The Nordstrom’s actually owned the Seattle Seahawks for a time  Edward Nordoff turned his small store into the Bon Marche  The Klondike gold rush turned Seattle into the biggest city in the Pacific Northwest by 1910 › A title it has yet to relinquish