"Four of us, now all these people die excepting me. The time we find gold
in the Klondike - just a kid, I am old man now."
Hundreds of visitors to the Yukon have heard Patsy Henderson begin his
story of the gold rush with these words. Born at Tagish in 1876, Patsy still dimly remembers the beginning of the biggest gold rush in history. Only a few years ago, he could still recount in detail what happened in the summer of 1896. The tale as he told it, was:
"I want to tell you a little story about George Carmack. George when he came to this country about '88, no white man here that time; no store, just Indian around here, but white man way down river; not here.
"So that George Carmack come from outside Chilkoot Pass. When he come this place he married Skookum Jim sister, my aunt. He stay around here with Indians. First year he didn't understand the way Indian live; when he stay with Indian two years he understand. At that time we don't work for nobody, we work for ourselves. George Carmack likes this. He don't work for nobody. He stay around here five years. He got tired around here and wife and he went down Yukon river. When he went down he said he would not come back for two years.
"He never came back for two years. We miss him. We go down looking for him - my brother Dawson Charlie, my uncle Skookum Jim and me - built little rowboat ourselves.
Down River
"When we start from Tagish 1896 we go down river in rowboat and we go
through canyon to Whitehorse in rowboat and we row the boat all way down the river. No machine, all hand work. We rowed down the Yukon from Tagish. Two weeks time. When we come down Klondike we find him, George Carmack. He stay among the Indians on the Klondike. We told him we come down for look for you.
"He tell us too bad you fellows look for me long ways and he tell us we
can't come back till winter time. So we stay and put fish trap in water on the Klondike river. Fish for winter-fish for dogs. After awhile he tell us one man came up the river before you fellows. That man he told me he found gold last fall away back and that is where he went again, that man. That man is named Bob Henderson.
They Find Gold
"He is a white man, we haven't seen him but George saw him. George tell
us let us go look for that man, maybe he found lots of gold. He tell us like that, so we go look for him, Charlie, Skookum Jim, and George Carmack - three people look for Bob Henderson. That is time they find gold, but I stay home in camp on Klondike. I look after fish trap and dogs in camp.
"Three people leave Klondike own camp and start off up the creek, but the first gold found eight miles from camp. Dawson Charlie found ten cent nugget - little pin head. He don't find in creek; find on side hill on slide on top of rock. So we went up creek, we see gold, we pan it, at same time they look for Bob Henderson and find him away back, maybe forty miles from the Klondike.
"Bob Henderson has got a creek and he got a little gold. He stay there and he is alone. But those three people stay at Bob Henderson's camp one night, the next day they turn back. But they come back different creek and they see gold again. Every time they come down a little ways then they see gold, but they look for good large place, nobody bother, they pan, so when they come down half way creek they take a rest on top of bank and one man go down creek to get drink of water. Skookum Jim go down to creek for drink of water.
"When he got through drinking he call, 'George, come down here, bring down shovel and gold pan and we try here.' Twenty minutes they panned five dollars, George say, 'I think we have a good place, I am staking claim.' Staked claim for three people. When they staked claim they named creek Bonanza. First creek to be found in Klondike."
