<P> To reach the gold fields, most took the route through the ports of Dyea and Skagway in Southeast Alaska . Here, the Klondikers could follow either the Chilkoot or the White Pass trails to the Yukon River and sail down to the Klondike . Each of them was required to bring a year's supply of food by the Canadian authorities in order to prevent starvation . In all, their equipment weighed close to a ton, which for most had to be carried in stages by themselves . Together with mountainous terrain and cold climate, this meant that those who persisted did not arrive until summer 1898 . Once there, they found few opportunities, and many left disappointed . </P> <P> Mining was challenging as the ore was distributed in an uneven manner and digging was made slow by permafrost . As a result, some miners chose to buy and sell claims, building up huge investments and letting others do the work . To accommodate the prospectors, boom towns sprang up along the routes and at their end Dawson City was founded at the confluence of the Klondike and the Yukon River . From a population of 500 in 1896, the town grew to house around 30,000 people by summer 1898 . Built of wood, isolated and unsanitary, Dawson suffered from fires, high prices, and epidemics . Despite this, the wealthiest prospectors spent extravagantly gambling and drinking in the saloons . The Native Hän people, on the other hand, suffered from the rush, being moved into a reserve to make way for the stampeders, and many died . </P> <P> From 1898, the newspapers that had encouraged so many to travel to the Klondike lost interest in it . In the summer of 1899, gold was discovered around Nome in west Alaska, and many prospectors left the Klondike for the new goldfields, marking the end of the rush . The boom towns declined and the population of Dawson City fell . Gold mining activity lasted until 1903 when production peaked after heavier equipment was brought in . Since then the Klondike has been mined on and off, and today the legacy draws tourists to the region and contributes to its prosperity . </P> <P> The indigenous peoples in north - west America had traded in copper nuggets prior to European expansion . Most of the tribes were aware that gold existed in the region, but the metal was not valued by them . The Russians and the Hudson's Bay Company had both explored the Yukon in the first half of the 19th century, but ignored the rumours of gold in favour of fur trading, which offered more immediate profits . </P>

When did the gold rush start in alaska