Klondike

Klondike, or KLONDYKE, a small tributary of the Yukon river in the Canadian district of Yukon, separated from the North-West Territories in 1895. The Klondike (properly Thron-duiek, 'plenty of fish') gives name to an extraordinarily rich auriferous region, partially known as early as 1873. Gold-mining was being carried on on the Lewis and Stewart rivers in the early eighties, but only in 1896 was gold found on the Klondike in such abundance as to cause the desertion of the adjoining diggings and to create a rush from Europe, renewed in 1897 and 1898. Dawson, where the Klondike enters the Yukon river, is 60 miles east of the Alaskan (U.S.) frontier.