Why 1896?

On August 16th of 1896, a local miner, George Washington Carmack, was the first person to discover Yukon gold along Rabbit Creek (later renamed Bonanza Creek). He was with his wife Kate Carmack, his brother-in-law Skookum Jim, and their nephew Dawson Charlie all members of the Tagish First Nation. This first discovery of gold was a historical event that would impact the Yukon forever.

When news hit Seattle and San Francisco, a large influx of (estimated to be 100,000) prospectors from all around the world migrated over to the Klondike Gold Rush to seek for a better life.

A couple years after the discovery in 1896, Dawson City became the home to 40,000 people in one year.

With the rapidly growing population in Dawson from the Klondike gold rush, the federal government was prompted to exert stronger control in the Yukon.

On June 13th 1898, the Yukon became an official territory of Canada and Dawson city was the new Capital of the Yukon.