The Yukon Photographers: Gold Rush Era, 1897-1900

Photographic artifacts

Photographers have been visiting the Yukon since U.S. Army Lieutenant Schwatka travelled down the Yukon River in 1883. After the discovery of gold on Bonanza Creek in 1896, many commercial photographers travelled to Dawson City, photographing the journey and establishing studios along the way. Many of the stampeders also had small roll-film cameras as part of their outfits. The photographers featured here were in the Yukon just before or during the gold rush and are only some of those that photographed the Klondike gold rush.

The vast majority of the commercial photographers, some twenty-one of them, made a living from selling views of Klondike gold rush events. Eight successful photographers had other careers to fall back on; careers ranging from taxidermist to boilermaker to sign painter. The Yukon was typical of booming western mining and lumber areas in attracting itinerant photographers, but unique in capturing the interest of well established studios and newspapers. It is interesting to note that many of the established photographers were acquainted with one another before they arrived in the Yukon and kept in touch after they moved on. They formed partnerships with one another and hired the less experienced as staff photographers, deliverymen or clerks. The gold rush photographers left behind a legacy of thousands of images that portray almost all aspects of life in the Yukon at that time.