Tales of Gold 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: True

In many North American gold rushes, the miners had quite a long and difficult path to follow in order to reach the gold field. In Alaska, the gold was found on the beach, rather than the interior, so there really wasn't even any need to even file a claim to the land. At one point during the gold rush, there was a tent city on the beach that reached for thirty miles.

Answer: Seward Peninsula

The people who live in the area of Seward Peninsula today say that they live on the world's largest gold pan, however, there are people from Quesnel, British Columbia, who have also claimed the honor. Part of the ancient Bering land bridge, the peninsula has been populated by humans for thousands of years.

It was believed to be a camping site, called Sitnasuak, for the Inupiat Eskimos for hundreds of years before Russia claimed Alaska. During the Alaskan gold rush of 1899, the Snake River and tributary creeks on the peninsula were the site of many of the gold mining claims.

The peninsula was named for William Seward, Secretary of State for President Lincoln, who was instrumental in arranging the purchase of Alaska from Russia.

Answer: Three Lucky Swedes

Jafet Lindeberg, who had unsuccessfully tried to search for gold in Norway, originally had been signed on to serve as a reindeer keeper in Canada to help with the gold rush there, however, the Canadian gold stampede ended almost as quickly as it started. Ending up on the Snake River in Alaska, he met two men from Sweden - Erik Lindblom, who had already been prospecting for gold in different areas, and John Brynteson, who had worked in iron and copper mines. Together they formed the Pioneer Mining and Ditch Company. Also considered to be founders of of a new city, all three men are listed in the Alaskan Mining Hall of Fame for the discovery they made on Anvil Creek; they made a fortune during the gold rush - an estimated $20,000,000 by 1920.

Answer: Klondike

By 1899 the Klondike gold rush was over. News of the discovery in Alaska made its way to the miners in Canada very quickly, and within a few months, the population of in the gold field area there had swelled to 10,000 people; many of those first people had arrived from the Klondike area.

A year later, steamships arrived from San Francisco and Seattle, and in 1902 adventurers left from Adelaide, Australia, on a ship called the Inca. The rush was on!

Answer: Nome

Nome grew into a gold mining town overnight. Organized as the Nome mining district, the U.S. Army was brought into the area to keep the peace. While the population in 1890 was 2754 according to census records, by 1900 the population had risen to 12,488; it was estimated that by that time about 1,000 new arrivals came into the settlement every day. From 1900-1909 the population rose to 20,000, and by the time of the 1910 census, the gold rush was over.

The population of the city had fallen to just 2600. Mining there continues to this day.

It is estimated that the gold field has yielded over 3.6 million troy ounces of gold.

Answer: Alexander McKenzie

Alexander McKenzie, a Congressman from North Dakota, tried to seize claims that had been made along the river and creeks with the help of a federal district judge, Arthur Noyes, who he had chosen and then appointed to the position. He mined the gold of the original claimants while they waited for the Ninth Court of Appeals to hear their case. Ultimately, McKenzie was arrested and sentenced to a jail term of twelve months; after serving three months he received a pardon from President McKinley. In 1906 Rex Beach published "The Spoilers" about McKenzie's claim jumping.

The book was also made into a play and at least five different movies.

Answer: June-October

The gold mining season was approximately 125 days long. It could be longer if the weather permitted, but by the end of October some years the temperatures at night fell so low that the water began to freeze; it was also possible for it to snow up to the end of May and into the beginning of June.

When the U.S. Army patrolled the mining district, one of its responsibilities was to expel people from the area who had no means of support or shelter in anticipation of the freezing weather that was soon to come.

Answer: Panning

Gold panning, a type of placer mining, is one of the simplest ways of looking for gold. Dating all the way back to ancient Rome, where the method was used in the streams and mountains, panning doesn't have as large of a yield as other methods, but it is the cheapest and easiest. Stream deposits are picked up with the pan, after which it is gently shaken. Because gold has a greater density that most of the other sediments, it will fall to the bottom of the pan. Using this method, one typically finds gold dust, but sometimes a gold vein can also be found.

While pans were used first during the gold rush, eventually sluices and rockers were used.

Answer: Permafrost

Permafrost is ground that has been frozen for more than two consecutive years. Just below the top of the ground, the prospectors found permafrost. In order to make digging into the ground easier, it was thawed with steam heat. A furnace was used to pump steam into the ground.

This method worked very well, however, it required more specialized equipment. Hydraulic methods were also used to move the soil off creek banks and into sluices.

Answer: The city didn't have a harbor.

The only difficulty in reaching the beach at the time was due to the fact that the area did not have a harbor; consequently, those who arrived by ship had to be taken to shore by local boats. If summer was late in coming and the shore was still iced, miners would be brought to shore by dog sled! By 1901 the city had a loading crane, and by 1905 a wharf had been built.