MP-1979.111.27 | Dog team hauling lumber, Bonanza Creek, YT, 1897-98
Dog team hauling lumber, Bonanza Creek, YT, 1897-98
Edwin Tappan Adney
1897-1898, 19th century
Silver salts on glass - Gelatin dry plate process
10 x 12 cm
© McCord Museum
Keywords: event (534) , History (944) , Photograph (77678)
Keys to History
Because it cost a fortune to ship freight upriver, miners had to carry everything over the passes. As a result, most miners had only very basic tools with them. Since they generally could not afford to buy lumber, they had to cut their own for their cabins and for the sluice-boxes and other mining equipment. Using only axes and handsaws, they chopped down trees and hewed rough boards. It was very hard work, especially for men who were from the cities of North America and Europe and unused to manual labour. If a miner was lucky enough to have a team of dogs, the work was easier, but dogs were expensive, too. The Website of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park describes the environmental damage caused by the miners' logging .
Source : Off to the Klondike! The Search for Gold [Web tour], by William R. Morrison, University of Northern British Columbia (see Links)
A miner is using a team of dogs and a sled to haul lumber during the Yukon gold rush.
This is Bonanza Creek, the site of the original discovery of gold in August 1896.
The picture dates from 1897-98, the height of the gold rush.
The names of man and dog were not recorded.