Destitute Miners Return from the Yukon
A naval vessel brings news of the Yukon gold rush: a few striking it rich while many others return empty-handed.
The United States man-of-war Mohican arrived tonight from Unalaska via Sitka and intermediate ports. Five officers and seventeen men are down with the grip. The Mohican reports that thirty miners, some destitute, have arrived at Unalaska from the Yukon river en route to San Francisco. Three or four of the leaders had $75,000 in gold dust and the others were broke. The Mohican broke her feed pump and put in here for repairs.
“Three or four of the leaders had $75,000 in gold dust and the others were broke.”
The brief account of miners returning 'broke' from the Yukon is a stark reminder of the reality behind the gold rush myth—a pattern of economic desperation and extreme risk that Seattle, as a gateway city, was deeply embedded in.
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