OLLI 1073 - Gold Fever: A Short History of Alaska's Gold Rushes Lecture

Course Description

Alaska is synonymous with gold. And for good reason. Starting with the first major gold strike in Juneau in 1880, prospectors, gamblers, dancehall girls, cardsharps, con men, and ne-er-do-wells of every sort rushed to the territory from all parts of the world. All had dreams of gold nuggets the size of your fist. Other strikes followed in places like Fairbanks, Nome, Ruby, Flat, and Iditarod, bringing tens of thousands of hopefuls to Alaska. The biggest gold rush of them all, the Klondike in 1897, actually happened across the U.S.-Canada border in the Yukon, but Alaska still reaped many rewards, as well as drawbacks, of the boom. In this lecture, Ross Coen will discuss Alaska's gold rush history, including its colorful characters, environmental impact, and legacy on what would become the nation's 49th state.

This community lecture is open to anyone.