My Experiences in the Yukon [2]

[George Carmack’s opinion of Robert Henderson]

As far as I know, Henderson’s claim never did show up over two or three cents to the pan. His childish, unreasoning prejudice would not even allow him to stake on the same creek with the despised “Siwashes” so his obstinacy lost him a fortune.

Why the Canadian Government warded [sic] a pension to Bob Henderson for making the first gold discovery in the Klondike district is a mystery to me, unless it was because he was a Canadian, and my name was “GEORGE WASHINGTON Carmack.” Now, I have never claimed to be the original discoverer of gold in the Klondike. But on August 17, 1896, one of the most startling and far reaching events in the history of gold discoveries took place when I uncovered the frozen bosom of the Klondike and sent forth from Bonanza Creek the astounding cry: “One hundred dollars to the pan!”

That cry was heard clear across the continent, while the echo reverberated around the entire globe. This discovery poured into the exchequer of the Canadian Government such a huge sum in royalties from the gold taken out that it added materially to the prosperity of that country. It has also built large cities, established lines of transportation and traffic, opened the gates of the Northern Empire and peopled the vast and lonely land with a sturdy, energetic, perservering [sic] population. There is positive evidence that gold was discovered in the Klondike eight years before Henderson came into the Yukon Territory.