TRACING ANCESTORS FROM THE KLONDIKE GOLD RUSH

Are you seeking an individual who passed through this area during the Klondike Gold Rush?  Perhaps the person had a business here or was involved in local affairs?

This research resource list is an aid for starting your search.  Please note, records of the gold rush era are relatively few and often fragmented.  There were few governmental agencies in Alaska during the Klondike gold rush.  Record-keeping was often minimal or non-existent.  Many records have been lost or are incomplete.  There are many resources for which indexes have not been compiled which makes research time consuming and difficult.

Due to limited budgets, many public institutions do not have the staff to do your research for you.  Please contact each institution directly for its research policy and for records contained within its collections.  Be sure to call or write for an appointment so they can better serve you.

Good luck in your research!

Below you will find various references to genealogy items, both on the Internet and in more traditional format.  Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have additional questions.

Several methods are established to help track a family’s genealogy.  Contacts we know of are listed below.

Sources on Alaskan and Yukon Gold Rushes and Gold Rush Communities resource guide published by Alaska Historical Society:

Office of History & Archaeology
AK Dept. of Natural Resources
3601 C Street, # 1200
Anchorage, AK  99503
(907)269-8761

Guide to references to 130,000 pioneers:

Alaska & Polar Regions Dept.
Rasmusson Library
P. O. Box 756800
Fairbanks, AK  99775
(907) 474-6594

Gold Rush.org! Visit this site, look around, and try the link to CC Filson's Ghosts of the Yukon where you will be able to search names.  This site also provides links to historical records and an overview of the gold rush.

If you know correct names, dates, and other details try:

Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics
P. O. Box 110673
Juneau, AK  99811
(907) 465-3392

Valdez Museum & Historical Archives has placed online information, including images related to the gold-rush at their Web Site.  This includes a listing of 1,400 names of people who were known to have either passed through or lived in Valdez in 1897-98.

The British Columbia Archives has placed information on their Web Site. This includes the Births Registration Index for the Gold -Rush period (1872-1896), and the Marriage Registration Index for the period (1872-1921), as well as the Death Registration Index period (1872-1976).

Yukon Bureau of Vital Statistics
Box 2703
Whitehorse, YT, Canada  Y1A 2C6
(867) 667-5207

If you are sure the person passed through Skagway contact:

Skagway City Museums
"Trail of '98"
7th & Spring Street
P. O. Box 521
Skagway, AK  99840
(907) 983-2420
(907) 983-3420 Fax

Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park
National Park Service
Second Avenue and Broadway
P. O. Box 517
Skagway, AK  99840
(907) 983-2921
(907) 983-9249 Fax

Klondike Stampeders Relatives Association
P. O. Box 325
Skagway, AK  99840

Skagway Public Library
8th and State
P. O. Box 394
Skagway, AK  99840
(907) 983-2665
(907) 983-2666 Fax

Other resources are available at:

Alaska State Library
Historical Collection
P. O. Box 110571
8th Floor - State Office Building
Juneau, Alaska  99811-0571
(907) 465-2925
(907) 465-2990 Fax

Department of Health and Social Services
Bureau of Vital Statistics
P. O. Box 110675
Juneau, AK  99811-0675
(907) 465-3038

National Archives and Records Administration Pacific Alaska Region

Seattle, WA
6125 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, WA  98115-799
(206) 526-6501
(206) 526-6575 Fax
Email:  center@seattle.nara.gov

Anchorage, AK
654 W. Third Avenue
Anchorage, AK  99501-2145
(907) 271-2441
(907) 271-2442 Fax
Email:  archives@alaska.nara.gov

Atlin Historical Society
P. O. Box 111
Atlin, British Columbia
V0W 1A0 CANADA
(604) 651-7522

Dawson Museum and Historical Society
P. O. Box 303
Dawson City, YT  Y0B 1G0  CANADA
(867) 993-5291
(867) 993-5839 Fax
Email:  dcmuseum@yknet.yk.ca

Yukon Archives
Yukon Place, Yukon College
P. O. Box 2703
Whitehorse, YT  Y1A 2C6  CANADA
(867) 667-5321
(867) 393-6353 Fax

Parks Canada
Klondike National Historic Sites
P. O. Box 390
Dawson City, YT  Y0B 1G0  CANADA
(867) 993-5462
(867) 993-5683 Fax

Parks Canada
Yukon National Historic Sites
205-300 Main Street
Whitehorse, YT  Y1A 2B5  CANADA
(867) 667-3910
(867) 668-3780 Fax

There are a number of sites on the internet that list resources and have easy-to-use databases of names of people who went north to Alaska and Canada during the gold rush.

The most comprehensive site on further research is How To Find Your Gold Rush Relative:

Sources On The Klondike and Alaska Gold Rushes(1896-1914) 
www.library.state.ak.us/

Blacks In Alaska History Project
www.yukonalaska.com/akblkhist/
The Blacks in Alaska History Project website contains lists of black gold miners, the men of the Co. L 24th Infantry and a photograph collection.

Valdez Museum and Historical Archives
www.alaska.net/~vldzmuse/index.html
The Valdez Museum has put information and images related to the gold rush on-line, including 2,900 names of people who were known to have either passed through or lived in Valdez in 1897-1898.

Ghosts of the Klondike/C. C. Filson Genealogical Database
www.gold-rush.org/filson/index.html
The Dawson City Museum has put 80,000 genealogical records on-line including records of the Northwest Mounted Police, Yukon Order of Pioneers, Palm Sunday Avalanche victims and a variety of other genealogical records.

British Columbia Archives - Vital Events Indexes
www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/index.html
The British Columbia Archives has put on-line the births registration index (18720-1896), marriage registration index (1872-1921) and the death registration index (1872-1976).