File:Sailing for Alaska, ca 1905 (MOHAI 6354).jpg

In 1897, word got back to Seattle of a large gold strike in the Klondike region of Canada. Gold was discovered in the beach sands of Nome, Alaska, in 1898. Over the next fifteen to twenty years, other gold strikes were made in Canada and Alaska. People who wanted to try their luck at gold mining flocked to Seattle because it was the closest American port to the gold fields. This photo, taken in the summer of 1905 or 1906, shows a crowd of people at the Seattle waterfront saying goodbye to men on a ship headed to Alaska. Given the date of the photo, the men are probably traveling to Alaskan gold fields rather than the Klondike.

Inventory entry: Klondike Gold Rush Days. Written on back of photo: "Bound for Alaska. An Alaska Commercial Co. vessel."

• Subjects (LCTGM): Alaska Commercial Company; Arrivals & departures; Gold rushes; Piers & wharves; Ships