The Kobuk River Stampede was a brief
gold rush
A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...
on the
Kobuk River
The Kobuk River (''Kuuvak'' in Iñupiaq) (also Kooak, Kowak, Kubuk, Kuvuk, or Putnam)
is a river located in the Arctic region of northwestern Alaska in the United States. It is approximately long. Draining a basin with an area of ,Brabets, T.P. ...
in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
. From 1897 to 1898, several false accounts of the discovery of
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
on the Kobuk led nearly 2,000 gold seekers to the area. Most of these prospectors arrived by ship, during the spring of 1898, from the West Coast of North America. The gold rush was brief, with its peak from 1898 to 1899, for local people spread the word upon arrival that no gold was to be found. Out of these 2,000 people, only 800 remained to search; and despite their efforts, only small amounts of
placer and
lode gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
were discovered on a few of the Kobuk's tributaries.
Other than the gold deposits,
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
,
asbestos and
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
were also found.
Because of the disappointingly small amount of gold, most of the prospectors left soon, some bound for other gold strikes at
Nome and the
Koyukuk River
The Koyukuk River (; ''Ooghekuhno' '' in Koyukon, ''Kuuyukaq'' or ''Tagraġvik'' in Iñupiaq) is a tributary of the Yukon River, in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the last major tributary entering the Yukon before the larger river empties int ...
. Even though the area still produces some placer gold, the gold rush did not notably affect the economy and development of the area.
See also
*
Gold mining in Alaska
Gold mining in Alaska, a state of the United States, has been a major industry and impetus for exploration and settlement since a few years after the United States acquired the territory in 1867 from the Russian Empire. Russian explorers discovere ...
References
1897 in Alaska
1898 in Alaska
1899 in Alaska
Alaskan gold rushes
Kobuk Valley National Park
{{NorthwestArcticAK-geo-stub