The Yukon and the Klondike Gold Rush

When gold was discovered in the Yukon in 1896, the news quickly prompted a stampede to Dawson City and points along the Klondike River. The Dominion government was faced with the threat of lawlessness, famine, and yukon 1social unrest as steamboats brought thousands of prospectors to Alaska from the ports of San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver. Then they had to make their way across the notorious Chilkoot Pass to reach the Yukon goldfields. Many were ill prepared for this journey on which travellers were prey to robbers yukon 2and con artists, among other hazards. The Canadian government desired to establish a police presence in the North, so Sam Steele was sent to Lake Bennett, where he set up his headquarters.

Steele and his men were kept busy administering the laws of Canada, as well as arranging supplies and transport, offering medical care, supervising marine traffic, collecting duties and fines, and yukon 3providing mail service. Steele patrolled the tent city relentlessly, to avert trouble, settle disputes, and keep the peace.

As a reward for his success, Steele was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1898 with full command of the Mounted Police in the Yukon. He moved to Dawson City and expanded the force and improved the facilities. Steele confronted serious problems policing a city with nearly 14,000 residents, many of them suffering from typhoid, scurvy, and other serious ailments. He established sanitation services and the digging of drainage ditches to prevent further typhoid outbreaks. Fines extracted from lawbreakers were used to pay for these community services. The citizens of Dawson were thus sorry to see Steele leave in the fall of 1899, but understood that after almost two years of separation, he was eager to join his wife and children in Montreal.

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    2008.1.1.2.19 Pocket Diary, Personal - 1898
    Sir Samuel Steele Fonds > Series 1 Personal Papers > 1.2 Diaries, Personal
    Author: Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Date: 1 Jan. 1898 - 31 Dec. 1898
    Images: 426
    Description: Black leather-bound; hand-written entries, Ft. Macleod to the Yukon Notes at back of diary include lists of Miles Canyon pilots
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    2008.1.2.1.1.30 NWMP Correspondence - Incoming, Jan. 1898
    Sir Samuel Steele Fonds > Series 2 Professional Papers: Police Career > 2.1 NWMP/Steele's Scouts > 2.1.1 Correspondence
    Author: Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Recipient: Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Date: Jan. 1898
    Images: 2
    Description: Telegrams and information sent to S.B. Steele, related to his upcoming assignment to command the customs posts for the Yukon Gold Rush.
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    2008.1.2.1.1.33 NWMP Correspondence - Incoming, Mar. 1898
    Sir Samuel Steele Fonds > Series 2 Professional Papers: Police Career > 2.1 NWMP/Steele's Scouts > 2.1.1 Correspondence
    Author: Perry, Aylesworth Bowen; Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Recipient: Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Date: 26 Mar. 1898
    Images: 3
    Description: Letter to Steele from Inspector A.B. Perry concerning Customs authority at Skagway and for the Gold Rush.
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    2008.1.2.1.1.37 NWMP Correspondence - Incoming, May 1898
    Sir Samuel Steele Fonds > Series 2 Professional Papers: Police Career > 2.1 NWMP/Steele's Scouts > 2.1.1 Correspondence
    Author: Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Recipient: Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Date: 21 May 189[8]
    Images: 3
    Description: An intercepted note from a prisoner attempting to arrange help from a friend to make his escape from NWMP custody.
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    2008.1.2.1.1.41 NWMP Correspondence - Incoming, Jul. 1898 - Warrant appointing S.B. S. a member of the Council to aid the Commissioner in the administration of the Yukon Territory
    Sir Samuel Steele Fonds > Series 2 Professional Papers: Police Career > 2.1 NWMP/Steele's Scouts > 2.1.1 Correspondence
    Author: Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Recipient: Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Date: 07 Jul. 1898
    Images: 3
    Description: A warrent appointing S.B. Steele a member of the Council to aid the Commissioner in the administration of the Yukon Territory, 07 July 1898. ...
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    2008.1.2.1.1.50.1 Letter from Presbyterian Minister in Dawson
    Sir Samuel Steele Fonds > Series 2 Professional Papers: Police Career > 2.1 NWMP/Steele's Scouts > 2.1.1 Correspondence > NWMP Correspondence - Incoming, May 1899
    Author: Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Recipient: Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919; Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Date: 26 May 1899
    Images: 2
    Description: A letter of appreciation from the Presbyterian Minister in Dawson, Andrew S. Grant, for Steele's establishment of law and order in the Territory.
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    2008.1.2.1.1.56.1 Petition protesting Steele's recall from Yukon
    Sir Samuel Steele Fonds > Series 2 Professional Papers: Police Career > 2.1 NWMP/Steele's Scouts > 2.1.1 Correspondence > NWMP Correspondence - Incoming, Oct. 1899
    Author: Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Recipient: Sifton, Clifford, Sir, 1861-1929; Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919; Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Date: 19 Sep. 1899
    Images: 4
    Description: Petition sent to Minister of Interior Clifford Sifton requesting that Steele's recall order from the Yukon be recalled. Includes covering letter and ...
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    2008.1.2.1.3.6.1 NWMP Undercover Report - Criminal activity in the Gold Fields
    Sir Samuel Steele Fonds > Series 2 Professional Papers: Police Career > 2.1 NWMP/Steele's Scouts > 2.1.3 Reports, Nominal Rolls > Undercover Reports, 1898
    Author: Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Recipient: Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919; Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Date: 30 Jul. 1898
    Images: 9
    Description: An undercover report written by a NWMP Officer, reporting on criminals and their activities in the Goldfields.
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    2008.1.2.1.6.1.12 Portrait: Samuel Benfield Steele, ca. 1898
    Sir Samuel Steele Fonds > Series 2 Professional Papers: Police Career > 2.1 NWMP/Steele's Scouts > 2.1.6 Photographs > NWMP Portraits of Samuel Benfield Steele
    Author: Hegg & Co. Photographers. Dawson, Yukon.
    Date: [1898]
    Images: 1
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    2008.1.2.1.6.3.1 Klondykers 1898
    Sir Samuel Steele Fonds > Series 2 Professional Papers: Police Career > 2.1 NWMP/Steele's Scouts > 2.1.6 Photographs > Yukon Photographs
    Author: Hegg & Co. Photographers. Dawson, Yukon.; Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Recipient: Steele, Samuel B. (Samuel Benfield), 1848-1919
    Date: 1898
    Images: 2
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    2008.1.2.1.6.3.2 NWMP Officers, Dawson
    Sir Samuel Steele Fonds > Series 2 Professional Papers: Police Career > 2.1 NWMP/Steele's Scouts > 2.1.6 Photographs > Yukon Photographs
    Author: Hegg & Co. Photographers. Dawson, Yukon.
    Date: [ca. 1898,1899]
    Images: 2