The Klondike is a river, a tributary of the Yukon River, into which it flows above Forty Mile Creek.
The story of the find is interesting.
It was discovered by an old hunter named McCormick.
McCormick had married an Indian squaw, and was therefore, according to the custom, known by the uncomplimentary name of squaw man, and was not much liked by other white men.
He lived a very lonely life in his cabin, with his squaw wife and his half-Indian children, and made his living by hunting and fishing.
In the spring of 1896 he went up the Klondike River to fish. At the point where this stream meets the Yukon, very large salmon are often caught. It was for this profitable spot that McCormick set out.
He had poor luck, however. The salmon didn't run as usual, and his fishing expedition was a failure.
He didn't want to go home empty-handed, and cast about for some fresh game. In his uncertainty he bethought him that the Indians had often told him that gold was very abundant in this region, and could be washed out of the sand in any little pan or vessel that hunters happened to carry.
Failing to catch salmon, he determined to seek for gold, and, starting off in the direction the Indians had pointed out, he soon found that their stories were absolutely true.
Filling his pockets with all the nuggets he could carry, he started back with the news.