How a racist missed out on Klondike fortune (because he was racist) – By Tristin Hopper (National Post) / Sept 8, 2022
Tristin Hopper: Robert Henderson could have had the Klondike Gold Rush mostly to himself, but he blew it with his obvious contempt for the local Tagish
Last month, while the rest of you were busy celebrating B.C. Day, Natal Day or Civic Holiday, the Yukon was marking the far more interesting holiday of Discovery Day. Celebrated on the third Monday each August, Discovery Day marks the moment in 1896 when gold was discovered just outside Dawson City, sparking the Klondike Gold Rush. But while most Yukoners know the names of the three men who first struck gold, they probably haven’t heard of Robert Henderson, a prospector who probably would have shared in the Klondike bounty if he’d only been a little less racist.
Don’t be racist, everyone. Not just because it’s a generally good idea, but it could cost you a lot of money, even in the generally quite racist era of the late 19th century.
Flashback to the Klondike Gold Rush. People around their world drop what they’re doing, spend their life savings on pickaxes and bacon and rush towards one of the world’s most inhospitable places just for the slim chance of sifting a few nuggets out of Yukon gravel.
But what if you could have gotten there before anybody else? A whole landscape of golden streams that are yours for the taking months before the world even knows.
That could have happened to this guy, Robert Henderson, but he missed out on it because he was a racist.
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